London Photo Diary: Tower Of London + Buckingham Palace

Thursday, August 17, 2017
If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram then you will have seen my photos and video clips of my trip to London earlier this week! I went with my parents and one of my aunties on the 14th and the 15th, the latter was my birthday! We stayed in the London Euston Premier Inn which is so incredibly affordable, the location is amazing, there were vegetarian options and it was so clean - the staff were also so helpful, I'd definitely recommend it.

We traveled down with Virgin Trains from Manchester and it's my first time on Virigin Trains; it was fantastic, we had a table each time and it puts other train companies and quality to shame! On the first day we took the tube, which was a bit of a nightmare as we didn't know what tickets to buy and my contactless card wouldn't work at the barriers but we eventually arrived at the Tower Hill tube station and walked over to the Tower Of London.
Tower Of London
Tickets were a little expensive but in my opinion it was definitely worth it! We decided to wait and go on a tour with one of the yeomen of the guard which I'd definitely recommend as our guide *Steve* was so funny but with so many people in the group, it was a little difficult hearing everything. The tour was only an hour or so then we explored the white tower, the bloody tower and we saw the crown jewels!

As we were queuing up to look at the crown jewels, one of the famous ravens that live at the Tower Of London came right up on the railing where we were standing which was slightly frightening! It was amazing to walk around and we went inside the chapel where Anne Bolyn is buried too. I think if you do want to see everything at the tower and go on a tour then it will take up at least half of your day as we were there until the closing time.
From the Tower Of London you can see the Shard which was amazing as you get the view of the 900 year of tower and buildings with the modern buildings soaring overhead. Inside the white tower there are amazing displays of royal suits of armour, weapons and more so it's well worth going inside. They had suits of armour that Henry VIII wore!

Even though my feet were absolutely killing me *literally every step hurt*, I couldn't recommend visiting the Tower Of London enough and especially the Yeomen of the Guard tour as well as it's so informative and funny. Seeing the crown jewels was incredible, the displays inside the towers were too and despite the number of people, it was easy getting around, we didn't have to wait too long queuing and it was an amazing thing to see (it's definitely not enough to just see it from the outside). You can also see Tower Bridge from there too and it's a short walk to Tower Hill tube station.
St James Park
The next day we took the Victoria line from London Euston to the Victoria tube station as we wanted to see the houses of parliament, big ben and Buckingham Palace as we had a tour booked for later that day. I also wanted to go inside Westminster Abby but the prices were a little high, the queues were insane and you weren't allowed to take photos inside anyway so we didn't bother and walked to see Big Ben, Parliament and House Guards Parade and then came to St James Park which is a park I haven't been in before but it's definitely the nicest and most relaxing park in London.

There was a little Swiss looking cottage in the park with vegetable patches outside, lakes and a water fountain as well as so many beautiful flowers. We stopped at the cafe there and if you are looking for something to eat then definitely check it out as there were so many options and the location is fantastic. You wouldn't expect such a relaxing and quiet space like that within central London.
Buckingham Palace Tour
The final stop we had was a tour of Buckingham Palace which we booked a couple of months before and for four adults, it was about £90 and we went through 19 state rooms and the gardens. Before we went inside Buckingham Palace, I expected it to be a tour of about 2-3 hours with a guide taking small groups around but instead we were all given headsets with videos to listen to as we walked around the massive state rooms which was unexpected and I wasn't a fan of that style of tour!

Around a quarter of the way through the state rooms, I took of the headset and just walked around reading the plaques as it was so annoying having these headphones on and trying to watch a video while looking around. Also my feet were so incredibly sore so in pretty much every state room I had to sit down (thankfully there were benches set up in almost every state room).
As you walk around at your own pace rather than with a guide, you can take a while or as we did, you can move through at a normal pace (with the headphones on you are pretty much at a snails pace) and we were finished within about 70 minutes. We headed to the gardens where there is a shop and cafe, both of which were quite busy. The cafe had lovely views, the weather was so nice for the two days we were in London and I had strawberries and cream although on the website it shows macaroons but there weren't any *I did want a macaroon on my birthday but there wasn't a lot of choice, in my opinion* and the prices were ridiculous!

The gardens were so gorgeous and on the way out you get to see more of them but the last part of the day was pretty much ruined for me as I felt so physically sick (I think it was the heat and tiredness as I hardly spelt thanks to snoring) and my feet were so painful. I felt like I was either going to throw up or faint which wasn't a pleasant end to a lovely trip but thankfully we got a taxi to the hotel and it took us down The Mall, Regents St and some of the most exclusive and fancy streets in London.

Overall, I had an amazing time, we saw some incredible historic sites, Buckingham Palace was amazing, the weather was great and the hotel/train were both perfect. The only downsides were the prices, my ridiculously painful boots and not knowing what tickets to buy for the tube (the staff were great but there were only a couple of people around to help with lots of customers waiting around not know what to do!). I cannot recommend the Buckingham Palace and Tower Of London tours enough, I can't wait to visit again albeit with comfy boots!

Have you been to London? Have you visited Buckingham Palace or the Tower Of London?

18 comments

  1. I really want to visit Buckingham Palace some day! xx

    Beautylymin

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  2. I love London, and I always get the Virgin Train from Liverpool. Such a great journey x

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  3. Such beautiful pictures! I absolutely love London :) I'd be terrified if one of the ravens came near me though haha xx

    Jessie | allthingsbeautiful-x

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  4. Happy belated birthday! Love these shots. They make me really miss London! I've only been once, but definitely need to go back soon!

    xx
    Nida | Caked To The Nines

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  5. I love your photos!! London is the best xx

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  6. Oh wow looks like you had a fab time!x

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  7. I live in London and still haven't done a tour of Buckingham Palace x

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  8. Your photos are amazing. We went for a weekend a couple of years ago and barely did anything on my to-do list. There's just so much to see and do!

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  9. I really need to explore London more!!!!

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  10. Sounds like a great day! Such a shame some of the places were expensive to visit x

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  11. How lucky are we to have this on our doorstep?

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  12. I've not been to london in years, I really need to go again. It looks stunning, I want to go and be a tourist! :)

    Erin || MakeErinOver

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  13. Happy belated birthday, I've never actually did anything touristy in London, I've only ever been in town for meetings etc - I'll need to add it to my to-do list x

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  14. It sounds like you had a lovely time, I haven't been to London for a few years now but will definitely go back, I'd love to go to the palace xxx

    Zoe ♥ MammafulZo

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  15. Your photos are absolutely stunning! That one of st James park!! 😍
    Chantelle x
    The Girl In The Tartan Scarf

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  16. I've been in London today. We went to Spitalfields market, which is one of my fave places! x

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  17. What a fab trip and such lovely photo's! I love going to London.

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