Last weekend I made a trip to the capital of the United Kingdom, London from my university. With my examinations of the first semester finished, I had some time to enjoy myself and what better than to travel to one of the best cities in the UK. Due to Covid restrictions, I made this trip alone. Although this wasn’t the first time, I was visiting London, having spent my Quarantine there when I first arrived in the UK, at that moment I was restricted to a Hotel Room. This time however I made the trip to explore the city and its wonderful historical and amazing destinations.

I took a train from the Guildford Train station to London, Waterloo station which was approximately a 40-minute train ride. Once I arrived, I had made reservations at the Olympic House Hotel which is located in Paddington. I walked the whole hour to the hotel because it gave me an opportunity to explore the city and was a great opportunity for sightseeing along the way. During this walk, I was able to visit Big Ben, which I wasn’t able to visit completely as it was being renovated and walk along the river Thames which is a wonderful site on its own. As this was a planned trip, I already had some destinations set in my mind that I wanted to visit.

The first and most important destination for me was to visit Stamford Bridge, the stadium of Chelsea Football Club, a club that I have supported for a long time. My visit to Stamford Bridge was a dream come true for me. I booked a tour of the stadium and its facilities and was lucky to meet some of the officials that work there. However, as no matches were scheduled during my visit, I wasn’t able to meet any players. It was totally a memorable moment for me and I promised myself to visit again, this time to watch a match and experience the excitement as fans do.

My next preferred destination was Buckingham Palace, the administrative monarch of the United Kingdom. I visited the Palace and the Queen Victoria memorial which is located right outside the palace. These are stunning historical buildings in London and must-visit places for anyone traveling to the capital. During my visit there, I also visited the Queen’s Gallery which is the main art gallery of Buckingham Palace and consists of famous art from the Royal Collection.

The part of London where I was staying was located near Kensington. The next morning, I went out to visit some other historical places, one of which was the Kensington Palace and the Kensington Gardens. This is the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge but some areas of the Palace are open to the public. Another great historical building was an amazing sight to view and the Gardens boast a lake inside so overall it was truly beautiful. From the Kensington Gardens, I was easily able to walk off to Hyde Park which is the largest of the four Royal Parks and forms a chain from the entrance of the Kensington Palace through the Kensington Gardens and past the main entrance to Buckingham Palace.

Next, I visited the National History Museum and the Science Museum which are some of the major museums that exhibit a vast range of specimens of various segments of the natural history of the UK. The visit to these museums is free, but you have to book tickets, which I did not know of this and had to wait in a queue for some time before I was allowed to enter. There are several zones each comprising various historical durations and it took me almost 3-4 hours to explore the museums and their wonderful history. Another couple of great historical sites were ticked off from my list.

There were several other locations that I visited during my weekend in London which included several food outlets, the Sherlock Holmes Museum located on Baker Street, the Floating Pocket Park, and The Italian Park Gardens. It was truly an adventurous and mesmerizing experience and I wished I could’ve stayed there longer and visited several other locations. I will soon be taking another thrilling trip, this time with my friends because it’s always more fun when you travel with people of shared interests. I look forward to sharing my future experiences with you all.

Thank you.