Less Than 24 Hours in London: Here’s What We Saw — Roaming Cactus - Travel

Have you ever considered intentionally planning a long layover to quickly visit a city you’ve never seen before? Well, that’s exactly what happened to us when we had the opportunity to schedule a 20 hour layover in London on our way back from Tenerife. We decided to make the most of our time and explore London. Here’s a breakdown of our trip.

Arrival in London

We started by taking the Southern Rail from Gatwick Airport to Victoria Station. The trip took around 35 minutes.

On the Southern Railway from Gatwick to Victoria — On the Southern Railway from Gatwick to London

Tip: Don’t buy train tickets from the kiosk at the station. Instead use your contactless card or watch directly at the gates. It’s less than half the price of buying an anytime ticket from the kiosk. You simply tap your contactless payment to go in and out of the gates, and the system automatically charges you for the distance traveled.

Easy Croydon station — We got on the wrong train, originally. Had to change trains at East Croydon station

Conrad St James junior suite — Conrad St James Junior suite

From there, we walked over to the Conrad St James Hotel which had made a an Impresario reservation. Booking through Hilton Impresario got us a room upgrade (Jr suite), free breakfast for 2 people, and £85 hotel credit. Our suite was on the executive floor, giving us access to the awesome executive lounge for free happy hour drinks. After freshening up, we were ready for dinner so we headed over to The Albert pub where we got two pints of beer and a vegan burger – it was delicious!

Vegan burger and chips at The Albert in London

Two pints of house ale at The Albert in London — Two pints of the house ale at The Albert in London

Evening Sightseeing in London

After dinner, we took a walkover to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and even caught the London Eye at night – it was stunning! By the time we got back to the Conrad, we were hungry again. We used our £85 credit to order the 2 vegan dishes on the in-room dining menu and a bottle of wine.

Egan in-room dining at the Conrad St James — Vegan in-room dining at the Conrad St James

Morning in London

We made sure to get up early in order to enjoy our free breakfast at the Conrad St James before heading off on another adventure. Breakfast was nice, but nothing to write home about. We then took a walk through St James Park to Buckingham Palace before making our way to the hustle and bustle of Piccadilly Circus.

From there we realized it was still relatively early and wondered around aimlessly. We found ourselves at Trafalgar Square and then walking along the south bank of the Thames until it was time for us to head back to the Conrad to check out. Before leaving we stopped off at Tesco and picked up some vegan sandwich fixings.

Big Ben from the south bank of the Thames — South bank of the Thames

Final Thoughts

It may be hard to believe but you can actually see quite a bit of London if you are willing to make use of your layover time wisely! Even if you only have 20 hours like us–you can still pack quite a bit into your stay. From historical sites like Big Ben and Westminster Abbey–to pubs for dinner–and even shopping for snacks at Tesco! If you ever find yourself with an extended layover in London–don’t just sit around waiting for your flight–get out there and explore this beautiful city! You won’t regret it!