Visiting London

Where to stay

There are plenty of places to stay in London, as you’d expect, so we’ll try to help narrow the search for you a bit!

If you’d like to stay in an Airbnb, we’d recommend looking in the following neighborhoods:

Angel

The neighborhood where the ceremony will be taking place. Lots of shops, grocery stores, restaurants, and pubs/clubs, so a busier atmosphere.

Highbury/Canonbury

Quieter, residential areas to the north of Angel that are short public transport trips or a slightly lengthier walk away from the ceremony venue.

Holloway

Also north of Angel, with residential spaces and a fairly well-stocked high street (grocery/restaurants/pubs). Should be cheaper than the areas above.

Manor House

Further out, walking distance to the reception venue. Aim close to the tube station(Piccadilly Line) for an easy link to most main tourist hotspots. Should be significantly cheaper than the other areas above.

Wapping

Not especially close to the ceremony or reception, but our neighborhood and the best neighborhood in London! Quiet and residential with great pubs on the river.

Since the reception is a bit of a way out of central, there are not a ton of hotels close by, but there are good options for those who would prefer to stay around the ceremony venue.

Hilton London Angel Islington

4-star hotel in the center of Angel, easy access to all of the goings-on there and a short walk to the ceremony venue.

Travelodge London Central Kings Cross

2-star budget hotel right across from King’s Cross, with easy tube rides to the ceremony and from the reception. Not the most picturesque of locations, but you can’t beat the transport connections!

Travel

You’ll have lots of options to get around in London, some better than others. To start you on your journey to efficient travel, we’ve listed some good things to know about below!

CityMapper

If you don’t already have it, you will want to download this app before you get to London. When you arrive at where you’re staying, set that location as “home” and let the app do the navigating for the remainder of your time here! CityMapper gives you all main travel options (walk/tube/bus/train/cycle), time estimates on each, and clear directions on how to follow their suggested routes.

Tube/Bus

Your public transport use in London is likely to be limited to the Transport for London (TfL) bus and Underground (aka “the tube”) networks. If you don’t use the CityMapper app, the TfL website (www.tfl.gov.uk) also has a trip planner on it.

Paying

Both the buses and the tube can be paid for using an Oyster Card or by using contactless payment through a contactless credit/debit card, or something like Google/Apple Pay. You can’t use cash on public transport.

You can buy Oyster cards at any tube station; you can either buy a pass (“travelcard”) or just load it up with £XX to use (“pay as you go”). Which to do? Well, bear with me here: If you’re going to be here five days or fewer, I would recommend just loading about £35-40 on to your Oyster card and that should cover you for the whole time you’re here. If you’re here more than five days, you’ll likely get better value by buying a 7-day travelcard for zones 1-2 (this presupposes you’re staying in either of those zones, which you probably are – feel free to check with me). If you do that and you’re flying through Heathrow, you will also want to add a bit of additional money on to your card to cover the tube ride to/from the airport, which is in zone 6.

To pay for the bus, you only need to tap your card/device once on the yellow reader, while you will need to tap in and tap out when you are riding the tube (so have your card ready when you’re exiting the station!)

Night time travel

Londoners joined the 21st century last year when we finally started getting 24-hour tube service on some lines on some days. On Friday & Saturday night, you can ride the Victoria, Jubilee, Central, Northern, and Piccadilly lines to your heart’s content. Be aware that some bus routes run around the clock, some stop running at about midnight, and some have a special modified night time service (those “night buses” will have the number of their route prefixed by the letter ‘N’, so what runs as the 15 during the day runs an extended route as the N15 at night).

Uber/Black Cabs

Black cabs are extortionately expensive, do not take them unless you have a literal emergency! Uber’s business practices aren’t the best, but they’re the only ride-sharing app game in town. Your US Uber account will work over here. There are also taxi hire services (“minicabs”) that you can book for trips to/from the airport (or just around town generally). Many neighborhoods have a local minicab service based out of a store front on the main road, so you can drop in and get their phone number. There’s also a company called Addison Lee that allows you to book cabs in advance through their website or app.

To/from the Airport

If you’re flying into Heathrow, you can either take the tube into town or the Heathrow Express. If speed if your only priority, then the Heathrow Express is probably your best choice. It runs every 15 minutes to/from Paddington Station and gets you into town in about 20 minutes. You can then get on the tube at Paddington. My preference is just to take the tube, which is longer, but costs a fraction and leaves you with fewer changes. (If you’re staying somewhere on the Piccadilly Line, just take the tube. What you make up for in time on the Heathrow Express will be 100% outweighed by the hassle of transferring to the tube and then having to change tube lines, as well). If you’re flying into Gatwick, there are trains that take you into London Bridge or Victoria Station, from which you can get on the tube to your final destination. Do not take a black cab from either airport unless you have recently won the lottery. An Uber into London will cost you about £50, depending on where you’re staying.

Things to do

Famous Sights

The Tower Of London

One of the expensive sights (£22.70 when booked in advance online) that’s actually worth the money. Take a free yeoman warder tour inside to get the history of the Tower.

Tower Bridge

If you’re interested in how the Victorians got stuff to work, a visit to the Tower Bridge Engine Rooms will definitely be worth your time.

Buckingham Palace

I have nothing to say about this place, tbh! I’ve never been. The palace isn’t open to visitors on the days around the wedding, but a lot of people like going and watching the changing of the guards, so I would be remiss to leave it out!

St Pauls

Entry just for sightseeing is a bit steep (£18), but if you go to the church for a service (choral evensong is lovely, 5pm on weekdays) then you don’t have to pay. You can’t really have a wander around afterwards, though, so if you’d like to climb the tower and have a full look around, you should buy a ticket,

Westminster Abbey

The other expensive thing (£20 booked in advance online) that I think is worth it. The free audio guide talks you through a lots of the abbey’s famous history and interred residents.

Houses of Parliament & Big Ben

Big Ben’s tower is currently covered in scaffolding and probably will be when the wedding rolls around. The whole thing is basically crumbling down, so we’re all paying lots of tax money to repair the Palace of Westminster. Sorry.

London Eye

Buy your timed tickets in advance, and maybe try Groupon (or Google around otherwise) to see if you can get a two for one. It’s always going to be a crap shoot with the weather.

 

Entertainment

Royal Albert Hall

Hoo boy, Cliff Richard is playing the two nights after the wedding, so you could go and experience one of the most English things a person could conceive of. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is playing “Symphonic Pop” on October 12th.

The West End

London’s answer to Broadway! Plenty of great shows up, so Google around to see what might catch your eye. Check lastminute.com or visit the TKTS booth in Leicester Square for cheap tickets.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

The Winter’s Tale and Othello are on at the Globe during October. Get seats or standing tickets through the Globe’s website

There are a few (expensive) tickets available for Hamilton around the time of the wedding, just fyi

 

Museums

British Museum

See all the stuff that Britain took from everyone else in the world! Huge, so plan your visit(s) in advance

Museum of London

Interesting museum covering the history of London dating back centuries. Fair warning that the piece of fatberg they have on display isn’t very big

Victoria & Albert Museum

Museum dedicated to art and design. Several cool exhibitions on around the wedding, including one on Frida Kahlo and one on video game design.

Sir John Soanes Museum

Basically the house of some rich dude who swanned around the world buying antiquities and art. When he died, he left his collection as a museum, with the stipulation that everything be left where it was, so go see where John kept all of his stuff.

Then there are a lot of museums that are good, but kinda fall under “if you’ve seen one of these museums before, you’ve seen ‘em all” heading. Maybe not if you’re classier than I am. 🤷

 

Shopping

Oxford / Regent Street

Europe’s largest shopping area, apparently! Something for everyone, but don’t be too disappointed to see the same stores you have back home. Worth a visit to Selfridges and Liberty of London, two iconic English department stores.

Covent Garden

Many of the same stores as Oxford St, but the neighborhood is cuter.

Knightsbridge

Where posh people shop. Also home to iconic department stores Harrod’s and Harvey Nichols. Bring your credit card.

Westfield Stratford

Big old shopping mall out in East London. You probably don’t want to go here.

Markets

Borough Market for foodie food, Portobello Road for antiques, Camden Market for weird clothes and anarchist badges to iron on your backpack, Columbia Road for flowers, Broadway Market (no butter lambs) for food. Plus many others!

Outdoors

We have lots of parks, whether they're worth visiting in early October, I can't really say. It was warm and sunny last year around that time, so you may well want to!

Regents Park

A nice place to stop by if you're exploring Camden. Climb up Primrose Hill for a great view of London

St James's Park

Probably the easiest way to scratch your "visit a London park" itch. It's central and close to stuff you'll probably be visiting. They have some nice birds. Are they there in October? I have no idea. Do they have migratory birds in this country? I have no idea.

River Boat Tour

Take a boat down to Greenwich or the other way to Kew Gardens/Hampton Court Palace