Best of London in 7 Days
Post Tour Day 1
White Cliffs of Dover / Dover Castle / Canterbury Cathedral
We added a few days after the tour because we wanted to check out some places outside of London. We had booked a day tour to the White Cliffs of Dover, Dover Castle, Canterbury and its Cathedral. The main appeal was that we wanted to see the coastline, but Dover Castle and Canterbury were also such historically interesting places as well. Learning about the rescue of the soldiers that were stuck across the channel in France (which you can see across the way on a clear day) was impressive. Dover Castle was neat because it felt different from all the other castles we had seen so far. It felt older, more natural, and a bit unkempt.
From there, we went over to Canterbury. The town itself was really pretty to wander through with the cobblestone roads and all the shops bustling with people. You would think we would have been tired after all the cathedrals we saw, but Canterbury Cathedral had its own unique charm. It was cool to see the Infirmary Ruins and walk through some of the gardens they had.
By the end of the day, we were pretty wiped out. Luckily, Delfino's (an Italian restaurant) was near the hotel, and had awesome food and great staff. One of the perks of the hotel location was also the amount of really good food options so close by, especially after a long day of walking around.
Post Tour Day 2
Harry Potter Studios / Gymkhana
Our final day we had to go see the Harry Potter Studios Tour. We were both excited to see it as we loved the Harry Potter movies and books. We spent a few hours wandering the sets. It was cool to see the different costumes and props used in several of the movies. There were also a lot of interesting exhibits and displays describing how things were made. We even had a taste of Butter Beer. (the frozen one was the best!) To end the tour, we did some souvenir shopping. (And when I say "we" I mean Shaundy and somehow she convinced herself not to buy herself a wand, partially because Nate convinced her not to, which she may or may not regret to this day.)
One of our bucket list items was to try a Michelin star restaurant. During our search, Gymkhana popped up a few times as highly rated for their food (also their food portions looked bigger) and it was rated 2 Michelin Stars. Coincidentally, it was right around the corner from the hotel. To get a reservation, we had to sign up 2 months in advance. We had never really tried Indian food before, but London does have a lot of Indian restaurants that might have suited us better. To be honest, it was too fancy for us. The service was awesome, but we're definitely more simple people. It was still a fun/good experience though. It was a good way to end our trip to London.
