Europe Trip 2026 - London

I had an hour less to explore London than planned because of fog. The plane waited on a tarmac in Warsaw for a go ahead. When the fog in London cleared, the day was absolutely beautiful. Blue skies, no wind, pleasant temperature. I got to the centre of London from Heathrow taking the Piccadilly line (I was surprised how old some of the trains were). This was my first visit in 34 years, when I spent a month there. London is still fascinating and still expensive. I hit the daily cap on public transport £16.30 (A$31) easily. Didn't have time to go to any museums, just wandered through King's Cross and St. Pancras train stations, ate lunch, and strolled from Piccadilly Circus to Big Ben by St. James Park on one side and Whitehall and Downing St. on the other. 

St. Pancras is where the Eurostar trains depart for Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels... The tickets are bloody expensive though, if you can get them. Checking now, the cheapest one-way ticket for a 4 hour journey to Amsterdam costs £198 (A$378) for today. If you buy a month ahead, you can get down to £58.

St. Pancras International:

Paul Day's 2007 statue - The Meeting Place.

Oh, look the EU flag in London: the ERTMS for Eurostar was co-funded by the European Union.

Eurostar trainsets.

King's Cross:

J.K. Rowling, unfortunately, turned out to be a bad person, actively harming the most vulnerable among us - the trans kids, which raises the age old question: can we appreciate the art, despite the artist? Harry Potter shop and Platform 9 and 3/4 photo op at King's Cross:

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Piccadilly Circus

The smallest of the City of Westminster electric collection vehicles is an e-bike.

Regent St.

Crimean War Memorial

Banksy's man with a flag

Whitehall

St. James Park

The symbols of London in 2026: the Big Ben, a red double-decker bus, and bikes.

London Eye

Westminster Bridge