London: Avoiding the Lines

Cheers!

After quite a long travel hiatus, we were delighted to have our first European getaway back together in London! We appreciated English signs, friendly people, and endless sight-seeing options to fill our days. Fortunately, we enjoyed PERFECT weather; however, anyone who is familiar with London knows that with good weather (and also the London Marathon), comes heaps of tourists. We did our best to enjoy London without waiting in a single line. Here is how:








Markets: 
Several of my London colleagues recommended two markets that the locals enjoy perusing on the weekends: Borough Market and Camden Markets. We checked out Borough Market first thing on Saturday morning (it is not open on Sundays). We wandered through the charming food and craft stands, enjoyed a delicious breakfast, and then strolled through the neighborhood. This was Patrick's absolute favorite activity of the weekend.

On Sunday, we ventured to the slightly more touristy Camden Markets. These markets are separated by category - everything from vintage clothing to antiques. They had a seemingly endless selection, but our favorite purchases were from the food stands that lined both sides of the canals. They actually had a macaroni and cheese food stand (!!!!), and it was unbelievable. Patrick enjoyed fish and chips, but was eyeing the Turkish and Mexican stands first. We sat on a canal with our friend Brooks and enjoyed good food, beautiful weather, and excellent people watching. Added bonus: we got to watch how the captains manage the manual locks that line the canals - dorky but cool!

Changing of the Guards - Cavalry Style:
Given it was Marathon weekend, we knew that Buckingham Palace's changing of the guards at 11:00 would be packed. Instead of fighting the crowds, we took the concierge's recommendation and walked a few blocks down the street to the Household Cavalry Museum to see the changing of the horse guards. Yes - there were still crowds, but we arrived just 10 minutes prior and had a front row seat to the action. This ceremony happens each day at 10:50 or 9:50 on Sundays, so if you happen to be in London during the off season, you could even make the Buckingham Palace ceremony afterwards!



Churchill War Rooms:
We headed to the War Rooms on Saturday morning following the changing of the guards. This museum guides you through the bunkers that Churchill and the rest of his government occupied during WWII. The museum is very well laid out and informative. At the end of the Cabinet War Rooms, there is an extensive exhibit on Churchill's life, which was equally fascinating (10 cigars a day!). We are speedy museum patrons and spent almost two hours at the Churchill War Rooms. Get there early though - though we avoided the line, I cannot say the same of our fellow travelers around 1:30, when the line spilled out of the museum and down the block.

River Thames:
We were dying to go on a river cruise, so we stopped by Embankment to check out the options. There were lines 50 people deep at every cruise ticket stand. Instead of waiting for our tickets, we hopped on the Tube for an afternoon visit to Greenwich (see below!) and caught the commuter-focused but delightfully scenic Thames Clipper from Greenwich on our way back. Word to the wise: we were very fortunate to have barely missed the 20,000 person crowd exiting a comedy show at the O2 Arena. If you choose this option, check the O2 schedule before-hand!

Prime Meridian:
Greenwich is a delightful district with the most helpful citizens we have encountered to date. From the Tube station, just a short bus ride away lies the Royal Observatory, which was declared the line of 0° longitude in 1851. The observatory is at the top of a hill surrounded by a beautiful park. We enjoyed the stroll up the hill, and, at the extremely helpful suggestion of our resident friend Brooks, skipped the packed and pricey museum (which gives you access to the photo-op site with a brass line marking the 0° longitude), and snapped some free photos on the portion of the brass line that passes right in front of the museum.
A fun piece of trivia for you: though the rest of the world decided to recognize the prime meridian in their maps at the International Meridian Conference in 1884, France held out and continued to use Paris as the 0° longitude in their maps until 1911.




Overall, we had a fabulous time readjusting to European travelling, and were quite proud of our ability to avoid the crowds. Lesson of our trip was: even on a crowded weekend, there is more than enough to enjoy in beautiful London!