9 Day Itinerary to London and Edinburgh
This was a trip that my husband, Bryce, and I have dreamed of for over 5 years. London was supposed to be our honeymoon, but Covid ensured that didn’t happen. We decided that for our 5 year anniversary, we would make it happen and even better than originally planned… AND WE DID!
We did so much that I am going to write out our itinerary, notable places we ate, and then at the end I will share a few things that I found helpful and things we didn’t get to do but wish we would have.
Day 1:
Arrived early at Heathrow. We had a red-eye flight directly to London from Cincinnati. To avoid feeling jet lagged, we started our day right away!
Our Airbnb was located in Covent Garden which was a wonderful location. We were in between Charing Cross Station and Embankment Station. Our Airbnb cost us $1,255 for 4 nights.
Big Ben
Buckingham Palace
London Eye - We didn’t actually ride the London eye, but just enjoyed it from the outside.
Parliament Square
Trafalgar Square
St. James Park- There are cafes and public bathrooms scattered throughout the park. However, using bathrooms cost £1 or so.
Westminster Abbey
Wahaca- mexican cuisine with a fun atmosphere!
Day 2:
Kensington Garden- beautiful area to walk around with a lot of statues and fountains!
Kensington Palace
The Moco-£22 a person (about $28). This was probably my favorite museum and they feature artists such as Keith Haring, Kaws, and Banksy.
Shopping at Soho - there were so many shops and restaurants in the area! This area also was covered in Christmas lights and was so pretty to walk through.
Day 3:
Camden Street Market- very quirky, artsy place with food vendors
Japes- London style pizza. This was a short walk away from Camden Street Market, but was away from the crowds which was a nice break. SUPER tasty!
Chelsea Match/Museum tour - This was one of the main reasons we came to London! General tickets are released closer to the game, and can be challenging to get. We booked through Champions Travel for a guaranteed/easier way to get tickets . We purchased the Matchdays @ The Museum hospitality package which was $980 total (cost varies greatly by match. For us, Chelsea v Liverpool cost almost double). With the package you get a mini-stadium tour (player tunnel, pitchside) before hanging out in the museum with a meal and drinks served before the match. As longtime fans, it made for a great experience. We were seated in the Upper West Stand (I recommend looking at aviewfrommyseat.com, we were in Section 7). The atmosphere was still wonderful in an exciting 3-0 win over Wolves! You get drink vouchers but you aren’t able to drink (alcohol) in view of the pitch, so that is something to keep in mind as the queues at halftime are lengthy.
Day 4:
Blues and Royal Coffee- A small coffee stand right outside Embankment train station
Gail’s Bakery- Chain coffee shop and bakery in multiple locations, but we had a great sausage roll right before going to Tate Modern!
Tate Modern -Free art museum! It’s massive and you can spend a lot of time here. Like… A LOT.
Borough Market- this market was very crowded, but we were told it was a must do. We got the famous Salt Beef Sandwich fully dressed and the chocolate strawberries that every influencer raves about. The strawberries were at a stand called Turnips. It took us forever to find them!
London Tower
London Tower Bridge- there is an option to walk on the higher deck on the bridge which has a glass bottom.
Classic Football Shirts- a must stop for football fans! They carry a selection of modern and vintage kits as well as some other things. Bryce opted for a Ronaldinho Christmas sweater!
Honest Burger- A burger restaurant with a few locations. I recommend the wings!
Day 5:
Checked out of our Airbnb and dropped of our luggage at Stasher near Euston Train Station. It was £15 (about $20) to store 3 bags all day. Super easy!
British Museum- this is another massive, FREE museum where you can spend most of the day. Lines for tickets can be long, but you can reserve a time slot and tickets on their website for a quicker entrance.
Swiss Butter - this was a short walk from the British Museum and was one of our favorite meals!
Graffiti Tunnel - Or also called Leake Street. It’s about a 5 minute walk from Waterloo East Train Station. This is a place where anyone can do graffiti legally. While we were there we watched a couple artists finish their amazing pieces!
Draughts - This restaurant is in Graffiti Tunnel. We were lucky and walked right in, but reservations are recommended. Here you pay to play board games and they have a whole wall of options to pull from. It was £9.50 (about $12.40) per person to play games. They serve appetizers or food like tacos and burgers and have a great selection of cocktails and beer. One of our more expensive eats but definitely a fun one!
Caledonian Sleeper train to Edinburgh- For our trip to Edinburgh we debated taking a train or flying. We then came across the Caledonian Sleeper train and thought it would be a unique experience. It was about a 7 hour train ride and you board the train around 10:30pm. We chose the classic room which had 2 bunk beds, and a small sink. Down the hall of the train, there is a shared bathroom, or you can pick a larger room where there is a full size bed, shower, and bathroom. The rooms were very small, but I found the beds to be comfortable and actually slept great. Overall, this cost us $367, which we found justifiable because it covered travel and a nights stay, plus a fun experience. It also opened up a good amount of time as we didn’t do any traveling during the precious daylight hours.
Day 6:
Arrived to Edinburgh and checked in early to Ibis Hotel where we stayed for 2 nights. It cost us $373 but we had a warm breakfast included. Our hotel was a little off the Royal Mile which was the popular/touristy area of Edinburgh.
Cafe Edinburgh - My absolute FAVORITE breakfast! Do yourself a favor and get the Cafe Edinburgh Pancakes.
Edinburgh Castle - £21.50 a person (about $28). We also got the audio tour which was a fun a way to learn more about the history. If you are here at 1:00 you should see the One O’Clock Gun. Everyday they fire a cannon at 1:00. It’s a little underwhelming, but still thought it was cool to see a tradition that has carried on for many years.
Makars Gourmet Mash Bar - In 2024,this place was voted #1 casual dining restaurant in all of the UK. Reservations are definitely recommended. We waited an hour to get in without them.
Tron Kirk Market - a market inside an old church that had local vendors
The Chocolatorium- Here we did a chocolate tour where we got learn about how chocolate is made, taste different types of chocolate, and make our own candy bars. For adults it was £28 (about $37) and took about 90 minutes. It gets dark around 4:15 in Edinburgh in November so this is a great evening activity.
Malt Shovel Inn- an old pub with great dink and food options. It’s a bout a 10 minute walk from Edinburgh Castle
Day 7:
Arthur’s Seat- Finally got to be in nature! This is the tallest hill in Edinburgh and has a great view of the entire city. It’s a pretty steep hike, but has amazing greenery when walking up and a view of the city behind you! It’s about a 15 minute walk from the Royal Mile and the hike was estimated to take about an 1-2 hours. Here are options of different routes you can take to the top. We took the red route as it was the easiest to locate.
Calton Hill - this was another short stroll from the Royal Mile with the second best views of the city. On this hill there are monuments and art galleries, sharing some history of Edinburgh.
Bertie’s Proper Fish and Chips- probably my favorite fish and chips from my time in the United Kingdom.
Victoria Street- This is a popular street off the Royal Mile that is close to the Castle. The street has colorful buildings with very cute art galleries, vintage shops, and restaurants. However, most people come here for the Harry Potter store. Be prepared to wait in line to get inside the shop.
Camera Obscura and World of Illusions- Another great activity to do when it gets dark. This cost £23.95 (about $31.57) and took about 1.5-2 hours to go through.
Bella Italia- This is located on the Royal Mile, close to the castle. It was tasty and had a cute atmosphere.
The Jazz Bar- Prices vary for entry. Some performers are free while more known performers require an entry fee. We paid £12 a piece (about $15) to watch Lorne Lofsky who was pretty popular. Get there early if you want a seat! Also I had my favorite drink there! It was a passionfruit martini and I am typically not a huge martini fan.
Day 8:
On this day we flew back into Heathrow. We debated taking a train or flying but flying was much quicker and very cheap. Our flights were only $75 a piece and if we would have decided to fly into a different airport, we could have flown for less than $40. In the end, we picked Heathrow because it was the closest to our next destination which was Richmond.
Coach and Horses Kew- This was a pub with hotel rooms above. I think this was our favorite place we stayed! It cost £132 for one night (about $174).
Kew Gardens- when I go back to London I need to go back here. We only had 2 hours to explore the ground and it was not nearly enough time. What I did see was so beautiful! Our tickets were £26 total (about $34.50). If you are 29 or under you can get in for only £8 while 30 and up is £18. Prices are more expensive if you go during peak season.
Kew shops- Near Kew Gardens there is Kew Garden train station in Richmond. It’s the cutest little area and has shops, convenient stores, restaurants and more. We ate at Cafe Macarong and had some very tasty noodles!
England vs Serbia game at Wembley Stadium- Obviously we are football fans so we had to catch another match if possible. Luckily for us, the World Cup qualifiers were being played that weekend. Tickets cost £120 a piece (about $158) and we had great seats. However, prices vary according to the event, but the stadium was massive!
Day 9:
Our last day in London was a gloomy one. We originally planned to explore Richmond and the Ted Lasso filming sites, but it was cold and rainy and we were exhausted. We deicide to sleep in and enjoy our cozy room instead and check out the pub’s brunch.
We then took our last train ride to Heathrow where our plane left at 3:00pm.
Things I wish I would have been able to do:
Sky Garden- you need to make a reservation about a week out. It has a beautiful view of the city while surrounded by plants.
Churchill Arms- this is a very old pub I wanted to go to, but every time I thought about going we were far away or just left the area
Toca Social- This is a football bar that a friend shared with us. Think Top Golf, but for football. Sadly, a few weeks before, I sustained a knee injury (playing football ironically) and couldn’t play. But it looks like so much fun!
Things to Note:
USE THE TRAINS! We only used an Uber one time and we only used it to save time (20 min car ride vs 1 hour train ride). For our short ride it cost us $58! The most we paid for using trains all day was about $12. The trains are easy to navigate and you can use Apple maps, or TfL app to plan out your travel (Tfl is good when you don’t have service in the underground). Also every train station has maps to help guide you. For people who never use public transportation, we only got “lost” twice and surprisingly it was at the end of our trip when we had to switch train from Overground to Underground trains.
When leaving Heathrow, I recommend taking the Piccadilly line if you don’t have a lot of baggage (we had a carry on and backpack) which is cheaper than Elizabeth line. Yes, it is about 10-15 minutes longer (depending where you are going) but I enjoy saving money when I can. However, if you have large bags or multiple bags, I heard using the Elizabeth line is more spacious.
If you have a travel card that does not charge a fee for a foreign transaction, skip the Oyster card and just use your Apple Pay or tap your credit card.
To use your phone, check with your carrier about using data in other countries. We have AT&T and it cost us $12 a day for one phone and if a second phone was on it cost $6. We used our phones a lot to navigate, so I would have a plan in place or be prepared to pay.
I read so many blogs and reddit threads about theft and I made myself so nervous. Like every big city, you have a chance of thieves, but I never once felt unsafe. Obviously always be alert, but don’t let the internet scare you too much!
I hope this helps plan your next trip, or at least added a location to your bucket list!
