Portobello Road, Notting Hill, and More

things to do in London

To wrap up my London posts, I’m squishing our last two days together into one post! To finish up our time, we squeezed in all the extra sights and must-do’s on our lists. Friday morning we headed to Kensington Palace, home of Will and Kate, because we wanted to visit the exhibit of Princess Diana’s clothes. 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

Unfortunately, you have to go through the whole palace first, so that the Diana exhibit wouldn’t get too crowded (you pretty much end up waiting in line 5 or 6 different times for it). Kensington is still a working palace, so you can really only visit a few spots. 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

I pointed out this display to my mom and she jumped about 3 feet in the air and yelled, “What is that!??” I’m not sure why they had these ghostly images projected on the wall, but it was an…odd touch. 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

After visiting Windsor just the day before, we weren’t incredibly impressed by Kensington. But, we were really there for Diana.

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

Some of these sketches have notes written by Diana herself! 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

I didn’t snap any pictures inside the exhibit, but it features several of her well-known outfits, including many that I had never seen. I didn’t know a ton about Diana, other than the basics, but my mom is obsessed and she was super excited. It’s pretty small, but completely worth a visit- and the lines!

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

Queen Victoria watching over her palace. 

After Kensington, I split from my family to visit Churchill’s War Rooms by myself, since it was high on my list! If you really love Churchill and the history of World War II, I highly recommend it. If you aren’t super into that kind of stuff, like I am, go ahead and skip it. 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

After spending some time with Mr. Churchill, I popped over to Belgravia to meet Lydia and her sisters for a cuppa (or two, or three). 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

Saturday morning was set aside for Portobello Road Market. My mom, brother and I are really into antique markets (and they’re always better in Europe!), and it is something we couldn’t pass up. Besides, who doesn’t love a good stroll through Notting Hill??

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

One of the things I really, really wanted to do was visit those Insta-famous houses in Notting Hill. I didn’t know exactly where they were, and every street off of Portobello seemed to be dotted with colored houses. Our plan was to search for them after the market, but as we were wandering, I happened to look over and see….

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

The houses! I ran off, yelling something to my mom about how I would be right back, and started snapping away.

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

When I first started snapping, there were maybe one or two people on the street. About a minute later, it was suddenly swarmed with a wave of people who, like me, had come upon the street and knew it from Pinterest, probably. 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

Which would you prefer, pink or blue? I’ll happily take either one! 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

There are actually two sets of blue/pink houses on each end of the street- of course, I snapped photos of them all! 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

After our wandering through Notting Hill, we made our way to Kings Cross for the ultimate tourist photo op….

things to do in London- Harry Potter platform 9 3/4

Worth it. 

things to do in London- portobello road notting hill

After all of that, Sunday morning came and it was time to go. I snapped a few pictures of our precious little apartment, which I will link to soon! We rented off of VRBO (part of HomeAway) and it was perfect. In Notting Hill, with a lovely property manager who lived next door, and with the cutest little entrance. I would have happily lived there!

A little bit of blog news- if you go to the top of my site now, you can click on several categories and see all the posts under that category! It should make it a little easier to find specific types of posts, so feel free to keep on reading!

While I’m sad that my London trip is over- I was ready to go back as soon as I unpacked!- we have our trip to Portugal coming up in just a few weeks, and then Zac and I have a very special and exciting adventure this fall! So stay tuned for more travel posts! 

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