London is an amazing city and surprisingly cheap to visit.
Getting Around
Walking around town you'll see crosswalks with reminders where traffic comes from. This is actually really helpful if you come from a country that drives on the right side of the road.
They like their safety reminders. Truth is, that gap can get pretty big, so the reminder is definitely warranted.
Free Things To Do
There are so many things to see in London. Just walking around the city is an experience in itself. Every turn there is something and there is just so much history you could spend your entire trip just walking around.
There are numerous free parks to walk, run, cycle in. They are beautifully kept up, safe, and just pleasant to be in.
St James Park
St James Park Tulips
Make sure to do some walking around near Piccadilly Circus. This area has some of the oldest stores, hotels, and restaurants. You can window shop all you want.
Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain - Piccadilly Circus
Exploring London's oldest operating bookstore - Hatchards.
Smelling the various teas at Fortnum and Mason
Casually walking past the London Necropolis
Westminster Abbey
Globe Theater - Walking along the Thames
Ganton St - Great Food Around Here
Tower Bridge - Walking along the Thames
FOOD!
Fish and Chips
Full English Breakfast
Coffee and French Macaroons
Bangers and Mash from Mother Mash
Full Afternoon Tea Service from Oscar Wilde Bar - Hotel Cafe Royal (...Not Cheap)
Tours
This is a paid tour, but if you are a Harry Potter fan, it is definitely worth it. It's only £39.00/person for entry and you can almost get there entirely on the public transit system. The last leg of the trip has a Harry Potter Studio Tour bus that is only £2.50 round trip.
Theatre
If you are a fan of theater, or not, you should really try to see a play in London. One might say it's the best place in the world to see a play. Plan WELL in advance as tickets will sell out. We bought our tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 18 months before our trip. In fact, it was the main reason for our trip. It was an outstanding experience all around.
Snorkeled with manatees in coral springs, Florida. After searching through canals, we found a few manatees and got out of the boat. Our tour was with www.riverventures.com. They do not guarantee seeing a manatee on this trip, but they try really hard. Ultimately, even on a slow day, we found multiple manatees. Next time we're going to go on a colder day. They told us that the best time to come is morning after a freeze.
The first manatee was large and then we lost it when it went under a passing boat.
The other manatee was grazing on the bottom, whenever it touched ground to eat, it stirred up the already murky water.
They told us that on the tour we had to have pool noodles to make sure we didn't try and dive down.
Price: $64.00 / Each
In the future we will take our own kayaks, but if crunched for time the tour is a time saver.
