ldn 2026 trip part 3
This February, Kat and I spent another week on holiday in London. We loved our last trip there so much we’d been plotting reasons to return. Luckily, a stage version of The Killings at Badger’s Drift announcement gave us reason to return. Once again, I want to log the trip here so we can relive the trip in digital form.
Be sure to check out part 1 and part 2 if you haven’t already.
Thursday
Thursday was back to London life, and our “routine” - breakfast, museum, mooch.
We broke our fast at the hotel again, and headed out in search of a coffee and a walk. We went west and stopped in at HJEM, a Scandi feeling cafe - I had a flat white, Kat a mocha. We wandered west some more over to Earl’s Court and looped our way back towards South Kensington. We ended up a bit further out than we thought, but still made it to the Natural History Museum right around opening time.
We entered via the East Entrance, and worked our way through a bit of a maze into the central areas. We saw the giant blue whale skeleton, dinosaurs, earthquake exhibits and more animals. It was a very cool museum, but I think this was the first museum we went to where the Chicago equivalent was at a similar level. The Field Museum has similar exhibits w.r.t. animals and such, and I actually think the Field’s dinosaur exhibit is better- we have Sue, a larger exhibit with more dinos, and all those wonderful murals. The Field Museum’s architecture is pretty dope too, but I might give the NHS the edge there, I just think the red brick style is cool (plus it survived the Blitz).
After we had our fill at the museum, it was time to make our way to Shoreditch to fill our bellies. South Kensington → District → Whitechapel → Windrush → Shoreditch High Street. Fun fact: when we transferred at Whitechapel, we disembarked the District Line (an Underground line) and went down a flight of stairs below ground to the Windrush Line (an Overground Line) - a bit inverted, eh? Anyways, we went to Burger & Beyond on the High St at Huw’s recommendation. Kat got the plant burger, I got the fried chicken sando with miso butter. We split the truffle tots. All very good!
After that it was coffee time, so we headed a little west to Origin Coffee. I got a ‘spro and picked up bag of beans #2 - Pathfinder, roasted in Cornwall. Afterwards we had a mooch in a Japanese goods store next door to Origin, and then to and down Redchurch Street. The end goal was the famous Jolene bakery. Pickings were a little slim as it was after noon, but we got a strawberry/rhubarb donut and it was very good. We made our way down to Spitalfields Market, and had a fun time mooching about all the vintage stalls.
We were at a bit of a loss at that point, but realized we were not that far from the Tower of London. So we walked over to check it out. We saw the Tower and the Keep, and walked up to Tower Bridge. The rain started to pick up then, and we were a bit tired so we decided to head back to the hotel. Tower Hill → Circle → South Kensington → hotel.
We had dinner at Franco Manca (Franco’s missing!) at Lindsey’s recommendation, and it was a solid pizza. Afterwards we got cupcakes at Hummingbird Bakery - they were good, but we maybe hyped them up a bit and were a little disappointed - we had wanted to go since our first trip to London.
We went for an evening wiggle through Chelsea, saw some lovely homes at The Boltons, and unknowingly stumbled upon Princess Diana’s former residence (from before she was a princess). We came across a Bayley & Sage and were in awe at how posh it all was. We got some chocolate bars, and baked goodies from Notting Hill Bakery. We made our way back to the hotel through the light mist. It felt very quiet and peaceful.
Friday
Our final weekday of the trip 😔. It’s really flown by!
We headed out early-ish to get to Fortitude Bakehouse - the famous bakery we’ve been wanting to visit since last trip. South Kensington → Piccadilly → Russell Square, and a short walk to the cobbled street the bakehouse was on. Luckily, there was no queue and they were fully stocked! Kat got the almond croissant, and I got the blueberry morning bun. We ate outside in the alley-like street. The morning bun was lovely, not too sweet. Very much worth the trip.
Then we made the walk over to Prufrock Coffee, James Hoffman’s mecca/cafe. It wasn’t in a dodgy neighborhood per se, but the area felt a little run down1. Not entirely what I expected. We were seated at a table, I had a flat white and Kat a mocha. Both were very good. Not the best coffee in London, but very good2. The cafe had an interesting vibe, like everyone working there was trying very hard to be accommodating & be the peak of hospitality. Almost trying too hard. Hoffdaddy’s goal was to make the cafe the shining star of hospitality, and it almost felt as if they were trying so hard to overcorrect from the standard of service in London (which I don’t think is bad, just maybe a bit aloof). Maybe I’m over dissecting it because I was very curious to check this place out. All the customers were big coffee nerds, and catching snippets of other conversations many of us had the same interests outside of coffee too (bikes, watches, etc). I picked up bag #3 here - Square Mile’s Red Brick Espresso Roast, and some cute stickers.
From there it was off to the Tube. Holborn Station → Piccadilly → Green Park. Now we were in a posh area. We stopped in at Fortnum & Mason - the flagship store this time. We got some gifts, and got to walk up and down the double helix staircase. Then on to Soho for another stop into Liberty to tie up a loose end.
We headed towards the National Portrait Gallery, and on Carnaby Street I saw Silas Carson - he was as immaculately dressed as all of the characters he plays. We grabbed a vegan sausage roll from Gregg’s in Leicester Square - a tasty treat before hitting the museum. Sadly, this was our only Gregg’s of the trip.
We then went into the National Portrait Gallery, around the back of the bigger National Gallery. It was the smallest museum we visited, but still was loaded with art. Lots of portraits (duh) throughout English History. They even had some death masks! We were hoping to see that creepy portrait of the King, but sadly that was elsewhere. We did see the old Queen’s portrait. That was much nicer, and not demonic in the least.
Afterwards we nipped around the National Gallery and stopped by Trafalgar Square. We popped into the nearby Waterstones for a little mooch. Then hunger struck, and we hopped on a bus towards the Barley Mow. We had such a lovely meal last time we couldn’t resist going back. It didn’t quite have the same level of magic as last time, but it was still excellent. Fish n Chips and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Ale for me, vegan burger and NA Heineken for Kat. Afterwards, I was in need of another coffee and got a flat white from the nearby Jungle Roast.
A quiet walk along the Thames took us to the Tate. We wanted to revisit and see The Lady of Shallot again. We also checked out the JMW Turner exhibit on a whim, and that ended up being super impressive (not that I didn’t expect much from Turner, but I really didn’t know much about him or what to expect). He did a lot of landscapes and seascapes, and all were very mesmerising. There was a video that the curators had put together covering his life, and we sat through the whole half hour+ showing. He kept many sketchbooks and notebooks that I couldn’t get enough of. Afterwards, back to the hotel - Pimlico Station → Jubilee → Victoria → District → South Kensington.
After a bit of a rest, it was back out for the evening. Nearby Sushi Co for
dinner. Good sushi, and we overheard a group of young men a table over
discussing their night on the prowl hunt…there’s no good word for it,
they were kinda gross.
Then we checked out the V&A again, they were open late on Fridays so we thought we’d check it out again. Unfortunately, only the first floor remained open, but we still got to check out the Japanese & Chinese exhibits, and saw some busts. The Cast Court was very cool at night too. Then a little wiggle around South Kensington and Chelsea and off to bed.
