Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report London in a Nutshell!

I think by now I am quite clear to myself that hiring a bicycle is an economical and eco way to explore a European city – you could make multiple stops in short distance, move freely without concerns about traffic and parking. Like Paris (my mission in Paris with a bicycle), Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and many more European cities, London has an extensive self-service and bike hire network in the city, Santander Cycles that could be useful for visitors, or even the locals.

So, I had a friend visiting Europe but only stopped over in London for just one and a half day - definitely not enough for to actually "see" this historical and cultural mega-city in the UK! Anyway, to make sure my dear friend could see as much as possible in such a short amount of time, we spent a day with a bicycle along the River Thames and so we could move around the allies and streets.

Planning a trip for somebody else is not about me, me, me; It’s about what he wants to see, and to make sure his trip has a little bit of everything (maybe with an element of surprise). The night before we went to see the Les Misérables at the Queen’s theater, had some local Chinese food at Leicester Square and walked through the Piccadilly Circus. The next morning, we began our day at Paddington, where we were staying, and luckily, it was yet another hot day in summer and the temperature jumped up to 34 degrees! I was inspired by some cycling tours for the route.

For the photos and more details @ http://wp.me/p5Lw9a-1hr

First, we took our bicycle and then when went through the West Carriage Drive in Hyde Park, and took a stop at our first “checkpoint” of the day, V&A. As it’s the first time my friend visiting London and I would like to make sure he had (and he wanted to) an experience with at least one of London’s art museums. British Museum, National Gallery, and Tate Modern… to name a few! Another amazing thing about London’s museums is that many of them are free. I remembered that I spent a lot of time in the British Museum back in the days and it could be a bit overwhelming and crowded; Same for the National Gallery (and I put it as one of my favorite in the world!). Tate Modern, I love, but I thought it is not as “classic” as other fellow museums for a “first-timer”… anyway, I reckoned that V&A would be a better choice for my friend as he only had like an hour or so for this gallery. Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t get any easier for him because V&A was huge. As much as I want to see Alexander McQueen’s exhibition again (and without surprise, there was a long queue), I went back to the 50 galleries and re-visited some of the most amazing artworks in history.

Next, it was time for some exercise and photo-taking. We went along Brompton Road (passed the Harrod’s) with a lot of double decker buses and made a turn at Knightsbridge, and then we were at the Wellington Arch at the corner of Hyde Park, and then we are in walking distance from the Buckingham Palace and the West minster.

Up next, it’s time for lunch! We headed to Sketch in Mayfair, a unique boutique restaurant that caters not only to your tongue but your EYEs. Enjoy the amazing food and drinks and don’t forget to take a tour of the different rooms before leaving!

It was such a hot day and luckily it didn’t feel so bad riding a bicycle. The next thing I know we were at the West Minster Abbey and just in time for its daily service! A trip to London wouldn’t be completed without seeing the Big Ben, the Parliament, and London Eye!

Before we headed back to Oxford Circus to pick up my mother, we had one more “checkpoint” to go. YES – the Tower Bridge. We continued our journey on the Victoria Embankment along the River Thames and then made our way to Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Sadly by that time the church was already closed but we could still admire the architecture up close. Then we stopped at the Tower of London in about 20 minutes and we took our friend strolling through the Tower Bridge to the City Hall and that’s pretty much the end of my little “bicycle tour” of the day. The Potters Fields Park nearby the City Hall is a great place for the locals to chill out and relax, especially during sunset, I just like how the light hit the bridge. So, it was time for us to go back to Oxford street – and we saw HMS Belfast and Hay’s Galleria on the way to the Tube station. (Of course, didn’t expect to ride a bicycle from Tower Bridge to oxford circus and it would probably be very difficult to navigate a bicycle in the crowded Oxford street anyway.)

Because – I had to bring my friend to do some last minute souvenir shopping and so we pick up mom for a quick dinner of salt beef (but it was famous, though) at the Brass Rail in Selfridges and mission accomplished!