If you’re looking for a small little weekend trip to get away, why not go to London?
My best friend from study abroad was spending the week visiting her boyfriend in London, and I hadn’t seen her in 3.5 years, so I decided to hop on the Eurostar for a small little weekend trip to visit them.
Visiting London in one weekend, it’ll be impossible to see and do everything as the city is so big. Yet, I feel like in my 1.5 days I spent here, we were able to see and do so many things.
Since my friend comes to London so frequently, I consider her a local now since she has the tube down and nows all the ins and outs of the city. She (thankfully) organized a lot of what we did since she knows the neighborhoods well and could group together activities. I had some things in mind I wanted to see and do, but having her input made it so much easier!
In this blog, I’ll take you through everything we did to make the most of my little 2 night trip!
At a glance :
Taking the Eurostar from Paris, things to know
Day 1 in London
Brunch in Kensington
The British Museum
Late lunch food crawl
Pub hopping
London’s most popular shop : Liberty
Dinner & drinks in London
Day 2 in London
Sunday morning brunch in Pinner
Little stop for matcha
London’s oldest bookstore
Fortnum & Mason
Heading back to Paris
Bonus!
London’s oldest market : Borough Market
Notting Hill
Taking the Eurostar from Paris, things to know
Reaching England from Europe is actually so simple thanks to the Eurostar. The Eurostar is a train that goes under the English Channel, easily linking London to Paris, Brussels, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Cologne, and Dusseldorf.
This was my first time taking the Eurostar under the English Channel, and it was so fast and simple that I now prefer this over flying!
When preparing for your train ride, Eurostar will let you know you the time you need to arrive at the train station before your train departs, which is usually about an hour before.
This gives you plenty of time to go through customs (as well as a second passport control if you are not from the EU), go through security, and potentially even have a moment to grab a coffee once you have gone through these checkpoints.
The train ride is very smooth, and honestly goes by in a blink. Before you know it, you’ve crossed the channel and have arrived in London!
For me, I took the train at 8:30pm on Friday and arrived in London at 10pm, local hour, for a 2.5 hour journey. Since I arrived quite late, and where we stayed was 45 minutes to an hour outside of the city, we when back to their place for the night so we could have the whole day on Saturday to explore.
Day 1 in London
Brunch in Kensington
Starting off our Saturday, we met our other best friend from study abroad who happened to be in London for the week in Kensington for brunch.
We went to Megan’s on High Street, and everything was so delicious. Megan’s is an Eastern Mediterranean restaurant, so it is different from your typical (American) brunch or English breakfast, which is part of why I loved it.
Our server was so friendly and gave his best recommendations, he didn’t disappoint.
My friends ordered the shakshouka, and I had the Turkish eggs with fresh flatbread, as well as their vanilla matcha. This was my first time having Turkish eggs and now it’s one of my new favorites! The matcha was also quite good, especially as a matcha lover.
There is simply nothing better than seeing close friends you haven’t seen in so long. It feels healing to be able to talk about anything and everything, and also catch up over what has been going on in our lives.
I definitely miss seeing them everyday when we lived in Lyon. Though, it didn’t even feel like it had been that long since we’d seen each other, we just picked up right where we left off.
The British Museum
After brunch, we strolled through the streets of Kensington and enjoyed the beautiful architecture of the buildings. It is a richer area, so all of the flats were incredibly well kept and quite posh.
Our friend that was in town for the ASU game then headed out to make the tailgate, and we then took the tube a few stops to get closer to the British Museum, but still walked most of the way since we had decent weather and it wasn’t raining.
The British Museum was on the top of my list of things to do this time around in London, since my first time in the city I didn’t get to visit it!
I really enjoyed the museum, it reminded me a bit of the Louvre when walking in, especially with its grand entrance and glass dome ceiling, resembling a bit of the Louvre’s Pyramid.
With so many exhibits, you could easily spend hours here!
Late lunch food crawl
By the time we finished the British Museum, we were starting to get hungry.
For me, I absolutely needed to try a sausage roll from Greggs because my friend has raved about them for years, and I felt like it’s a cultural experience that I must have at this point.
We decided at this point to do a little food crawl, as they were also craving bao buns from their favorite spot in China Town.
We first went to Bun House on Lisle Street and took our bao buns to go. We had the beef and pork buns, and honestly they were amazing. The beef was definitely my favorite, with a rich gravy inside.
Our second spot on our small food crawl was Greggs, my top request for this trip. This was the moment I’ve been waiting for for years!
After having my first sausage roll from The Ginger Pig at Borough Market, which was actually life changing, and since my friend has raved about Greggs for so long, I had high expectations for their sausage rolls.
I ended up having their chicken bake as well as a sausage roll, because my friends told me it was a must-try. The chicken bake ended up being my favorite!
The sausage roll was good, but after having the sausage roll from The Ginger Pig, nothing will simply compare. However, for a quick bit on the go without an enormous queue, it hit the spot.
Pub hopping
Throughout the day in between activities, we hopped from pub to pub for a little drink. Participating in the pub culture in London is a great way to feel more local.
They showed me some of their favorites, and we also tried some new ones. It was a fun way to relax in between all of the walking we were doing!
Unfortunately I don’t even remember the name of my favorite one that we stopped at. It was next to China Town and just down the street from Greggs, with a small entrance that was actually enormous on the inside, with multiple floors and a medeival theme.
London’s most popular shop : Liberty
Since arriving in London by the Eurostar, I had literally seen everyone carrying Liberty shopping bags, and I had no idea what it was.
Come to find out, Liberty is one of the most popular stores in London, almost like Galerie Lafayette in Paris. You can find designer brands for women and men, furnishings, beauty, and on the top floor is great for gift shopping.
This was our last stop of the day before getting dinner, and we headed straight to the top so I could get some gifts for my family. Even though I came mid-September, they were already ready for Christmas! So it became the perfect spot for me to get my Christmas gifts.
The building itself is gorgeous, so even if you aren’t looking to do any shopping, Liberty is still worth checking out.
Dinner & drinks in London
After our day of exploring and walking throughout all of London, we were ready to relax at a pub. I happened to be in London the weekend that Arizona State University played Kansas at Wembley Stadium in London, which was perfect timing for me as I am a Sun Devil alum!
Over 9,000 ASU fans came to London just for the game, which blew my mind! Even our close friend from study abroad that we had brunch with earlier that day was there just for the game. We went to an American pub for the second half and honestly it felt nice to be in an American bar after so long.
Afterwards, we headed just two streets over to a more refined pub for dinner and drinks at Lore of the Land. This happens to be one of my friends’ go-to pubs, and I can totally see why.
It has a more sophisticated vibe for a pub as it is a traditional British pub, yet you can still find all of the classic bits and bops that you look for in pub food, just more elevated.
I decided to go with their margarita since I have had one in so long, and then we split a few of their appetizers as we weren’t hungry enough for a full meal having had our food crawl just before.
When I tell you, all of the appetizers were incredible here. We tried their crispy potatoes with truffle mayo, their Scotch egg with duck, chickpea fries, olives, and their cheese platter with homemade crisps.
If I had to choose, I would say the crispy potatoes with truffle mayo were my absolute favorite since the potatoes and the crunchiest bite I had ever experienced for a potato. And I’m also a sucker for truffle mayo, so for me that was easy. But they were all amazing.
Day 2 in London
Sunday morning brunch in Pinner
My last morning in London, we all went for brunch nearby in Pinner at Cafe 40-42, another one of their go-to spots. Since Pinner is slightly far from central London (though it is still considered London), this may not be realistic for many people to get to. However, the town was adorable and had a large park nearby that you can walk through as well.
For brunch, I had their shakshouka since I didn’t have it the day before and I was craving it. They served it with what seemed like a whole loaf of bread, so you had plenty to eat the shakshouka with!
This was a great little spot for a Sunday brunch.
Afterwards, we took a stroll through the cute park nearby before my friend had to head to the airport to head back home, and I had to head into London for my train back to Paris.
We had a short weekend all together but I really feel like we made the most of it. It made my heart so full seeing them!
Little stop for matcha in London
I had a bit of time before my train back to Paris, so I stopped to have a matcha for a little caffeine pick me up.
My friend had recommended me her favorite book stores in London to check out in my spare time, so I routed myself to Hatchards at Piccadilly Circus, and then stumbled across Hagen Espresso Bar (Mayfair) just a few streets over.
After doing some research just now, it seems like they actually have a few locations!
I really liked their Mayfair location at Swallow Street because it was just off of Regent Street, which was a stunning curved avenue filled with high end shopping and the most beautiful buildings.
As it turns out, Regent Street is actually one of the most popular shopping streets in the world, but I didn’t even realize! But even without knowing, you can tell it is a destintation spot because of the architecture and the types of stores that you pass.
Anyways, back to the matcha. The matcha from Hagen was exactly what I needed. Perfectly smooth even with oat milk, and I loved sitting in the sun on the tiny side road just enjoying the sounds of London on a Sunday morning.
London’s oldest bookstore
After enjoying my matcha, I headed to one of my friend’s favorite book stores, as well as London and England’s oldest bookshop, Hatchards.
Hatchards has been around since 1797 at Picadilly Circus, yet the interior inside feels timeless. The store is incredibly well kept, and has five floors worth of books to explore.
I was really hoping to get a book from here, but I was short on time and wanted to pick out a book I wouldn’t have been able to get at a book store in Paris. So I left sans book, but I still loved getting to briefly see the store.
Fortnum & Mason
For my final stop Sunday before heading to the train station, I went just next door to Hatchards to see Fortnum & Mason, another one of my friend’s favorite shops in London.
Fortnum & Mason has been around since 1707, and is known for their high quality tea, yet also being a luxury department store.
My friend is a big tea lover, as am I, so she said this would be the best place to buy English tea.
For me, buying tea was an easier decision than to buy a book, so I decided to bring back to Paris a box of their Countess Grey tea, which is their take on the classic Earl Grey. As a love of Earl Grey tea, I was excited to try this version.
The tea is so smooth, and you can really taste the orange balanced with the bergamot.
Heading back to Paris
From Fortnum & Mason, I took the Victoria line from Green Park to reach St. Pancras Station, which was super easy as it was just a few stops away.
I got to the station just over an hour before, which gave me enough time to grab a lunch to-go from M&S, go through security, and board the train.
Going back to Paris, Eurostar actually recommended be to get there 1 hour and 15 minutes before departure, so slightly earlier than my train from Paris to London. However, security still went quite fast.
I do recommend arriving at the station before the time they say, just to give some wiggle room with finding the international departures and grab something to eat if needed.
The train back to Paris went just as smooth as my ride to London. Honestly, I would take the Eurostar over a plane any day!
Since you don’t need to arrive 2 hours early, and the train stations are located in the center of each city, you save so much time, and the ride is very comfortable.
Bonus!
If you have more time in London and are looking for more spots to see, here are a few of my favorites from my previous visit to London!
London’s oldest market : Borough Market
If you’re a foodie, Borough Market is an absolute must-visit spot in London.
Yes, it is insanely popular and can be very crowded, but I really think it is worth the visit.
With over 1,000 years of history, this space holds an immense lore. Borough Market offers over 100 vendors, so you’ll absolutely find a unique new food to try.
The best thing I tried here was the sausage roll I had from The Ginger Pig. The sausage was so moist, perfectly cooked, and the pastry on the outside gave it the perfect blanket to sit in.
For my full guide to Borough Market, check out this blog!
Notting Hill
Another iconic spot absolutely worth visiting in London is Notting Hill.
You may have heard of Notting Hill if you’ve seen the famous romcom with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Well, the movie takes place on this famous street.
Notting Hill is the perfect spot for you if you love antique and vintage shopping.
I spent the afternoon with my friend going in and out of all of the antique shops, browsing jewelry and ceramics. There was even a curated thrift market at the end of the road the day we went that had amazing pieces of clothing.
Notting Hill has gorgeous colorful buildings and some cute cafés as well, so even if you aren’t into vintage shopping it still can be fun to see!
Final thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this blog taking you through how to spend a weekend in London via the Eurostar, inspired by my trip to visit my favorite Londoners!
From pub hopping to seeing the British Museum, doing a mini food crawl and checking out all of London’s iconic stores, we definitely made the most of our little weekend.
If you only had 1.5 days in London, how would you spend it? Let me know in the comments (so I can have some inspo if I pop over on the Eurostar again)!
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Xx,
Carmela
