Ready for a weekend in London? London has plenty to see, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, Picadilly Circus, even Kings Cross Station is a destination. London is a city that could take weeks to explore, how do you see everything you want on a weekend in London? Let me help!
Plan your weekend in London.
How do you plan any short vacation to a destination that is overloaded with historic sights, entertainment, and just plain fun stuff to see? Do your research. Decide what is most important to see first – what are those things that you need to see if you only visit the destination once. For me, that was an easy answer – Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.
Once you have your list of sights, logistics are important. How will you efficiently move between your sightseeing stops? Do you want lodging located close to one or more of your must-see sights? Sorry, but a weekend in a destination like London requires planning if you feel strongly about seeing certain things.
If you don’t feel strongly, then wandering around the city may be a good option, and that has worked out great for us too.
But that isn’t this story.
Starting our London exploration.
The beginning of this saga started with a school trip. We had several days in London with scheduled activities. Papa Joe and I had our own list of things we wanted to see, so in our free time, we did exactly what I described above.
We had a list of things that were high on our list. Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace were both on our list, luckily they are only 22 miles apart, so they could be visited in a day.
Papa Joe felt strongly about seeing a theater performance, so a stop at Picadilly Circus was on the list. He is also an art lover and often visits art museums in our destinations. Our unscheduled weekend in London was no exception, and the National Gallery was added to our list.
Lastly, I had to figure out how to visit Westminster Abbey.
Did we see all of that on a weekend in London?
We sure did, and here is how.
Full disclosure – Windsor Castle was included in our scheduled activities for the school trip, but I know exactly how we would have used our free time to include a trip to Windsor Castle.
Visiting Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace in a day.
It can be done. Transportation between the palace and castle is relatively easy – there is a direct bus departing from Victoria and arriving at Windsor Town Centre, Parish Church. Services depart hourly and operate every day. The journey takes approximately 90 minutes.
The quickest way to get from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle is to take a taxi. The average cost is around £60 – £75 and the trip takes a little more than 30 minutes. If you are driving, the M4 is a “direct” route between the 2 sites. Easy peasy.
Visiting Windsor Castle.
All I can say is – wow. I was so overwhelmed by the interior that I didn’t even take photos. I was almost as impressed by the exterior of Windsor Castle and St. George’s Chapel, but at least I got photos there.
I could write about Windsor Castle, but I think this is one instance where photos do more justice than words.
Visiting Buckingham Palace.
For our experience at Buckingham Palace, we were wandering one afternoon after a service at Westminster Abbey on a dreary Sunday morning. I wanted to attend a church service at Westminster Abbey. But this isn’t about Westminster Abbey, this is about the afternoon following the service.
After leaving the Abbey, we wandered London’s streets. During our rambling, we encountered two mounted Queen’s Guard letting children pet their horses.
The arched doorways they were standing in were so interesting, we went through the arched doorways and found ourselves in St. James Parade Ground.
We had no idea where we were and decided to follow the long elaborately manicured lane. Imagine my surprise when we found ourselves smack dab in front of Buckingham Palace.
Nothing like a provincial colonial to be oblivious to what revered grounds we were walking on.
Day 2 of our weekend in London.
Let’s revisit our list of things Papa Joe and I wanted to experience while in London – Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace – done. Picadilly Circus, the National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben.
My choice for Westminster Abbey and Big Ben was to attend a Sunday church service, so that left our Saturday free. The National Gallery and Picadilly Circus seemed like great Saturday activities, so off we went.
Now, the National Gallery and Picadilly Circus are about a mile apart. For Papa Joe and myself, walking a mile between the 2, seeing what we could see, stopping by a pub for lunch, was all within our normal vacation activity level. So, that is exactly what we did.
If the walk isn’t your idea of fun, there is a bus service between the 2 sites and taxis are always an option. My favorite, this may be a good day for you to invest in a Hop-on-Hop-off tour and use these 2 stops as your Hop-off options.
I almost always recommend Hop-on-Hop-off tours. They are a great way to get an all-around education on your destination, and if you use them for 2 or more stops, the cost is usually about the same as using a taxi. London is no exception.
Visiting The National Gallery.
As I said, Papa Joe is an art lover and he is making a convert out of me. The National Gallery was pretty cool. Unfortunately, photography isn’t allowed inside. Plan on spending at least a couple of hours here, and this is why. These floor plans represent 2 of the 3 floors located in the gallery. Our focus was on the painting wing labeled -1, featuring paintings from Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
You may ask how we topped that, and believe me, it wasn’t easy. Until we were passing by a pub and realized the date was March 17… St. Patrick’s Day. In London… It was time for lunch, so into the pub, we went for a St. Patty’s Day adventure. What a great time to sample kidney pie and shepherd’s pie, and a green adult beverage!
Then off for some serious exploring time. We explored all of that mile between The National Gallery and Picadilly Circus (and more_. Unfortunately, the weather was downright soggy on our entire London visit, and this Saturday was exceptionally wet. Hence, no photos of our wandering in Picadilly Circus.
Visiting Picadilly Circus.
Are you curious why this area was named “Circus”? Well, my curiosity results in an answer for you. Picadilly Circus was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In the case of Picadilly Circus, circus, as taken from the Latin word meaning circle, refers to a round open space at a street junction.
As shown on Google Maps, the intersection of Regent Street and Picadilly form a circle, so there you have it.
You may ask what Picadilly Circus has to do with our day of art.
The Picadilly Circus area has a wide variety of cinemas, theatres, shops, and restaurants. This made Picadilly Circus the perfect destination for an evening of musical theater – which could be considered a story in itself.
We returned to Picadilly Circus that evening and attended a Beatle’s Tribute show. For a couple of Americans, A Beatles Tribute show seemed to be the perfect show to attend on a weekend in London. Our seatmates on one side were from Rock of Gibraltar and the other side were from Austria, so I guess the show didn’t just attract Americans.
If you are a theater lover, a show at Picadilly Circus needs to be an evening event for you.
Day 3 of a weekend in London – visiting Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.
Whew, 2 days down, and our 3rd day was no less eventful.
Now, Westminster Abbey isn’t just a famous building. Westminster Abbey was founded in 960AD, the building we see today dates from the reign of Henry III in the 13th century.
It houses centuries of historical artifacts from the literature and art world, as well as tombs from a lot of famous Britains. The Abbey has been the site for 17 royal weddings. Lastly, it holds daily worship services.
After visiting the Abbey and its gift shops on Saturday, attending a Sunday worship service seemed like the thing to do. Not because there was something special about attending a service, but because we had an opportunity to do the activity. As one of my life-long bucket-list items, attending a service at Westminster Abbey felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And it was.
The service was special, Her Royal Majesty’s Blessing of the Royal Fleet. It was everything I had hoped for and so much more. Sorry, it just didn’t feel right to take photos inside Westminster Abbey after attending a service.
However, after the service, instead of leaving the Abbey with other churchgoers, we explored the inner workings of the abbey. Exploring the tombs inside the Abbey and its cloister hallways was like a trip to another world.
I have no idea where we were when we left the Abbey, and neither did Papa Joe.
How did we spend the rest of the last day of our weekend in London?
In true travel junkie fashion, Papa Joe and I wandered after leaving Westminster Abbey. And wow, the things we saw!
Before I get off track, the important thing here is we researched, we came up with a plan, we organized our time, and we checked off our bucket-list items.
After those were finished, we got to explore. There is an important piece to grasp here – while you are visiting those bucket-list items, there will be little (or big) surprises along the way. Enjoy them, celebrate them. Those surprises may end up being the best part of your vacation.
For example, what did Papa Joe and I find wandering the streets of London on a rainy Sunday afternoon? Well, looking over our left shoulder after passing a long, innocuous building, we saw the building title – Scotland Yard.
It’s a good thing we were behaving because I’m sure we were on security feed the entire time. Strolling down another interesting street, we started counting off the addresses and realized we were in front of 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence.
Sorry, no photographs of either location, but WOW. These are just a few of the photos we took on that Sunday afternoon of wandering.
But here is my favorite, and it deserves a section all its own.
Visiting Kings Cross Station.
Was this a destination? Noooo, it was not – but it should be! I was more than pleased to look up and see this amazing architecture inside Kings Cross Station.
Tributes to travelers throughout time were equally striking.
Papa Joe had a blast exploring the trains in Kings Cross Station that transport travelers across Great Britain. He even got to see the train that transports travelers under the English Channel to France.
Kings Cross Station was really cool, and a very pleasant surprise. If you don’t have travel scheduled through here and enjoy trains, architecture, or art, it is worth adding a little time to explore.
Use your resources
Here are a few resources to help you explore Europe – I selected a variety to help you!
- Book 5 star Harry Potter tours in London
- Create your own itinerary! Save on Hop-on Hop-off city bus tours
- Save on best things to do in London
I found this story with advice for mistakes to avoid when visiting London that may be helpful for you too.
Lastly, be adventurous. A weekend in London is an amazing getaway. If this is your bucket-list destination, get your own list of sites to visit, research, and plan your trip.
Who knows, you may find your own version of Kings Cross Station!
If you need more help, my 6 Easy Vacation Planning Steps story is a great resource for you!
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