The Version of London I Didn’t Expect to Fall in Love With
Five weeks, countless photos, and one final goodbye.
Happy 2026! Together with my husband, baby daughter and our dog we’re spending seven months slow travelling through Europe. If you missed it, last week we met Santa at the London Transport Museum. Read on for this week’s final London escapades and you can always get the full story on my website, Teaspoon of Adventure.
I cannot believe how fast five weeks in London flew by! When I look back at the hundreds (possibly thousands) of photos I took and Substack posts I wrote, it’s clear we packed a lot into our five weeks. But it still feels like I blinked and now it’s time to go.
Living in London has been a dream for me since I first visited in 2012. I’ve been back many times since but never for a whole five weeks (and never with my husband, baby, dog and mom in tow!).
This was a wildly different London experience than I’ve ever had before. We weren’t pounding the pavement from dawn until dusk, trying to fit in every last tourist site before moving onto another city a few days later.
This time we had an apartment where we unpacked, cooked dinner, did laundry, read books and chased a baby around. We soaked up our local neighbourhood on dog walks, library visits, movie nights and so much eating out. We even frequented the same coffee shop often enough to fill an entire stamp card and get a free pastry!
This trip to London was longer but slower. We still did and saw a lot, but at a softer pace. Sometimes that frustrated me, particularly when I was scrolling through social media and finding so many new things we wouldn’t have time for.
And other times, I was grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to slow down, take a break and have a cozy day in when the weather was bad. Grateful for the chance to share this city I love with my daughter, even if that meant exploring it in smaller chunks. Grateful for every bit of London Christmas magic we got to soak up, rather than focusing on every market, storefront and light trail we missed.
So thank you, London, for giving me this little taste of local life. I woke up every day so exited to be in the city, no matter what was on our agenda. I absolutely loved living in London (and I know we’ll be back soon!).
What we did this week
On our final week in London, we visited two free museums that are a little lesser known. They aren’t exactly hidden gems, but they’re maybe not in the top 10 results when you Google “free London museums.”
First up was the Wallace Collection, a beautiful old house in Marylebone that holds a very impressive art collection. There were three floors of paintings, armour, swords, sculptures and more.
In the middle of the gallery was a beautiful restaurant in a covered courtyard. It looked like the perfect place for afternoon tea! And upstairs we passed an iPad drawing class they were offering for free.
We got to see the Caravaggio painting of cupid, which I’m sure someone more educated about art would tell you was a very big deal. But for me, the best part of the Wallace Collection was just walking around the stately home and seeing the decor, wallpaper and fireplaces.
We also visited the Grant Museum this week, a museum of zoology at University College London. It’s a small museum (just one big room) but has tons of interesting animal skeletons and specimens.
It’s definitely worth a walk around if you’re in the area. Pair it with lunch at Hong Ji Dim Sum Thai Restaurant, a delicious Chinese/Thai place nearby. We loved their dumplings and spicy Thai basil chicken dish.
What we ate this week
While Hong Ji was good, my favourite Asian meal of the week has to be at Banh Banh back in Brixton. We’d been wanting to try this Vietnamese place on our street for a while and I’m so sad we left it until our last week, because it meant we didn’t have time to go back!
We ordered a few different dishes but the stand outs were the caramel fish in a clay pot (so tender and flavourful!) and the garlic green beans. Even our 11 month old daughter was choosing the beans over everything else on her plate.
On the night my mom arrived in London, we welcomed her with a fancy dinner at The Laundry. I really loved the vibe of this place - moody lighting, dark wood, elevated pub atmosphere - but the food let me down a bit. Everything we ate was okay, but none of the flavours really wowed me. In my opinion, you can get better food for much cheaper in Brixton.
On the plus side, the staff were amazing! They were so sweet with Baby C, many of them coming by repeatedly to give her high fives or play peekaboo.
And for our final meal out in London, we returned to The Joint in Brixton Village. We couldn’t say no to their Wing Wednesday and lunch combo burger deals, plus enjoyed some French toast off their brunch menu. It was a very delicious end to our dining adventures around Brixton!
Highlight of the week
The best part of the week was going to a show at Unicorn Theatre with Baby C. The show we saw was designed for babies, so everyone in the audience was between 6 and 18 months old (besides us parents, of course).
All the parents, grandparents and babies settled onto benches and floor cushions as the performance began. I had no idea what Baby C was going to think of it. I assumed she would be distracted by the other kids or maybe get bored and want to crawl around.
But no, she was completely enthralled! Her eyes were glued to the performer the entire time. She was making little noises in response to the performer’s actions, laughing when something silly happened, and just so captivated by the experience.
Colin and I kept grinning at each other as we watched Baby C take it all in. As a big theatre fan myself, it felt so special to see my daughter enjoy live theatre. I can’t wait to take her to her first West End show!
After the performance, the babies were given toys and allowed to crawl around the space. Baby C went right up to another mom and baby, basically crawling into the mom’s lap and trying to touch the other baby’s face. I guess our girl isn’t shy!
Lowlight of the week
Of course the biggest lowlight of the week was having to leave London. Not only was it sad to be leaving my favourite city in the world, but the actual packing and moving process is never fun.
Having my mom around to help watch Baby C and carry bags - plus upgrading our suitcases and only having to travel a short distance - made this move less painful than the ones before, but it still wasn’t enjoyable.
New on Teaspoon of Adventure
⭐ What Living in London for 5 Weeks Was Really Like
In this blog post I’m breaking down our entire five week stay - what I loved about London, what I hated, how we got around, what we did, what we ate and my tips for someone else looking to do a short stay in London!
⭐ Our Essential Packing List for Travel with a Baby
After six months on the road with Baby C, I’ve put together our list of baby travel essentials - from the travel stroller and travel crib we swear by to travel-friendly toys, toiletries and sleep gear. Click below to read the full packing list and to get my code for 10% off LEVEL8 suitcases.
And as a subscriber, you can also download my baby packing list for free!
PS: I also got shouted out by two fellow Substackers in Jen’s Nov/Dec round up and Alex’s end of year round up. Check out their posts and give them a follow as I heartily recommend both of their Substacks too!
What’s coming up next
We headed out of our Brixton apartment with five suitcases, three backpacks, a stroller, a carseat, a dog and a baby onto a tube and a train to arrive in… BRIGHTON!
We’ll be spending the next two months on the south coast of England in Brighton, a city I’ve never been to and am very excited to explore.
I’ve got lots of cafes and independent shops saved on Google Maps, but am always looking for more: so if you have any Brighton recommendations, please leave them in the comments!
Now go ahead and give this post a heart if you love London like I do, share it on social media to spread the good word, and make sure you’re subscribed to follow along with our upcoming adventures in Brighton!
Until I’m next in your inbox, I hope your 2026 is off to a delicious and cozy start with lots of travel, good museums and live theatre planned for the year ahead!
Yours in adventure,
Riana
While in Brighton take a day out via bus (lovely coastal ride around Cuckmere river/Beachy Head), or train to Hastings, which has the creative edge down here now - Brighton has got too expensive for arty folk. Also visit Lewes - pretty, great cinema and lots of history.
claireshannon46.
I've been to London a few more times than I can count and I always enjoy yet another visit. Always so much to see and do and favorite museums to discover again. Plus, no language barrier for Americans so it's a pretty much stress-free time for communications, at least. Looking forward to your Brighton posts. I've been there twice and love the more laid-back atmosphere compared to London. But plenty of sites to see there, too!