London, what a city. Of course, we don’t miss the chance to visit London on our UK trip. Paddy and Mimi have both been here, but it’s been more than 10 years since we’ve seen the capital of England.

Our accommodation – camping for a city trip

Well, for this we must explain a little bit about situation…Unfortunately, we learn only a few days before our visit to London that the city is divided into a “Low Emission Zone” and an “Ultra Low Emission Zone”. That means, you are only allowed to drive into the city with a car that is qualified accordingly. Our bus meets these requirements, but this has to be confirmed in writing in advance, which can take several days or weeks. We are too late for that. So as a tip for you – apply early!

The consequence for us is that we look for a campground as close to the city as possible but still outside the “Low Emission Zone”. Finally, we land on the Lee Valley Campsite. For 25 pounds we get a campsite with electricity and somewhat outdated, but clean sanitary facilities. It is also great for us that we can do our laundry here without any complications.

A big plus of the camping is also the bus station directly at the entrance gate. The bus leaves every 20 minutes which brings us to the subway station to London. Within an hour we are in the heart of London.

Today, the entire public transport in and around London works contactless, which means you don’t even have to buy and load a public transport card but can check in everywhere directly with a (VISA) credit card. Over the day, all journeys are added up and then booked on the credit card in the evening. From 9 pounds onwards you drive for free. However, this only works if everyone has their own credit card, you can’t run multiple tickets on one credit card.

Sunday Flower Market

Since we start our city trip on a Sunday, our first stop is the Sunday Flower Market on Columbia Street. Somehow, we imagined a market with lots of colorful cut flowers, but no, here you can buy all kinds of plants. It seems that when a Londoner wants a new living room plant, he goes to the Sunday Flower Market and picks something from the market stands. Conveniently, the side of the street across from the market stalls is lined with coffee shops, flowerpot lots, and garden accessory stores. We let ourselves drift through the crowd and amuse ourselves deliciously about the colorful mixed market visitors. A truly leisurely start to Sunday.

The Mall Road – Buckingham Palace

We continue to the Mall Road. This is the big road that runs in a straight line from Trafalgar Square towards Buckingham Palace. On weekends, the road is closed to traffic, so there are many Sunday strollers here. With the crowd we stroll leisurely towards Buckingham Palace.

Many people still come to pay tribute to the Queen, who passed away just over 2 weeks before our visit. There continues to be a place to lay flowers.

Harrods

Harrods THE department store in London. With its almost 100’000m² sales area it is one of the largest, but also most exclusive department stores in the world. Of course, we have to take a “quick” look inside. Mimi is especially looking forward to the food department, Paddy to the toys. Somehow, however, the memories of our youth are better than reality. Everything seems a bit smaller than in memory, only the many people have gotten more since then.

The prices are also crass; Swiss chocolate from Läderach is worth half a fortune here. 300g of broken chocolate costs 60 pounds!

Big Ben & Westminster Abbey

What’s a visit to London without running across Westminster Bridge with a view of Big Ben? Since we’re in a walking mood anyway, we do this detour as well. Although we’ve both been here before, the sight still impresses. What also surprises us, however, is how many tricksters can be found on the bridge and especially how many people still fall for the shell game.

For a look at the Westminster Abbey behind the Big Ben it is also still enough. However, it is closed to the public on Sundays.

Waterloo Station – Leake Street

On the way to our dinner, we pass Waterloo Station and take the Leak St. underpass. Here graffiti and street art are officially allowed to be sprayed on walls. Really impressive and a guarantee for colorful memories.

Tower Bridge & Old Wharf / Shad Thames

Of course, we take a walk over the famous Tower Bridge. To Paddy’s disappointment, it will not be raised in the next few days to allow ships to pass. The combined suspension and bascule bridge can be raised in the middle for larger ships. If it can be arranged, this is sure to be a great spectacle to watch. You can check here (https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/lift-times) if the bridge will be lifted during your visit to London.

If you walk across Tower Bridge from the Tower of London side (this is where the bridge got its name), you will come to the Old Wharf neighborhood on the other bank to the left. Here, the old factory buildings have been beautifully converted into modern apartments, and some of them are even connected by bridges that serve as balconies.

St. Pauls Cathedral

New city – new cathedral, and what a cathedral. Of course, Mimi has to see St. Paul’s Cathedral! This time even Paddy joins, because you can go to the top of the dome of St. Paul’s and have a view of London.

Admission costs a hefty £21 per person (£18 if you book the ticket online in advance), but you get the audio guide for free. The audio guide has various topics for each section of the church, which you can listen to and on the screen of the handheld also pictures are shown. Especially interesting for Mimi, to almost every part of the church there is an exciting architectural report. The cathedral is worth a visit and together with the background information provided by the audio guide, it is not only nice to look at, but also super exciting.

Finally, we set out to climb the cathedral’s dome. After 528 steps or 85m height difference, we stand on the Golden Gallery and enjoy a breathtaking view of London in drizzle (typical English).

Bye bye London…

A great city, but once again we realize that we don’t like big cities the same as in younger years. Sure, there are beautiful buildings and museums, but everything is very anonymous, and people are rarely as warm as in more rural areas. But from now on the cities will only get smaller and at the latest in Scotland we will be able to admire a lot of wild landscape.