Hi friends! We just got back from our two week trip to Europe for our anniversary! Both E and I absolutely love traveling and exploring new cities and it was so fun to go to several new places on this trip. I’m going to be sharing photos and blog posts for each of our stops in Europe – London, the south of France / French Riviera, the Provence region and Paris – and highlight some of our favorite activities, places to eat/drink, where to explore, etc. To kick things off, I’m going to start with our first stop, London!
Where we stayed: The Ace Hotel in Shoreditch | So many friends told me I would love this ‘hood and we really did! There were tons of places around there and the neighborhood was hip and trendy, kind of had SF Mission vibes. We loved staying at The Ace and especially loved that we could use their (non-touristy looking) bikes every day! Every day, the lobby was filled with people working on their computer or catching up over coffee and each evening, there was louder music or a DJ with people hanging out near the cool plant-filled (!!) bar. Plus, our room had a bathtub which is always ideal for me.
Where we ate & drank:
Poppies Fish & Chips for fish and chips (diner-y, but super tasty)
Fleet River Bakery
Wheatsheaf (near Borough Market)
Friends of Ours for a super yummy breakfast (I had corn and beet fritters topped with avo and a poached egg, E ordered corn and pancetta hash) and very cute vibes
Homeslice Pizza for late nice pizza slices
NOLA for yummy cocktails
BrewDog for amazing beer (looooooved this place and would go again anytime)
Boundary Rooftop (super awesome view!)
Beach Blanket Babylon (would recommend for cocktails only, no food)
Highlights:
Visiting the different markets around town: Borough Market was absolutely incredible with tons of food vendors, the huge Spitalfields Market where you can find “regular” stores like Lululemon, MAC, etc. but also food vendors and smaller shops, the stunning Sunday flower market on Columbia Road, and Camden Lock Market with soooo many shops, food vendors, everything – it was huge (but also a little more tourist-y and packed than I prefer).
Catching up and grabbing drinks with my good friend Courtney’s sister Carli and her husband Phil
Sunday morning yoga at ETHOS (thanks Classpass!)
Biking allllllll over the city and visiting all of the “London spots” like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Covent Gardens, etc.
NOT a highlight, but a funny story: all weekend, we were talking about how we were leaving London out of Heathrow Airport to get to France and discussing how to best get there. We ended up taking Uber to the tube (subway) and taking it over an hour to the airport. Once we got there (and literally, not until RIGHT when we got there), we realized we WENT TO THE WRONG AIRPORT. Gatwick airport would have been at least an hour taxi ride and we didn’t think we could make it. We ended up getting re-booked out of London City airport a few hours later (annnnnd went back on the tube for another hour). Soooo during our four day trip to London, we visited all three airports. Yay.
Have you been to London? I always love saving recommendations from friends so definitely let me know your favorite spots to visit and explore! xo
This looks like a blast!!!!
This trip looked AMAZING! All about the english yoga, too! <3
I love seeing all your great photos of London! You’re not the only one that messed up on departure. When we went the Chunnel had just opened and we were very excited to go to Paris via the Chunnel after a week in London. The final day in London was super lazy, not a lot of sightseeing. When we went to the Chunnel, we realized our tickets were for the previous day! Turns out there are special tickets they hold back just for Village Idiots like us and we got on the train very cheap and with much relief that we didn’t have to duplicate the cost. Can’t wait to see what you loved in Paris. Let me guess – bakery windows?