Backpacking Through Europe: London

I have been to London a few times, and besides just the normal touristy stuff within the city, I love to venture out and see Oxford, Stratford, and the famous castles like Warwick Castle. I took a tour out to these three places and had a great time. Stratford is where Shakespeare was born, so I got to tour his home and walk around this quaint little town. They had a lot of neat shops with chocolates and other candies for sale that were delicious. I really enjoyed walking around the little park which had statues of famous Shakespearean characters like Hamlet and Macbeth. It was a beautiful day with gorgeous flowers all around the town and I think I must have taken a million pictures. Later we got to see Oxford which was very nice as well. Our guide was a stout old man who thought he was funnier than he really was, but he showed us a great time. We got to see many of the different colleges and places where parts of Harry Potter were filmed. Warwick castle the least intriguing of the three, but I still had a good time. We got to see actors act out scenes from medieval times like swordfights and jousts. This would have been great if I was a little bit younger or older and had kids, but at 20 years old - not so much.

Quick Tips:

Always make sure your hotel is 1) near a metro station and if you're leaving early the next day 2) near transportation that will get you to the airport on time. When my friend and I went to Europe together, we missed our flight to Torino because our hotel was on the other side of London and the trains weren't working that day. Just our luck!

Best Way To Get Around:

My favorite thing about London is how easy their metro system is. Not only is it simple and easy to understand, but it's also CLEAN! The cleanest in all of Europe in my opinion. So, I always recommend taking the tube!

This is by far the best hostel I have ever stayed in. It is in a historic looking building at the far end of Holland Park. The rooms do have many people staying in them, but they are very clean and safe. They even provide a storage room to place your backpack in if you don't want to keep it in your room. The guy who checked us in was really helpful and told us all about the facilities and provided us with a map of London which was a great asset while we were here. We were given a room and two bed numbers (being assigned a specific bed is an amenity overlooked sometimes).

Although there is a Holland Park underground station nearby, it is actually easier and closer to come from the High Street Kensington station. Turn right from the main entrance of the station, walk straight until you find an entrance to the park. Cross the road, walk straight and you'll find signs to follow. It is really easy to find, when my friend and I arrived we thought that maybe it was too easy (knowing our luck, we thought we'd never find the place), but once you reach the far end of the park, you'll see the hostel. It was great being so near a metro station on the circle line. This made it really easy to get to all the touristy places and see the sites.

This was a great place to start my journey. Having been to London before and stayed in a hostel, I was pleasantly surprised about this place and would definitely stay here again.