If you follow my Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, you already know that I spent New Year’s Eve in London, England with my husband. We only had 4 days off, but we made sure to do everything we had wanted to do while we were there. I decided that I would blog today about the great (and not so great things) that we did while we were there, so that if any of you are thinking of going, you know what to hit and what to miss.
Seeya Sweden, Next Stop England!
Hello London!
(Rating – Excellent, Good, Average, Poor)
Where to stay?
The Hub by Premier Inn at Covent Garden
Rating – EXCELLENT
Location is right downtown. Room is small but has everything you need. Extremely affordable. The staff is accommodating and knowledgeable about the city. They knew we were celebrating a special occasion so they had chilled champagne delivered to us as well as free breakfast throughout our stay. We will definitely be staying with them again!
Shower with rainfall spout and forward sprayer.. Heaven when you need to warm up after a long day in the rain!
Champs <3
What to do?
New Year’s Eve Fireworks
Rating – POOR
So I had heard a ton about the fireworks in London on New Year’s. I have to say, we were disappointed. It took us an hour and a half of walking (what felt like 20k) to find the location we were supposed to enter, as we had tickets to see the fireworks from the Waterloo Bridge. We were sent in 100 different directions from the workers who seemed unprepared and uneducated about the event they were putting on. When we finally made it, the fireworks lasted about 10 minutes, and then we had the hour and a half walk home with 400,000 other people all being dispersed into the streets. If you go to London on New Year’s, I’d suggest skipping this.
Freezing Cold after walking around for hours, but happy we finally found the bridge we are supposed to be on.
New Year’s Day Parade
Rating – EXCELLENT
One of the highlights of our trip! We were invited for brunch at 1 Whitehall, where we had a delicious English breakfast and some champagne. We then went to the street where we watched 3 hours of cheerleading, marching bands, magician acts, floats, miniature horses, and SO much more. It was an absolute blast and something I will never forget. This is a MUST DO if you are in London for New Year’s Day. I will definitely be back next year, and might even be a part of the parade 😉
1 Whitehall Outside
Loving this day!
Front Row ready for the parade to begin!
About to be interviewed at the New Year’s Day Parade
They’re making fun of me because I’m cold. They assume Canadians live in igloos I think 😉
London Eye
Rating – AVERAGE
Both Jeremy and I found the London Eye to be overrated. The views from the top are very beautiful, but it really wasn’t worth the money to take a 20-minute ride around the Ferris wheel. Positives are that the line up moved very quickly and there weren’t a ton of people stuffed in the pod with us. I’d suggest seeing the same views from any of the bridges that cross the Thames River.
The London Eye from the bottom
Oh Hi Big Ben
Cruisin’
Ice Skating at The Tower Of London
Rating – EXCELLENT
A really fun activity in an unbelievable setting. Another unforgettable experience. We ice skated behind the tower walls where Henry the 8th had Anne Boleyn beheaded. Legend has it that you can still see her roaming the tower at night holding her head in her hands. Thankfully we didn’t see anything like that haha, but to skate around knowing the history surrounding us, was definitely a thrill. I highly suggest this if you visit London in the winter.
Our first view of the Tower of London. There is a really creepy vibe here.
So grand and eerie. Pictures don’t do it justice.
The hubs and I having the most incredible time.
Original Bus Tour
Rating – AVERAGE
It was kind of hard to rate the bus tour as we only got to ride the bus to one stop before I lost the tickets (classic Ashley). We went back to the information center, but they were unable to issue us new ones, so if you do decide to do the hop-on-hop-off bus tour DO NOT LOSE YOUR TICKETS! From our brief time on the bus, it seems that it is best if you sit upstairs as the tour guide is extremely hard to hear from the bottom.
London By Night
Rating – EXCELLENT
Another one of our favourites. This is an hour and a half bus tour showing you all of the best locations in London at night. In my opinion, going at night was much better than the day, because you can see everything a lot clearer, and there weren’t hundreds of people standing in front of every attraction. Our tour guide was incredible and funny, and this is where I learned the most about London. I definitely suggest this tour if you don’t mind not being able to get off at the stops, and just want a tour of the major highlights of the city.
Absolutely in love with the architecture here
Big Ben & Parliament
Must See:
- Buckingham Palace
- Big Ben & Parliament
- Tower of London
- London Eye (but don’t bother riding it)
- St Paul’s Cathedral
- Westminster Abbey
In total, our 4 days were pretty jam packed, but I hope this helps anyone who has a short stay in London to weed out what the MUST-DO’s are!
Hope you all had a wonderful New Year!
Love always,
Ash
Xx
Looks like you had a great time regardless of some poor ratings! 🙂
I’m late to the party but interesting stuff. I would however disagree with the London Eye. It is what it is and you basically know what you’re paying for. If an amazing view of the city is what you’re after you get that in spades. I was fortunate as well that the line moved quickly and there was only about 10 people in the pod with me. It may be a tad expensive but it was something I felt was kinda cool and worth it just for the photos and to say you’ve done it, as it is a popular “landmark” on the London skyline. On the flip side I felt Buckingham Palace was overrated. I was surprised how small it was. Big Ben & Parliment are definitely must sees from all angles. Especially from across the river at sunset. It’s great when the bell goes off on the hour. I wasn’t there at New Years so I saw my fire works at Wembley Stadium instead when I caught an NFL game(Chiefs vs Lions). I mean what better thing to do in London, England than the most American thing possible. An NFL game haha! Glad you guys enjoyed London. I thought it was great as well.