A few weeks ago, I traveled solo to London, England and had a wonderful experience! I wanted to share it with you for your next trip abroad, and to show that you can solo travel, too.
As a female, solo travel can definitely seem daunting. I chose London because I’d heard that it was an easily navigable city by foot or public transportation, and because I wanted to experience my first abroad Christmas market. It was a great city to dip my toe into in terms of solo travel, and I can’t wait to add more cities to my bucketlist! Head over to my Instagram to see my full experience via my London story highlight, and a few posts/reels on my feed.
Transportation
Getting around London was especially easy – I stayed in a central location near a lot of the sights, coffee, and food I wanted to eat. I also made sure that an underground stop (tube / metro) was close by, incase I wanted to venture out further. What made things super simple was the ability to use tap to pay for metro rather than having to get a card or ticket! I did use Uber from my hotel to the airport only because my flight was extremely early. I still can’t get over the driver being on the other side of the car!
Food
A big reason I travel (the main reason) is to experience different parts of the world through food. In London, I had a huge list of restaurants and coffee shops to visit, and I did not make it through them all so I will return! My favorites include: Bancone for pasta, Bao for shrimp bao buns, Formative, Monmouth & Kaffeine for coffee, and Borough Market for a little bit of everything. Coffee was relatively inexpensive at under $3 a cup, but food was similar pricing to what I pay in Columbus – $14-25 a plate. Remember to never pay in USD if you’re coming from the states – you’ll get a better rate paying in the local currency.
Sights
While solo traveling in London, I stayed in Westminster. This area was very close to notable sights such as Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace. Not only that, but my metro stop took me to Kensington Gardens, Notting Hill, and The London Bridge in less than 30 minutes. I highly recommend starting your day early to get in-front of the crowds – there are A LOT of tour groups (and just people in general) everywhere. Out of everything I saw, I have to say that seeing Big Ben in person was pretty breathtaking, and walking the Kensington Gardens was my favorite. If you go during the fall, be sure to bring a good coat and hat as it does get chilly and windy!
What I Would Do Differently
Now that I am back home and have had time to think about my solo travel to London, I have realized a few things I’d do differently. The biggest thing is that I would have made restaurant reservations – as a solo traveler, I thought I might get lucky and swing a bar seat and I was wrong! Dishoom is a restaurant I really wanted to try, but could not get into – I’ll be going back to London for a resy! Another thing I’d do different next time is book a day trip to a surrounding city. I realized far too late that it would be nice to go to Cambridge or Oxford, and am kicking myself for not planning that earlier. Lastly, and this is dependent on the time of year, I would have been happier with more layering clothes than what I brought. It got cold, but my bulky sweaters didn’t play nice with my main jacket.
Overall, I highly recommend planning solo travel to London!
I had an incredible time walking around, taking in the sights, eating delicious food & drinking(too much) amazing coffee. I was in London for 3 full days, and spent $450 on accommodations, $164.90 on food and drinks, $81.54 on transportation (the bulk of that being my Uber ride), and lastly $31.46 on miscellaneous items. If you are like me and you prefer to explore a new city through it’s food, add London to your list! Tell me in the comments your favorite foodie city to explore!