London

When our good friends Todd & Esther invited us to their wedding in the UK, it gave us the perfect excuse to finally plan a proper trip across the Atlantic. We were lucky enough to book business class seats on British Airways for a direct flight from Baltimore to London, which made getting there feel like part of the experience rather than something to endure. With a few days to explore the city before heading into the English countryside for the wedding, we made the most of every minute, taking in the sights, wandering as much as we could, and eating some truly amazing food along the way.

Our first big stop in London was the Sky Garden, where we got our bearings from high above the city with panoramic views stretching in every direction. It was more than just an observation deck, the beautifully manicured indoor gardens, towering ferns, and sunlight pouring through the glass made the space feel like a greenhouse floating over London. We spent plenty of time moving between the windows, picking out landmarks and taking in the skyline from every angle. Reservations are a must, so it is definitely worth planning ahead before your visit.

The weather could not have been better for the walk to our next stop, St. Paul's Cathedral. With blue skies overhead, we took our time getting there, stopping whenever something caught our eye and giving ourselves enough room to enjoy the views and capture the photos we wanted. From St. Paul's, we crossed the Millennium Bridge over the Thames and made our way into Tate Modern, turning what could have been a quick walk into one of those stretches of the city that was just as memorable as the destination itself.

The amount of amazing food we had in London was almost an embarrassment of riches. We went from elevated takes on pub dishes at Fallow to a classic Chinese chicken and rice lunch at Three Uncles, then settled in for a proper Sunday roast at Hawksmoor. We even managed to squeeze in a Michelin-starred lunch at Hide. Every meal felt completely different from the one before it, and somehow each one gave us another reason to get excited about eating our way through the city.

The two Indian meals we had in London may have set the highest bar of the entire trip. Darjeeling Express and Gymkhana both completely blew us away, from the depth of flavor in every dish to the kind of precision that made even familiar things feel new. Together, they reset our expectations for Indian food, and we are still trying to find anything back in the States that comes close.

We spent an afternoon slipping into the back alleys of Kensington in search of its mews, each one feeling like a beautiful little pocket of London hidden behind the busier streets. These narrow lanes were originally built behind the grand townhouses as service areas, with horses and carriages kept on the ground floor and living quarters above for the grooms and coachmen who cared for them. As cars replaced carriages, many became garages and workshops before eventually being converted into some of the city's most unique homes. The cobblestones, old carriage doors, overflowing greenery, and tiny architectural details made them incredibly easy to photograph, and wandering between them felt like discovering a quieter version of London that had been there all along.

Sunday morning gave us the perfect excuse to lean all the way into the London experience and watch the Changing the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. We strolled through Green Park with our friends Ashley, Matt, Jenna, and Jake, who were also in town for the wedding, before joining the crowd outside the palace. Once the red tunics, bearskin hats, and military band came into view, the whole thing felt every bit as grand and unmistakably British as we had hoped.

Also known as Guard Mounting, the ceremony is the formal handover between the Old Guard finishing its watch and the New Guard taking responsibility for protecting the Sovereign and the royal palaces. Household Troops have carried out that duty since 1660, and when Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace in 1837, a detachment of the Queen's Guard began protecting the palace much as it still does today. Seeing that history play out in front of us, with all the precision, music, and pageantry, made it feel like much more than another sightseeing stop.

London exceeded every expectation we had for it. In just a few days, we packed in iconic sights, quiet corners, long walks, and more great meals than felt reasonable, but never felt like we were simply checking things off a list. It was the perfect appetizer for the real reason we had come to England, celebrating Todd and Esther's wedding, before trading the energy of the city for the slower pace of The Cotswolds. By the time we left London, the trip already felt special, and somehow the best parts were still ahead of us.