Planning Our City Trip to London Was a Challenge. It’s a big city with endless options and I’m not great with decision making 🙂 That’s why I’m happy to share our itinerary with you. Enjoy your trip!
Hi! I’m Helena, a cheerful thirty-something who loves exploring with her family.
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Public Transport in London
So, you’ve arrived in London—now what? We stayed outside the city center at the Hyatt Regency Stratford. We left our luggage at St. Pancras Station, using the Bounce app.
Day One in London
With our stomachs growling, we headed straight to Mildreds, a vegan chain restaurant. It’s healthy, delicious, affordable, and has a great vibe. Definitely worth including in your itinerary.
After lunch, we went to Camden Market. Pro tip: go in the afternoon and listen to Taylor Swift while you wander—the best food stalls open later in the day. You can eat with a view of the Thames.
We decided to stay in tourist mode and hopped on a double-decker bus to visit Westminster Abbey and then Buckingham Palace. We used public transport, and because we visited outside school holidays, it wasn’t too crowded. We took a break in the park next to the palace and watched squirrels running around. Fun!
Day Two: Museums and Nostalgia
Early birds can start the day at Hyde Park. The two museums on our schedule opened at 10 a.m., so we had time to wake up with the rest of London in this beautiful park. We saw people swimming in the lake, countless joggers, mounted police—it’s a huge park.
At 10 a.m., our next stop was the Science Museum. Our main goal here was Power Up, a temporary exhibition where you can play video games from the last fifty years on a wide range of consoles. Think arcade Simpsons games, Toy Story on the Wii, Pokémon on PC… total nostalgia and totally worth it.
After a quick lunch, we visited the Natural History Museum. It’s stunning—inside and out. The dinosaur skeletons were the most impressive part for me. Even if dinosaurs aren’t your thing: go. The building is beautiful. I half expected the staircases to start moving like in Harry Potter.
Day Three: Rooftop Cinema
Tired feet meant a slower pace today. We took the bus from our hotel to Borough Market. It took longer than the Tube, but the view from the top deck made up for it.
At Borough Market, I tried the TikTok-famous chocolate-covered strawberries. Delicious. I found the market itself a bit too touristy and crowded, so we kept walking—along the Thames, which gave us great views of the busier side of the city and plenty of quiet places to stop and rest.
Our walk took us to Gabriel’s Wharf, a lovely spot with small boutiques and cozy eateries. The perfect place to end our walk and relax a bit more.
Later that evening came the highlight of the day—maybe even the whole trip: the Rooftop Cinema Club in Stratford (very close to our hotel). We watched a movie from the most comfortable garden chairs, with a blanket and popcorn, while birds, planes, and helicopters flew overhead. The gorgeous view was a free bonus. Next to the cinema is a super cozy rooftop bar, food spots, and activities like bowling. It looked great, but my husband wanted fish and chips. Since it was our last evening, that became our mission.
I’d already looked up where to go, and I Fratelli came highly recommended. I thought I’d just have fries, but it turned out they had vegan fish and chips too. It was amazing—and even my husband had to admit mine tasted more like fish than his did.
Day Four: Notting Hill
No trip to London is complete without a visit to Notting Hill—at least for me, since I still love dreaming about that film classic. We went to Portobello Road Market and found lots of cute shops, food stalls, and (since we went on a Friday) a ton of overpriced vintage.
I also stepped into the bookstore from the movie. It’s now a messy souvenir shop, but it still made my day.
We had lunch at Farm Girl in Notting Hill. Very hip, very cozy, very busy. We happened to walk in at just the right moment—by the time we left, there was a long line of people waiting to get in.
Then it was time to take the Eurostar home. 🙁
Our Hotel: Hyatt Regency Stratford
Hyatt Regency Stratford is one of the nicest hotels we’ve ever stayed in. Because it’s located in the Stratford district, prices were quite reasonable. I can really recommend staying in Stratford. Our hotel was right next to a huge shopping mall and a busy street full of food stalls. Whatever we needed, it was always nearby.
Plus, the hotel is well-connected to the city center by public transport. Google Maps says it’s a 10-minute walk to the nearest Tube station, but if you walk through the shopping mall, it’s more like five. Our room was fantastic, and the hotel staff were very friendly. Highly recommended.
Got more London tips to share? Feel free to drop them in the comments. You can also find all my advice for visiting London with young children right here.
