We have been to London a few times and we love it, it’s such a vibrant city and visiting a Country that everyone speaks English is a huge bonus. In August 2022 we brought my nephew Shaun over for his first visit and he was so excited for his first trip across the pond. It made it all the more fun for us to show him all the sights of London. Along with Shaun and my sister Sheila, Ayr and I all went on a 9 night cruise of the British Isles and then spent 3 days in London after. We stayed at our favorite hotel The Park Plaza Westminster partially due to it’s great location. Its close to the tube and the London Eye as well as Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, as well as a convenient bus stop across the street. The best reason is the excellent service and friendly staff who always try to make your stay special.
We decided to explore the Tower of London, we hadn’t had the time in previous visits and as Shaun is a big history buff we were all excited! As Queen Elizabeth had recently passed her jewels were on limited display, which we knew would be a great experience. The Tower of London, officially “His Majesty’s Royal Palace” and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames. It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest.. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 until 1952 although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence.
As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat and there is so much to see but lots of walking between all the buildings and also inside with lots of stairs everywhere. If you are going bring good walking shoes, there were not a lot of places to sit and rest if someone has mobility issues. There were several phases of expansion over the years as the Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country and has served as the home of the crown jewels. The castle encloses an area of almost 12 acres and many different buildings, we spent almost an entire day there and still didn’t see everything, but the Crown Jewels was the highlight, It attracted lots of attention and a tip is to get there early when they first open. We were advised by a friendly security women to go right to the jewel display as soon as we entered.
We left there and got back on the hop off hop on bus as this is a great way to see London and not walk for miles, this is a huge city and so much you don’t want to miss. We had dinner and then we got back on their night bus and got to experience all of London’s sights in the evening, it was so pretty with everything all lit up. We saw Harry Potter’s Studio, Buckingham Palace, the Strand, Big Ben, London Eye, and Westminster Abbey and it is a really a great way to see the city at night. I would love to come back here once the Christmas lights are up and see the holiday festivities from this view on top of a bus.
The next day we went to Charing Cross, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square, the West End, as we wanted to see as much as possible before our flight home the next day. We would have seen a play as we enjoy the theater in London but there wasn’t enough time to do it all. After dinner we did more walking around our hotel area, past the London Eye, and then made it an early night. We knew we would return to visit this city the following year but we sure had another wonderful time in London made special by sharing it with Shaun and Sheila.
