London Girls host visitors in their new home

Hello from South Kensington, where we have had the pleasure of being a hub for visitors these past two weeks. Last time we recapped our highly eventful Scotland trip. If you can believe it, we actually spent the following weekend (during CSB+SJU fall break) staying put here in London and entertained a few guests in the week between then and now!

Kayla had some makeshift tour guide duties to attend to as soon as she arrived back from Scotland, with two high school friends already in town for the London Vikings game who stayed for the remainder of the week. Boyfriend TJ made a much-anticipated appearance across the pond, and the moment he left, her parents, brothers, uncle, aunts and cousin arrived. So yeah, just a few visitors!

Summer’s visitors came a bit later and flew into town early Friday morning. Her mom and grandmother have long been awaiting this trip and had a list of things for Summer to show them. After being smothered in hugs it was time for them to get going on their adventures.

A few of the Johnnies here on the London program stuck around for the weekend as well and had family visiting. Together we became a large group of semi-qualified tour guides and took to showing our families all of our favorite places.

Our guests of course wanted to do the quintessential London activities (pictures in front of Westminster Abbey, walking through Picadilly Circus) so it brings up the question: How many “tourist traps” are actually worth seeing?

We think it’s worth noting that in our experience, the so-called “tourist trap” destinations in London have actually been consistent crowd pleasers, and we have really enjoyed them. They’re popular here for a reason.

However, there is a lot more to London than just Big Ben and the London Eye, and we’ll be the first to attest to this. But maybe for right now, we’ll save the hidden gems for a later date…stay tuned.

Since we’ve essentially spent the last two-ish weeks dragging loved ones around the city, we thought it was time we got into our specific recommendations for first-time London tourists or those who are simply interested in what’s worth it (in our humble opinion) in our new home city.

These are some of the tourist destinations that made the cut when we tried to give our friends and family the full London experience in seven days or less.

Trafalgar Square is home to the National Gallery, a bunch of bronze lions and a huge column with a British war hero at the top. It’s a massively busy plaza all of the time, but we do think you need to spare it a visit. Brave the crowds and go to the National Gallery. There’s a Botticelli painting in the basement (“Venus and Mars,” for anyone who cares) and great exhibitions. Currently there are over 60 Van Gogh paintings on display in a celebratory exhibition for the gallery’s 200th birthday.

Trafalgar is considered a cultural center of London with lots of events and festivals held there throughout the year, and so far our guests have been extremely impressed with the views all around the square. It’s also a great jumping-off point for landmarks nearby, like Buckingham Palace (a 15-minute walk) and Covent Garden (8-minute walk).

If you are massive history nerds like us, you need to visit the Tower of London. The Historic Royal Palaces charity manages a handful of royal spaces, but this one is a must see out of the rest of the list (and we live next door to Kensington Palace, which makes us experts on royal stuff…obviously).

The Tower operated as a fortress, palace and prison in British history and is home to the Crown Jewels and countless other artifacts. For our bloody history buffs there is a really interesting memorial here for nobility executed by the Crown on Tower Green – Queens Anne Boleyn and Jane Grey among them, and the view of Tower Bridge is incredible. Absolutely something for everyone.

If you’ve watched any London-centered Tik Toks, you knew this next one was coming: Borough Market, the home of the chocolate-covered strawberries themselves. This destination is almost always an absolute zoo, but the crowds are more manageable on weekdays.

The food here is incredible: tacos, massive pork sandwiches, mac ‘n’ cheese, fish and chips and so much more. In our opinion we think the strawberries are worth it, but we seriously enjoy sweet treats so take that for what you will.

Next one is for our shopping addicts: Go to Harrod’s! It’s the largest department store in the UK and has had some famous owners (remember the late film producer Dodi Fayed, boyfriend of Princess Diana? His family owned Harrod’s for 25 years until they sold it to the government of Qatar, who own it today).

While the luxury stores inside are a bit out of budget for us, there’s an awesome Harrod’s themed lower floor gift shop, a bookstore and a massive food (and chocolate) hall. It’s a great place to window shop on a rainy day.

Finally, this one is our biggest recommendation: Taking a boat tour of the River Thames is a fantastic way to get to know London, especially if you’re early in your trip. We did this our second night in the UK back in August and loved it—it was a great way to see tons of landmarks and make note of things to explore later.

You can book river tours that explain the diverse and rich history of the boroughs you pass on the banks of the Thames, which is a really interesting perspective. But if you’re more interested in just the view, there’s always the fan-favorite Uber Boat.

That’s right, if you find yourselves on one side of the river and need to get to the other bank with time for a little cruise in between, you can call the Uber Boat to pick you up. We have yet to partake but have promised ourselves that the moment it is more practical to hop on the Uber Boat than it is to just take the tube, it will be happening.

At this point in our study abroad journey, we’ve learned that whenever you take a trip, you should focus on being a smart and intentional traveler rather than just being a tourist.

You can do this by respecting your surroundings and the locals that live there, educating yourself wherever you go, and immersing yourself in a new culture and experience while acknowledging your impact on the community you’re visiting.

Nobody wants to be labeled the “silly American tourist” while abroad, but at the same time, you can be a responsible and worldly traveler and still enjoy the stuff that everyone and their mother (literally, for us) wants to do in a city like London.

So if you find yourself in our neck of the woods, take your red phone booth pictures and soak up every moment in a beautiful and famous place. We give you permission to freak out over whatever you want to in London, “tourist-y” or not. Just maybe remember to stand on the right side of the escalators in the tube so people can pass you on the left, and call them “chips” and not “fries.” We think the Brits will appreciate the effort.