Sky Garden The London Sky Garden is a free lookout on the 35th floor of a London skyscraper. Just like the name suggests, there's a massive garden, 360 degree views of London, as well as a cafe, restaurant and bar. The best part about the Sky Garden is that it’s completely free. All you have to do is book a ticket online and bring it with you on the day. Unfortunately when we went up it was very cloudy, though it was still a great experience. I would recommend the Sky Garden to everyone, especially because it free! I can’t wait to visit London again and when I do I’ll be heading straight back to the Sky Garden.
Hyde Park
Hyde Park is a beautiful parkland which joins onto Kensington Gardens. If you have a spare few hours it's lovely to take a walk through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. You can do a short walk through the centre of both parks or you can wonder around the edges and explore for hours. There's also a pond in Kensington Gardens and a lake in Hyde Park that both have beautiful white Swans and other wildlife. Also don't forget to have a look at Kensington Palace at the very end of Kensington Gardens.
Buckingham Palace and Saint James Park Buckingham Palace is the home of the English royals. The Palace itself is absolutely stunning but the golden gates really put the icing on the cake. The most popular time to visit the palace is during the changing of the guards. We didn’t make it to the ceremony but seeing the palace was still pretty cool. Saint James Park is a beautiful little park across the road from Buckingham Palace. There’s plenty of green grass, a lake and heaps of squirrels. On a sunny day, St. James Park would be the perfect place for a picnic- just make sure the squirrels don’t steal your food.
Abbey Road I’m not a die hard Beatles fan but I figured I may as well get a picture on the Abbey Road crossing while in London. For some reason I had imagined the Abbey Road crossing being on a quiet street. Beware if you want a photo you will hold up traffic haha. I wouldn’t say a visit to Abbey Road is an essential part of your London trip, I’d only recommend it if you’re a huge Beatles fan.
Harrods Harrods is a massive luxury department store in the heart of London. They have everything from designer accessories to 20 pound ice cream sundaes. Seriously though, you can get luxury food, watches, handbags and clothes all in the same place. Just be careful you don’t get lost inside.
Oxford Street
Oxford Street has all of your commercial shops like Zara, H&M, Urban Outfitters, Topshop etc. It's a long street full of hundreds of shops most of which are flagship stores. They're massive commercial stores with a lot of stock. You could spend an entire day shopping here and it is a great experience but just know that you won't find any local boutiques on Oxford Street. Carnaby Street
Carnaby Street is the ultimate boutique, local shopping area with quirky, hipster shops. There's vintage clothing, record stores, art installations, plenty of cool prints and more. My favourite store in Carnaby Street was called We Built This City. They had heaps of really cool stuff including prints, patches and stickers of unique London designs. I'd highly recommend popping in here if you want an uncommon souvenir. The chocolate shop and cafe Choccywoccydoodah is also located near Carnaby Street. They have delicious hot chocolates and heaps of sweet treats.
Platform Nine & Three-Quarters Everyone loves Harry Potter and if you head to Kings Cross station you can get you’re very own photo at platform nine and three-quarters. There is a photo area where staff help you put on a scarf (you can choose a certain house scarf if you have a preference). They then wave your scarf around and a professional photo is taken which you can buy inside the gift store. The best part is you are also allowed to take photos on your own devices and cameras. So if you want to save money bring someone along to take a photo of you while you enter platform nine and three-quarters.
