20 hours in London
City of London, Westminster and the Royal Borough of Chelsea & Kensington
When my husband mentioned a work trip in London, I couldn’t let the opportunity slip by.
Our previous two visits had always been family holidays (planned around my daughter’s age, her energy, her needs). Every day required a schedule: meals, naps, meetups with friends. We once even flew to London just so she could see one of her best friends from kindergarten (a friendship born in Istanbul- our first relocation home).
This time was entirely different. I had a few precious hours with my husband to walk around and enjoy a pub, and after that, it was just me. No one else to worry about, no one else’s schedule to follow.
How does London feel when you’re only responsible for yourself?
Wonderful — how else?
All jokes aside, my one piece of advice if you ever find yourself wandering the city solo: bring a good pair of shoes, because your feet will pay the price.
Twenty hours in London? Better than nothing, but I made them count. I covered the City of London, Westminster (where I caught Parliament and Big Ben in the warm light of sunset) and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, because I simply had to see Hyde Park.
Two stunning sunsets over the Thames, one rainy afternoon and one bright morning. That was my London.
What I loved most? In the evenings, once the workday crowd had dissolved, the streets emptied out and I could finally appreciate the architecture in peace: those grand, beautiful buildings all to myself.
What I liked least?
Those same streets in the morning rush, naturally.
The traffic lights: or rather, the complete disregard for them. Nobody waits for the green if the road looks clear; they just cross. Coming from Finland, where even a lone pedestrian at an empty intersection will patiently wait for the signal, this was quite the culture shock.
Our hotel was just across from St. Paul’s Cathedral: the perfect starting point for a day of wandering.
On our two previous visits to London, the financial district had never made it onto our itinerary: not much there to capture a child’s imagination. This time, with no one to answer to and no list to follow, I gave it my full attention. Wherever my feet wanted to go, I went. It felt like a safe enough neighbourhood to let my guard down and simply drift.
I started at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Tickets are available at the door, and I even climbed all 528 steps to the top for the view. It was cloudy and rainy, but it was worth it.
My next stop was meant to be the Central Criminal Court, but here’s the catch: no backpacks are allowed inside, and there’s no luggage storage on site. Since I wasn’t willing to trek back to the hotel to drop mine off, I suppose I didn’t want it badly enough. I moved on.
I strolled past the London Stock Exchange, watching the people go to work, then I turned onto Cheapside. I’d been curious to see how this street compared to the one Jane Austen described in Pride and Prejudice was. The answer, of course, is that it takes a good deal of imagination. What I didn’t expect to find was Daunt Books, one of the most beautifully stocked bookshops I’ve ever stepped into. I’d promised my daughter I’d buy the books she was missing from her current reads: two series running in parallel, plus a book about Japan. I left with The Inheritance Games books, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter.
From there, I followed London Wall: which brought back memories of Istanbul’s ancient city walls (from the time we lived in Istanbul and visited the place) all the way to Liverpool Street Station. I took a break to drink a hot coffee (after months of Finnish cold, the craving was real) and when I stepped back out, it hit me: old and new, side by side. Two different cities sharing the same space, each making the other more beautiful. This is the City of London, after all: the part that burned in the Great Fire of 1666, was rebuilt from the ashes, and has been layering history ever since. I found it absolutely fascinating.
Further along Bishopsgate, I stopped to admire St. Helen’s Church, a 13th-century church, standing in the shadow of the modern office-building Gherkin. The contrast between a medieval stone against a bullet-shaped glass tower was simply superb.
Since the Horizon 22 observation deck was right on my path and free to enter, I went up. From the 58th floor, even on a grey and rainy day, the city was immense.
My goal was the Tower of London, so I headed south along Gracechurch Street (the street where the Gardiners, Elizabeth Bennet’s aunt and uncle, had their home in Jane Austen’s Pride and Preudice). With no travel list to stick to, I wandered into the Victorian Leadenhall Market almost by accident, looked around, and carried on. I skipped the Sky Garden — been there before— and I was making my way with the growing afternoon crowds when a bit of green caught my eye, half-hidden behind the first row of buildings.
I went to investigate.
It turned out to be one of the most serene places I’ve ever stumbled upon in a city: a garden built among the ruins of a church (St.Dunstan in the East) with roots going back to Saxon times, later restored in 950 by St Dunstan, and rebuilt, after the Great Fire, in 1697. All that history, all that quiet, right in the middle of the noise. And it’s free to visit.
By the time I moved on, it was half past two. I was getting close to the Tower, but not before one more discovery: All Hallows by the Tower, another free-entry church with a Saxon arch, Roman stone floors and a remarkable collection of medieval artefacts.
I finally reached the Tower of London at four o’clock. I didn’t go in ( we’d visited twice before) and there’s a limit to how many times I’ll pay for the same experience. But for a brief moment, the sun broke through and I caught the Tower Bridge in beautiful light.
By five, my phone battery was nearly dead, so I headed back to the hotel (about half an hour on foot) to charge it and give my feet a moment to rest. As you can see I’ve never mentioned that I stopped to eat. That’s because I didn’t. I had a banana and a croissant (from the hotel’s brakfast) with me and that was all. I can stay without food, for the greater good (discovering new places in a short amount of time).
When my husband finished work, we headed out again. We skipped the Millennium Bridge, which we’d crossed the evening before, and found a different one. We tried the Blackfriar pub but it was full, so we ended up at The Anchor instead. Then we walked to Westminster (Parliament, Big Ben) and simply wandered. On a Monday evening, the streets from Westminster to Trafalgar Square were almost eerily quiet and even more so from Trafalgar down to Fleet Street. That silence in such a grand setting is its own kind of gift.
Sunday evening had been similar. Out at six, and by nine, when the sky was still holding onto its last light, the streets around the Bank of England and the Monument to the Great Fire were entirely ours.
Tuesday morning was for the Royal Borough of Chelsea and Kensington: beautiful architecture, elegant facades and Hyde Park with its swans and spring flowers.
Twenty hours spent exploring, and I loved every one of them.