One day in London Travel Tips
Helpful tips from our short trip to London.
Why only a day?
With speed trains to Paris, Amsterdam and Belgium, it is easy to add London to your trip. For us, it was cheaper to fly into London.
Planning Tools
Buy a Travel Book
Rick Steves is our go-to for a printed traveling book. For this multi-country trip, we bought “Best of Europe.” I use the book at home during research and planning and then bring to book with us on the trip. Don’t be afraid to destroy this book! We rip out the section for the town we are in and bring it in the day back.
Build a Google Maps Saved Lists
Within Google Maps, you can create and save a list of places. An amazing tool for planning and vacationing. Start saving all the places you want to or will go to, including possible restaurants. Add your own notes that might be helpful once there. We added notes to the restaurants. Noting where the recommendations came from and what to order. Once in the city, having locations saved makes getting directions fast and easy.
Top Recommendation
Skip the London Eye
You will most likely view it from many locations in London, but there is no need to pay 32.50 to wait in line just to see the view trapped in a pod with 25 people.
We made reservations at Sky Garden instead. Admission to Sky Garden is free, and they have bars and restaurants that are a better use of your 32.50. Even if you don’t buy any food or drink, the view is better, you can walk around and leave whenever you want.
Book Transportation from the Airport to your Hotel
Pre Plan and Pre Purchase transportation from the airport to your hotel. You are going to be tired from traveling. Make as many arrival day decisions in advance as possible. We bought tickets for Heathrow EXPRESS. Purchasing your tickets at least 90 days in advance will save a lot of money. The Tube is also a choice that is cheaper but takes longer and might be crowded.
Our hotel was not near a tube station, so we knew we would take a taxi and how much it would cost. Good call because it was raining when we arrived.
Riding The Tube
When using the Tube, you do not need to buy tickets. You can use a tap credit card at the turn styles. There are apps for getting around on the Tube, but we found google maps was all we needed. We do wish we had stayed at a hotel closer to the Tube station. If it is raining or you are hauling your luggage, that walk to the station seems even longer.