24 Hours in London: An Itinerary Fit for a Royal Wedding

Kevin and I just got back from our honeymoon — traveling 2 weeks across Spain and Portugal (with MANY blog posts and tips to come!). We recommend doing a stop over in London when visiting Europe. It not only broke up the trip, but it gave us an excuse to see another country. Also, you can get cheaper direct flights to London (then transfer to a low cost airline). Cha-ching, we are saving you money! We literally saved hundreds on our flights.

London is the hot spot lately. And while we didn’t exactly have a royal wedding, we still think our ceremony went off in style! It was so great to see our family and friends and will be a day we’ll always remember.

We’re married! The next day we headed off to London.

Now in honor of our wedding, and oh, that little royal wedding with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, we bring you our recommended itinerary for 24 hours in London. It’s the perfect mix of entertainment, food and style. And yes, in our true form, leaves little rest for the weary!

2 PM, Arrival at London-Gatwick. We took the Gatwick Express Train. And wow, it was so easy and fast. Why don’t we have something like this in LA?

Quick, easy and cheap. Recommend taking the Gatwick Express train to central London.

3 PM, Check into the hotel (we loved our room at the Bailey’s Hotel), shower up and head straight to London’s West End for dinner and a show. I was convinced that Kevin would fall asleep from the jet lag. But we made sure to load up on caffeine!

Time to wake up Kevin! No sleeping – this is the first day of the trip!

4 PM, Get discounted tickets at TKTS to see a West End show. We were so excited to see they had discounted tickets for Baz Luhrmann’s “Strictly Ballroom.” We recommend getting something light and fun (in case the jetlag is too much to handle!). Amazingly Kevin stayed awake… well, mostly!

So excited! Outside the theater for Strictly Ballroom

5 PM, Join the line to eat Indian food at Dishoom Covent Garden (or another nearby West End restaurant). If there is one place that I knew I wanted to eat at, it was Dishoom! They don’t do reservations – and is first come, first serve. Be sure to arrive by 5 PM at the latest. Otherwise, you may have a long wait.

The long line outside Dishoom Covent Garden – incredible Indian food located near all the theaters.

Bottom line – you should order the Chicken Ruby (similar to Chicken Tikka Masala), the Cheddar Naan and the House Black Daal. To be honest, I’m really not into Daal at all. But this version was more like a curry. So I was all in (and glad to get it!).

Perfect meal to start off the trip – really enjoyed our dinner at Dishoom.

7 PM, if you have the time (oh, and that little thing called energy!), take a stroll through nearby Chinatown. We recommend getting a fresh, made-to-order dessert of Taiyaki (cake filled with warm vanilla pudding) at the Chinatown Bakery. So worth the calories!

Yummm, enjoying dessert in London’s Chinatown at the Chinatown Bakery. Get an order of these little cakes baked fresh before your eyes (called Taiyaki).

8-11 PM, it’s show time! Enjoy a musical or play in the West End. Then head back to your hotel for some MUCH needed rest. Or you can be insane like us, and walk all the way back to your hotel. Clearly, we were still on an adrenaline rush from our wedding.

Getting my obligatory red phone booth photo on our walk back to the hotel.

I forgot how lovely London can be at night time. We loved our late-night walk back.

Why isn’t Harrod’s 24 hours? I would definitely do some shopping damage at 1 AM!

NEXT DAY:

Ready to tear up London Kevin? Well, not sure you have much of a choice with me!

9 AM wake up. We got such a good night’s rest at the Bailey Hotel. We needed it!

Our room at the very comfy Bailey’s Hotel London

10 AM – 1 PM, we’ve both been to London so we were pretty familiar with all the spots. Some people may prefer taking a double decker bus. But we wanted to stretch the legs and did our own self-guided walking tour using Google Maps (to help us from getting too lost). Here is a fantastic route that we recommend —
- Stop #1: Stroll through Hyde Park – visit Speaker’s Corner
  - Grab breakfast near speaker’s corner at The Grazing Goat

Kevin gets a lot off his chest at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park (in reality, he just kept saying “I’m speaking… on the corner”). Clearly we’re here to entertain.

Enjoying a traditional English breakfast (and much needed coffee!) at the nearby dining spot, The Grazing Goat.

I enjoyed the traditional English Breakfast – loved this!

Eggs Benedict for Kevin. It hit the spot.

Stop #2: Selfridges Food Hall. Located just a 7 minute walk from The Grazing Goat, Selfridges is one of London’s quintessential department stores. When I studied in London, it was one of my favorite spots to visit, especially the incredible food hall (which I obviously had to browse this trip!)

The cupcakes we ordered from Selfridges Food Hall.

Royal wedding merchandise — Selfridges is ready for the big day.

Stop #3: Regent’s Park, for a lovely stroll through the gardens (20 minute walk from Selfridges). This stop could be skipped if needed, but it was more of a walk down memory lane for me. I studied at Regents University way back in 2001. I can’t believe how fast time has gone. If you enjoy parks, they don’t get much better than Regents.

Stop 4: Head to Churchill War Rooms. It’s a 45 minute walk, or a quick tube ride. We recommend walking since you’ll pass by Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus as well as St. James Park.
- Our most important piece of advice — get your tickets in advance online (can be done the day before). We ended up waiting about 90 minutes since we didn’t make a reservation (which is timed).

The line takes longer than it looks! Be sure to get advanced tickets online when visiting the Churchill War Rooms.

If you’ve seen the Oscar-winning movie, The Darkest Hour, you won’t want to miss this stop! This sprawling underground museum is one of London’s most fascinating — and served as a secret command center used by Winston Churchill and his staff during the most harrowing moments of World War II, when it looked like England might become German.
Get the guided audio tour, and allow about 2 hours inside.

Stop 5: Visit Big Ben and Westminster Abbey just minutes from the War Rooms. Or rush to the airport like we did! Cheerio London – we loved our time visiting!