Thirsty in Tyburnia: Spending a Sunny Afternoon in London

April 28, 2024November 18, 2024 Koen 0 Comments

This trip report covers my afternoon visit to London, during which I enjoyed a sunny walk through Westminster and Soho, and had a couple of pints in some great pubs in the lovely Tyburnia neighbourhood.

A sunny afternoon in London

It had been quite a circuitous route for me to reach London after my cancelled British Airways flight, but just after noon, I had finally arrived in the British capital.

Instead of a simple direct flight to London Heathrow, I had to take two Turkish Airlines flights to reach Birmingham, followed by a CrossCountry train to Reading, and finally a GWR train to get to London.

I’ve visited London a few times before, although it has been quite a long time since my last visit to the city.

As I would be departing London again on a train to Cornwall in the evening, I was aware that my visit this time would be brief.

reading station crosscountry gwr train — *A GWR train and CrossCountry train at Reading station. ©Paliparan*

paddington station gwr train — *After a big detour via Istanbul, Birmingham and Reading, I had finally arrived in London. ©Paliparan*

Great Western Railway Class 800 paddington — *Great Western Railway Class 800 at London Paddington. ©Paliparan*

Into the Tube

Although I was in the UK on holiday, I did have a short business meeting scheduled in Canary Wharf, but after the meeting I would have all the time to relax and soak up the London sunshine on this beautiful June day.

I therefore hopped on the Bakerloo Line to Waterloo, where I changed onto the Jubilee Line towards Canary Wharf station.

Although the London Underground was crowded today, I nonetheless really enjoyed being back on the Tube, which still is one of the world’s finest transport systems.

paddington tube undergroun station turnstiles — *Queue in front of the turnstiles at the Tube station of Paddington. ©Paliparan*

london underground paddington station — *Waiting for the underground at the platform of Paddington station. ©Paliparan*

waterloo underground station london tube — *Changing trains at Waterloo. ©Paliparan*

london underground station — *Transferring to another line of the London Underground at Waterloo station. ©Paliparan*

Canary Wharf

I’ve never been to Canary Wharf before, and although I’m generally not a fan of modern architecture and sterile glass office buildings, I found the district to be quite impressive.

Especially the spacious exit of the metro station with its sunlit glass canopy and long escalators looked rather grand.

london canary wharf underground tube station escalators — *Escalators at Canary Wharf station. ©Paliparan*

canary wharf office buildings — *Office buildings at Canary Wharf. ©Paliparan*

Westminster

After the relatively short meeting, I still had plenty of free time to explore London before the departure of my train to Cornwall.

Given that I’ve seen most of London before and have generally lost much of my appetite for exploring large European capitals in recent years – preferring smaller cities and towns away from the tourist crowds – I wasn’t really in the mood for sightseeing.

However, since my last visit to London was so long ago and I had never had the pleasure of exploring the city on such a gorgeous day, I spontaneously decided to get off at Westminster when I took the Jubilee Line back.

After all, seeing such iconic sights such as Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster, home to the British Houses of Parliament, never fails to impress, no matter how many times you’ve seen them before.

Standing on Westminster Bridge and gazing out over the River Thames did really put me in the perfect holiday mood.

london eye — *River Thames and the London Eye. ©Paliparan*

westminster bridge london — *Westminster Bridge. ©Paliparan*

Westminster Bridge River Thames view — *View over the Thames from Westminster Bridge. ©Paliparan*

westminster london — *The Palace of Westminster. ©Paliparan*

Afternoon walk through London

Before flying into England, I had asked my followers on Twitter for some London recommendations, primarily suggestions for places to eat and pubs to visit for a pint of beer.

Having received recommendations for a couple of attractive pubs close to Paddington station, primarily in the nearby neighbourhood of Tyburnia, I decided to head in that direction.

Tyburnia was a part of London I was not yet familiar with, and it was a practical location for my evening train departure to Cornwall as Paddington station would just be a short distance away.

As the weather was sunny and the temperature rather agreeable, I decided to walk to Tyburnia instead of taking the Tube.

With “Summer in the City” by the Lovin’ Spoonful playing in my headphones, I made my way north along Whitehall.

During my walk, I encountered some of Britain’s national heroes, including the Winston Churchill statue at Westminster and Horatio Nelson’s column at Trafalgar Square.

I eventually found myself in vibrant Soho, where I enjoyed a light lunch at Hoppers, a Sri Lankan restaurant.

trafalgar square london — *Nelson’s Column on Trafalgar Square. ©Paliparan*

soho street — *Street in Soho. ©Paliparan*

hoppers sri lankan food london — *Enjoying some Sri Lankan food at Hoppers. ©Paliparan*

Towards Tyburnia

From Soho, Tyburnia wasn’t too far away anymore, as all I needed to do was to get to Oxford Street and follow it all the way to the corner of Hyde Park.

Although not my favourite part of London, this busy and highly commercialized shopping street did ooze a lot of classic British vibes, thanks to dozens of Union Jack flags hanging across the street and the ubiquitous black London cabs and red double-decker buses driving along.

After a while, I reached Marble Arch and the north-eastern corner of Hyde Park, where I entered the Tyburnia neighbourhood.

oxford street london — *Major British vibes on Oxford Street. ©Paliparan*

tyburnia london — *Street in Tyburnia. ©Paliparan*

A walk around Tyburnia

Tyburnia is an upscale residential district just north of Hyde Park.

Named after the Tyburn Estate, which was originally owned by the Bishop of London, the area was redeveloped into an upper class residential neighbourhood by architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell in the early 19th century.

Cockerell’s plans were for this new London neighbourhood to rival Belgravia, located at the southern end of Hyde Park, and he certainly succeeded in doing so.

Many of the houses in this leafy London neighbourhood look absolutely classy – and likely come with an eye-watering price tag to match their elegant appearance – although there were also some more mundane looking flats.

When I passed by the Duke of Kendal, I decided to step inside and enjoy my first pint of beer at this pub.

duke of kendal pub tyburnia — *Patrons enjoying a beer in front of the Duke of Kendal pub. ©Paliparan*

tyburnia houses — *Expensive houses in Tyburnia. ©Paliparan*

hyde park square tyburnia — *Hyde Park Square. ©Paliparan*

Beer time

Another pub on my list, The Victoria, was also heaving with activity on this sunny afternoon.

Inside this lovely-looking pub all tables and bar stools were occupied, and also outside on the pavement there were quite a few punters enjoying their pint of beer.

I decided to join the crowd outdoor for a pint or two – first ordering a glass of Frontier lager, followed by a delicious pint of Clwb Tropica, a tropical IPA made by Tiny Rebel Brewing from the city of Newport in Wales.

london tyburnia the victoria pub — *The Victoria, a great pub in the Tyburnia neighbourhood of London. ©Paliparan*

victoria pub tyburnia — *People drinking on the pavement in front of the pub. ©Paliparan*

the victoria pub london tyburnia — *Inside The Victoria pub. ©Paliparan*

frontier lager pint tyburnia — *Drinking a pint of Frontier lager outside in the sun. ©Paliparan*

british craft beer london victoria pub tyburnia — *Enjoying a pint of Clwb Tropica on the sunny streets of London. ©Paliparan*

Back to Paddington station

When some clouds finally obscured the sun in the late afternoon, I decided it was time to head back to London Paddington station.

Despite my train not being due for a few hours, I wanted to take my time to explore the stunning surroundings of Paddington station and visit the GWR Lounge before my departure, both of which I will discuss in the next chapter of this trip report.

london paddington station — *London Paddington station. ©Paliparan*

Conclusion

Although my visit to London was rather brief, I did enjoy a lovely walk through the city, strolling from Westminster to Soho, Hyde Park, and Tyburnia in some fabulously sunny weather.

As I had never visited the Tyburnia neighbourhood before, it turned out to be a great place to enjoy a couple of beers in the afternoon sun before catching my train from nearby London Paddington station.

In particular, I enjoyed my time in The Victoria pub, which proved to be an excellent spot to enjoy a couple of quality beers.

Trip report index

This article is part of the ‘From Cornwall to Yorkshire: Train Travel Through England‘ trip report, which consists of the following chapters:

1. My British Airways Cancellation and Compensation Saga
2. Review: Turkish Airlines Airbus A350 Business Class Bucharest to Istanbul
3. Review: Turkish Airlines Business Lounge Istanbul Airport
4. Review: Turkish Airlines Airbus A321 Business Class Istanbul to Birmingham
5. Review: CrossCountry Train Birmingham International to Reading
6. Thirsty in Tyburnia: Spending a Sunny Afternoon in London (current chapter)
7. London Paddington and the GWR First Class Lounge
8. Review: GWR Night Riviera Sleeper Train London to Penzance, Cornwall
9. Penzance: A Visit to Cornwall’s Down-to-Earth Seaside Town
10. By Train to St Ives: A Trip on the Branch Line From St Erth
11. St Ives: Cornwall’s Most Picturesque Seaside Town