Arriving in London late? No problem. Arriving in London late then waiting in line for passport checks for over an hour before taking an hour and a half bus ride into the city? Without having any clue where the hostel you’re staying at is located…? Slight problem.
We grabbed a map at the airport and used this once the bus dropped us off in the city center. It was around 2-3 am but London was still so charming. The only vehicles on the road at this hour were the red double buses and London’s classic black taxis.
We were walking for a long time. We were on the road that our hostel was supposed to be on but we didn’t know how much longer we would have to keep walking. Finally, we gave in and hailed a cab. Within minutes we were outside of our hostel. The meter in the cab said that we owed �4.50 but as I handed him the money the driver said not to worry about it! It was the sweetest thing!
Eventually we got to our hostel. We walked into the room we were supposed to stay in which was a 20 person shared dorm. Very fortunately for us, every bed was already full so we got put into a 4 person room for the night without an extra charge.
The next day we decided there was no way we wanted to stay in that crazy 20 person room in the shady hostel so we upgraded to what they had available which was an 8 person room.
When we woke up in London, we knew what we wanted to do. A double decker tour bus!! We bought our tickets and got on a bus right away. Our first stop was to take a Harry Potter walking tour. Before the tour started we went looking for something to eat. We found this quaint little diner with the best breakfast sandwiches. We took them to go (or in London- “to take away”) and then met up for the tour. It was really cool to see the different places in London where scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed (nerdy I know but this was one of my favorite parts!) We stopped in a classic London sweet shop- one that sells many candies (muggle-version) of the ones in the movies. I got a chocolate frog and it was delicious.
We hopped back on the bus and toured the rest of the day (both bus and boat). That night we went on the London Eye. We went at the perfect time- right around sunset. This way we got a great view of the city in the light and also at dusk with all the pretty lights.
That night we headed to a pub for  dinner. I ordered the classic fish and chips which was delicious.
After dinner we decided to take the tube for the first time to get back to our hostel. To purchase the oyster card (many people recommended this option) the machine needed us to pay all in coins. A kind employee was working with us and decided to let me pass through without a card and buy one from the station on the other side. At the next station, we explained the situation and I was let through by the employee. They were so understanding and sweet and made our lives a lot easier.
Monday morning we got back on the tour bus since we bought two day passes. The traffic was insane, however, so we got off of the bus as soon as we could and took the tube over to Buckingham Palace.
Luckily we got there in time for the Change of Guard ceremony. It was really cool to see this happen in front of the palace. The guards are all very talented and the ceremony was great.
We spent the rest of the day making our way around London. We saw Westminster Abbey, shopped a little at Regeant’s and Oxford street and went in Hamley’s toy store
I loved London for all the charm and I was upset that our time passed so quickly. I was so glad, however, for all we saw during our short stay.

Location: London, England