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Travel Matters | by Stephen & Andie
  • Planning

London Walking Tours: Our Favorite Way To See The City

March 22, 2021 1
Stephen & Andie cross the street at the famous Abbey Road crossing in London, England

London is one of the most walkable cities in the world, and there’s no better way to explore the city than by foot. A London walking tours are a great option, as they provide information along the way to coincide with what you’re seeing. 

London is a gorgeous city with centuries of history, mystery, and old world charm. It’s full of historically and culturally notable things at every turn. And so many little details can just blend in. For example, red post boxes marked with the initials of the Monarch indicate when the box was installed. Church parish markers, manhole covers, and fire insurance placards indicating one’s financial status, 19th century sewer system “stink poles,” real cannon barrels, or metal stretchers from WWII repurposed as fencing… tons of things like this, are all right under your nose! 

People and a double decker bus in Piccadilly Circus, London

©Andie Mills

Even though we love to “get lost” and explore an unfamiliar city on our own,  guided tours really come in handy. They bring so much into focus for you that you might otherwise miss. And they’re also a great way to get to know the lay of the land in a new place! Below we’ll cover some options for group, private, and self-guided London walking tours to help you get the most out of your London experience. So slip on your Chelsea boots and let’s have a walkabout!

Rock Tours Of London

a photo of rock band Queen taken in Soho, London, next to a photo of Stephen and Andie in the same place and pose decades later

photo on right by Lee Sargent, Rock Tours of London

Rockers that we are, we took this private tour ourselves in 2019 and it. was. AWESOME! The “Classic Rock Walking Tour” is a 3-hour adventure taking you through Soho, Mayfair, and ending at Abbey Road in St. John’s Wood. Full of noteworthy locations from “Soho’s hidden musical past,” as well as more easily recognizable landmarks like the Beatles former Apple Corps headquarters building or the iconic crosswalk at Abbey Road. Our guide was a bloke called “Lee.” His knowledge is incredible, but even cooler is his featured aspect of the tour – recreating famous photos and album covers, at the original locations, with YOU as the rockstar! Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, Queen, Oasis, Beatles, etc. Take a look at his site  for more details, hit Lee up, and tell him Stephen & Andie from Los Angeles sent ya! 

Joolz Guides – Private London Walks

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A post shared by Joolz Guides (@joolzguidesofficial)

Julian McDonnell, a.k.a. “Joolz,” isn’t just a tour guide, he’s also a filmmaker, actor, and YouTuber – which is where we discovered him. All that stuff we mentioned above about “stink poles” and post boxes, etc. – we learned it all from him! During lockdown, we discovered and binged his YouTube channel, also called Joolz Guides. British idioms, history, culture, landmarks, you name it – dude’s knowledge on all things London is crazy. He’s entertaining AF and apparently a great hang. With a hearty “pip-pip, tally-ho,” he provides “unusual London walks to all the places you wouldn’t find in your average guide book.”  Check him out!

Harry Potter – Walking Tour For Muggles In London

people dressed as Wizards from Harry Potter

Award winning: Harry Potter Walking Tour for Muggles in London | photo via londontoolkit.com

Admit it, you’re a Muggle, too! This is an “award winning,” Harry Potter themed walking tour of London. It’s two hours and fifteen minutes long, and is great for the whole family. You’ll visit real-life parts of London that inspired author J.K. Rowling. Cool stuff, including the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron pub and inspiration for Diagon Alley, the Ministry of Magic visitor’s entrance at Great Scotland Yard, medieval Goodwin’s Court (the inspiration for Knockturn Alley), Westminster Underground (as used in the Order of the Phoenix), and more. We’re not gonna lie, this sounds like a  blast!

British Royalty Tour

Palace guards ride on horses in front of Buckingham Palace

Photo by Luke Ow on Unsplash

No walking tour of London would be complete without a little Royals-related sightseeing. This quintessentially British guided  tour packs more than fifteen British Royal Family sights into three hours, including four Royal Palaces and two parks, and plenty of stories about the Monarchy will be dished out along the way. You’ll start at the Ritz Motel and walk through Green Park to Buckingham Palace, and with any luck you’ll see the changing of the guard. From there you’ll walk up the Royal Mall past Clarence House, where Prince Charles and Camilla stay when they’re in town. Other Royal sights will include Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Queen Victoria Fountain, and more! 

Try A Self-guided Tour Of Your Own!

This site has 22 different self-guided tours you can choose from, including a create-your-own option, which uses an online sightseeing map. You can choose from charming neighborhoods and famous bridges to street art and shopping, and more. Just download the GPSmyCity app to set off on your own walking tour of London! Each walk comes with a detailed map, photos, and background information for the featured attractions. The app’s navigation guides you from one attraction to the next, and it works offline. No data plan is needed when traveling abroad!

©Andie Mills

Any Walk Through London Is A Walk Worth Taking!

London is a real walkable city, and there are so many more tours available. These are just a few options that we like and hope will make you feel “proper chuffed.” No matter which you choose, any walking tour of London will surely be unforgettable. Oh, and be sure to mind the “Look Left/Look Right” signs at intersections before crossing the streets!

If you’re looking for itineraries we’ve got some for you to check out:

  • London
  • Tokyo
  • Los Angeles
  • Finland

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Tags:citiesEnglandEuropeHarry PotterLondonmusicplanningroyalswalking tours
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  1. 48 Hours In London: The Perfect London Itinerary says:
    March 27, 2021 at 8:09 pm Reply

    […] We really strongly recommend you include a walking tour in your London itinerary. Check out our Walking Tours Of London post for some […]

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Today we explore the Amazon jungle by night. Our flashlights reveal plenty of creepy crawlies, including unusual insects, cute frogs, a variety of spiders – including a bizarre one that looked like a robot, and Andie got her wish when we saw not one, but two tarantulas! Stephen was relieved to not run into any snakes, but later that night he was jolted awake by an an uninvited “guest” in our bed!

Only 2% of the #Amazon Jungle is in Ecuador, and part of that is in the #Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, which is where we visited during our Ecuador trip. It was our first visit to the world's largest rainforest, and we already can't wait to go back and see more!

This is the sixth video in our first-ever international series! Quito, Ecuador was the first international trip we took together back in 2011. Eleven years later, it’s where we filmed our first international series and first drone footage for our channel! 

We spent two weeks in Ecuador this time, including Quito, day-trips to Mindo and Cotopaxi National Park, the Amazon, and one of our top-3 bucket list destinations: the Galápagos Islands! 

If you’ve missed our previous Ecuador videos, you can catch up on the series here:
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VLOG no. 69

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📍LOCATION: Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, Ecuador, South America

✦ PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG: 

Cuyabeno Dolphin Lodge
https://www.cuyabenodolphinlodge.com/

**this video is not sponsored, nor have we received any product or in-kind consideration. We just like to provide the info and especially shout-out the small businesses we patronize.

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:28 Lagoon Swimming
01:00 Caiman Search
01:38 Baby Snake
02:30 Claustrophobia
02:43 Night 2
03:58 Venus & Sunset
04:18 Nightwalk in the Jungle
04:54 Big Creepy Spider(s)!
04:29 Nocturnal Bird & Frogs
05:57 Tarantula!
06:27 Another Tarantula!
07:03 IT WAS IN OUR BED!

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THE JUNGLE at NIGHT | Ecuador Travel Vlog | Ecuador Series, ep. 6
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TRAVEL, FOOD, CULTURE, CLIMATE
Follow Our Mission to See ALL 50 STATES! 🇺🇸 🚐

Stephen & Andie | Travel Stuff
Oregon’s got #mood for days! Oregon is state no Oregon’s got #mood for days!

Oregon is state no. 22 in our mission to see ALL 50 STATES (plus DC & Puerto Rico)! Our first sleep and first morning of #vanlife was in Astoria, then we headed to Cannon Beach and were bowled over by the foggy views of majestic Haystack Rock. 

👉 LINK IN BIO 👈 to see more of the beautiful Oregon coast in our latest vlog, “First Night In Our Van!”

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#traveloregon #cannonbeach #oregoncoast #cannonbeachoregon #oregon #haystackrock #travelmatters #all50states #vanlife
We fell in love with Oregon! Swipe 👉 to see why We fell in love with Oregon! Swipe 👉 to see why!

After buying our Sprinter in Portland we headed for the Oregon coast to spend our first night in her in Astoria. The next day we explored town and also made our way to Cannon Beach. Both were nothing short of stunning! Our drives through the state just got more and more beautiful and we couldn’t stop thinking how grateful and excited we are to be new #vanlifers. 

This is going to be an amazing year!

📷 Our first coffee on our first morning after our first night sleeping in our campervan. 📍Astoria.

📷 Isn’t she lovely? 😍 That’s Haystack Rock behind Andie. You might recognize it from movies like Point Break and GOONIES! 📍Cannon Beach.

📷 Having too much fun watching a pile of giant sea lions sleeping peacefully. 📍Astoria

📷 Loving our lives! 📍 Cannon Beach

👉 Link in bio 👈 to see all of this and more in our latest vlog “First Night In Our Van!”

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#oregon #oregoncoast #astoria #cannonbeach #haystackrock #lewisandclarkrvpark #vanlife #sprintervan #sprintervanlife #all50states
Hello #vanlife! 🚐 We’re so excited to finally Hello #vanlife! 🚐 We’re so excited to finally share this news with you – we bought a camper van! *Join us at 12:15pm EST today (Monday)* for a live chat during the Premiere of our new vlog, where we spill the tea.

After months of behind the scenes planning and hunting, we settled on this beauty at the end of October: a 170” wheelbase, high top Sprinter, located in Portland, OR. In this video we fly to the Pacific Northwest to make the purchase and begin our two and a half week, cross-country journey from Portland back to North Carolina. But not before grabbing a rainy day lunch at one of Portland’s food cart havens – Cartlandia. Some hot grits from Grits Gone Wild warm us up to send us on our first outing in our new home on wheels.

We couldn’t be more excited, and this trip already kicks off our mission to see all 50 states (plus DC and Puerto Rico!). You’ll be seeing this cross-country trip, plus another month-long run in her over the holidays –  all in our upcoming vlogs!

Now — any guesses what we named her? 
Hint: any fans of the movie Role Models? 😜

PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG:

@gritsgonewildpnw 

#cartlandia

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#sprinter #sprintervan #sprinter2500 #campervan #vantravel  #vanlifers #roadtrip #roadtrippers #travelmatters #travelvloggers #UStravel #USAtravel #youtubers #DIY #Ace #kissmyvanthia #vanlifeusa
$150 train ticket from New York to… New York? $150 train ticket from New York to… New York? 

We REALLY loved our first time doing some train travel in the U.S. together! We rode the Hudson River Rail aboard the 20th Century Limited – the last two remaining, fully restored, 1940s train cars from what was “The Most Famous Train In the World” in its day. 

Our journey took us from Penn Station in Manhattan up to Albany and back. 

Sit back and enjoy the views! 👉 Link in bio 👈 to see the vlog!

📷 1: on the platform in Albany

📷 2: Penn Station, NYC

🎥 3: enjoying the VIP lounge at Penn Station pre-boarding

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#newyork #traintravel #hudsonriverrail #20thcenturylimited #1940s #vintagetrain #hudsonriver #travelmatters #travelvloggers #youtubers
California sunsets just hit different. 🌅 We we California sunsets just hit different. 🌅

We were Angelenos for literal decades and we still can’t believe how many iconic places in California we took for granted and never visited! Morro Bay is just one of them, and we’re SO STOKED that a recent cross-country road trip (big announcement on that front soon!) took us right past the area. Naturally, we looked at each other, said “Morro Bay?,” and turned the 🚐 around to head back just in time for a gorgeous sunset. 

Now we’re even more determined to hit all the spots that we took for granted and we’ll always find excuses to make our way back through Cali! Yosemite, Redwoods, Death Valley – we’re talking to you! 

What other spots do we need to hit? Shout ‘em out in the comments!

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#morrobay #sunset #centralcoast #SLO  #SanLuisObispo #california #southerncalifornia #daytrip #roadtrip #californialandmarks
We saw ALL THE MANATEES today! This was our second We saw ALL THE MANATEES today!
This was our second attempt at @bluespringstatepark within a couple weeks. We saw zero manatees the first time, and committed to returning after spending some time in Southern Florida. Turns out, we happened upon some manatees in the marina @evergladesnps, but the water was so murky we could only see parts of them… if they surfaced. 

Today was the day we got to return to Blue Spring. The weather was much cooler this time (great conditions for spotting manatees in the springs), and when we pulled up to the entrance, the sign read “MANATEE COUNT *288*” For context, there was no count on the sign for our previous visit, so… YAY! 

Can’t say exactly what OUR manatee count was, but we easily saw dozens in a short amount of time – from adorable little babies to giants! The water was crystal clear. It was so serene – watching them graciously glide through, only occasionally making a splash. Hearing that beautiful sound when they surfaced for air. Today was an AWESOME day, and we’re so thankful that we had the flexibility to come back and spend some quality time with these beautiful, unique creatures. 🥰

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#manatees #bluespringstatepark #centralflorida #orlando #florida #therealflorida #wildlife #statepark #bluespring #bluesprings #manateestatepark #bluespringmanatees #travelmatters #travelvloggers
Is this seat taken? Nothing says “classic New J Is this seat taken? 
Nothing says “classic New Jersey” like Asbury Park! We visited the boardwalk for the first time this summer as part of our DIY food tour of New Jersey. 

A killer coffee roastery? ✅
Cereal pancakes? ✅
Disco fries? ✅
$27 milkshake??? ✅

LINK IN BIO to see all that, plus a unique Jersey twist on “the slushee” in our latest vlog, now live on YouTube! 

This is state #20 in our mission to visit all 50 states (plus DC & Puerto Rico) - join our adventures! 

PLACES VISITED IN THIS VLOG:
@buddysjc
@roastd.coffee
@thetopsdiner
@coneywaffleasburypark

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#newjersey #asburypark #newjerseyfood #foodtour #jerseycity #fortlee #jerseyshore #travelvlog #travelmatters
As you set your goals for 2023, don’t be afraid As you set your goals for 2023, don’t be afraid to be the orange fish. If an idea or dream scares you or feels too different, it’s probably the one you should go for!

We spotted these guys while snorkeling in the Galápagos Islands. See the full vlogs on our YouTube channel. LINK IN BIO!

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#fish #schooloffish #galapagos #galapagosislands #ecuador #travelmatters #travelvloggers #wildlife #conservation #underwatervideo #snorkeling🐠 
#newyeargoals #lifegoals
We saw so much cool wildlife in the Galapagos! See We saw so much cool wildlife in the Galapagos! See the full vlogs on our YouTube channel. LINK IN BIO!

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#galapagos #galapagosislands #ecuador #travelmatters #travelvloggers #wildlife #conservation #sealion #bluefootedbooby #tortoise #frigate #iguana #crab #fish
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