*POST UPDATED OCTOBER 2026.
Friends, Boyfriend & I made a boo-boo. We looked at the calendar, randomly selected dates, booked flights and a non-refundable hotel in London. Honestly, we never thought anything more about it until shortly before our departure day, when a well-meaning parent uttered the words that had us screaming internally: “Isn’t that the weekend of the royal wedding?” Images of the city jam packed with overly excited tourists flashed before our eyes, and we truly thought about cancelling our trip. How on earth did we manage to accidentally book a trip to London during one of the busiest weekends of the year?
Eventually, we talked ourselves into believing it would work out okay. Neither of us relished the thought of being amongst the extra 33% of tourists in London that weekend, but we hatched a plan that would make it work. We decided, unequivocally, to avoid central London at all costs. The hotel we’d booked was in Hampstead anyway, so we adjusted what plans we had made to focus there instead. It worked a dream! Friends we’d planned to visit were happy to escape out to Hampstead for a catch-up, leaving the crowded streets of the city centre behind.
I decided to try out a new format for this post, kind of journal style, and I really like the way it worked out! If you’re just looking for a quick list of everywhere we visited, I’ve also compiled a handy cheat sheet at the bottom of the post. Happy travelling, friends!
day one
