Is there anything more festive than the idea of ‘London during Christmas’? I dont think so. That is why, this year, I decided to make the idea become reality and booked the trip.
Since it was my travel companion’s first time in London, we started off with some sightseeing. When I was in London the previous time, Big Ben was still under construction, so it was nice to now see it in its full glory again.
To continue our sightseeing, we went for a walk along the River Thames. Starting at Westminster, we made our way down east, all the way to Tower Bridge where we discovered the wonderful restaurant ‘The ivy‘. Their truffle burger was so delicious, oh my goodness.
Of course, we couldn’t do a sightseeing tour without taking obligatory pictures in all the typically touristy places.
No matter how many times I’ve been there, the City’s architecture always enchants me. Whether it is Westminster Abbey, the National Gallery, or some random random street in Kensington – I find London to be simply beautiful.
Starting our trip, we were very uncertain about the weather that would expect us in England but surprisingly, we were very lucky and could enjoy some sunny hours every single day. We ended our touristy day with a spectacular three-course dinner menu at ‘The Delauney‘ – an absolute favorite of mine.
After almost 30.000 steps on the day before, we obviously have not had walked enough yet, so we started the next day with a sunny stroll around Hyde Park and Kensington Palace.
After expecting gloomy and rainy days, we couldn’t stop saying ‘I cannot believe how lucky we are with the weather’ about 200 times a day. But seriously, the coloured houses of Notting Hill are even more spectacular in direct sunlight.
To get into the christmassy part of the trip, we went to ‘Winter Wonderland’ – an enormously large christmas market located right in the heart of Hyde Park.
To our surprise, most of the booths had a German theme. You could find a Bavarian village, German bratwurst or traditional Glühwein at every corner. But to be fair – the English christmas markets would not stand a chance against German ones when it comes to festivity and coziness.
No Christmas trip to London is fully complete without a little shopping excursion to Harrods. They have truly taken their decor game to a completely new level. I need to say, this picture does not do it any justice at all, but I was so hypnotized that I only remembered to take a picture when we were already about to leave.
No matter how much damage might have been done during the Christmas shopping, the festive feelings only truly arise when the sun has set and all the lights have been switched on.
Fake snow flying through the crisp air on Bond Street, people drinking mulled wine at Trafalgar Square, and the angels glittering on Regent Street – as soon as the lights are switched on, so is the magic.
While Christmas is often called ‘the most wonderful time of the year‘, in reality, it can also be the hardest time of the year for a lot of people. So, whether it is your family, your friends, or simply your cat – I hope you get to spend this Christmas with someone you love and find the time to get some rest. I am sending you all the love and best wishes for the holidays.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Jessica Schütze 
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