Since we finally got to UK to visit our friends in Chesterflied and our flight was arriving and departing in Luton Airport, a short stop in London seemed like a good idea especially since I’ve never been there before and well, you know… some places you just have to check on your destinations list.

Looking back, I can say for sure that I’m not going back as a tourist. Don’t get me wrong, it is indeed a great city and I did have quite a nice feeling to actually finally see in front of my eyes all those attractions about which I had learned during English lessons in school.

We only spent two full days in London which I would say it wasn’t quite enough, but it was good enough to actually get a sense of what this city really means. On the first day we mostly walked on the Thames riverside, which is a good starting point for seeing some of the most important attractions of the city: Buckingham Palace, The Big Ben, The London Bridge or The London Eye. It’s quite a long walk and it did take us practically all day to go back and forth on the Thames riverside.

The second day, we just preferred to have a long a quite relaxing walk in Hyde Park. It’s incredibly big and one day of walking around is almost not enough to catch all the beauties this park has to offer, but it’s a very good place to go if you want to get out of the crowded city and relax a bit. We also had quite a good weather, sometimes with sun and fortunately no rain, so we could enjoy the walk as much as possible.

We only had two days to actually visit the city and I can say for sure, it wasn’t enough. London is incredibly big, it’s just enormous and trying to see everything a tourist should see would have meant an incredible effort, beyond human power. It did make me feel quite tired and mostly because it’s such a big city and maybe because, having seen already some other big cities in Europe, it didn’t impress me that much. I think that I’m becoming more of an outdoor tourist, being more impressed and attracted to beautiful beaches, natural sites and high mountains, rather than historical buildings and crowded cities full of their inhabitants, but also full of tourists trying to photo themselves next to each attraction.

On the other hand, London is expensive. Yes, it is quite expensive and going there for a city break means that you do have to spend quite a big amount of money. Everything from accommodation, to public transport, to eating and drinking is expensive, so expect to spend a big part of your salary on a trip like this. Having the chance, during the whole UK trip to actually go to smaller towns and to Liverpool for one night, I can say that not all the country is as expensive. And for sure other cities could have more to offer than the famous London.

But at least, everyone speaks English 🙂 And UK has great beer!