Day 1 – 10 Day trip to London and Edinburgh

Travel date – April 16, 2024

The Story

Day 1 in Little Britain – We were quite tired after our flight. We made our way to the hotel through the Elizabeth Line. We grabbed ourselves a nice little breakfast at a “hole in the wall” place. It was quite delicious. We made our way to St Paul’s Cathedral and marveled at the beauty it is. After 528 steps to the top of the Cathedral, it was time to rest. We somehow made it to the Tower Bridge to have a look around before the last entry at 5PM. It’s a marvelous invention that has evolved quite a lot over the years, but still stands strong to serve its purpose. We had our din din at Lahore Kebab House, which we had heard about on the plane.

All in all, a great first day; 19,677 steps, 13.43km.

The flight from Ottawa to Heathrow was not a direct flight. We flew through Pearson Airport in Toronto. When we landed at Heathrow it was early in the morning and we were very tired. We took the latest train line in London, the Elizabeth line, to get to our hotel in Russell Square. We made it a point to get our Oyster card at the Heathrow airport itself and loaded GBP 50 to it. It was not difficult to find the correct platform to get in to the Elizabeth line. The train was almost empty when we got in, however, as it was the rush-hour it got crowded by the time we got out of the train. We found ourselves on the streets of London after exiting the Tottenham Court Road station.

Once we got to our hotel, we rested a bit, and headed out to have our breakfast at the “Bay Leaf Cafe”. It looked like a dainty restaurant at the beginning, but it does have a basement to cater to more people. The food in there was great, especially their English breakfast. We didn’t include the breakfast at our hotel in our initial booking but for the next couple of days we used it quite often.

St Paul’s Cathedral

After breakfast, we headed towards St Paul’s Cathedral, which is an iconic Anglican church that has been in the backdrop of many British movies and TV shows. It was bigger than expected and as seen on screen. It is beyond majestic. The high ceiling, eye-catching paintings, dome-design are all breathtaking. You could easily spend a day there, admiring the artwork and learning about the history behind it. This structure was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren in 1710. Although over 300 years old, this is the newer building that replaced the old St Paul’s Cathedral which burnt in the famous fire of 1666 in London.

It is possible to climb up to the upper levels of the church to overlook the city of London, if you can climb 528 steps. We were able to manage that and it did not disappoint.

Tower Bridge before closing

After a couple of hours of rest, we were rushing along to get to the Tower Bridge before it closes at 5PM. We were able to make it on time.

A great first day; 19,677 steps, 13.43km.