London. I have been dreaming about visiting London for a very long time. I knew that I would eventually make my way to the UK, but we had never quite prioritized this destination. Even this trip was not a long-planned one. Originally we had planned on a trip to California with my brother and his wife later in the fall, but given the political climate, the wildfires that ravaged LA last year, and the horrendous exchange rate between the US and Canada, we pivoted. Isabelle and I found a good deal on flights to London, so off we went.

When looking back at the trip to London that Isabelle and I took just about a month ago, a lot of different numbers presented themselves to me. I thought this would make for an interesting take on my traditional back-from-vacation post. With that in mind, here’s my London by the Numbers.

138,074

Our trip to London was pretty much structured the same as our trip to Paris a few years ago – we walked and ate. Over the course of our 6 days in London, we walked a total of 138,074 steps (according to my Oura). This translates to some 137.3 km or 85.3 miles. That is quite the walk! Apart from a single public transport ride, and the Uber rides to/from the airport, we visited the city as pedestrians. Isabelle and I love visiting new cities this way – it allows us to get to see things that would be missed if you’re driving everywhere. We’ve often found cute little cafés, bakeries, parks or vistas by strolling around in between landmarks. Walking also allows us to get to see the real city, not just the touristy bits. I can definitely say that I feel like we got to experience London in all of it’s multifaceted colours while we were there.

Another advantage to walking everywhere is that it allows us to justify eating. Not that we feel like we need justification to indulge while on vacation, but you definitely have much less guilt over eating another donut or drinking another sugary drink when you’ve been walking for the past 4 hours. All in all, we did an average of 23,012 steps per day (that’s about 23 km / 14 miles). I can say with certainty that our feet, Isabelle’s in particular, were happy to get home at the end of the week.

30+

The number of sites or locations that we either visited or saw around London. From Buckingham Palace, to Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus, Camden Market, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Abbey Road Studios, Harrods and so much more – we took it all in. There are so many historic and important sites and monument in a city that was settled nearly 2000 years ago. It’s one thing to see these landmarks in pictures, movies or TV shows, but it’s a whole other thing to see them in person. As an English literature major, it was fascinating to walk around and see blue plaques on buildings saying things like “George Orwell lived here”. Or to walk in the area where the original Globe Theatre stood, knowing that the Bard himself, Shakespeare, walked the same grounds. We didn’t see everything there is to see in London, but we now have a solid base checked off!

4

We visited four parks during our visit. These were among the highlights of our time in London. Our hotel was near The Regent’s Park. We intentionally selected this location as it is where Queen Mary’s Rose Garden is located. This was one of Isabelle’s must-do’s. We visited the rose garden twice – at the beginning of the trip and on our last morning. Such a beautiful space, and it was still not fully in bloom as we were there in the latter part of May. Despite this, there were so many roses of all colours and varieties to look at and smell.

Kensington Gardens was my favourite of the parks we visited. Located on the grounds of Kensington Palace, this park was so much fun, and different than we expected. We imagined pristine, manicured fields of grass with a multitude of flower beds and majestic trees. In reality, the park is much less formal. While yes, there are majestic trees and flower beds, and beautiful acres of grass and trails crisscrossing this way and that, it all has a much more natural appearance. The lawns are not all manicured and cut to resemble a golf course. Large swathes of land were left uncut, some with signs saying they were restoring the natural ecosystem. Trees, felled either naturally or cut, were left to decompose on the ground. The nutrients, as they decomposed, returning to the soil. And in the meantime, the tree trunks were able to function as benches for people to sit and rest. Some were also used as mulch in the rose gardens.

And the dogs! Dogs ran freely throughout the park, their owners strolling peacefully through the trails. So many dogs. No one was worried about their animals, no one paid them any mind. It was just so much fun seeing these animals having so much freedom and fun.

Hyde Park was another stop where we spent a bit of time. This park also had a rose garden, though not as impressive as the Queen Mary’s Rose Garden. A sprawling park with a webbing of trails throughout, Hyde Park is one of the largest of the Royal Parks. While beautiful, it did not speak to us as much as some of the others. Lastly, we briefly visited The Green Park, located on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. It was an okay park, but seemed more uptight than the others. Maybe it was the proximity to the palace that gave it that impression, but it was not our favourite green space.

2

Apart the parks, our two favourite locations were the markets we visited. First up was Borough Market. One of the largest markets in London, it has been in operation in this location since the 1750’s. Offering a variety of food and shopping vendors, there is something for everyone here. We had some of our best eats at the Borough Market, including a crème brûlée donut from Bread Ahead (as showcased on Somebody Feed Phil), a spectacularly delicious wild mushroom risotto, and delectable strawberries smothered in melted chocolate. Such a good food day!

But the gem of our entire trip was our day visiting Camden Town and, in particular, Camden Market. This market is found inside the former Pickfords Stables, and is divided up into different smaller markets/buildings. As with the Borough Market, you can find just about anything here from vintage shops to bars, cafés and restaurants. My favourite dessert was found at the Camden Market. Huge props to Humble Crumble for their amazing Baked Alaska Crumble. (I am still salivating thinking about it now, three weeks later!)

Two is also the number of visits we paid to Ben’s Cookies. Isabelle had heard about them while doing our trip planning, so we stopped for a visit early into the trip. The cookies were scrumptious, particularly their Orange & Milk Chocolate. Picture a cookie with chunks of Terry’s Chocolate Orange in it. So good! In fact, so good that we returned the night before we flew home to buy another few cookies for the trip home. And some of these may currently be residing in our deep freeze, awaiting that day when we need a little boost.

1

This was the first trip to the UK for both of us. We rode the London Underground (or The Tube) a total of one time during our stay. It’s not that it wasn’t practical, as there are stations everywhere and the system is very efficient and allows you to get throughout the city, it’s just as I mentioned above, we preferred to walk. The one morning we did ride the Tube was to get to the Borough Market so as to save us some steps. We ended up still doing about 28,000 steps that day…I can only imagine had we walked there instead!

It’s a little sad to say, but one is also the total number of times we ate fish & chips while in London. I can say with total honesty that I expected to have a few of these while we were there. And while we may have only eaten one fish & chip, it was one that we both enjoyed fully. The Mayfair Chippy was one of the best meals we ate on the trip, without question, and this on our last night. We saved the best for last!

And finally, this was our first time going to see a full musical production. Isabelle has been a lifelong fan of The Wizard of Oz, so we decided that our first show needed to be Wicked. We had almost gone to see it in New York some years ago and agreed that we would go the next time we went. But we have not been back! We did not let the opportunity pass us by on this trip. Getting to see Wicked in the London West End was a magical experience; pun fully intended!

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And there you have it – our trip to London in a nutshell, and by the numbers. There is so much to be thankful for on this trip, from the weather (hello sunshine and one morning of light drizzle!), to the food, to the simplicity and ease with which we explored the city, it was truly a wonderful adventure. This likely will not be our last visit to London, but the next time we will look to explore the rest of the UK. I look forward to returning.