London, UK

My friend Harshita texted me sometime in the summer and said “how would you feel if I met you in London and we did some Harry Potter stuff together?” and I about fainted with excitement. I WOULD FEEL GREAT ABOUT THAT OBVIOUSLY.

Day 1

Harshita flew from the US and I took the train to London to meet her a few hours after she landed. I arrived at London St Pancras/Kings Cross and took the underground to our hotel. We stayed in Shoreditch at the Montcalm Royal London House. It was a lovely hotel in a great location and we loved it!

Burger and Beyond

We were both a bit tired this night (especially Harshita) so we went to get dinner at Burger and Beyond nearby. We got a very delicious burger and they had MOZARELLA STICKS (this is very exciting if you no longer live in the US).

Day 2

The next morning I was working a half day so we had a chill morning. In the afternoon we had tickets thanks to Harshita’s husband to see the Cursed Child play!

Korean Dinner Party

In the intermission of the play we went to Korean Dinner Party in the Soho area. It was in a really cool food hall type place. We got some fried cauliflower tacos, scallion pancake, Korean corn dog, and some popcorn chicken.

Day 3

Savoy Cafe & Kitchen

We started the next morning at Savoy Cafe & Kitchen. I ordered this amazing breakfast with eggs, halloumi, spinach, hashbrowns, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms. It was perfect!

Harry Potter Studio Tour

This was the most exciting part of the trip. We took a train out to the Harry Potter studio tour. It was SO COOL. It was huge and took several hours but had so much of the real sets and props from the Harry Potter movies. We had so much fun looking at everything and taking photos. I would recommend to any Harry Potter fans 100%. Since it was Christmas it was also decorated in the Great Hall for Christmas and had all the Yule Ball costumes out!

At this part with the castle I honestly almost cried. It was so cool. I feel like all of my childhood dreams came true.

Veeraswamy

For dinner we had to try some Indian food in London. We went to Veeraswamy which is a Michelin star Indian restaurant. We shared this assortment of dishes and they were all really tasty.

Day 4

Amber

I was really excited about the brunch scene in London. After a lot of searching I found Amber, which was mediterranean inspired and looked really good. It ended up being one of our favorite meals of the trip. We both got this pita with yogurt, aubergine, poached eggs and Za’atar.

Tower of London/Tower Bridge

We headed over next to check out the Tower of London (we didn’t go in, just took some pictures) and the Tower bridge.

We walked across the tower bridge and decided to wander around. We checked out some nearby Christmas markets and did some walking. We also took a break to warm up in this little pub (it was soooo cold the whole time we were there!)

Christmas Markets/Borough Market

We spent some time walking around some Christmas markets (none of them were really worth writing home about) and the Borough market (which was so cool and I want to go back to when I am more hungry someday!!)

Shoreditch Fish and Chips

We had to try fish and chips while we were in London of course so we found a nearby spot to try them. They even came with mushy peas!

Day 5

Portobello Road Market

We took the train to the Portobello Road Market which was so cool. It was a huge long road of an open air market that had a cool hippie vibe. Lots of vintage stuff and individual unique sellers.

There was a great food section as well where I got some halloumi fries and a spinach and cheese gözleme!

We decided after this to explore some areas we had been through that we thought were cool. What we did not account for was that it was a Saturday, during Christmas, and England was playing in the World Cup that evening. Absolutely everywhere was INSANELY CROWDED. We took some nice pictures and then we got out of there and went back to our hotel!!

Day 6

Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium

We wanted to have a proper high tea while we were in London but everyone was fully booked up so we ended up going for tea and scones at a nearby cat cafe!!

Brick Lane Vintage Market

Unfortunately I took no photos of this at all but we walked down Brick Lane and stumbled upon the Brick Lane vintage market. It was a huge market of vintage shops and it was SO COOL. We had a great time exploring and I wish I lived nearby so I could shop there all the time.

Truman Brewery Markets

This was also pretty awesome and I took no photos here either. It was absolutely freezing (like 25F) and this market is open air even though its covered, so it was very very cold in there. It had a lot of small stalls with really cool stuff in it. It was also extremely crowded unfortunately but seemed really awesome.

Natural History Museum

We headed to the Natural History Museum because we thought it looked super cool. To be honest some parts were pretty cool and some parts I found a little disappointing. The building & the entrance are so beautiful though! It’s also nice that the museum is free (you can make a donation at the entrance).

Sanjugo

We chose this restaurant to be near our hotel to be totally honest, because it was so cold and we were tired. It was pretty solid sushi and would recommend!

On our walk home it started snowing!

Day 7

On our last day I was working in the morning again so we had a half day to explore.

Dishoom

This was the other Indian restaurant Harshita wanted to check out while in London and it did not disappoint. It was the best Indian food I’ve ever had. We ordered and ate way too much and it was so worth it. They even had masala chai made with oat milk!!

We got okra fries, black dahl, tikka masala roti rolls, chili broccoli salad and chole puri.

After a post meal rest we went to check out some sights before it got dark.

Big Ben/Westminster Abbey

We had so much fun on this trip and I would love to go back to London again sometime. It was so nice to explore with a lovely friend!!