We decided to have a quick weekend away after finding some wonderful discount rail tickets with National Express. As the fares were such good value we splurged out on hotel accommodation and booked a room at the Langham Hotel which is part of the Leading Hotels of the World group.

The train journey was lovely, everything was on time and we had a nice relaxing start to our break. As it was a mild spring day we decided to wander from Kings Cross through Central London to the hotel as so often we travel underground and miss the sights above ground! We stopped for coffee along the way and passed through Bloomsbury with squares filled with grand Georgian townhouses and through Fitzrovia with interesting quirky little streets. This inspired us to travel around London by foot power for the rest of the weekend.

The hotel was undergoing refurbishment but was still amazing! We had a Langham Club Room on a corner with views to Broadcasting House on one side and Regent Street on the other. The decor was sophisticated, contemporary and elegant with echoes of the historic building the hotel is situated in.

We quickly unpacked and went for a quick shopping trip down Regent Street and Oxford Street which were right on our doorstep. We had a good browse in Selfridges and marvelled in the food hall, having viewed delicacies from around the world we realised we were hungry and decided on a night out in Chinatown.
This is one of my favourite parts of London. I love wandering through the streets and browsing through the supermarkets, admiring the decorated streets and colourful shops and most of the lovely exotic aromas! We browsed several of the 78 restaurants in the area and settled on a small restaurant on Gerard Street after watching an impressive display of noodle making in the window. The set Chinese banquet we ordered was fabulous and inexpensive too.

On Sunday we realised we had coincided our visit with the London Marathon so we stopped in a small cafe for breakfast and headed towards The Mall to watch the runners finishing the race. It was quite strange watching the amount of runners wandering the streets afterwards wearing their silver blankets with pride.
We then had a lovely stroll around the market at Covent Garden and listened to some beautifully voiced buskers whilst enjoying some delicious coffee. We were really enjoying London by foot, and noticed so many buildings and sights that we’d never seen before.

We then headed towards Trafalgar Square and spent the afternoon wandering slowly around the National Gallery. The National Gallery houses one of the greatest collections of Western European paintings in the world. These pictures belong to the public and entrance to see them is free.

We headed back to the hotel to collect luggage and realised how tired our feet were so decided to cheat and use the tube back to Kings Cross. However realising we were also thirsty we decided to stop off and visit the newly renovated St Pancras Station and try out the Champagne Bar. This really had the wow factor and we sat at the bar sipping champagne from an impressive menu. We selected olives and nibbles to accompany our drinks and watched as Eurostar departed from the adjacent platform. We felt the station renovation was fantastic and heralded back to an era where travel was elegant and romantic. Truly wonderful.

We really enjoyed our short break and particularly enjoyed seeing London by foot. We saw so much that we had never seen before and I’m sure we benefited from the exercise!