A Return to London, England
50-ish hours in town
Hello friends! Happy Sunday! I hope this post finds you well. I am here this morning to share a quick travel post with you: A Return to London, England. See, a few months back, Husband and I flew to the city for a very speedy two-day trip to attend a friend’s wedding. Due to our last-minute planning and the way the flights worked out, we had around 50-ish hours to soak up as much of the city as we could — but we ended up having the loveliest time! We based ourselves in our favourite little corner of town, revisited some of our most treasured old haunts, and generally filled the trip with as much joy as possible.
Listed below is everything we got up to during our brief time in town. I’ve decided to share it in a day by day format, rather than the usual breakdown of where we ate / where we tourist-ed etc., to give a more realistic feel of how little time we actually had.
Enjoy!
getting there
Here’s how we made the journey from Dublin:
we flew direct from Dublin airport to London Stansted with Ryanair. The flight took roughly 1-hour, and was wildly unexciting.
generally speaking, the last few times we’ve flown into London we’ve opted for Stansted over Gatwick or Heathrow. The reason for this is three-fold: 1) Stansted is waaay less busy, 2) the flights in/out of there are always the best value, and 3) the transport routes into the city from Stansted are cheaper than the other two. Overall, would recommend!
from Stansted, we took the National Express A8 bus all the way into London’s Liverpool Street Station, which took about 1-hour and 15-minutes. The journey was pleasant, there were plugs and Wi-Fi onboard, and the seats were spacious + comfortable. We purchased return tickets online before our trip on their website, and they cost about £23 each.
from Liverpool Street Station, we were heading to lunch reservations in central London, so we took the Central Line tube from there to Tottenham Court Road; depending on where you’re heading, you can basically connect to any line and go anywhere.
in the train stations, you no longer need to purchase tickets and instead just tap your card/phone directly on your way in/out of the turnstiles. Warning: in theory, this system is great — but Irish AIB cards do not work with the system! If you, like me, didn’t think to bring another card, then you’ll need to buy a ticket to get through, which is a major RIP OFF compared to just tapping, about £7 vs £1.10 ish. You have been warned.
where we stayed
The wedding we were heading to was in Kentish Town - an area neither of us were familiar with - but when we consulted the map, we were pleased to see that it was only about a 25-ish minute walk from our favourite area of London: Hampstead / Belsize Park! After scouring the internet looking for a suitable place that didn’t cost an arm and a leg, here’s where we settled on:
NOX Belsize Park // a rather delightfully good surprise! I’ll be honest: we had very low expectations when we booked this spot. The price was shockingly low compared with similar spots, the photos looked basic and lacking, and there was the odd 1-star review — but it was just for two nights, and it was too good a deal to pass up. Imagine our surprise when we got there and it was actually lovely! Very clean, located on a quiet street, with good soundproofing, and helpful FOH staff. It was maybe a little on the compact side, but seeing as we barely spent any time in the room, that wasn’t an issue for our trip! Would recommend. Address: 154 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 2AY
day one
Just enough time for a late lunch, a welcoming drink, and a cozy dinner.
Late lunch at Dishoom Covent Garden // I’m so glad this was our first meal in town, it was fantastic! We are huge Dishoom fans - their cookbook is one of my all-time faves, and we’ve enjoyed many a brunch there before, both in London & Edinburgh! - but we’d never had lunch/dinner there, so this was such a treat! Between us we shared: steamed basmati rice, garlic naan, lamb samosas, and, the pièce de résistance, their chicken ruby curry. All washed down with a Thums Up cola! Everything was outstanding, but especially the ruby with the buttery garlic naan. It! was! so! good! This, or any of their locations, a must visit. Address: 12 Upper St Martin's Ln, London WC2H 9FB
Browse around Foyles bookstore // such a gorgeous store, we always stop by when we’re in the neighbourhood. Naturally, I get lost around the cookbook section - which is also conveniently located next to the travel section 😉 - while Husband browses the more serious sections downstairs. Pro tip: there’s also a wonderful cafe on the top floor! Would recommend. Address: 107 Charing Cross Rd, London WC2H 0EB
Pints at The Horseshoe // after making our way over to Hampstead on the tube, this is always our first port of call in town! One of the few places we’ve come across that have Camden Lager on tap, we are powerless to resist its lure, and just look how cute the glasses are! The setup of the pub had been rejigged since our last visit a few years back, but it’s still lovely and airy, with a cozy local feel to it. Would recommend. Address: 28 Heath St, London NW3 6TE
Dinner at The Wells Tavern // the loveliest neighbourhood pub-slash-restaurant! We sat upstairs in the gorgeous red room, which you can peek in the photo above, and had the most romantic meal here! We both had a pint of Pilsner Urquell, while I opted for their angus burger with fries and a side salad, and Husband went for their jerk chicken with fries and slaw. Everything was delicious, the portions were huge, and the staff were so lovely. There was also just such a nice ambience to the whole place! Would recommend. Address: 30 Well Walk, London NW3 1BX
day two
The day of the wedding! It was an early day-time affair, so we really didn’t have all that much time to dilly-dally before hauling ourselves over to Kentish Town — but, as this was our only full day in town, we crammed as much into it as possible.
Breakfast at England’s Lane // the cutest little cafe! We grabbed a gloriously sunbaked spot by the window and feasted to the very best of our ability. We had coffees and a croissant + pain au chocolat to start, followed by a NYC bagel with scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese for Husband, and feta + avocado toast covered with pomegranate seeds and all manner of crunchy healthy seeds for me. The whole meal was wonderful! The pastries were flakey, Husband’s bagel was mouthwateringly soft yet chewy (potentially homemade??), and my avo toast was perfection! Would recommend. Address: 2 England's Ln, Belsize Park, London NW3 4TG
Walk up Hampstead Heath // it’d be sacrilegious not to! It was a beautifully sunny day when we visited, and, as usual, the Heath was buzzing with activity. We made our way up to the peak for *that* view over the city, and it was maybe the clearest we’ve ever seen it. Such a beautiful spot! A must visit. Address: Hampstead, London
Pints at The Holly Bush // another Hampstead favourite! Really pushing it on the time front, we walked through the doors here about 1-minute after they opened for the day and ordered an early-afternoon pint of Amstel each. We chose the coziest armchairs in the quietest corner, and whiled away an hour or so here before the chaos of wedding-going enveloped us; it was delightful! Would recommend. Address: 22 Holly Mount, London NW3 6SG
Snack from La Crêperie du Hampstead // we walked past this on the way back to our hotel to get glammed up for the wedding and, well, one thing led to another, and, before we knew it, we were in the queue. In an effort to not gorge ourselves silly, we opted to share a crêpe suzette between us and it was so good! Delightfully crispy-edged, light, flavourful, and the perfect size for sharing. A must visit. Address: 77a Hampstead High St, London NW3 1RE
Wedding at Never For Ever // at last, the very reason for our whole trip! After a panicked getting-ready session at the hotel, we finally made it over to Kentish Town to begin the celebrations and it was lovely! Having already done the serious legal part, this was more of a pizza party celebration than an actual typical wedding. The venue - which was actually a neighbourhood restaurant they’d rented out for the day! - was very on theme: quirky and cute, with big open spaces, cozy couches, armchairs, and pool tables, etc. The food was better than we’d hoped: entirely unfancy canapes of fried chicken/ cheesy croquettes/ mini veg sliders, and the main meal was an unending stream of fresh-from-the-woodfired-oven pizzas with every conceivable topping. We ended our day of eating with a few hours on the dancefloor before dragging our tired butts back across town to bed. It was wonderful! Address: 79 Highgate Rd, London NW5 1TL
day three
A morning spent running around eating before heading back to the airport.
Breakfast at Ginger & White // always the buzziest little spot in town, we lucked out and nabbed two window seats here before the morning rush arrived. Needing sustenance for our travel day ahead, Husband ordered their scrambled eggs on sourdough toast and I went for their breakfast sandwich with fried eggs & avocado; both meals were devoured with coffee, and both meals were really very good. Despite the cute space and great food, we were both put off by the absolute lack of effort, indifference, and straight-up unfriendliness from the staff that we decided this would be our last visit here. Address: 4a, 5a Perrin's Ct, London NW3 1QU
Takeaway lunch from GAIL's Bakery Hampstead // never not thinking about our next meal, we stopped here en route to the train station to grab two sausage rolls for later. We somehow found the strength to hold off on eating them until we were all the way through the airport and waiting to board the plane — and, let me tell you, they were so! good! Fantastically flakey pastry, perfectly seasoned filling, and just generally a really great plump size for a sausage roll? Maybe my new fave in London! Would recommend. Address: 64 Hampstead High St, London NW3 1QH
There we have it: A Return to London, England! A speedy yet lovely visit packed to the brim with pizza, dancing, laughter, and a truly surprising amount of food. If you have any thoughts or questions, hit me up using the comment box below or the chat feature!
Stockholm travel guide coming soon!
Vicki xo
*Date of trip: 10th - 12th October, 2024*
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