Tag Archives: trip

England, London, UK

The London Underground

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The tube, the underground, the metro, the subway…whatever you call it, it’s been getting people around London quickly and efficiently for years. In fact, it was even used as a nighttime shelter during World War II!

Londoners rely heavily on this mode of transport, because it is extraordinarily well-connected and easy to navigate. There are 11 interconnected lines, which are each color coded differently. If you are flying into London from Heathrow Airport, you can travel from the terminal to downtown via the Piccadilly Line. Whether you plan to be in London for one day or a week, I highly recommend using the tube to get around.

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I recommend purchasing an “Oyster card”. It will hold your prepaid fare and is scanned each time you take the tube. You can buy one of these at any station and top it up whenever you’d like.

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One word of advice: make sure you factor transportation costs into your budget when coming to London. The fares can get pretty expensive if you are traveling with more than one person. Here is the current Underground fare chart. I can’t recommend whether or not you should pay as you go or purchase the travelcard because it will vary depending on your individual needs and which zones you will be traveling in. We personally chose the pay as you go option, and it cost us around $150 total for 6 days in all 9 zones.

England, UK

Tour of Buckingham Palace

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During the months of August and September each year, Buckingham Palace opens its doors to the public. Since Alex and I were in London celebrating our wedding anniversary in August, we had the opportunity to go and visit.

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The tour of Buckingham Palace includes a visit to the State Rooms and garden. The private residences of the royal family are not accessible whether or not they are in residence at the time. If you are curious as to whether or not the Queen is present during your visit, just look at the flag on top of the Palace. If it is the British flag, she is not there, and if it is the Royal Standard, she is. When we visited, the British Flag was flying.

The cost of the tour was around 20 GBP per person, which roughly translates to around $32. When booking online, you will see that there is limited space for each time slot. I thought this meant that it was fairly exclusive due to space limitations, but apparently it is not. I was stunned to see a line wrapped around the palace for the same entry time. It will be PACKED when you arrive, but this shouldn’t deter you from booking tickets. The tour itself is self-paced and comes with an audio guide, so you can mosey around at your leisure. The crowd breaks up once you are inside the palace.

We were not allowed to take photographs once inside, so unfortunately I can only share my experiences with you. We initially entered the palace through the side entrance and traveled through several corridors towards the state rooms. On the way, there is a large viewing deck on the quadrangle, which is basically the interior courtyard. This is where all the cars go when they enter the palace.  Since it’s a working palace, it’s not unusual to see activity here of some sort.

Moving on, we visited the state rooms. The most “famous” room is the bright red throne room where William and Kate took their official wedding portraits. Each room had it’s own color scheme distinguishing it from the rest and were all very beautiful and ornate.

Our tour ended in the gardens, where were now allowed to use our cameras. I snapped these while we were outside:

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All in all, we spent between 2 and 3 hours walking in and around the Palace. They also have a great souvenir shop on the way out, selling “official” royal items. I would also recommend trying to see the Changing of the Guards before or after your visit. The British Monarchy’s Official Website will have up to date information on dates and times. It’s a very big ceremonial tradition and is always intriguing to watch.

As far as logistics of getting to Buckingham Palace, your best best is to get off the Tube at either Victoria Station or St. James’s Park (Circle and District Lines).