If you want to do a short trip, London, England can actually be a lot easier to see quickly than you might think. Although, there are a lot of things to do and see, if you move fast you can fit everything in. We did a fast trip to Europe, two days in London then we took a train to Paris and spent a day there. In doing that, while yes, we were very jet-lagged and tired, we pretty much got to see everything we wanted to see in both places. But I am going to tell you what we did and what we should have done differently during our two days in London. Our plane landed in London at about 8 in the morning so we were able to go straight to what we wanted to do. Most of the places that we went to, we did not go inside of, just because we were trying to see a lot in a short amount of time. Also, this is how the timings worked out for us, so you might rather follow only the locations and not the times we visited each place.

We stayed at the Marriot Residence Inn London Bridge, which was great! This is where we were, so the order in which we go places might make at little bit more sense1. I would definitely recommend this hotel, it is a little farther away from central London, but really close to the London Bridge, the Shard, and Borough Market. We really liked this hotel, because the location felt alot more neighborhood like, I guess you could say. It was quieter and slower, because there were mostly apartments, but it was also nice because if you rode the underground just one stop you would be near the busier London. Moving on from the location and onto the actual hotel. The staff there were very helpful, they upgraded our room, pretty much just to be nice. The place was very clean. And, because it was a Residence Inn the rooms there are a little bigger than average and breakfast in included. Overall, this was a great hotel, and I really have no complaints.

Day 1:

Because we landed in the morning we could not check in to our hotel, so we went straight to Buckingham Palace with our luggage. We arrived there around 10:30 in the morning. Once we got there we mostly walked around looking at everything and taking pictures for about an hour.

After Buckingham Palace we went and got lunch at a Pub near Victoria Station (which is also near Buckingham Palace) called Bucket o’ Nails at about 12:00. Although it is not necessarily know for anything, it was a really cool experience eating at a London pub. When going there I would recommend getting the fish and chips. The servings there are very large, so a small plate would easily fill you up.

We then began to head back to our hotel, but on our way we made a quick stop at Borough Market. We went at about 1:30, but it since it is an outdoor market, it started to rain and people began to pack up, though it regularly closes at around 5 or 6 p.m. we left after about 30 or so minutes. For those who aren’t sure what this market is, it is just a market that sells things like fresh meats, fruits, vegetables, and cheeses, so it is basically a really cool farmers market. It was a little hard to find, because it winds through a bunch of cobble stone like roads, but it was totally worth it!

We rested at our hotel then til about 4:00 then headed toward the London Eye. Sadly to say we did not ride it because the line was long and we would rather to get to see more places. Although, if you wanted to ride it the lines typically take about 45 minutes, then you would get about a 30 minute ride.

Following the London Eye we went to walk around Westminster Abby at about 6:00. Now I would definitely note, the order in which we did things was not the most strategical, because the inside of Westminster closes at 3. Therefore, we did not get to see the inside, although the outside was very cool I can not tell you about the inside.

After walking the perimeter of Westminster Abbey we walked to Big Ben, which is right next to Westminister Abbey. Big Ben was interesting, but the entire thing (except for the face of the clock) was covered in scaffolding. We could definitely of had a better experience, but we still had fun so I cant complain.

After this we got dinner and headed back to our hotel.

Day 2:

Day 2 was much more relaxed, we had already seen the main attractions of London so we spent most of the day walking around and shopping. But the one main thing we did was visit Harrods. Which is basically a massive and expensive department store. We did not see all of it, because it has multiple floors and is approximately 4 acres in size. We mostly saw the food section and the luxury clothing brand sections. We may not have bought any Gucci, but we did get some chocolate to bring home as gifts. Although dont expect that because it is food it is cheap, because this place is not cheap. But I would still go even if you don’t plan on buying anything.

Right outside Harrods there is a street that you can just walk down with lots of fun store to see. This is where you might want to get cheaper souvenirs. While there are cheap stores, there are stores like the Fararri store. There are also a lot of restaurants so you might want to go around lunch or dinner. This is a place I would definitely recommend going and seeing this place.

This was want we did on our trip to London, England with a few tips. This plan worked out best because of where we were staying, so you can adjust it to fit your schedule. But, I worked out great for us, so I hope you enjoyed!

Paris is one of the best places to vacation at. You will never be bored with the unique foods, places, and experiences. There are a few main places you will not want to miss when visiting, which is why I have compiled a list of things to do there (and a few extra tips when visiting those places).

Eiffel Tower

Now let’s just start with the obvious! The Eiffel Tower is an absolute must, whether you plan to see it from a bit of a distance or venture to the top! One thing to keep in mind if you do decide to make your way up is, that there is a security check, so I would plan on spending a good amount of time waiting in line. Lines will also apply to those who take the elevator up ( and these lines can get long). They seem to get shorter in the evenings though. That being said, there are alot of good restaurants around, so consider getting dinner afterwards, while looking out at the beautiful view of the tower.

The Louvre Museum

The Louvre is one of the most famous museums being to the Mona Lisa and some of Michelangelo’s best works. There are a few things to note when going to the museum… one being that when going there will often be people outside of the museum trying to sell entrance passes for an appealing price, but do not fall for it. These passed are fake and the museum will not except them, so be careful not to lose your money. Another thing for families to note is, they typically try to put people with kids and strollers in the front of the line, which can really come in handy. When going, I would definitely try to set aside at least one full day to spend at the Louvre, just because there is such a massive amount of paintings, sculptures, artifacts, and etc.

Street Cafés

Everybody always want to go to a street cafe in the downtown sections of Paris, France! When going to these types of small family owned establishment there are oftentimes when nobody there speaks english. Furthermore, there typically are no menus in english. Then again, although the language barrier can be a bit of an annoyance, the overall experience is definitely worth a little bit of confusion. One last thing to note, and this applies to everywhere you eat. It is typically better to just stick to bottled water rather than the tap, because if you are not from around there, your body will not be used to it and you can get a stomach bug, which is no fun when wandering around the streets of France.