IN PHOTOS: Our Adventures in London, Oxford, and Scotland!
LONDON
1. Buckingham Palace - The first place we visited on our first day in London. You can't really tell people that you've been to London if you haven't dropped by the Buckingham Palace! We weren't able to go inside the palace, but they do open it to the public at certain dates. Check it out here.
We also spent some time in St. James's Park, which is within a few minutes walking distance from the palace.
2. M&M's World - This wasn't really part of our itinerary, but since we were just around the area, we gave this colorful candy land a little peek. They've got a lot of interesting merchandise for sale, aside from all the colors and variants of their chocolates.
3. Also around the area is the National Gallery, home of various European paintings. Entrance to this gallery is free.
4. St. Paul's Cathedral is one of the most beautiful sites I've seen in London. Its got three galleries you wouldn't want to miss! But also remember that just like in life, there's no easy way to get to the top. You have to work your way up, and trust that it'll all be worth it ;)
The cathedral opens at 8:30am for visitors, and closes at 4:30pm. The website says the last entry for sightseeing is 4:15pm, but they told us that the whole tour would take around an hour, so be there an hour prior to closing time, just to be sure. Entrance fee is around GBP20 per person. It's also a church, so people are expected to tour quietly and of course to respect those who are here to pray. They are closed for service on Sundays. Check out their website here.
5. We only got to take photos of the Westminster Abbey from the outside, as there is no picture taking allowed inside the church. Tickets are priced from GBP 21 per person. Learn more here.
6. Another tourist spot I really enjoyed was the Tower Bridge. There are tours available that'll take you to the top, but admiring its beauty from afar was a good enough experience for us.
7. If you're thinking of visiting just a few museums during your stay in London, then I suggest you include the Victoria & Albert Museum in your list. Its got a lot of interesting displays, including sculptures and items from the different eras from all over the world, plus Queen Victoria's tiara (my fave)! I'm not really into art, but this museum had me amused. Check it out here.
8. Kensington Palace is not the best palace you can visit in London, but their huge gardens still make it worth a visit if you love walking around nature and of course, taking photos.
9. The Marble Arch & Wellington Arch Palace are both on the list of places to visit in London, although I failed to research why and went there anyways. There's nothing much to see but I assume there is a great story behind them.
OXFORD
12. The Radcliffe Camera was one of the most amazing sights I've seen in Oxford! Plus, it's incredibly IG-worthy.
13. The Bridge of Sighs was one of the stops we had during our Oxford tour.
SCOTLAND
14. The National Museum of Scotland was the first place we visited in Scotland. It had a lot of interactive displays that made the visit more fun and memorable.
15. The Doune Castle was one of our stops from the day tour we joined in Scotland. We opted not to go inside the castle (since it was small) and decided to just take a walk in the park behind it. It was quite an experience.
16. We were really excited to see highland cows in Scotland! They're a must-see for me and my friends. We got to spend some time feeding them.
17. We were planning to visit other castles in the next few days in UK, but by the time we got to Inveraray Castle in Scotland, we decided we were tired of castles. One, because we spent so much time visiting castles, and second, because we felt like we've seen the most beautiful one. This castle is one of the biggest we've seen. It's got a huge garden you can roam around and take photos in.
18. There were a lot of places claimed to be used as the reference for the Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, and this is one of them. There were a lot of stores and restaurants you can visit here. Some are selling liquor, and others are selling Harry Potter merchandise.
19. Okay, I said we were done with castles but this was actually the last one we visited, and it was pretty interesting. The Edinburgh Castle was a huge castle with a lot of areas you can tour. My favorite part was the viewing of the "honours of Scotland" and "stone of destiny". You can check out more things to see and do here.
Hungry for more,
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