You read that right, my best friend and I travelled to London, England for an afternoon in September! This was both of our first times visiting the United Kingdom.
How did we get there?
My friend and I flew with Ryanair from Eindhoven Airport, Netherlands to London Stansted Airport, England. The round trip flight was $37.40 Canadian dollars (CAD) or €26.68 Euros (EUR) – so why not spend the afternoon in another country?! When in Europe, amirite? I felt so fancy travelling for lunch! I still can’t get over how cheap air travel is within and around Europe! The flight to London Stansted was 1 hour and 5 minutes long and the return flight to Eindhoven was the same.
Here are some things that were new to me flying with Ryanair from Eindhoven Airport:
- The seats were very spacious.
- There was nothing allowed under the seats in front of you.
- The plane was very basic; no TV, no seat pockets, no tray for use, and no complimentary drink or snack.
- You could buy cigarettes on the plane.
- The safety demonstration was only in the English language.
- You keep your electronics and liquids in your bag while going through security.
- The bathrooms are gender neutral.
- There was a full body scan and pat down for every passenger going through security, not just random selection.
We wanted to keep our trip to Britain as cheap as possible, so we didn’t bring any sort of baggage. I brought my camera and a fanny pack that housed bar shampoo, bar conditioner, bar soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, SPF face lotion, chapstick, SD card, camera battery, hand sanitizer, phone charging cable with a compatible block, energy bank, wallet, passport, clean socks, clean underwear, and my friend brought a tote bag with her essentials. This was the most efficient way I have ever travelled and it made the trip so much easier. Make sure you have the right outlet adapters for the countries you’re visiting, Canada has a different adapter than the Netherlands and the Netherlands has a different adapter than England and Canada.
Since Eindhoven was about an hour and 20 minuets away from my friend’s dorm by train with buses involved, we decided it was best to stay in Eidnhoven the night before at an Airbnb instead of trying to navigate busses and trains in the early morning. We caught a breng bus which accepted Apple Pay Visa to the Nijmegen train station. We caught the Nederlandse Spoorwegen train from Nijmegen to Eindhoven Centraal.
This is the NS app. The app itself and announcements on the NS train are in Dutch.
From the Eindhoven train station, we walked to our Airbnb which took about 11 minutes.
Antonius’ private room cost $90.21 CAD and was worth the peace of mind. My friend and I arrived late in the evening, showered, ate some train station snacks of fruit and falafels with hummus, and went to bed. The host provided towels and basic soaps in the bathroom. Check-in was after 5:00 pm, checkout was before 12:00 pm, no parties smoking, drugs, or pets allowed. The check-in process was quick and easy and we were left alone for the remainder of the stay.
In the morning we hopped on a bus outside of our Airbnb that accepted Apple Pay Visa to the Eindhoven Airport.
We made it to England and got to London!
After we arrived at Stansted Airport, we hopped on the StanstedExpress train – there was a ticket booth for tickets to downtown London immediately after deplaning that accepted Apple Pay Visa. We got on the train to London Liverpool Street.
“Mind the Gap”
The StansteadExpress announcement voice.
Little did we know that there were severe delays on the British train systems upon arriving. It took nearly 3 hours for us to get to the city after numerous trains (it usually takes a fraction of the time). We didn’t let that stop us from exploring London though! In Britain, the currency is the Pound (GBP). 1.00 GBP = 1.64 Canadian Dollar. The train tickets cost £32.70 each. Although there are airports closer to downtown London than Stansted Airport, the Ryanair deal wasn’t at the other airports.
Walking Around London
We didn’t have any set plans arriving in the new country, we just wanted to walk around and make the most of the few hours we had. I was very happy to be there. I loved the accents and was on the hunt for some tea – I am quite the tea granny myself!
The London Bridge
Cue the song London Bridge by Fergie!
I had no idea what the London Bridge actually was until my friend had pointed it out. I suppose I am not a very good Commonwealth resident. The bridge was neat.
The London Eye
We got from the London Bridge to the London Eye slowly but surely by the most confusing subway station I’ve been on. After a few wrong stops, we finally made it. I’m not even sure if I could recall how we got there – but my friend was determined and found the way eventually.
If I’m being honest, I had no idea what the London Eye was prior to this trip either. I usually research where I am going, but this trip was so spontaneous my friend and I agreed to go with no plans. If I ever go back to London, I think I would ride on the London Eye. Unfortunately with our time constraint, we didn’t have time to wait in line to ride this giant Ferris wheel.
Big Ben
I did know what Big Ben was before the trip at least! I have watched the cartoon version of Peter Pan! I should know what all of these famous landmarks in Britain are though, my partner loves the 90 Day Fiancé TV show, especially 90 Day Fiancé UK *eye roll* haha.
I was really surprised at the height and detail of Big Ben! It was super cool to see the famous clock tower!
Tea, Phonebooths, and the King’s Guard
My bestie bought me my first (and only so far) British tea! And I loved it! Don’t mind how awkward I look! I thought I was cheersing Big Ben haha – just a little off. I also got a vegan fruit muffin.
Funnily enough, it’s the same brand of tea one of my favourite local coffee shops in Canada uses! Must be the good stuff!
I made a call home with one of the iconic red phone booths; however, I got no answer! Can you believe that! That’s okay though, even though it is something I wanted to do while in England, the phone booth was quite grimy and smelly. It’s the thought that counts, right?
We also saw the stoic King’s Guard on horses with the tall black hats in action. I just wasn’t sure if it was disrespectful to photograph them while they were working. It was fun to see though, I’ve only ever seen the King’s Guard in movies!
A British Pub
What better way to celebrate a day in London than going to a pub for fish and chips and a pub burger! I asked the server for “something that says London that isn’t beer” (since I don’t like beer) and this is what she gave me! I am not much of an alcohol connoisseur, and actually didn’t like the gin and tonic, but the experience was fun anyway! I got to pour myself the tonic water while double decker buses were driving by and the King’s Guard was marching by on horseback – how cool?
This is the Young’s On Tap restaurant app that you use to order and pay for food to your table.
I ordered a pub burger (it was the available vegan option) with the gin and tonic and my friend got fish and chips with some local beer. It was delicious after walking around all day.
Hailing a British Taxi
To make our short trip a little more authentically British, I did what anyone who has seen a Hollywood movie has done. Looked up and down the street, pulled my sleeves up while standing on the sidewalk’s edge, and waved my arm up and down for a taxi. After a few failed attempts, a taxi stopped for us.
These aren’t your typical yellow, small, smelly, beat up cabs. The taxis are very large black vehicles with a little “TAXI” sign on the roof. The taxi we got into was clean, spacious, and scent-free. It also accepted Apple Pay Visa. On the ride back I was grinning ear to ear – what a whirlwind and impromptu 8 hour (from plane landing to plane take off) trip to the UK! The taxi took us to the train station where we began our journey back to the Netherlands.
The trip was a blast…aside from the trains being delayed which was totally out of our control and not receiving a passport stamp because I was flying from Europe. We also had to pay a “late fee” for Ryanair by checking into the check-in counter instead of checking in ourselves with our booking virtually for the final hiccup. If you’re flying Ryanair, check yourself in to your flight 2 hours early to save yourself a fee.
Overall, I was very happy with our little visit to London. I enjoyed the tea, food, accents, exploring a new place, and the good company. I even got pooped on by a British bird, that means good luck, right? I was able to purchase some postcards, a shot glass for my brother (he collects them from all over the world), and British vegan chocolates and candies for my roommates back home to try. Who else can say they’ve flown to London for lunch? I have! I hope anyone reading this is able to find a super deal on a flight and try an afternoon somewhere new as well!
Cheerio!
Thank you to my friend, Bobbi Strople for the memories and photos of myself!