My first time visit to London concluded a month in the United Kingdom and happened to be the first of three of my honeymoons and of course, I honeymoon every years, I mean, why not? I was engaged to be married to the only husband I have ever had, but he was divorced and I wanted him to be sure his decision was the correct one this time. My sister’s husband had worked in London for Pratt & Whitney and we were told to stay at Heathrow Airport and ride the Express Train into town because it saved lots of hassle, the hotels were far less expensive, and your train ticket also provided you access to the rest of the public transport system. What a deal, it does work extremely well. So what to see and do on a your first visit to London?
Flower Gardens Are London and the United Kingdom in General
We chose the Westminster exit off of the subway system because many of the government buildings and must see spots were located nearby. When we got off, we found the area mobbed with the police directing traffic. As we got nearer, we found we had arrived at Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guard. Hoping this would not be the same experience everywhere; we crossed the street and found Hyde Park. Here, we found unusual ducks and after identifying several out of region birds, we realized they had been stocked and were probably not part of a wild population usually used when identifying birds. The walk continued through Hyde Park to Kensington Park and Kensington Palace and Victoria Park with many places to stop and smell the roses, a good thing to do if you are visiting London for the first time.
For more United Kingdom tips for honeymoons read: Oddball Honeymoons Test Your Marriage Vows
Big Ben and the Tower of London
Near to Buckingham Palace, is Westminster Abbey and Big Ben and the Tower of London are within walking distance. The lines were extremely long at the Tower of London so we took photographs of Big Ben and the Tower of London and the modern bridge that replaced the old London Bridge that was moved to Arizona. Take a good map and wander at will.
Our first time visiting London we spent our second day downtown at the National Museum and visiting the Shopping District at Piccadilly Circus.
National Museum
We were lucky enough to see an exhibit dedicated to Monet’s work when we visited the National Museum on our first visit to London. It took about 3 hours to go through it and we missed most of the rest of the museum. I’m more of a Monet fan after seeing the large works in person. Impressionist light colors are a wonderful change from the dark history of art, but Monet’s use of red paint to create shadows and depth and perspective is hard to experience from photographs.
Shopping District At Piccadilly Circus
One can’t help but buying or at least looking for a teapot when you visit London for the first time. The Royal Doulton shop had every pattern imaginable, including the Royal Albert set that I bought.
Just experiencing the city can be more fun than anyone site or museum. With vehicles that sported ads and double decker buses and a mix crowd of tourists and businesses, what could be more fun?