This morning we had to pack up and make our way to the Gare du Nord train station to catch the Eurostar train to London. After checking out of the hotel and a short taxi ride, we were at the station and going through the passport formalities and then into the departure lounge.
The departure lounge seemed very small compared to the number of passengers these trains hold. We arrived early and managed to find a seat, but there seemed to be standing room only for about half of the passengers. I didn’t like having to carry all luggage onto the train with us and much prefer the airline way of checking your large cases.
We travelled in business class, so we had nice roomy seats and a basic breakfast included. Below is a photo of our car.
The train was smooth and quiet. While not as fast as some high speed trains in Europe, we were certainly moving faster than any train I had been on before. Because I was curious, I pulled out my GPS to check. As I normally use this unit for driving or walking around cities, 290 km/h was definitely the highest speed I have ever seen on my GPS before!
After passing under the English Channel for about 20 minutes, we were England. The entire trip was a little over two hours. Here are Nadine and I in front of our train after arrival in London.
London St. Pancras is a very nice looking railway station.
After getting some GBP from a local ATM, we made our way to the taxi stand for the short trip to our hotel. We’re staying at the Fairmont Savoy hotel on Strand. Right on the River Thames between the Waterloo and Westminster bridges, it’s located in the centre of many popular London attractions, which is ideal when you’re not in town long.
The check-in was easy, as we were welcomed with a drink and a seat in the reading room where they took care of all the formalities.
This historic hotel has recently undergone a major renovation, updating everything while maintaining it’s historic charm. Our room was quite luxurious and spacious, and located in the Edwardian style side of the hotel. Below are some photos.
We had a partial view of the river from our room.
And our welcome upon arrival.
After getting settled in the room, we headed down to arrange some activities.
Each elevator in the hotel has been redone in the style of the original lifts. The Savoy was the first hotel in England to have electric lifts.
The Savoy has a beautiful lobby with stunning features throughout.
Heading out for a walk, we saw the hotel car parked in the driveway. Of course, it’s a Rolls Royce!
Because we have such a limited amount of time in London, we thought the best way to see the highlights was to get tickets on an open top hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus. We learned that the Savoy also has it’s own pier on the Thames and their own boat for giving private river tours to their guests, but unfortunately there are no open spots today.
Our first plan was to walk across the bridge to the south side of the Thames and ride on the London eye. The hotel concierge was able to get us reservations to avoid standing in the 1-hour + line-ups!
Looking back at our hotel as we walked across the Waterloo bridge.
Parliament as seen from atop the London Eye.
Looking west down the Thames.
After going round the London Eye, we walked back across the river in search of some dinner. No visit to England would be complete without having fish and chips in a pub, so that’s what we did.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel to get changed before heading back out to see some sights.
We bought tickets for the Big Bus open top sightseeing tours to take us around the city. We didn’t have time to get off and explore anything, but it did give us a good overview of the area and allow us to make notes about what to visit more thoroughly on our next visit.
I took a number of pictures from the bus, but I won’t post any here since they weren’t all that great. Many of the attractions are better photographed from a good distance to get a proper perspective, and that’s not easy when shooting sideways from a bus travelling down the road. It’s also difficult to avoid getting parts of the bus or other passengers in the shots!
After making it around the loop, we walked around the area a bit before heading back to the hotel.
I love these old lampposts and phone booths!
Our historic hotel has an impressive entrance when lit up at night.
Here is the Savoy lobby at night. The desk shown at the far end is the concierge.
This view is looking toward the room with the guest services desks and the center hallway leads to a number of restaurants and lounges.
I love the detail in the trim work and the ceiling.
Even the hallways to the guest rooms are nicely done.
We headed back to the room to get some rest. We have to leave tomorrow, but first plan to take a short river cruise in the morning to see some area highlights from a different perspective.
