We spent close to two weeks traveling around London, Dublin, and Paris while I was pregnant. With amazing public transport and great walkability, it was so easy to visit Europe while pregnant. Our second stop was London, England. In this post, I will go over where we stayed and transportation during our babymoon in London. If you haven’t already, check out Babymoon in Dublin Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 and stay tuned for more posts about London, Paris and our last day in Dublin!
My husband had never been to any of the cities we visited on this trip. I had been to all three, but I had not been to London since I was about 6 years old. Besides a layover which hardly counts. We spent more time in London than anywhere else and had a full 5 days in the city before moving on to Paris.
Where We Stayed
You have endless options on great places to stay in and around London. We are members of Hilton rewards and Hilton has hotels all over the world, so we try to stay in Hilton’s when we travel abroad. We racked up a lot of points over time and we those points to stay at The Waldorf Hilton, London. It was absolutely worth it!
The Waldorf Hilton
The Waldorf Hilton is a gorgeous historic hotel in Covent Garden. The hotel was built in 1908 and it’s located in the heart of the theatre district. It was a short walk to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Piazza and some of the best shops, restaurants, bars, galleries, museums, and landmarks. One of the many bus lines picked up basically at the front door. It was simple and easy to grab a cab when we needed it. The hotel is located on a quieter street with theatres on either side of it. Even with the surrounding theatres, we heard no outside noise, which led to a perfect night’s sleep. We enjoyed the convenience of this hotel, but also the hotel itself!
Hotel Amenities
The Waldorf Hilton offers many amenities including Good Godfrey’s Bar, Homage Restaurant, a 14-meter pool, sauna, steam room and fitness center. They have a proper lobby and bar area, including a real elevator, which you don’t always get in Europe. The actual room was very small but extremely nice with stylish decor, a very comfortable bed, super soft towels, in-room tea and tea sets, bottles of water, a beautiful bathroom and a courtyard view. The room even came with a smartphone (with wifi) that we could use for the duration of our stay. Hands down it’s probably one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at in a major city. I would have spent our entire trip at this hotel if I could have.
Transportation
Getting From the Airport
London is very easy to get around. They have amazing public transportation, but like many other major cities, the airports are not directly downtown. You have a few different options to get from the airport to your hotel depending on which airport you are flying into. We flew into Gatwick and took the Gatwick Express from the airport to London Victoria. We purchased tickets for the Gatwick Express off their website as part of a special and had a 2 for 1 ticket to the Tower of London included. The tickets had to be used on our arrival day, but we arrived early enough to use this.
Public Transit Using an Oyster Card
For the rest of our trip, we each got an Oyster Card and used that for the duration of our time in London. An Oyster Card is a smart card that uses pay as you go credit and offers daily capping. This means you can travel as much as you like in a single day and the amount you pay is capped at a certain amount. You can use it to travel on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail, Emirates Air Line, River Bus services and most National Rail services in London. The card is super easy to use by touching in and out on a yellow card reader at the start and end of your journey on Tube, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail, Emirates Air Line and National Rail services. For the bus and trams, you only touch when you get on. You can add money to your card at all Tube, London Overground, and TfL Rail stations. It was super easy and efficient to travel around London using the public transportation. We started with £20 credit each and only topped up once.
Using Cabs and Walking
It’s very easy to get Cabs throughout London. London has official taxis, black cab, which can be hailed in the street or at designated spots. Taxies are always more expensive than using public transportation. There were a few times when we needed and used them. It was quick and easy. We also walked a lot during our trip. Luckily I was able to walk and while my feet hurt a little more than “normal”, it was still easy to walk around. I was in my second trimester and just starting to get a baby belly. Walking was a great way to see the city and a good way to exercise while we were on our trip. I highly recommend walking some if you can!
We loved our babymoon in London. We stayed at a fantastic hotel, The Waldorf Hilton. Transportation was easy using the Oyster card with public transportation, taxis and walking. If you haven’t already, check out Babymoon in Dublin Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 and stay tuned for more posts about what we did in London, Paris and our last day in Dublin!
