London is definitely my favorite city in Europe, so I couldn't refuse my mother's suggestion to visit there. My aunt joined us and it was an enjoyable girls trip.
Our trip lasted five days, and what can I say? There is a lot to do in London and I wish I could stay there for a few more days.
Day 1
Our flight was on Thursday, 27th September.
We arrived to London at 8:00am and took a taxi to our hotel- Imperial hotel, which is located in central London and is very good.
After exploring the hotel's area and taking some pictures, we decided to find a nice coffee shop. We went to Saint Aymes, a cute place which has many flowers and instagrammable corners and walls.
We ordered a rainbow cake, which was basically a torte cake with food colors and sprinkles, and also pink unicorn lattes and Marie Antoinette drink- a pink hot chocolate, topped with whipped cream, oreo cookie crumble and 24ct gold.
The food was nice but not as good as it looked, which was disappointing, especially considering the exaggerated price.
The full menu: https://www.saintaymes.com/menu
The address: 59 Connaught St, London W2 2BB
After that, we went to Oxford Street for some shopping.
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus.
It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors.
Some of the shops you can find there : Primark, Urban Outffiters, The Disney Store, Liberty, Accessorize , Lush, Forever 21, Flying Tiger, Scribbler, and of course there are
many more stores.
After a few hours on the huge Oxford Street, it was time for dinner.
We found an Italian restaurant nearby, and ordered a margherita pizza, pasta and a chicken salad.
Day 2
We started the second day at Notting Hill. We took the underground in order to get there- from Holborn station, which is located near to the hotel, to Notting Hill Gate.
Notting Hill is a district in West London, and is known for being a colorful neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Market.
This place is very pretty and contains colorful and beautiful houses.
I wandered the streets, admiring the beauty of the colorful houses.
The popular Notting Hill market is known as Portobello Market, so called because it runs along Portobello Road. Pay a visit to one of the best markets in London and you'll discover something interesting to take home with you.
On the way to the market, we found a cute flower shop, and as a flower addict, I couldn't help but fall in love with this place.
Portobello Market is a beautiful place, which offers a wide range of fresh fruit and street food. The main market days are Friday and Saturday, although a smaller market takes place from Monday to Thursday. Saturday is the busiest market day when all the antiques market stalls are in position and the bargain hunters arrive.
There are also some great clothing stalls to find along the way.
For lunch I was very willing to try a place called Farm Girl Cafe, which I have known for a long time from Instagram. This cafe is spread out in three locations: Notting Hill, Chelsea and Soho (the newest).
This place is very nice and pretty. It offers a pretty rich menu and you can enjoy avocado toast, salads, sandwiches, pancakes, eggs and more.
We chose to sit outside, where there are many plants and cute pink tables.
My mother and aunt drank Hot Chocolate and I ordered a Chai Latte with cinnamon in the form of a dog Pug on top, and an avocado toast with strawberries on top.
The service was excellent and the food was amazing!!
I really recommend you to try this place.
The full menu: http://www.thefarmgirl.co.uk/menu/
The address: 59 Portobello Rd, W11 3DB
After we finished at the cafe, we went to Buckingham Palace, for a tour inside the palace. Every year Buckingham Palace is open to the public for two months.
This year it was from 23 July to 30 September, and during this period, it was possible to enter and visit the palace.
For this purpose, tickets had to be booked in advance.
We ordered our tickets to 27 September at 16:15pm, from a company called Golden Tours Ticket Office.
The tour lasted for two hours, but unfortunately, we weren't allowed to photograph inside the palace.
However, this is certainly a one-time experience.
I was impressed by the huge palace and its various rooms and I learned a lot about the history of the palace and the royal dynasty.
As we left the palace, we passed through the beautiful St. James Park, where we saw squirrels and birds.
The last destination for this day was Westfield mall, which is huge and has a lot of shops.
I enjoyed a nice cup of yogurt there, with granola, kiwi and berries- my favories.
Day 3
The day started with a stop at Starbucks, which is located next to our hotel.
As a basic girl, who was abroad during the fall, I enjoyed my Pumpkin Spice Latte.
After that we decided to go to Borough Market, which is a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, London. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London.
At the market you are able to find vegetables, fruits, meats, fish and more, as well as many street food dishes from different parts of the world.
I was surprised to discover a new fruit, called Kiwi Berry.
Moreover, you can enjoy high-quality and slightly different sweets such as caramelized nuts, chocolate fudge cubes, caramel, maple and more, ice cream based on goat's milk. If you like, you can also drink freshly squeezed juices, coffee or tea.
There are many options for observing London, such as the London Eye, Sky Garden and The Shard Tower. We chose the last one.
London's highest and best view is situated at the top of The Shard, on floors 68, 69 and 72. The view was amazing!
London Bridge is also a must destination, of course.
My all-time favorite cafe is probably Peggy Porschen- a cute cafe which is pink and its design varies according to the seasons and the holidays. Right now, for example, the design is for Halloween- you can see pumpkins and skulls and I find it very beautiful.
I guess that I'm not the only one who thinks so, because the cafe was full and there was a long queue, so we had to wait for more than a hour to be seated.
Despite this, the wait has paid off. The sweets are not only good looking, but very delicious.
We ordered two pieces of layer cakes- vanilla cloud and lemon, raspberry & rose cake.
The full menu: https://www.peggyporschen.com/parlour-menu
After the cafe, we went to Carnaby Street.
Carnaby Street is a shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques.
Some stores you can find there: Skinny dip, Brandy Melville, Spectrum Collections, Lazy Oaf, Benefit, Monki, Too Faced, We Built This City.
We decided to spend the rest of the evening at the China Town.
The atmosphere was fun and there were lots of lights.
We wanted to eat something sweet and BubblewrapWaffle seemed to be the best option for us.
These sweet egg waffles, hailing from Hong Kong, are wrapped into a cone shape and filled with toppings galore.
The Bubblewrap menu features a choice of three waffle flavours – original, raisin and red velvet – with a tempting array of toppings, sauces and gelato. House favourites include Deluxe Lover, Oreo up, Oreo Crunch and Vanilla Crunch, but you can create your own waffle.
I chose to create my own waffle- the base was original, the gelato was dark chocolate sorbet (my mother's favorite, I prefered vanilla, but it was actually pretty good), the topping was strawberry and the sauce was nutella.
The perfect egg waffle is crispy on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside – the ideal winter snack.
I shared it with my mother, and it was definitely enough for both of us.
Day 4
Camden Town was in our planning for this day.
I liked to travel around the beautiful neighborhood and go to some of my favorite shops, like Skinny dip, Cath Kidston and Urban Outfitters.
One of the attractions in Camden Town is probably Camden Market.
I really recommend you to visit there.
Most of the main shops are open every day so there's always plenty to see and buy.
But if you really want to see the stalls sellers in action, Sunday is the busiest and best day.
For breakfast, I decided to eat cereal at Cereal Killer Cafe, for a nice experience.
This place is designed like a children's bedroom- there are many random pictures and posters on the walls, an arcade machine and some of the tables are replaced by beds, which gives you the feeling that you have just awakened.
Well, eating cereal in bed... what else do you need?
The Cereal Killer Cafe offers you a wide variety of cereal and types of milk.
We ordered a mix of Lucky Charms, Chips Ahoy and mini marshmallows, with strawberry milk. We also bought two milkshakes.
It was definitely a sweet morning!
Afterwards, we used the underground to go to Leicester Square, where there are M&M's World and the Lego store. We had a good time in these stores.
After falling in love with Farm Girl cafe, I decided to go to there again, but this time I went to their store in Soho.
Unfortunately, I came just before their closing, so I had to order a takeaway.
I ordered a pitaya bowl, which was amazing.
We traveled in Carnaby Street and took some pictures in this cute place.
It was actually a Sunday and all of the shops were closed at 18:00pm, what was very disappointing, but at least we got a lot done today.
Day 5
The last day of the trip began at an organic coffee shop that is found in almost every corner of London and is called Pret A Manger.
In this cafe, beside the coffee, you can also find a variety of healthy foods, such as yogurt, açaí bowl, fresh fruits, salads, sandwiches and healthy drinks, like avocado smoothie.
Moreover, for dessert lovers, there are also pastries and cookies.
We got coffee, some fresh fruits, an açaí bowl and yogurt with granola, pumpkin seeds and pomegranate.
After breakfast, we took the metro to Shoreditch, a nice colorful neighborhood on the outskirts of London, which is probably best known for its vibrant street art scene, full of beautiful murals taking up entire buildings and walls.
The street art in Shoreditch is incredible, probably some of the best I’ve seen anywhere.
In Shoreditch, London's hipest and coolest area, there's an area which is called Boxpark.
This is a cool shops and food complex with few unique shops.
The bottom level is filled with special design shops, coffee shops, and affordable restaurants, whereas the top level is where you’ll find the bars.
Super compact and right in the heart of Shoreditch, you’ll certainly end up walking past Boxpark at some point or another, so be sure to give it a visit!
Some recommended shops can be found at Box Park:
The Play Box:
The Play Box is a gift shop with unique gifts for adults & children alike - gifts, stationary, books, cards and decorations which will help you win any occasion that requires a gift this year.
The Gift Box:
Whether you feel like surprising someone with a unique and surprising gift or simply treating yourself to something different, you are spoilt for choice at The Gift Box. Pineapple lamps, rock star tea towels, smartphone projectors and more.
Papersmiths:
An eclectic collection of writing instruments, artist pencils, notebooks, sketchpads and memo pads from international brands and designers sit alongside tools, refills and accessories. As well as stationery, you'll find an unusual selection of design, lifestyle and travel publications.
One of the desserts in Shoreditch is none other than the ice cream parlor Soft Serve Society, which offers, besides ice cream, milkshakes.
I chose hazelnut ice cream in a black cup with sweet-salty popcorn.
The ice cream was very delicious.
Not far away from the Box Park there is a small, pink and charming place, that offers a wide range of drinks, such as smoothie, bubble tea, cheese tea, matcha and fruits tea.
This place is called Bee Bae.
I liked the design of the place, where there are pink supermarket trolleys, LED lamps in different shapes and of course, Pink Panther plushies.
I got cheese milk tea with tapioca balls, which was very nice.
The address: 156 Bethnal Green Rd, London E2 6DG.
Our last destination on the trip was London Eye.
We took pictures near the giant wheel, and unfortunately we didn't get to see the Big Ben, which is currently being renovated and covered.
We made a last shopping spree on Oxford Street (especially in Primark) and then we returned to the hotel to take our suitcases and took a taxi to the airport.
I already miss London and can't wait for my next visit there!
