Join me while while I become a London Tour guide for the weekend
This past weekend I had one of my good friends from Portugal coming to visit London. This is one of her favourite cities in the whole World and she have visited very often, so every single time she comes back I always try to come up with some new places she have never been before. And this was another hit, I was able to take her to some new places.
She came with 2 friends from work that I have never met before and also it was their first time in London, so obviously we had to do a run of some of the most famous and popular spots to see when it is your first time as a Tourist in this city.
It was a very long weekend, we walked all over the place. The first day we did 8.4 miles (13.5 KM) and this was our route.
This was our journey for the first day
![Screenshot_20220424-231822_Maps[1].jpg](https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/sergiomendes/AK2Gzw1wZDLFu8VhTWzUfHQ6N3vR2hzqydNZGvxYgykQ2aQLc9f6D9bG5rFqyJm.jpg)
Camden Town to start the Tour
We have decided to meet in Camden Town, one of my friend's favourite areas in London. The day was bright and sunny but a little bit cold. Since it was the weekend the area was very crowded but that is part of the glamour in this area actually.
The market was just looking alive and the people seemed to be enjoying their day out. My friend was excited like if it was the first time visiting Camden Market, and her friends were also having a lot of fun seen all the alternative people and all the little booths in the market.
Obviously I wanted to help them to get as many photos as memories as possible to go along side with all the experiences and moments we were creating. And it is clear that when you are visiting a place for the first time all you will want is just a normal simple photo with the landmarks behind you. And we that but also I have tried to spice up some of the photos and get some funnier and more silly photos.
Here you can see the 2 girls that were for the first time in London and this was just after we meet and their first "tourist photo" in London, so they were still feeling kind of shy but you will see that along that tour they will get more comfortable.
We kept our tour inside the market so they could see and feel the energy of Camden Town. It was almost lunch time and that was another reason to start the tour in Camden Town, because in the market there are many amazing street food places where you can get some really delicious food for a nice price as well.
Cyberdog Experience
When you visit this area and specially if it is someone's first time in London, it is always very funny to take them to visit the Cyberdog shop, specifically this one in the Camden Market, this is the biggest one and also the most wild.
Even from the outside and when I said to my friend that we should take them to "the basement" they were already intrigued and asking if we were entering in a nightclub.
This Alternative/Punk shop is an experience by itself.
So in "the basement" you will find a big sex shop, that usually have a pole dancer performer hald naked, and you just see everyone there. It is funny to see how people react to this scene and show them that here things usually work very differently than many countries, even when it comes to visiting sex shops, and how much more natural people look at those matters here.
Th music it is always super loud and really pumped, when we got in nothing was going on in the main shop floor but by magic and when we were going out, there was a DJ in the booth, the music was even louder and the People were raving and dancing and just living their best punk live inside of the shop, the new comers to London were confused with what was going on at this moment.
But on our way up we still had a little boogie on the escalator and joined the party. I think you can tell by their faces who were the new comers to London.
Lunch time by the channel
Then we kept going, saw this side of Camden Market while we were on the look for a food booth to get our lunch, when we decided we just picked the food and because it was so busy in here and I have discovered a new side of the Camden Market that my friend have also never seen before I thought that it would be a great idea to go there, show all the 3 of them this side of Camden Market and have a sit by the channel while we have our food.
It was not as busy as in here, since this is not as popular and as known as this side of the market, but the view is beautiful and there were still a lot of people and a great vibe in there. Many people like us, just took a seat by the channel and were enjoying their food as you can see in this photo.
The view from the top of Primrose Hill
Last time I have showed Flavia (my good friend from Portugal that have been in London many times) the Primrose Hill and the beautiful view over London so she suggested to go there again so her friends could enjoy it as well. That's what we did, we head to the top of the hill and here you can see them just enjoying the view and also getting some energy, because from here we also could see many of the places I was about to take them, so this was where we were about to start the REAL part of the walking tour, from now on would be walk nonstop to get to all the places they were going to visit.
The plan was now to go down the Hill, cross Regents Park and walk to the centre where there were a lot of places they wanted to see. So this quick stop here to enjoy the view was kind of a vision board and motivation for the many miles we were about to walk.
Long walk in the Park was tiring
From Primrose Hill, through Regents Park, was a long walk to get to central but the views of the park and walking in central London, checking Oxford street and Tottenham Court Road, we were ready to have a cold refreshing drink to plan the next stops, because here there were many things to see.
Salsa had a 50% OFF in all drinks so we knew that was the best place to stop.
Here they are at the bar trying to figure what they will drink, we have decided not to go to hardcore this trip, because not like me and Flavia, her two friends are not really big drinking fans, so we decided that we would keep the drinking to a minimum.
Other reason we have decided to go with Salsa is that they had tables outside with an okay view to the streets of Soho, so we could enjoy our drink, plan the stops in this area and they could appreciate how the life goes by in this area of London. And you know that in a sun out day, during the weekend, there will be a lot going on in here.
Soho, West End and China Town
After our quick "Hydration" stop, let's call it that, we walked straight through Soho, so they could see the Gay district and how do people party here in London. Next just by Soho they were look around all the Theatres in the West End.
Obviously because we are here we need to cut and show them how awesome the China Town in London looks like. As expected, all this areas were full of People, not only Londoners just going on with their lifes and drinking their misery away but also a lot of tourists visiting and seeing all this awesome area, that is probably one of the most popular and central area in London for all the tourists.
China Town was not an exception to it and the streets were super full. But that is part of the fun on visiting this area.
Next stop was Piccadilly Circus
As soon as we left China Town and just by it we have the huge and very popular M&M's shop, all the new tourists like to see it, who doesn't love chocolate right, a shop with 4 floors full of it sounds great. But since there was a huge queue to get in, they have decided that even if it would be could it was not really a priority and worth to be waiting that much time to see M&M's.
So we turned right and walked straight to Piccadilly Circus, where they took some photos and enjoyed one of the many street performers that usually are in the circus giving a show to people for tips.
They've enjoyed that very much.
The walk keeps on, next to Trafalgar Square
From here we headed down to see Trafalgar Square and check the National Gallery, I walked them through Leicester Square and as per usual I have been trying to tell them as many fun facts of London as I could, like the fact that in the Odeon Cinema is Leicester Square is where all the big movie premieres and Red Carpets happen, told them that a week or so ago there was the red carpet for The Lost City, with Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliff and Sandra Bullock, between others.
Then we got to Trafalgar Square, that unfortunately was partially closed, to get a stage together for some celebrations on Sunday, but it still looked very majestic as usual.
Last final stops. Time for the most Popular places for tourists, The Big Ben, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey.
The day have been long and at this point we have done the biggest part of the walk already. This was the last part of the walk. Obviously it would not be a visit to London without seeing the London eye, the Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the Westminster Abbey.
From Trafalgar Square we headed that way. I took them to the Thames Riverside for a quick riverside walk with an amazing view of those landmarks.
Something funny that happened and it is not unusual in London, there are a lot of celebrities around, just going with their lifes and as we were getting to the Thames, I look to a Theatre queue and I see "Draco Malfoy" in the queue, had to tell them and it was so funny to see their excitement and disbelief when they saw him. And wait, because they saw someone else on the second day, but that is a story for the next post.
After this fun encounter we kept walking, got to the Thames and stayed there appreciating the view for a while.
While walking on the London Eye direction and just under it there was another street performer, this time a magic number, so we stopped for them to watch the show and then just walked a couple more minutes so they could look and appreciate the Big Ben, one of the most expected stopped for both of the new comers in London.
The end of Day 1. Food, drinks and some music
Then we walked to the other side so they could see the Houses of the Parliament from the other side and also go and see the Westminster Abbey.
After this, we have accomplished and seen all the places we had planned for the first day. All of them were exhausted and ready to tap out. But it was an amazing day, super fun and successful since we could see a lot of the places they had on their list and I was even capable to take them to some places they have never heard or been before.
It was already dinner time, so we have decided to walk in the direction to Victoria, just a little walk now on the look for a restaurant.
So we could sit, order some food, relax, chat, laugh, talk about the day and also talk a little bit about the plans for the second day.
These were a little bit more stressful, because on the second day that were just a few things they wanted to see and they asked me to take them to wherever I wanted. Although I had to plan the route for this first day at least I had all the places. But I guess you will have to wait for the next post to see where I have decided to take them. I wanted to make it even more special for Flavia and try to find as many new places she have never visited before as I could, spoiler alert, I only got compliments on my tour guide skills. But keep an eye open for that post.
They wanted to have some Italian food, and we have found a place to get it.
Everyone was happy with the place we found, everyone enjoyed the food and at this point they were all happy that all the walking was done for the day and that they could sit without thinking about the next long walk to the next place.
After dinner, we crossed the street to get a couple of drinks in a Bar, as I said they were very tired, and also 2 of them don't really drink alcohol. So it was just a quick stop, because in the end was Saturday night and you can't come to London on a week and not hit the bars, that would be missing out on a big part of the London Lifestyle.
The DJ was playing the hits, we were having the shots, it was funny that one of the bartenders was someone I have actually worked before somewhere else and I have found him here, so we even got a round for free.
But this was not a night out out. Was more a drink after dinner. So we haven't stayed for a long time. They were tired, haven't slept a lot the night they arrived and also the day after was going to be long as well.
So after a couple of shots and a quick dancing break, the bus stop to their Hotel was just by the door and a 20 minutes ride. We have called it a night and went home to have some deserved rest and get ready for the Day 2 of this Tour around London.
I wanted to separate this in 2 posts, because both days were full of places and a lot of info and many photos to share. I hope you have enjoyed this first day and come back to check where did we go on the second day and what we have been up to.
Come back for Part 2/2
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Wow, you got around town. And you take some really cool pictures man.
And this was just the first day. There's another post coming, hopefully tomorrow. Around 6.5 miles more walking and a ton of other places :D Hopefully will be able to finish all to upload tomorrow. :D
Bloody hell 😂
yep. Today my body is paying for walking almost 25 km in this last 2 days! LOL
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