After a good night’s sleep and catching up on jet lag, I began my journey through London! I started the day off with some breakfast at McDonald’s, then met up with the rest of my group. We went on the Tube together and landed in Westminster for a guided walking tour. On this guided walking tour, we went to many places such as Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Globe Theatre, and lastly, ended up at Borough Market. We also went to Saint Martin’s Theatre to see the Mouse Trap. I’m going to share my overall opinions of each place and if they’re worth seeing!
So first, I am going to start off with Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. When you walk by Westminster Abbey, you are amazed by the detailing in the architecture and how tall it will be. We only walked by Westminster Abbey on our tour, but I had to come back and go inside. The burials and memorials of some very important people in history lies under the grounds of it. While you are walking inside and out of breath by how beautiful it is, you are walking on history. T
o get inside, you do have to pay, but I promise you will be amazed at how beautiful it is, and it will take some time to get through everything, so you get your money’s worth in my opinion. Inside, there is also the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries which you pay extra to access, but it is so worth it. You get a view from the highest floor of Westminster Abbey and get to look down upon everyone walking. Out of a lot of attractions you will do, make sure to go inside Westminster Abbey.
Next, we went to Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, and Saint Paul’s Cathedral. When you think of London, Big Ben is one of the first things that comes to most peoples’ minds, so make sure to get there early enough to snag a few cute pictures. It is right next to Westminster Abbey and it is free to walk by and get up close. You can
go inside Big Ben but tickets get completely booked months in advance. In my opinion, walking around Big Ben is good enough since there is so much stuff surrounding it to do. Trafalgar Square is also great to walk around and see the outside of the National Gallery. It is a fairly busy square, so I would recommend being extra cautious for pickpocketers because they are very common in this area. Lastly, Saint Paul’s Cathedral is a must to see. Of course, it is free to walk past, but the inside does cost money. From pictures I have seen of the inside, I believe that paying to get in would be worth it.
The last stops in our tour were the Globe Theatre and Borough Market. Did you know the Globe Theatre that we see today isn’t technically the original Globe Theatre! It was burned down in the 1600’s during a Shakespeare play and they rebuilt a new structure in a different spot. It is the only building in London with a thatched roof, which means it has straw on the top as a roof. Since this theatre was a bit more expensive, we went to another theatre that was well worth it. It was called Saint Martin’s Theatre which has so much charm and a classic look inside. We saw a performance of The Mousetrap and it was entertaining to watch, so I would definitely say if you want to watch some theatre, go to Saint Martin’s Theatre instead of the Globe Theatre.