Day 1: Cirencester to London
We caught the National Express bus from Cirencester to London Victoria, since there’s no train station in Cirencester. The bus stop was conveniently right around the corner, too. The bus was fine other than the two women behind us who Never. Stopped. Talking. Our route took us along the Thames for a while. I didn’t realize there were so many houseboats on the river.
We still had our Oyster cards from our last visit, and they still had £2.10 on them. We topped up another £30 based on what we have planned for the week. We had a different room this time, still with a view over the back garden. Steve got a look at these Eurasian jays that were hanging around.
We went to the Museum Tavern for dinner since we know and like it and it’s right down the street. It was just the way we remember it, except more reserved tables for dinner. (Which we did.)
Day 2: Hamlet at the National Theatre
Since we are going out tonight we didn’t do anything during the day. We got to the theatre area early enough to enjoy the riverside.
We had a nice meal, although not a great one, at Lasdun before the play. Hamlet didn’t get great reviews but we liked it. It felt more edgy than serious. Ophelia stole the show. The second half felt like it went much faster than the first half. We got a nice look at the theatre complex and my former workplace lit up at night afterwards.
Day 3: Sir John Soane's Museum and The National Gallery
We hit a couple of new museums today, Sir John Soane’s Museum and The National Gallery.
Sir John Soane’s Museum is his house as he left it in the 1800s, full of collections too fancy to be hoarding.
At The National Gallery we focused on English painters since we’ve seen Italian, French, etc. art in those countries.
Both museums are free to enter, with a small fee for an optional (and useful) museum guide.
There’s a nice view of Trafalgar Square from in front of The National Gallery. It’s hard to believe I used to walk by here almost every day going to and from work.
We walked back to Bloomsbury via Charing Cross Road, with little detours into Chinatown and Soho. Since it was a fairly nice day we sat outside and had a couple of beers before getting pizza.
Day 4: The William Morris Gallery
We were a little tired and stiff after all our walking yesterday, so we took the tube out to Walthamstow to the William Morris Gallery. Which was small but nice. After much deliberation I bought a luggage tag and a coffee mug at the gift shop.
I’ve been noticing this trip how many pubs are on corners, and how decked out many are with flowers and foliage. We went to another corner pub near our hotel, The Marlborough Arms, for beer and dinner.
Day 5: Marylebone
Today was kind of an urban hiking day. We walked from the hotel over to Marylebone High Street, then up Baker Street and around the lake in Regents Park. We stopped at the Wallace Collection on our way back to hotel.
Since it was a nice day again today we again sat outside for a couple of pints before having pizza at Rudy’s again. The people next to us at the pub were quite humorous. Good free entertainment.
We’ve seen a pink frozen yogurt bus like this more than once. We don’t know if it’s the same one or if there’s a fleet, but they’re definitely colorful.
Steve witnessed a fight between a magpie and a mourning dove outside our room today. We walked just over 6 miles today.
Day 6: The Design Museum
We planned The Design Museum today in conjunction with Sunday roast at The Windsor Castle. We thought we might make it to Leighton House too — it’s right nearby — but did not have enough time.
We had a pleasant and leisurely walk from the museum on High Street Kensington up to The Windsor Castle — one of my favorite pubs — for an excellent Sunday roast, the last of our trip.
Day 7: St Paul's and Shakespeare at the Globe
Since we had some free time earlier in the day we went to The British Museum, where we saw some things we might have missed (or at least didn’t remember) from our first visit. We focused on Assyria, North America, Mexico, and Asian countries including India.
Then after a stop back at the hotel we went back to St. Paul’s cathedral which was not as light and bright as I recall but it was overcast today. It’s still a beautiful building and this time we got photos.
Since we were right there and had plenty of time before dinner and the play, we stopped at Temple Bar, where they actually had table tennis set up in a courtyard.
We got a nice view of Tower Bridge and the surroundings as we crossed the Thames.
We enjoyed our dinner at The Swan. We found Twelfth Night very entertaining, with lots of audience involvement. The fool was great. It wasn’t well reviewed but hey, we had fun.
Once again we got a good look at London at night after the play, this time St Paul’s and Tower Bridge. We were too late to buy cider on the way home so had to make do with hot chocolate. At least it tasted good.
Day 8: St James's Park and St Pancras
Today was meant to be a light day but we ended up putting in over 12,000 steps. We took the tube to Charing Cross and walked over to Pall Mall and then The Mall.
We thought we’d see lots of stately buildings today but a passing look at Buckingham Palace was all we really saw.
Instead we ended up spending most of our time in St James’s Park, where we saw lots of exotic birds in a pretty setting.
Then we took the Circle line around to to Kings Cross St. Pancras where we checked out Platform 9 3/4 and Fortnum & Mason. Note that St Pancras is the highly ornate Victorian structure that’s the terminus for cross-channel trains, shown here with optional hot pink sportscar. Fortnum & Mason is here and just as pricey as I thought it would be.
Platform 9¾ is across the street at Kings Cross, the more modern and boring building. We did not wait in the queue to get a photo in front of the brick wall. Or buy tchotchkes at the Harry Potter store. (We did the studio visit the last time we were here.)
By then it was time head for the Museum Tavern for our last pints and pub food in England. For now!
Essentials
Lodging
We stayed at the Ridgemount Hotel the last time we were in London too. We like the friendly, family-owned atmosphere and love the location in Bloomsbury. As long as we don’t win the lottery or become allergic to stairs this will always be where we stay in London. This time they gave us a triple, which meant a little more space. And the room was so set up for efficient storage.
Dining
You can get whatever you want somewhere in London, and probably a lot of things you didn’t know existed. We didn’t do anything particularly exciting this visit, being in the mood for pub grub and pizza. As we found elsewhere on this trip, I would recommend booking a table even for a pub dinner. We saw people turned away more than once. We booked all of our meals.
In the Bloomsbury area we went to the Museum Tavern twice. The mac and cheese, chicken Kiev, and steak and ale pie were all good. The chicken wings with Korean barbeque sauce at The Marlborough Arms were good but I like buffalo sauce better. I got more wings than I expected and didn’t really need the fried halloumi, which was okay. Both are Greene King pubs; the menus are similar but not the same. We also had great Neapolitan pizza twice at Rudy’s on Tottenham Court Road.
We had the set menu dinner prior to the theatre at Lasdun (for The National Theatre) and the Swan at the Globe. Both were good meals, and made eating out before the plays easy. The fish cakes at Lasdun were a little disappointing. The Earl Grey ice cream was great. The saffron mashed potatoes at the Swan were some of the best ever.
We had our last Sunday roast of the trip at The Windsor Castle pub. The beef and lamb were very good and so were the potatoes. It also included cabbage, carrots and parsnips. And excellent gravy and Yorkshire pudding. The indoor spaces are cozy and the beer garden is nice too.
Transportation
We like staying Bloomsbury because it’s within walking distance of lots of sights and has good public transportation links. Though London has excellent public transportation in general. The tube is easiest and usually quickest, though not interesting. Buses are slower but you get a view, especially from upstairs. We had Oyster cards from our last trip that we topped up so we didn’t have to keep pulling our credit cards out, but you can also use a contactless credit card.
We used the Heathrow Express train to get from the airport to Paddington when we arrived in England. While it’s the most expensive option it’s also the quickest and easiest, depending on where you’re heading once in the city. We took the Elizabeth Line to the airport when we left since we could get on right at Tottenham Court Road and weren’t in a hurry.
