A Winter Weekend In London

Last month saw me turning the ripe (and old if you ask me) age of 25, and to celebrate, we spent the following weekend in London. With so much to do and see, I decided to blog our whole weekend together.

London is a pretty incredible city – to say the least – but London at Christmas? Well, it’s blimmin’ magical. From the lights to the shopping, it really is a place where anyone can enjoy something. Of course, it’s pretty dang hard to fit everything into two days, but with a little prep and planning, you really can have a magical winter weekend in London. Here’s what we got up to in London for my birthday…

Assembly Hotel

First things first, we stayed right in the heart of London at Leicester Square’s Assembly Hotel. During my many trips to London, I have to say that this was the most convenient hotel I have ever stayed in. Less than 30 seconds from Leicester Square’s underground, it made for a pretty easy trip (especially when we could dump our bags pre-check in) and everything was pretty easy to get to.

If I were to describe the hotel in two words then it’d have to be edgy and chic. If I’m honest, the hotel itself reminded me of a nightclub on arrival – with a dark urban entrance and funky pink bunnies to greet you. The reception is small, but then again, so is the hotel. Think thin and tall. 

As for our room, it pretty much matched the rest of the hotel. It was edgy, minimalistic and fresh. I loved the decor and luckily, we bagged quite a spacious room with a wet room as a bathroom. The only thing I missed was the fact there was no kettle but, nonetheless, breakfast soon made up for that…

For breakfast, we were greeted with a gorgeous rooftop top view of London. Sitting on top of Assembly Hotel you’ll find the gorgeous Bourne & Hollingsworth – a bar and restaurant that managed to set the tone for our entire stay. We both opted for scrambled eggs and salmon on toast (with a much-needed coffee) for brekkie and to no surprise, it was delicious. The eggs were creamy, the salmon was fresh and the bread was perfectly toasted. Just what we needed to set us up for a day of shopping in busy London.

All in all, I would completely recommend Assembly Hotel to any future London stayers. It really was a gem to stay in and made our weekend visit to London pretty stress-free thanks to its perfect location. 

Ice-skating

Once we arrived in London and dumped our bags off at the hotel we headed straight to the National History Museum so I could give my best Bambi on ice impression. The scenery was absolutely stunning. From old-fashioned carousels to a huge Grinch inspired Christmas tree, it really did look the part.

With tickets from £15.95 (adult price) it does make it a little pricey, but for 50 minutes skate time, plus the Christmassy atmosphere, I’d say it’s worth it. Plus, you get to explore the National History Museum afterwards!

National History Museum

It’s been years since I last visited the National History Museum and surprisingly, it was the first thing I wanted to do in London. I’m a bit of a geek (especially when it comes to dinosaurs) and in all honesty, I preferred a trip to the museum rather than the shops for our first day in London. 

The museum itself was great (not to mention free) and for anyone visiting, I would definitely recommend a trip there. There’s so much to look at, learn from and totally immerse yourself in. We spent roughly two hours in the museum itself and we still had tons more to look at! Next time.

Laurent at Cafe Royal

That night, as a present from Doug, I was treated to a gorgeous meal at Regent Street’s Laurent at Cafe Royal for the evening. And boy oh boy, it made the whole trip!

The pictures speak for themselves, but the place was truly stunning. From the design of the architecture to the food, everything was more than you could have expected.

Contemporary yet classic, the main dining room is decorated in shades of bronze, warm browns and greys with a stunning Italian Murano glass chandelier at the centre overlooking the heart of Hotel Café Royal, the new lobby, whilst the front room overlooks the elegant sweep of Regent Street.

Looking at the menu, I could have happily indulged in everything but, with a little self-control, I decided on the king salmon sashimi for starters (to share) and went with the king prawns for my main meal. Just look at the size of those beasts! 

As far as the food went, our taste buds were in heaven. The king prawns were the biggest and meatiest I have ever had. The salmon was delicate, light and extremely fresh and the pudding – a milk chocolate peanut butter croquant – was pure indulgence. Future dinners definitely have something to beat, that’s for sure.

Last but not least, we finished our evening with a slate of salted caramel chocolate bark – something which Doug surprised me with. Cute! 

Covent Garden

On Sunday we decided to do a little bit of London shopping and the first place we visited was Covent Garden. With it being less than 15 minutes from our hotel, it would be rude not to, huh?

I’ll admit that the only reason I wanted to visit Covent Garden was to gaze upon the Christmas decorations. And, amongst the dreary London drizzle, it was still as beautiful as ever.

Again, Covent Garden is definitely a place to visit if you’ve got some shops to hit in London.

Oxford Street

Oxford Street. The be all and end all for London shopping. If you thought Oxford Street was pretty marvellous for shopping, then you should see it at Christmas time. Lights here there and everywhere. 

Despite being shoved from every angle, there’s something about shopping in Oxford Street when you visit London. From Selfridges to too many Zara’s, you’re spoilt for choice. My favourite, out of all the thousands of shops, has to be Selfridges. I absolutely love the place and, although my kind of shopping in Selfridges would be window shopping, I think I could spend hours gazing at all the perfect designer brands. I know, I know.

We also visited Hamley’s Harry Potter World on the lower floor and, from a full grown adult’s point of view (well, kind of), it was pretty damn great. From wands to flying snitches, there was a little bit of everything for everyone. In fact, I’ll have Harry Potter’s broom, please. 

And that’s pretty much it! Our Winter Weekend in London! 

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