Despite living in London for a year, I didn’t travel around the United Kingdom very much. There were plenty of trips my friends and I contemplated taking, and we would occasionally research rates for a bed and breakfast in the Cotswolds, a few days at the beach in Brighton, a short trip to Edinburgh, or beachfront hotels in Blackpool. Despite this, we usually ended up either going abroad or, if we did travel around the UK, taking short day trips outside the capital.

One trip we did take was to Bath, a very popular tourist destination in the south west of England, located 97 miles west of London. The city is fortunate to host several natural hot springs that provide 1,170,000 litres of water per day at a temperature of 114.8 °F. Throughout its history, these natural hot springs have drawn many visitors to the region, and the city is most well-known for its Roman Baths that are located in the beautiful city center. The original Roman baths were built around 60-70 AD during the Roman conquest of Britain on the orders of Emperor Claudius and contained three baths (a hot bath, warm bath, and cold bath) enclosed within a wooden barrel-vaulted building. These baths were eventually destroyed in the 6th century, however, after the Romans left and the baths fell into disrepair. The present structures date from the late 1700s, and, although you can no longer bathe in these baths due to the unsafe water, it is still a very interesting place to visit from a historical perspective, especially if you have any interest in Roman history.

The above photos shows the Tate Modern and Millennium Bridge in London, UK. I lived in London from 2004-05 when I was a student at the London School of Economics. My dorm was located in the Bankside neighborhood, right behind the Tate Modern. At the time, Bankside was undergoing a transition, and many restaurants and businesses were moving into the neighborhood. Information on local events could easily be found on London-based websites, and for those newly arrived in the country, Expat help from MyHammer was also helpful.

The Tate Modern building was probably one of my favorite buildings in London, as I’m just a fan of gritty industrial architecture. The building was originally an oil-fired power station that generated electricity from 1952 to 1981. (Interestingly enough, the building’s architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, was also responsible for designing the iconic red telephone boxes that used to be found throughout the UK). In 2000, the Bankside Power Station became home to the Tate Modern, which is now the world’s most-visited modern art gallery. The station’s mammoth turbine hall is the site of large art installations that change every 6-12 months.

In addition to the Tate Modern, there are many other sights to visit in the Bankside neighborhood, including the Globe Theatre and Borough Market. A short stroll across the Millennium Bridge will take you to St. Paul’s Cathedral and then further into the city center.

The civic building for Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Glendalough, a glacial valley located in County Wicklow, Ireland.

This is Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of the British monarch. It did not become the official royal palace of the British monarch until the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. Queen Elizabeth II now resides here.

Typically, the public isn’t allowed to tour Buckingham Palace, but in 2009 the Palace began to hold tours during the summer/fall (when the Queen is at her summer residence in Scotland) in exchange for a sum of money from the British government that would pay for repairs to the palace. Tickets to the palace are £17.50, a rather pricey sum (especially for a student – my mom made me go ), but well worth it if you have an interest in the royal family and have the funds to splurge after booking a stay at one of the luxury hotels in the UK.

The Buckingham Palace tour takes you through nineteen of the Palace’s State Rooms, which are used by the Royal Family to receive and entertain guests on official occasions. On the tour you will see a ton of chintzy knick knacks as well as museum-worthy paintings and sculptures by some of the world’s greatest artists (which makes one wonder why the UK government is providing the Royals with funds, but I digress…). At the end of the tour, you can walk inside the walled-off Palace garden, which quickly makes you forget that you are in the middle of a huge city. And, of course, if you felt that you haven’t given the Royal Family enough of your money, at the conclusion of the tour you can go into the Palace gift shop and buy a variety of souvenirs (Queen Elizabeth II shot glass, anyone?)

Well, everyone’s heard of this place, so there isn’t much more to say. Built in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is now the prominent symbol of both Paris and France.

If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’d appreciate this cathedral. The cloisters here were transformed into the halls of Hogwarts for several of the movies. Built in 1089, this is probably one of the most beautiful cathedrals I’ve seen, especially with a blanket of snow covering the grounds. I stopped in to the cathedral when I was visiting a longtime friend, Janet, who moved to Gloucester, England several years ago.

This is one of Brussels’ most famous landmarks. No, I am not joking. Sometimes the locals dress this sculpture of a urinating little boy in funny costumes, but unfortunately it was costume-less on the day we visited. The statue dates from 1619, which is pretty impressive. The statue isn’t too far from the Grand Place…just follow the large crowds. Like most Western European destinations, flights to Brussels via RyanAir and EasyJet are quite cheap from London.

A one hour train ride from Brussels, Bruges is one of many cities in Northern Europe that lays claim to the title “Venice of the North” due to its network of canals.

View of the Tate Modern art museum from the Millennium Bridge. The building that now houses the art museum was formerly the oil-fired Bankside Power Station, which closed in 1981. As a grad student at the LSE, I was lucky enough to live in the Bankside dormitory that was located directly behind the Tate Modern.