Walking Through London

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London! Perhaps our favourite city. We had the opportunity to be in this immensely inspiring city sometime last year, and these are just some photos from the trip. We didn’t have the time to travel around though.

We stayed at Cartwright Gardens, in a studio apartment booked by Studios2let. It was close to our place of work, plus in the middle of everything, and we had a great time. The room was tiny, but thats normal in an expensive city like London. The only unfortunate thing was their check-in time being 2pm. Flights from India land early morning London time, and you just have to figure out something to do until you get your room.

 

The lovely Cartwright Gardens in London
The lovely Cartwright Gardens in London
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It was a cold grey January, but we loved walking the streets around Cartwright Gardens.

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Loved this old building with blue windows!
Barclays Building
The brightly painted Barclays Building near the British Library, London. I wish we had some of them here in Mumbai.
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Looking for good places to eat.
The British Library, London.
The British Library. So many events and exhibitions happen here. it makes sense to plan well in advance.
The Jubilee Walkway
The Jubilee Walkway, is the official Walking Route of London. “It was originally opened as the Silver Jubilee Walkway to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s accession; the Queen herself opened it on 9 June 1977 during her silver jubilee celebrations. The intention was to connect many of London’s major tourist attractions and it is now one of seven such walks within the Mayor of London’s strategic walking routes. Its length is 15 miles. The Jubilee Walkway Trust was set up in 1978 to look after the trail, in collaboration with local authorities.”
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London, despite being so densely populated, can be surprisingly empty as well.
St Pancras London
The magnificent St Pancras Building in magical light. “The St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel is a hotel in London, England, forming the frontispiece of St Pancras railway station. It opened in 2011, and occupies much of the former Midland Grand Hotel designed by George Gilbert Scott which opened in 1873 and closed in 1935. The building as a whole including the apartments is known as St Pancras Chambers and between 1935 and the 1980s was used as railway offices. Its clock tower stands at 82m tall, making the hotel possibly the tallest building in Europe at the time with more than half its height usable. – Wikipedia”
The St Pancras Hotel, London
Another imposing view of The St Pancras Hotel.
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Cycling past the Spice of Life Pub and restaurant in London. The typical London red telephone Booth adorns the frame, though I wonder how useful is it now.
Cafe Plaka, London
We discovered Cafe Plaka near Kings Cross Tube Station as a perfect place for a quick breakfast and meal.
Cafe Plaka
A very filling meal of Fish and Chips a Cafe Plaka
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The menu. Just so we remembered the name. An otherwise very functional Cafe, we loved the food, the servings, and of course the price.
Cousous Salad, London
A wholesome couscous and veggies salad at Cafe Plaka, London
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Long shadows cast by January London Sun.
The London Bridge Borough Market.
We decided to visit The Globe Theatre, of Shakespeare fame. The walk from the tube to the theatre was through The London Bridge Borough Market.
Whine Wharf
Shikha poses at the Whine Wharf, a restaurant, now apparently closed.
Stoney Street, London
Pedestrian enjoying the sun in a cold january morning, London.
Globe Theatre, London.
Sandiwched in between these two buildings is the Globe Theatre.
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The Globe is right next to the Thames, making room for delightful cafes and walks.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
The gorgeous Victoria and Albert Museum.
The Globe Theatre, London
The Globe Theatre, London
Inside The Globe Theatre.
Inside The Globe Theatre.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
Inside the Victoria and Albert Museum.

London : Where to stay : Stay options are limitless and in various budgets. We stayed at Cartwright Gardens Studio Rooms booked via Studios2Let.

What to do: There’s plenty to do, almost limitless amounts of things. You could go for walks in the streets or in the parks. For this trip we hung around Kings Cross because that’s where work was. The British Library has plenty of events going on. Do check them well in advance. There is plenty happening in the theater scene of London, and if you want to catch a show, do book well in advance, maybe a month or more to get good prices. These shows are always overbooked and last minute tickets can be prohibitively expensive.

There are plenty of musuems and galleries in London worth visiting. Amongst the free ones, there’s Victoria & Albert Museum, Museum Of London, British Museum, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, National Gallery, National Maritime Museum, Tate Modern, Imperial War Museum, National Army Museum, The Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood etc.

If you want to watch Cinema, the Prince Charles Cinema has quite affordable tickets.

There are plenty of great eating options in London, but from where we stayed, we loved Plum Plus Spilt Milk, and for everyday eating we would often drop by Cafe Plaka, Gray’s Inn Road, London. If you are looking for an Indian eatout experience, do try the Dishoom.

There is so much already written about London, you are sure to find what you are looking for. But we advise exploring the city on foot, as much as possible, since the city itself is a giant museum!

25 thoughts on “Walking Through London”

  6. Any place can be best explored through walking. Beautiful pictures and a nice write-up, I especially liked the building with blue windows… 🙂

    Reply

  16. All pictures looks really beautiful. Fantastic experience after reading your outstanding blog. My dream is to travel the best and famous place in the world.

    Reply

  18. I for one believe, cities are best explored on foot.The pics in the post are awesome.
    And its wonderful to know London has an official walking route.

    Reply

  20. just I read your blog post. It is the nice post. The pictures are so good. thanks for sharing this great article

    Reply

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