Help me plan a day in London with dh

[SundayLunchHappy]

Hello,

For my birthday this year I told dh not to bother with gifts as we're battling to get our house renovated before first dc arrives. So instead we bought return train tickets at a cheap as chips price to do a day trip to London on the 2nd December.

Bearing in mind I'll be 24 weeks and have spd putting me on the go slow, I'd love some ideas to fit in a day of free and festive mooching in a sensible order as my geography is pants.

A few things I'd like to tick off:
Fortnum and Mason for the rotating window displays
Harrods for gawping at the food halls
Traflagar square (Carol singers out by then?)

Dh and I will arrive and depart from st Pancras and have about 11 hours to kill.

Thank you all ye Christmas experts!

What are you interested in?

How about a nice festive afternoon tea?

Nice festive afternoon tea is well out of our league at the moment unfortunately. We're into history, enjoy exhibitions. Like to walk in parks etc, but would like to take in as much "Christmassy" stuff as possible without doubling back on ourselves too much else everything swells and I end up in too much pain.

Happy to just "see" things rather than participate. Hopefully in future years we can do the "doing" when dc is old enough

Covent Garden is usually nice at Christmas - more festive than Trafalgar Square. But then again, re Trafalgar, if you need somewhere cheap to sit down and take a break you could always nip into the National Gallery to contemplate some art from a bench...

Harrods on a Saturday, especially in December, will be painful. The Fortnums food hall might be a better substitute then trekking to South Ken to be squished like sardines. South Bank is likely to be nice, and Covent Garden will be pretty too.

If you need a rest then head to any of the fancy hotels and sit for a while in a comfy chair and watch the world go by.

Fortum’s is close to Trafalgar Square but Harrods is a little way away so with SPD I’d hop on a bus from either of those to Harrods in Knightsbridge if that’s really something you want to take in.

Selfridges food hall is also good for gawping and the Xmas markets are all along the South Bank which might be good. Plenty of places nearby to stop for rest and toilets!

Thank you for tips r.e. Breaks and loos!

Going to sound mega touristy now, but can I take a little backpack to stuff my coat in as I have no ability to regulate my temperature it would seem. Or will this cause issue going in smart shops?

Years and years ago 🎻 I used to hop around shopping in London in silly shoes having boozey lunches in smart hotels and didn't worry about where the next bench would be. Now I'm at home "oop north" can't remember where I used to go and am actually quite worried I'm just going to be tired and miserable.

Any ideas for supper in and around st pancras before getting the train home?

Go to an evensong for a nice sit down. You'll be shattered on your fee all day otherwise.

That is a marvellous idea, firmly on to do list!

St Christopher's place is lovely to wander down at Christmas, always have lovely decorations. Very near selfridges.

You could do it all within a very short distance - Fortnum is a superb starting point. The windows and clock are lovely adn the food hall far nicer than Harrods (the staff are all in tailcoats and call you madam). They also have an EXCELLENT christmas department upstairs for decorations and crackers etc - really gorgeous this year. The central spiral staircase is also decorated so beautifully. It's really special, and loo facilities superb! You then have The Ritz for a cocktail right up the road, and the lights on Bond Street are peacock feathers (i suspect there are also some good windows up there). Stroll in St James' park always a great joy. After that (maybe an hour in the Royal academy? the Dali / Duchamp show is great and also short) turn back up Piccadilly in the other direction, maybe stopping at Hatchards or the giant waterstones. at Piccadilly circus you can then see straight down Regent St for their lights (can't remember them? maybe Sky / NSPCC? or is that Oxford St?). In front of Waterstones is the Christmas Market at the Wren Church (i can't remember the name of it!), and you can sit in the church or in their cheap cafe behind to rest yourself before popping out on Jermyn St which is a delight for a history buff - so much of it is the same as when Beau Brummell was there, including the shop fittings in Paxton & WHitfield cheese shop, Berry Bros (wine), Geo F Trumper (men's shave place). There on to Leicester square (a short walk) and maybe you're tired enough to sit through a christmas sing along film at the Prince Charles Cinema? they're showing It's A Wonderful Life about 3x a day throughotu december! also Elf quote along / Die Hard etc etc.

Supper - if your budget can stretch to it, the hotel there is meant to be great.

It's the Advent procession at St Paul's on that day, which is lovely. (Might be worth checking whether there is likely to be a queue.)

That's a great list, Austentatious.

You're amazing thank you Austentatious! I popped into Floris on Jermyn street for my wedding perfume to be made up as part of my "hen" lovely memories!

Frege I will have a look about the advent procession, would be lovely if it didn't involve standing waiting for too long.

Sounds like ditching Harrods is sensible, I do like Fortnums food hall but seem to imagine it being significantly smaller from memory, last time we were there my dh had to be prized off the cheese counters.

So glad I posted, feeling much more optimistic about a day trip on a shoe string now, long gone are the days of lazy lunches at the Hurlingham club but then I wouldn't have dh and my bump so it's a fair swap!

how about a ride around in a Rickshaw? Plenty to hire around Regent/Oxford st

Pop back to Kings cross a couple of hours before your train, its fantastic now.

www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lonpr-st.-pancras-renaissance-hotel-london/

www.kingscross.co.uk/