30 Before 30: London Recap

For those who have been following my posts, you know that I am on my 30 before 30 travel journey, and that my birthday trip was the start. Ya'll I am so sorry. It has been 2 months and I have not discussed London. How could I do America senior, like that. Especially considering my trip to Instanbul was only because I had a long layover on my way to London. I spent the bulk of my birthday week in London, and I have not given it it's own blog. Well next up on the list is destination 2 of the lineup.

Disclosure: This is a Guide for your visit like my many other guides. I may or may not travel like you and the things I enjoy may not be enjoyable for you. If this is the case please find your favorite travel blogger and utilize their guides. I can only endorse things I have done and experienced.

Duration- Sunday- Wednesday.

Airline- Turkish

Baggage Fees: NONE, 1 checked bag was included in my ticket purchase, I used my TotenCarry Duffel and Backpack as my personal and carryon item.

Flight Cost- $468 One Way

Hotel: Moxy London Stratford

Cost: Subject to Availability.

Transportation: $10 a day for train.

What To Do & See

So I had absolutely no idea on what to do in London. TikTok just kept recommending food places, and while that was cool I wanted to do something besides eat and drink all trip. Honestly, I will say to anybody who wants to be touristy but not break the bank get the London Pass.

What is the London Pass?

The London Pass® is a digital sightseeing credits package that gives you access to 80+ attractions in the city. Choose a duration for your credits package (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 10 consecutive days), download it to the official London Pass® app, and scan at the attraction gate to enter. We chose the 3 day pass for (£119- about $150 USD) and in my opinion it was worth it.

Using the pass was extremely easy. Once you have the pass downloaded you can just walk up to attractions and gain entry, however there were a few things that needed a reservation (The Shard, etc). Other than that there's no need to pre-book. For those attractions that need reservations you'll find all the reservation details on the individual attraction pages under 'Know before you go' or on their reservation page.

*The London Pass includes a 1-day hop-on, hop-off bus tour. However catching the train was easy. You can buy an Oyster card, but the trains take Apple Pay so I used my phone for all transportation.

Things I did with my London Pass.

Uber Boat by Thames Clippers 1-day River Roamer (It's Uber, but a boat lol drops you off right by the Landmarks.

• Take to the water on a spacious and comfortable river bus.

• Onboard café for refreshments.

• Normal Price- $50 USD (£37.00)

London Bridge Experience

• "Coined" the scariest attraction in London. It was like walking through a Historical Haunted house.

• In a small group you walk through the underground tombs of the London Bridge and learn the origin tales of London. As well as why the nursery rhymes "Ring Around the Rosie" and "London Bridge" came to be.

• Learn about the rich history of gruesome, gory Britain.

• A two-part attraction including The London Bridge Experience and London Tombs.

• Normal Price- $40. (£31.95)

QUEENS Skate Dine Bowl

• includes one session of ice-skating. (It was so much fun. I would have never done this otherwise)

• Normal Price- $20 (£15.75)

Curzon Mayfair Cinema

• Get to see a free movie at Curzon Cinemas. They are a chain of cinemas based in the United Kingdom, mostly in London, specialising in art house films.

• A very upscale theater, I liked it. Got to see an Independent film- Nostalgia.

• I even signed up for Curzon Home Cinema Presents....so I can watch independent movies at home.

• Monday - Thursday: 10AM - 9.45PM

• Friday - Sunday: Only valid on screenings before 5PM

• Normal Price- $22 (£17.50)

The Chocolate Cocktail Club

• one Chocotini, their signature cocktail. FOR FREE.

• UK's first and only chocolate bar.

• The menu has a range of chocolate cocktails and other indulgent chocolate drinks. As well regular beer, wine, prosecco, spirits, soft drinks and tea / coffee.

• Normal Price- $12 (£10.00)

Southwark Cathedral

• one of London's most famous buildings. What was for many centuries the only entrance to the City of London situated across the river

• Free In General.

Tower of London

• one of the world's most famous fortresses and home to the Crown Jewels

• So much walking but it was cool especially to see the Beefeaters (the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London)

• Normal Price- $38 (£29.90)

British Museum

• As a person who grew up with the Smithsonian in my backyard, I had to go see the mother of all musuems.

• Home to over 8 million artefacts the British Museum is massice. The London Pass also comes with a VOX audio guide, that allows you to save time while exploring at your own pace.

• Normal Price- Free.

Things we missed out on- but wanted to dol

• We had tickets for The View from The Shard. (London's highest viewpoint) but we would have gotten there too late so we missed out.

• Normal Price: $50 (£37.00)

• We also wanted to see the The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace but it was closed.

• Normal Price- $21 (£17.00)

So alone if I were to do all of these activities individually I would have ended up paying over $200. I also would have been way more upset about missing The Shard, but because it was "free" I didn't mind. Get the London Past, trust me. When I go back to London by myself I am getting the pass again and doing the rest of the stuff I missed.

Food Places.

Slug & Lettuce - The O2

I didn't go to many restaurants. Vacation me does not eat often. But I did have my "pre-birthday" dinner at Slug & Lettuce - The O2. The 2 for 1 Cocktails and the 2 for £6 shots, sold me. But then the food was also no bad. I was pleasantly suprised because I had NO expectations about British food.

The 2-for-1 cocktail offer applies when you order any of the same two cocktails or mocktails*

For all my other meals I just grabbed food at one of the smaller places I saw. So sorry about my lack of recommendation for that. But TikTok would be your best bet for food options.

Thanks for reading my blog. I appreciate those of you who value what I have to say in the travel space.

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