Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - London anniversary trip report

We just returned from our first trip to London (Thursday-Sunday) and had a WONDERFUL time! I first want to thank everyone who helped answer questions, give advice, guide in a different direction! This board was a huge help in planning this trip!!!

we arrived Thursday evening at 6:30 pm via Stansted airport. Because of the limited Stansted Express service, we decided to purchase round trip tickets for the National Express bus. It actually worked out really well for us since the bus ride was only 1 hour 5 minutes to the nearest stop to our hotel, Finchley road. From there, it was a quick 1 minute tube ride (yes, we could have just walked!) to Swiss cottage, and then a 5 minute walk to our hotel, Marriott Regents Park.
By the time we reached our hotel, we took a walk to Primrose Hill to see the city all lit up. Very beautiful. We then walked down a Street in Primrose Hill and found a restaurant to share a pizza and a bottle of wine. :)
We really enjoyed the Marriott. I think it is in a fantastic location! Swiss cottage is on the Jubilee line which goes right into the center of London where all the must-see sights are! Very convenient! Our room was clean, and the bed was oh so comfy! The receptionist even had a bottle of wine sent up after finding out we were celebrating our anniversary. That was a nice touch. We scored this hotel through priceline for about $135 a night after taxes and fees.
Friday morning we took the tube to Green Park, which was only about a 15 minute ride, if that! Again, very convenient. We strolled down the street that the Ritz is on (sorry, can't remember) but it has some great shops for window shopping and even managed to find some deals. :) It was a great first visual introduction to London with the red buses going by, the beautiful buildings, and the red booths. :) We didn't eat breakfast at the hotel (too expensive) but found a nice cafe and got coffees and ham/cheese croissants for under 7 pounds total.
O.k, this review could be really long. I will try to condense!!
London Walk tour - royal London including the changing of the guard and Westminster. I was really glad we took this tour. We had a very large group of people, probably over 50, but the guide did great. We did have to almost jog a bit to get to our spot to view the guard change. We had a front row spot of the old guard coming down the street, and then the new guard, but no official "changing view." It was still really neat, and we didn't have to wait! Great tour of Westminster, and we walked right in. Even got to see where Sting lived. :) Well worth it. They added 2 more guides in Westminster.
Westminster - so much history! Could have spent 2 days in there alone. Must do.
After a yummy fish and chips lunch, we caught the Original Bus Tour for a break for our feet. It was a nice break to see and hear about the different sights of London. Glad we did it.
We then visited the National Gallery (free!) and stopped for dinner in Covent Gardens. We were handed a flyer walking out of the national gallery about a concert going on that night at the St. Martins in the Field church right next to the gallery. "Mozart by Candlelight." For 10 pounds each, we got a seat in the balcony overlooking the gorgeous church, but not a great view of the violinists. But, it was still amazing and really was a great way to spend the evening. After the concert, we took in the sights of Trafalgar Square by night, and walked down in time to hear and see Big Ben chime at 10 pm. We then called it a night. Oh, and the weather on friday was picture perfect! Literally. Our pictures are beautiful. Blue skies with a few puffy clouds here and there. Gorgeous temps. Saturday was overcast with just a few rain showers. It was fitting though seeing the wet cobbled-stoned streets and walking under an umbrella in London. I think I would have been disappointed not to have experienced that. :)

Saturday the Jubilee and Metropolitan line were closed, but there were buses running from Swiss Cottage to Baker's Street about every 10-15 minutes. From Bakers stree we caught the Bakerloo line straight to Tower bridge. We headed to the Tower of London. We went with the beef eater's tour, and thought that was fantastic. Saw the crown jewels (wow!) and the Henry the VIII exhibit. By then, my feet were KILLING me since I stupidly chose fashion over comfort. Boy, did I regret that! So, after about 3 hours at the Tower, we hopped on the free Thames river cruise to give the feet a break. We headed back to Westminster Abbey since the London Walks tour told us the Evening song would be at 3pm on Saturday, not 5 pm. My husband really wanted to attend this service and hear the boys choir. Unfortunately, it was 5 pm, and the choir was on vacation. Ironically enough, a U.S. choir would be visiting. Well, we had 2 hours until then, so we decided to take the bus to Harrods' to mark that off our list. It took us alot longer than we thought to get there, and unfortunately did not have time to make it back to the Abbey. We felt a bit disappointed in our choice, since Harrods was way overcrowded! But, we bought our obligatory small purchase - a ornament for our tree, and was surprised to find a Krispy Kreme donuts in Harrod's food court.

We then went back to Covent Gardens to do some shopping and grab some delicious Indian food. Lots of things going on in the evening to keep our attention for a bit, including another strings ensemble doing Mozart with a twist. Hit a pub and then called it a night.

There are many more things we would love to do on another trip, but we do need to save $$. London was VERY expensive, but well worth it. :)