London, the home of cliches. Yes, we do have tea with the Queen and eat scones. Yes, we do all go to Hogwarts. Yes, we do have fish and chips or pie and mash for dinner every day.
I don't know if you sensed the sarcasm there...
I wanted to run through some of the best things to do in London which won't burn a hole in your pocket. The fact is London is expensive and a horrible trap for tourist's to spend their money.
A friend of mine came to visit me and although she has seen London before I wanted to show her some of the places she hadn't seen during her first trip. Firstly, February is usually very cold but the weekend brought blue, sunny skies (YASSS) and secondly, I wanted to mix typical London activities with a bit of a true Londoner's twist on them.
First and foremost, we headed out to Charlotte Street and went for a decent priced but very yummy Afternoon Tea at the Oscar Bar & Restaurant based in the Charlotte Street Hotel. A typical afternoon tea would consist of finger sandwiches... very tiny sandwiches filled with cucumber, cheese, salmon, coronation chicken or maybe egg mayonnaise, tiny pastries, cakes or sometimes macarons, and scones.
After stuffing our faces we ventured to The House of MinaLima. This is a FREE museum located on Greek Street. Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima are graphic designers and they helped to create the original Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts artwork. This beautiful building is filled with memorabilia including a fireplace which, ofcourse, has Hogwarts acceptance letters falling out of it.
Afterwards, we actually got sidetracked and did some shopping for a while and then wandered through the beautiful streets of China Town.
I would recommend hopping on a bus with your oyster cards which will enable you to travel on all of London's transport (daily travel card prices should set you back £7) and go straight to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone and the Ancient Mummies.
The British Museum has a free entrance with ad-hoc costs for particular exhibitions. Then make your way back to Greek Street which is conveniently located near Soho and Chinatown. Stroll through China Town and grab some dinner at one of the many wonderful dim sum restaurants.
After such a long day we decided to head back home and go to the local Nandos for dinner. If you haven't been to Nandos or haven't tried it in the U.K... GET YOURSELF DOWN TO ONE.
Ok, now it's Sunday and the day of rest but if you want to squeeze in some sightseeing and visit some of London's most instragammable places you'll be able to have a lie in but make sure you're up and out sooner rather than later. You may want to make or find some breakfast first.
Head straight to Camden and navigate your way through the market. You can find some great clothes, accessories, perfume and a range of food stalls. After window (or real) shopping for a few hours and popping into a ravers' paradise, Cyberdog (be sure to check out the dancers), you can head to the market stalls closer to the canal for an array of food choices.
We opted for halloumi fries to start at Oli Baba's stand. These halloumi fries are the Real McCoy. Beware, salivating may occur while reading the following; drizzled with natural yoghurt, pomegranate mollases and seeds, sprinkled with sumac, coriander, and chilli flakes.
Next up we went to The Cheese Wheel; tagliatelle drenched in alfredo sauce and smothered in cheese straight from the wheel infront of your eyes! They have toppings available which include sausage, pancetta, mushrooms, etc.
After spending MORE money on clothes and other desirable clutter, we headed to the Cereal Killer Cafe. My friend was in awe that there is a place in London that serves just cereal. The inside decor is very 90's. They give you a selected VHS tape box which is what they use to identify you, we had Cinderella (very happy Disney-fans). We sat on old style, 90's beds with cartoon bed sheets and watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch on their TV wall.
By now you may be knackered but if not, walk off your carbs with a trip to Primrose Hill. A short distance away (you can also take the 31 bus from Camden High St or outside the Roundhouse) but honestly you don't need to as it's so close.
Primrose Hill offers fantastic views of London and it's a beautiful park on any day, sunshine or snow. You can then stroll back down and walk through Regents Park. Walk alongside the zoo where you can peep some of the animals for free or just pay to enter the zoo.
We didn't go to the zoo this time but London Zoo is magnificent. The penguins and Giraffes are my favourite animals to gawk at but they have regular shows on at different times of the day which teach you about all of the animals that live at the zoo.
This post doesn't even cover a quarter of what's on offer in London, but I will write a post about some of the more fancy places around so you can wear those shoes you've been saving for a special occasion. Maybe in the future I'll also write about some of my other favourite spots; V&A, Whistle Punks (Urban Axe Throwing OMG), Swingers (not what you think... mini golf ;)), Richmond Park, Saatchi, Knightsbridge, Where to Shop, more restaurants. Let me know if this is something you'd like...
And I hope to have some more friends visiting in the future. As a Londoner, I really do take advantage of this beautiful city. It's my first love after all. If you're a London resident, specifically in Camden, make sure to get a Camden Card (https://www.camdenmarket.com/journal/camdencard) for upto 25% off Camden Food Stalls and other places.
And I hope you fall in love with it too.
Afternoon Tea at Charlotte Street Hotel: https://www.firmdalehotels.com/hotels/london/charlotte-street-hotel/oscar-bar-restaurant/
House of MinaLima: https://store.minalima.com/house-of-minalima/
British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/
Cyberdog: https://www.cyberdog.net/
Camden Market Oli Baba's & The Cheese Wheel: https://www.camdenmarket.com/food-drink/oli-babas / https://www.camdenmarket.com/food-drink/the-cheese-wheel
Cereal Killer Cafe: http://www.cerealkillercafe.co.uk/
London Zoo: https://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo
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