How to Holiday in London: By a Londoner - 5 Days Travel Vlog & Guide

It's strange how, after 18 years of living in London, this is the first photo I've taken in front of Buckingham Palace. It's funny how we take these tourist spots for granted when we actually live there. For a tourist, this red phone booth is fascinating to me, I worry if they still work if I ever lose my phone to the tourist. Elizabeth is a queen, a ruler of lands, and the star of a Netflix original, but to me she It's just my friendly old neighbor since I started this journey. channel, I've mostly ignored my own hometown, not because it wasn't cool, but because it was normal for me, so about a year ago I thought it would be a good idea to do a

travel

vlog

about my own city, but not as a local like tourist, how would my wife and I vacation in our own backyard?

After months of filming multiple

days

, I have created this

travel

vlog

which I will pass off as filmed over five consecutive

days

to show people what I think is the Best of London to act as a suggested

guide

for future visitors and perhaps a different vision of a place I have come to love. It's not just about visiting the famous places and it's not just about visiting places that no one has heard of. It's a touch of both and what I would personally recommend if you are new to the channel. Our goal is to make travel movies where location is king, in the hope that you can find inspiration for your next vacation.

This is the suitcase monkey being a local tourist in London. Let's zoom out for a second and take a look at what we have in store for the week. We will primarily focus on specific areas each day to cover as much as possible in the shortest amount of time to get started. We start in this area which broadly covers the city of London under its original name londinium it was here that the city's first Roman settlers lived so what better place to start the tower of

london

is one of the oldest buildings of

london

with the white tower in the middle that is almost 1000 years old.

What I like most about the tower is how it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to its surroundings, but also seems to feel like home at the same time. I really recommend waiting for the yeoman tour that is included in the ticket price. Lasting around an hour, they vividly paint stories from the towers' past. I've seen a few different tours over the years and they've always been of a high standard with a dry, sharp British wit not unlike the humble narrator you're enjoying. Now, along with pretty much everything else I'm going to discuss in this video, I'll put all the important links in the description below along with our social media so you can follow us live as we do whatever London has in store for us next.

Please come. and say hello somewhere that is not so well known is Saint Catherine's Docks, literally hidden across the street from the Tower of London, this little gem is ideal for a tea or coffee, lunch, a beer and , occasionally a mini festival again. I'll link it below. but they have sporadic dates where they host really interesting international food festivals outside of those busy dates. It is a closed, quiet and really picturesque port where you can see people with more money than you park their boats. Then we headed to the heart of the city. of london known as the square mile, it may seem strange to suggest the financial district as a place to visit, but especially at weekends, when the streets are empty of the usual businesses, there is great architecture and history to discover, so if You are in the area and have 30 minutes to spare then the monument is worth seeing, it weighs only four pounds 50, there is never a peso and gives you a nice simple view of the city, but you should be fit enough to tackle the 311 steps. it takes to get to the top the great fire of london in 1666 left 13,000 houses burned to the ground and the monument was erected as part of the effort to rebuild the city along with the tower st paul's cathedral is one of my historic buildings favorites in London during the Blitz of the Second World War, somehow miraculously avoided all the London Blitz and stood as a beacon of hope just a short walk from the monument.

It is an impressive sight. If you want to get an elevated perspective beforehand, I recommend going up to the roof terrace inside the In a new exchange building there is a free observation deck here, as well as a modern bar if you want to take your time before visiting the impressive cathedral , while the monument is great for a quick stop and, without a reservation, the Sky Garden is my favorite free view. space in London, but usually requires a reservation nicknamed the walkie-talkie. I always recommend going just before sunset so that daylight turns into night. If you run out of free viewing tickets I suggest booking a table at the Sky Gardens Darwin Brasserie instead, the food here isn't cheap but it's good enough with an even better view making it a great way End the day for many more restaurant suggestions.

I look at our range of London best food videos we've already made which I'll link to above and below London is best discovered on foot and I think there's no better way to relax in the city than with a long walk along the south side of the river Thames we start at Borough Market with the aim to feed us for the rest of the afternoon, being the oldest food market in London, its 1000 years of experience means that you will taste, taste, smell and eat some of the best local and international flavors . This is an energetic and bustling space, open Monday to Saturday with Wednesday to Saturday with the largest number of traders, whether you are here for breakfast, lunch or lunch you are guaranteed to find something you will enjoy and looking for that goodness is often half the fun.

What about walking along the Thames from Borough Market to London? The viewing can take anywhere from an hour to an entire afternoon. It represents the bottom of an official walking route known as the Jubilee Walkway, which was opened by the Queen during her silver wedding celebrations. Along the way there are dozens of stops that you may or may not catch. your attention, but the panoramic view of the north side of the Thames is worth the walk alone, so come on, this whole area of ​​Westminster has been home to government and royalty for centuries. Westminster Abbey was the initial seed, established in 960 AD. and has been the home of every royal coronation, acting as an open-air museum.

This entire area is a who's who of history, just like the jubilee walk. Your time here can vary wildly depending on how deep you want to go, but you can easily spend an hour or two. Wandering around for quick views of 10 Downing Street is not possible for most people, the closest view is at the back, next to the parade of horse guards, right next to it are the war rooms of Churchill, where you can enter the underground bunkers where Winston Churchill planned the second world war I met a man called Melchizedek he was a good man a good man wandering alone in the desert he invited me to stay he said I would learn to love space I knew my name was Jezebel she was a savage a savage she said come "We can have fun and then she wants me to go and get too close and I'm curious who I'll need as we pass through Trafalgar Square.

Now we're entering the tourist spots. Let's hang out in Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square," he said. No Londoner should ever be on every tourist's list, however, especially Piccadilly Circus with its famous curved signs. We then headed to Soho which is the perfect place for evening drinks and dinner, catering for literally every taste known to man. There is something for everyone here. Chinatown is a great stop if you want authentic Chinese food or even the English Chinese version. I have grown with myself for the sake of this day. We went to Barafina, an authentic Spanish tapas bar right in the heart of Soho on Dean Street.

Prepared to wait as it is incredibly popular but the food here is always excellent, our eyes widened as we ate churitzo rolls ham croquettes prawn tempura deep sea mussels white fish an incredibly juicy piece of meat and the classic coffee cake and Chocolate to Finish Soho covers quite a large area in total, so I'm saving two of my favorite Soho spots for when we return here on our last day after a busy few days. We wanted today to be relatively relaxing and ventured into South East London to spend some time. With a more local feel, we would spend most of our afternoon in Greenwich, but I think a good complement is its neighboring town of Blackheath, especially if it is a sunny day, although it is not essential.

Blackheath is probably the most local and easiest place on this trip. what makes up its small town charm, getting to black heath is just a couple of stops from london bridge and on that, a quick note to say that you should definitely download the city mapper app as it is the best app on Transport to London, but the main reason I wanted to start at Black Blackheath is that it is the best gateway to Greenwich. Entering from the south side of Greenwich Park gives you the flower garden and Pavilion Cafe, but also a postcard view of the city.

This line of the main meridian divides the earth into the eastern and western hemispheres, marking zero degrees of longitude on a map and is also the Greenwich reference, meanwhile at the end of the 19th century each city in the world maintained its own local time without standards. international. Greenwich was chosen as the center of World Time and the Royal Observatory does a good job of telling this story. A great way to get back to central London is to take the Thames Clippers. The Thames boat is a great way to see the city from a different perspective while taking a slower commentary boat. a great option, this version offers sightseeing and transport at the same time, there are several stops along the way but we wanted to get off at Embankment as there are a few random things we wanted to show you, the first is Victoria Embankment Gardens which is worth a visit.

Pop in if you're already nearby and it's a nice day, but also one of my favorite places to drink in London is here in the form of Gordon's wine bar on a sunny day and night, it's a great place to enjoy a crisp white wine outdoors and during the winter months they have a really cool underground winery, this also holds a special place for us as it was the place where Chiaki and I had our first date together, just a few minutes from Gordon's wine bar and right next to the strand is Adam Street. You'll find a door that bears a striking resemblance to the one at 10 Downing Street, leaving you open to plenty of comical poses and Instagram posts to impress your friends.

Now if you don't listen to anything else I say then listen to this if I have never made one before, you have to enjoy an afternoon tea while you are in London, going out for afternoon tea is one of our dining experiences Favorites and something we do at least a couple of times a year. I will spread my images here in two places. We visited recently, but I put a link in the description that lists a bunch of different options for you in general terms, although as long as you see good reviews on Tripadvisor, you can't go wrong, it's said to come from the tradition itself.

In the early 19th century, when it was normal for someone to only eat breakfast and dinner, when Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford and now one of my personal heroines, complained of hunger during the long afternoon period, the idea of ​​enjoying a snack and here we are. a lunch a brunch and an afternoon tea usually consisting of a multitude of specialty teas or coffees a delicious selection of sandwiches usually without the crust thank you very much a wonderful mix of sweet desserts and then my personal favorite the scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream Now, if there is one issue in England that divides people more than Brexit it is how to spread jam on a scone, whether you should enjoy it Devonshire style, that is, with the jam spread on top of the cream, or Cornish style with the cream on top, whether any of this makes any real difference once it's all in your mouth doesn't seem to be the point, but I encourage you to try both and let me know in the comments below what you normally think of a afternoon tea.

Satisfy hunger for the rest of the day. What better way to burn all those calories than to sit still in a dark room looking ahead. Another thing that should be on everyone's to-do list is to enjoy a West End show along with Broadway, London. presents the best selection of programs in the world and the scale andQuality here is top notch. Three shows that are still streaming that I would recommend to anyone are Hamilton Wicked and the Book of Mormon and we also recently watched Aladdin, the bank robbery comedy, the play that goes wrong and Harry Potter, which would suggest they can also be purchased tickets at the actual box office or at various ticket outlets around the city, the main one in leicester square and other unofficial ones dotted around, but I also recommend the Today ticks app for a simple mobile option and I'll link to some websites in the description below.

Also, as part of this hypothetical trip, I wanted one of our days to take us away from London while I thought about what this day could be like. After choosing my favorite child, I thought it would be a better way to give you a quick rundown of a bunch of different possible days, so here goes the furthest thing on this list: a 90-minute train ride that will take you the old way Roman city of Bath, located in the south-west of England, Bath is a great getaway and although it can be rushed, it can be done in a single day if you catch an early train and return late.

In fact, I recommend Bath so much that I've already done a full trip vlog on our weekend getaway, so be sure to check out the full story a little closer to home and with about 40 minutes of travel time this is the tour of The Warner Brothers studio, also known as the making of Harry Potter, if you have any interest in the boy wizard or movie magic in general, then this is a great half-day activity. The moment when the grand hall behind its colossal doors is revealed is very well told and is a great start to your experience compared to the world at Universal Studios.

It's much less of a theme park and more real behind the scenes, where you can interact with genuine props, set designs, costumes and the effects that make up the franchise. One of my favorite parts is where you can now take a green screen in a frantic broomstick flight. A little history about me. I had three years of training in theater school and I think it's clear that those years were certainly not in vain. Beyond this, you can enter the original Hogwarts Express which is contained in an impressive platforming recreation. nine and three quarters what followed was what my life had clearly been leading towards, however, with the director shouting instructions, I finally had the chance to show the national theater why they were wrong during those dark days of 2003.

Big smiles , very kind. You're on your way to Hogwarts, so you're very excited, you're happy, you let me see some big smiles and a drink. Well done everyone, thanks for traveling for all bookings. Please contact my agent if he would prefer to be a little more involved. contact with nature, then I would recommend an early morning trip to Richmond Park. I say early morning, as this is the best time to watch the deer roaming freely around the park and it makes for a good early scene in Jurassic Park moments when you don't either. away from Richmond Park is Kew Gardens which was one of my first videos on this channel so check out my pre-voice over the days we visited here in a cold January and it was still a nice day but we visited in summer. months and especially if you are a nature lover, then you will be safe in plant paradise.

Windsor is also another day where you can easily travel to and from London in one day. I don't have any footage of Windsor but I just wanted to anyway, there is a lot more to Britain than just London and I plan to do more UK destinations as we travel there. I will definitely be posting a video about our time in Edinburgh soon, which I highly recommend for a longer trip and to see more of the country. London has a great collection of free museums so I wanted to start our last day with my favorite natural history museum, before even arriving I would suggest stopping at Exhibition Road which is home to a number of great little shops for breakfast, the museum itself covers everything from dinosaurs to modern-day animals to natural disasters, all with information and spectacle in mind. 20 minutes later on the tube and we arrived in North London, to Camden Town with Charles. dickens alan bennett dylan thomas and amy winehouse, all former residents, this list alone tells you everything you need to know about Camden today, it is famous for its markets and its counterculture, so it offers a tangible alternative to what we've seen so far, so go back to In central London there are two final areas around Soho and the West End that for me are both must-visit.

The first is Covent Garden and its neighboring Seven Dials area compared to, say, Regent or Oxford Street, which are great places for shopping. Coven is still shopping, but with a more relaxed and polished creative pace, once known as Westminster Abbey and Friary Garden, it later became known simply as Covent Garden. Markets of some kind have been here since the 17th century and today it is a great mix of big names from individual traders. brands and, of course, its famous artists and entertainers. A lesser known area within Covent Garden is another church named after Saint Paul. This is a secluded little oasis and a perfect place to grab a sandwich to go or a coffee for a quick bite. minutes north of here along Neil Street and you come to a small roundabout known as the seven dials, so called because there are simply seven streets leading out of the centre, each of which is worth seeing, with some pleasant surprises along the way.

My favorite stop here. Easily Neil's Patio for its instagrammable design alone, it's worth a quick stop, but the cafes here are worth sitting in and I can attest from experience that the home slice restaurant serves delicious pizza, then 10 or 15 minutes from here, you'll end up on the famous Carnaby Street, which runs almost parallel to Regent. It's a pedestrian shopping paradise just off Carnaby, home to the excellent Royal Court. This is a small plaza with three levels of restaurants and cafes, all competing for your attention. There is much to recommend here. What we've tried are crumbs and mats for delicious treats, the good egg for an amazing brunch, jinju for tasty Korean street food, and collusion for some underground cocktails to round out the evening and a jam-packed tour of my hometown.

I know there's still a lot I've missed, so let me know if you'd like me to do more London videos. If you haven't already, take a look at our Bath Kew Gardens and London dining videos. Also subscribe to our next Edinburgh vlog and check the notification bell as I only post every six to eight weeks. Also like this video as it really helps us spread the word and come say hi on Instagram or your social media platform of choice. Thanks for watching. monkey suitcase