The year was 2019.
We could wear lipstick on the regular. Hug our friends. Say, "here, try my food, you'll like it."
It was the year my little family traveled more than we ever have. And thank goodness for that!
As Thanksgiving is quick approaching, I am reminiscing about last Thanksgiving - visiting London.
necessary phone booth photo | mimosas at the Sky Garden (reserve tickets early) | changing of the guard | random alleyway :)
As travel continues to elude us, I'm so thankful to have had this family trip.
I think that some people shy away from London during this time of year because it can be cold and wet. But because it's so much less crowded than summer and we sill get to go during a school break, I find it ideal.
downtown London all lit up | Carnaby Street
Not to mention the Christmas cheer! I mean the holiday lights are mesmerizing. Everything is lit up. Winged angels made of white lights are suspended over the streets. Christmas trees on all the city balconies. Garland covers every inch of the pubs. {ohmygosh I love London pubs!!}
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland candy booth, food stalls and rides
For Christmas Markets, London is not your place. They are super tiny and kind of lame. {sorry!} BUT they have The Hyde Park Winter Wonderland which is ah-mazing! There are so many rides and so many food stalls. Lights absolutely everywhere. I don't know why I don't have any good photos showing the massiveness of it. Google it. This is a 100% must see in London if you are there over the holidays. We had a blast!
dinner at Tredwells | School of Rock on the West End
Why is it that London broadway shows cost about 1/4 of what NYC broadway shows cost? No clue. But what that means to me is, when in London, go see a show!
One of our son's all time favorite movies is School of Rock. We were so thrilled to see the live show in London. It's a really fun one to do with kids because all the actors are children.
And we wanted to him to experience the whole fancy dinner, broadway show night out. We chose Tredwells because they offer a six course tasting menu FOR KIDS! I love when restaurants give more thought to kids meals then lame fried food. And he was so excited to try all these fancy mini dishes. Highly recommend!
Borough Market
And of course... Warner Brothers Studio Tour
We basically bought tickets to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour moments after we bought our plane tickets. They really do sell out. I've only mentioned 1000 times how much I love Harry Potter. And thankfully my son is obsessed too. He'd finished reading all 7 books before he went into 2nd grade. It seems a little confusing at first because you take the tube and then take a bus... but the bus is the Harry Potter bus and you just follow everyone getting off the tube and it's super easy. They let you in by groups after you check in so it's never overwhelmingly crowded. It was so cool to see the actual sets and props. You even get to walk through the forbidden forest!
There is a cafeteria before you enter the tour. But there's also one about mid way through (which is great, because you'll be there for hours). Sadly, they only sell the regular butter beer there and not the frozen. We much prefer the frozen at Universal Orlando. So if you are like us, get the butter beer ice cream and not the drink!
Golden Carousel | food stands at Queen's Walk | Tower Bridge | Queen's Walk
We walked from the London eye area, following the Queen's walk all the way to Tower Bridge. On the way we stopped at the most adorable pub for lunch, The Mulberry Bush. Amazing fish & chips. Towards the end of this walk, you'll find vendors set up with booths for shopping or for eating/drinking.
Dishoom Shoreditch (amazing!!) | The Admiralty Pub | obsessed with fish & chips | Hamleys toy store (huge toy store!)
We stayed at the Andaz London for this trip using our Hyatt points. We really enjoyed our stay here. It has a funky chic vibe. The beds were amazing and the bathrooms are large. We lucked out with some weird attic room that was super cool and large (amazing for London).
This hotel is a PAIN to get to from Heathrow, but we were flying out of Stansted to get to our next location and so it was perfectly suited for that.
It is also a 10 minute walk to Dishoom Shoreditch - absolutely a must!
I can't believe this was a year ago!
London with kids: 100%
London family trip over the Thanksgiving holiday: 1000%
After London we were lucky enough to visit another incredible city (which does have killer Christmas Markets!).... Copenhagen! Post coming soon...
See more adventures and ramblings on instagram :)
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