From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 9: London, the Beginning and the End of our Trip

If you’ve been following along with my Cotswolds series, you know I’ve been sharing all about our trip from last fall. (If you missed the last post, you can catch up HERE. It covers our final day in the Cotswolds!) But before we actually arrived in that beautiful corner of England, our trip began in London—and it ended there, too.

So, I thought I’d share a peek at both of those days: our very first day in London, fresh off the plane, and then the last day we spent there before flying back home.

Full disclaimer: I left my big camera behind on our first day in London, and swapped back and forth between my camera and my iPhone on the second day, so the pictures in this post are a mix of the two.

Table of Contents:

• London, Part 1: Before the Cotswolds
• London, Part 2: After the Cotswolds
• Read the Rest of the Cotswold Blog Post Series

London Part 1: Before the Cotswolds

Mom and I flew out of Savannah around 3:00 PM on Saturday, connected through Atlanta, and then made the big leap across the pond. We landed in London at 6:30 AM on Sunday. Even though this was my first transatlantic flight, I’ve flown plenty before. But for my mom, this was her very first time on an airplane. Ever. Talk about going big for your first flight! She handled it like a champ (honestly better than I expected!). The flight itself wasn’t too bad, and I have to say…the airplane food was surprisingly not terrible. I wouldn’t go so far as to ask Delta for their recipes, but still, better than I had braced myself for.

After we landed, we grabbed a black cab to The Royal Horseguards Hotel, where we were staying that night before meeting up with the group the next morning to head to the Cotswolds. By some miracle, our room was ready early, so we dropped off our things and took a little rest. (We tried to stay awake, but after an overnight flight…you can imagine how that went.)

Eventually, we rallied, made our way to the Tower of London, and enjoyed a tour there. After that, we grabbed a bite to eat and met our driver for our 4-hour Black Cab Heritage Tour, which mom had booked through Viator. Our guide, Terry, was absolutely fantastic. He was knowledgeable, friendly, and just one of those people you feel comfortable with right away. The amount of history he shared was incredible. He, of course, took us to the big name sights, but also showed us places off the beaten path that we never would have discovered on our own.

As a history nerd, I was basically in heaven the entire time. When Mom and I were planning what to do in the short time we would be in London, we went back and forth on whether to book this tour, but I’m so glad we did. With such limited time in the city, having someone like Terry guiding us around gave us an experience we never could have managed on our own. Pro tip: if you’re in London, even for just a few hours, book a Black Cab Tour. And if you can, ask for Terry. You won’t regret it.

By the time we got back to the hotel, we’d been awake for more than 24 hours, and we crashed hard. Jet lag: 1. Us: 0.

London Part 2: After the Cotswolds

After wrapping up our time in the Cotswolds, Mom, Emily (a new friend from the retreat), and I checked into a hotel at Paddington Station before soaking in one last London day.

First stop: Kensington Palace. We toured the exhibits on Queen Victoria, which were fascinating, and then wandered outside through the gardens. We stopped to see the Princess Diana statue, which was beautiful and quite moving.

After that, it was time for something quintessentially British: afternoon tea at The Orangery. Now, confession time—please don’t come after me…the food was just okay in my opinion. I’m not the most adventurous eater, so maybe that’s why. But the tea? Loved it. I ordered a peppermint tea and added sugar. Mom said I added too much but I have no regrets. It was delicious!

We strolled around the grounds afterward, passed by the outside of the palace, admired the Peter Pan statue, spotted way too many birds (I wanted so badly to get a good picture of a swan), and just enjoyed being out in the fresh air.

That evening, we made our way back to the hotel for an early bedtime because the next morning meant airports, security lines, and a long, long day of travel. Mom and I tried really hard to stay awake for the flight home so that we could go straight to bed when we arrived. I think she dozed off a few times, but I managed to stay awake by working my way through watching all of the Hunger Games movies, haha!

By the time we landed, I think caffeine and adrenaline were the only things keeping us upright. It was a wonderful and magical trip. Mom and I were both bitten by the travel bug after that experience and I’m already dreaming about new places to explore in the coming years.

Want to read through the rest of the Cotswolds blog post series? You can read through all of the posts here:

• From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 1: Bibury
• From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 2: Castle Combe
• From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 3: Bath
• From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 4: Stow-on-the-Wold
• From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 5: Bourton-on-the-Water
• From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 6: Burford
• From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 7: Chipping Campden
• From Savannah to the Cotswolds, Part 8: Broadway

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