A MOTHER/DAUGHTER TOURISTY WEEKEND IN LONDON

Happy Monday!

So I've just got back from such a lovely weekend, with my mum, staying in London. Naturally, I've decided to write a blog about the experience, the attractions we partook in and my views on them all. Let's start with the hotel...

The Wesley, Euston - 7th -9th August
A 5-minute walk from Euston Station is what made this hotel really ideal. As you may know, Euston Station is set before the line-break on the Northern Line. Considering most of our Underground use throughout the weekend was via the Northern Line, this made things really easy.



The hotel itself was nice too. It wasn't overly glam, but it definitely wasn't sham either. I'd stay in it again for the accessibility over anything else.

Friday

River Cruise
After checking in to the hotel we set off to the Southbank to hop on board a river cruise boat. I'd definitely recommend this experience, whether you're familiar with London or not. It was actually quite educational. The trip itself lasted about 40 minutes which I'd say was a good amount of time.

London Eye
After the river cruise we queued up for the London Eye. The queue lasted about an hour, which was a bit tiresome, however paying £16 for two fast track tickets would have been a bit silly.

I've been on the London Eye before so knew what a smooth and fascinating journey round it is. This was mums first time and she loved it. Their air con was also something which deserves a thumbs up.

I booked the River Cruise and London Eye together on the website for London eye as it works out cheaper, fyi.

The Ice Bar
This was a pretty 'cool' place, so to speak. Tickets were £33 for two of us, which I'd say was a reasonable price. They include an ice cocktail upon arrival, usage of the capes and gloves and access to the ice bar.

It is something which is worth trying, but doesn't leave you desperate to go back. When you're inside the bar, its a pretty small space, with not a lot to do. The music wasn't particularly upbeat so it doesn't help you if you're trying to dance away the chance of frostbite. The ice sculptures were impressive but once you've looked at all two of them, that's pretty much it. I'd recommend the 40-minute experience for a first timer, but won't be in any rush to head back.

The View From The Shard - at Night
The views at night are completely mesmerising. I adore city lights at night, if I could afford to, I'd love to live at the top of a huge building so I can look at over the city after a long day at work.

I've been to the top of The Shard during the day and now also during the night and both times were great, however nothing can beat the city lights at night. If you've not been before, I'd recommend going late in the evening. It's also good because it isn't as busy and there are no children.

One other thing... GO TO THE TOILET. Even if you don't need to go, go anyway. Each cubical gives you your own window, so whilst you're doing your business you have a whole London skyline to keep you entertained.

Saturday

Afternoon Tea Bus
At £90 for two people, this was quite a pricey bus journey. The staff are also not English which made it difficult to understand their accents as they pointed to landmarks on the journey round.

However, the staff were very friendly and the food was delicious. The good thing about this journey was that the bus took you around the more upmarket areas in London, passed the posh hotels, expensive residential areas and even Buckingham Palace. This was good as it was different to the other sightseeing tours we'd done the day previous.

I'd definitely recommend this bus tour.

They were fully booked online when I was trying to get us booked onto this, so I told them it was mum's birthday, just a little white lie, but we managed to get a table. Mum's birthday isn't actually until December so it was quite funny, in August, when they came out with candles to sing her 'Happy Birthday', Oops. Here's the video...

Ripley's Believe It Or Not
If it wasn't for the 2for1 voucher we had, I'd probably have been a bit disappointed. I think £26.95 per adult is a bit steep. Anyway, I've wanted to do this for a while so I'm glad I've finally done it. There were some really interesting things to look at and the attraction was quite educational.

I'd recommend this if you find a good discount like we did. I personally wouldn't recommend paying full price.

The Railway Children, Kings Cross Theatre
It wouldn't be a weekend in London without some form of stage entertainment now, would it?!

As a child, I loved the film The Railway Children. This was a perfect stage adaption of a wonderful story. The set starts the minute you enter the building, as the foyer and bar area is laid out like an old fashioned railway station. It really makes you feel as though you are part of the show. The cast all communicate with you during the performance, but not in a degrading pantomime kind of way. It's very cleverly done.

Uber Taxi
I requested a Uber taxi as we left our seats in the auditorium of Kings Cross Theatre. By the time we had left the building, the taxi was already there waiting for us. It's such a quick and cheap service. Don't bother with the black cabs, use Uber.

Hard Rock Cafe
When we got to Hard Rock Cafe we had to wait about an hour to be seated, due to how busy the restaurant was. If this was in Pizza Express I'd have probably cried of boredom and hunger, but there is so much music memorabilia on the wall, great rock music to listen to and really friendly staff, I was in awe. We spent most of the hour picking and choosing cocktails. For £13.95 you get a giant cocktail and get to keep the branded glass. I was pretty happy about that.

I'm pretty sure the portion sizes almost killed Mum and I. The starters were large enough to feed a family of four. The food was served quickly and was made to perfection. The only thing which was a bit disappointing was how expensive the food was. They add a sneaky service charge on at the end which they don't make a point of informing you about to begin with.

Sunday

Brick Lane Market
This place was great! So many vintage stalls and cute quirky things to look at. They also sold vinyls for £5 each! I loved Brick Lane Market and will definitely be going back.

If you've watched all of How I Met Your Mother you'll also love what I stumbled upon in the form of boot...

The Breakfast Club, Angel
I used to walk past this place every day on my way to work so I am glad I've finally tried it. It's a really cute little diner. the staff are all really friendly and the food was served really quick. The fruit juices are really nice and if you get a pitcher you basically get four glasses for the price of two. So do that!

Oxford Street
Most of our Sunday was spent shopping. We (of course) had to head down to Oxford Street. We went in to Lush, this was our first time in the Oxford Street branch and there were 3 floors of scented goodies to keep us entertained! There are also lots of Oxford Street exclusive products so definitely go there if you've not been already.

Roofnic, Oxford Street
I was looking forward to trying this place as I'd heard people talking about it. Mum and I were so exhausted after Oxford Street Shopping, mum needed a wee, we both needed a sit down and a nice cold drink.

The entrance is tucked away and you feel a bit like you've walked into some sort of abandoned crack den when you first enter the building. This is before climbing the massive flight of stairs and by the time you've reached the third floor you feel like Frodo and Sam climbing Mount Doom.

The one toilet was in a a shed (nothing compared to the toilets at The Shard) so mum didn't fancy weeing like she was in the 1940s. It's not very easy to get a spot looking out over the views and you can only pay by cash so we didn't hang about long for this one.

Overall we had an amazing weekend in London. If you're planning a trip to the city, definitely plan an itinerary, but leave enough spare time between each attraction. You'll cram a lot more in and still have breathing time to embrace the city!

Thanks for reading.

Mel x