Our June and July weekends were so busy, that I had to planned well ahead this trip to London to make sure we get to go. This was our third time—first one was in October, second one in December and this one was in June. One thing for sure, it is so easy to travel when it’s warm outside. We had fun the other two times we went, but it was just so much more pleasant (although more crowded) to explore the city.
We have this deal online that if you use the train to travel to London from where we are, we get some sweet 2 for 1 deals for many London attractions. One of them was Tower of London. Tower of London is an expensive attraction, in my opinion, but everyone loves it. I believe one adult ticket is around $33-34, while a family ticket is around $90.
We did not get to the Tower of London till almost 11 am. We grabbed some lunch at a convenience store across from the tower(do not get nasty fish and chips nearby) and ate it inside the tower grounds. Then we caught one of those Beefeater tours.
If you don’t know what a Beefeater is, here is a picture with one of them, but not the one who was our tour guide:
To be a Beefeater (a guard at the Tower of London) you must have served in the military and have a loud voice. I am sure there is another requirement but we cannot remember. And was he loud! Our tour group consisted of probably a hundred people, but somehow we were able to hear our guide even from afar.
The tour guide informed us about all the gory details of the history of the Tower as well as a ton of stories of infamous people of Britain. Fascinating!
After the tour we stood for a while in line to see the Crown Jewels. Mark is really enjoying himself in the heat.
Apparently it was so hot that we decided to grab some ice cream from the ice cream stand right next to the line. People in front of us took such a loooong time that by the time we go our ice cream and joined Robert in line, it was time for us to go inside the building (the line continued inside as well). But of course, we had to stand and finish our ice cream outside as “no food allowed” sign caught our eye.
This is one of the guys who guards the Crown Jewels. And the jewels were quite impressive.
We spent about three hours at the Tower London. We did not visit the White Tower and a few more smaller towers. So we might have to go back if anyone comes to visit us and wants to see it.
Some fabulous views of the Tower Bridge. I love that bridge.
Around 2 pm, we headed towards Bank tube station. We were on our way to another fun adventure—Fat Tire Bike Tour.
We passed the Monument which is located on the very place where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. The plan was to go up all the way to the top (it doesn’t cost much and we had 2 for 1 vouchers) but we were a bit in a rush.
We passed a few more cool buildings…
but mostly we were surrounded by hundreds of banks in the bank district. Apparently there are more Japanese banks in London that in Tokyo (?) because being here they can trade during the wake hours of the US and Asia.
Finally we got to our meeting point for the tour. We were able to use our 2 for 1 offer on this tour as well, and Mark was free since he was still in a bike chair. The tour started at 3:30 and went for about four hours. We had about 15 people in our group.
We visited a lot of main sights, some that we have seen before and some new ones.
We stopped at Kensington and talked a bit about who used to live here and, of course, who is planning to live here pretty soon.
Riding through Hyde park was so relaxing.
And here is Wellington Arch. Without the monument on top for some reason.
And in case you are riding a horse in the middle of London, press this button to help you cross the street.
We stopped at Buckingham Palace and learned about one crazy guy who broke into the palace twice to speak with the Queen.
Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.
And right in front of the gates. Someday we’ll need to make it to the change of guard ceremony here.
We stopped at this place (I think that’s where Prince Charles lived after he and Diana separated) and tried to make the guards laugh. Nope, they were staring at each other or straight and did not crack a smile.
For dinner, we had a half hour break at the Trafalgar Square. We had some quick pizza right there, in the middle of London. In fact, that’s where the official center of London is located.
We stopped at the Stables??? and learned about Prime Minister’s house.
Of course, Big Ben was a must see. Did you know that last year the tower was renamed to be Elizabeth Tower?
Westminster Abbey-beautiful as always. Just thinking about all those people buried inside (and in the walls) gives me goose bumps.
Mark has the best seat—relaxing and warm. This is the last time we could use the bike seat, I think. He is almost 45 lbs and I think the weight limit is 45 lbs.
And yes, our favorite part was riding through these gorgeous parks and watching Londoners enjoying the sun—having a picnic, reading books on benches, riding bikes, roller skating, jogging, walking with dogs.
We highly recommend bike tours. The kids love them as well, and that’s always a bonus. Seeing how sights are connected via bike trails and streets is quite neat. It makes the city seem less overwhelming.
We know there is still so much to see in London. Looks like we need to pencil in our next trip on the calendar or we’re going to run out of weekends before Christmas!
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