After a few years of not going overseas starting with the pandemic, I was eager to start traveling international again. So in August, I flew out to London to begin my European vacation. I was traveling solo in London, so I had very little agenda for London other than wanting to visit the Prince's Head aka "the Ted Lasso bar" in Richmond, and visit Camden Lock, where another Apple TV show called Trying is filmed. I was able to do both successfully because of the regions extensive, yet at times confusing (for non-locals) rail system.
I arrived in Gatwick Airport at 9am. I pre-purchased the Gatwick Express train ticket online because it saved me 10%. The Gatwick Express took me from the airport to the Victoria Station in about 25 minutes. From Victoria, I purchased a day pass for all zones, which allowed me to get to Richmond, to visit the "Ted Lasso bar". I purchased the day pass from the ticket kiosk at the Victoria Station and received a paper ticket for I think 15.20 pound. I later learned that if you have a contactless payment credit card, it is cheaper to just tap your way around the stations. You'll be capped at, I believe around 13 pounds, which is the cost of the day pass if you use your contactless credit card. I read on TfL's website that I might be able to use contactless payment, but learning how to navigate fares and routes on public transit in a new city and foreign country can take a lot of trial and error.
Anyways, my hotel was near St. James' Park. Since I got to my hotel around 11am, it was too early to check in. So, I dropped off my backpack and headed out to Richmond. If you're wondering how I only have a backpack, check out my blog on what I pack when I travel.
I took the District line from St. James' Park station towards Richmond. The District line terminates in Richmond which made it easy for me to know when to get off. Despite some hiccups I encountered taking the train, I really do like the public transit in London, and in other developed countries for that matter. It is night and day from public transit in the US and to some degree Canada.
The District line to Richmond was quick and smooth. The station was only a few minutes walk from the bar. I grabbed a couple of drinks, had fish and chips and briefly explored the area.
It was raining that day and of course I had shorts on, not thinking it would rain in the summer. I guess I was wrong.
I made my way back to London, but since I had a day pass, I wanted to ride the tube and explore as much as possible. So, after multiple transfers in the tube, because I couldn't figure out how the Northern Line worked coming from the District Line, I finally made my way to Camden Lock. It was great seeing in person all the locations I saw on the TV show Trying.
Given my confusion with the London tube trying to get to Camden, I thought today might be a good time to learn how to take the tube to King's Cross St. Pancras. I'll be departing on the Eurostar from there to Paris, so maybe I should learn how to do this now. The last thing I want is miss my train because I couldn't figure out which line to transfer to and which station to get out of. Not all the lines that cross each other have a transfer point.
King's Cross St. Pancras was a beautiful station. I forgotten how amazing European train stations can be. By the time evening came around, the rain had stopped and I was done getting lost in the tube. I just wanted to walk around. Plus, you don't see anything underground. I walked over to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.
The line to see the interior of the Westminster Abbey wrapped around the block. I knew I couldn't get tickets, but I believe the tickets were also about $25, which I admit, I did not want to pay for. But, one of the best experiences I've ever had was I attended an evening prayer service at the Abbey. It not only felt much more authentic, but I also got the see the interior, and for FREE! It was a great service, lasting about 25minutes. This was a much better experience than waiting in line to pay an admissions fee to go inside. Photography during service was not allowed, which makes sense, so I had to sneak a few photos before and after service.
Walking around the area, I was also surprised how many people were cycling home from work. I had read how cycling in London is booming, but wow! It was great to see so many people on their bikes.
Given I had my day pass, I also took this time to ride London's famous red double decker bus. Of course I had to sit on top.
The next couple of days were just me getting lost and exploring the city and beyond. I rented a Santander bike share and sort of rode aimlessly. What I like about the London's Santander bike share is you can use your contactless credit card to rent a bike. There's no need to download their app or unlock their bikes with their app. I did not purchase a pocket wifi plan, so being able to use my credit card to unlock a bike was a great asset to me. The only thing I needed to do was pre-plan where the nearest docking station would be closes to my destination.
I also went to a large South Asian community in Wembley. Stuffed myself with Sri Lankan and Indian food. All my trips were done by bike and public transit, which saved me a lot of money and helped me experience my time there more like a local.
On my last day, I was debating if I wanted to take the tube to St. Pancras. I wanted to be above ground so I can see the city. I also thought it would be fun to sit in the ubiquitous black cabs I see all over the streets. I asked the front desk staff how much a taxi would cost going from my hotel to St. Pancras. She estimated about 50-60 pounds. I immediately said "no thanks". So the front desk staff provided me the bus route to get to King's Cross St Pancras. It required a transfer. My first thought was I was amazed how this person knew exactly which bus to take, which side of the street to wait for the bus and where to get off to transfer to the second bus. It's hard to imagine very many people in the US, even working in the hotel industry knowing how public transit works. My second thought was that this was a much better way to travel on my last day since I got to see some sights I wasn't able to see by being underground.
Onto Paris...
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