Tag Archives: day out

London – Battersea Power Station

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Every respectful tourist destination offers travellers a wide variety of entertainment, from exhibitions, museums, and art galleries, to amusement parks and even shopping centres.
After a while, something new has appeared in London and that place is worth visiting – Battersea Power Station. And this site may not even been included in all tourist guides yet.

One of the well-known categories of these objects is landmarks. Along such famous landmarks as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Statue of Liberty in New York or the Colosseum in Rome the Battersea Power Station looks quite impressive.

The methods of building and presenting these objects as well as their offerings to visitors can be very different, but they have one thing in common – they are all well known internationally and become symbols of those places they are located.

Battersea Power Station interior design
Battersea Power Station interior design

From the second half of 2023, a new object in London has been opened for viewing and visiting. Battersea Power Station complements such existing attractions as the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Kensington Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral and others. Battersea Power Station offers a historical insight into London’s history, as well as many opportunities to eat, relax and shop. And you get a chance to see the London skyline from over 100 meters above sea level. In addition, all this is created in a modern style using the latest technologies. Recently, as of early 2024, 11 million people have visited this site.

The story about Battersea Power Station

Battersea was a coal-fired power station which became a National Historic Landmark when it was decommissioned in the second part of the 20th century. The first stage of the station was built between 2029 and 1935, and the second stage was put into operation in 1955. Accordingly, the first stage of the power plant ceased operation in 1975, and the second stage was three years after that.

Battersea Power Station in the evening
Battersea Power Station in the evening

The architecture of the power plant was made in the style of a brick cathedral, of which there are not many examples. Apparently for this reason, in 1980 the entire complex of buildings was given the status of a listed building. Despite repeated attempts to rebuild the area, for a very long time, nothing new was started due to lack of funding. While all the buildings were standing empty and abandoned until 2014, it led to the situation that they started looking like ruins.

The situation finally changed after investors from Malaysia agreed to renovate the buildings and nearby structures. The intention was to create a business and entertainment centre, as well as a new residential area. However, it was also required that the restored complex retain its historical appearance.

Since the money was found, the reconstruction of the main building of the power plant was completed in 2022, and the entire complex with a total area of 17 hectares was put into operation in 2023. The total investment in the reconstruction of the complex reached almost 9 billion pounds (10.5 billion euros).

There are other noteworthy facts associated with the restoration of this place. For example, the London Underground’s Northern line was extended by 3 kilometres and two new metro stations were built. Total investment in the development of the metro network exceeded £1 billion. It was the first major expansion of the London Underground network since 1999, and the new section opened in 2021.

Getting there

Unlike most London attractions, Battersea Power Station is located on the right bank of the Thames River.

We headed to Battersea Power Station after visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum, so it was most convenient to take a bus to Chelsea Bridge. When you get off at the bridge on the left bank of the Thames River, you will have to cross the bridge, walking a total of less than a kilometre. It’s worth doing this way as you can observe the surrounding area from the bridge.

The easiest way, of course, is to take the Northern Line underground line to the Battersea Power Station stop, and from there walk about 400 meters to the station. Just be aware that not all southbound Northern Line trains go to this station. If you miss the correct train, your last chance to change is at Kennington Station (near the Elephant and Castle – if you’re there, it means you have to change trains).

Attractions

In total, the site has about 140 establishments of various types: from shops and bars to a cinema.

Upon entering the power plant complex, you will immediately notice the fact that the whole interior does look like an industrial facility. Even individual rooms have retained their original appearance. For example, if you enter the bar in Control Room B, from the bar tables will see the power plant’s control panel.

The prices overall are not lower than the London average, but in some cases, they can be a little higher. The main reason for this is that this is a fairly new and relatively posh area of London. This is evidenced by the fact that such a company as Apple has chosen this area as the location for its central London office, where around 3,000 employees are expected to work across six floors.

Shopping mall

The shopping centre features such famous brands as Apple, Boss, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Jigsaw, L’Occitane, Lacoste, Lego, Mango, Nike, Omega, Ralph Lauren, Superdry, Tag Heuer, Tommy Hilfiger and Zara.

Entertainment

If you add to the entertainment such establishments as a cinema, an exhibition hall and mini golf, food and refreshments in bars, the choice is also quite impressive. Including such well-known brands as Pret a Manger, Starbucks and Wagamama, in total more than 50 different venues for entertainment are available.

Inside Battersea Power Station
Inside Battersea Power Station

Other attractions

The complex has a virtual reality zone where you can visit Egyptian pyramids, fight dragons or meet zombies. Just to add that I haven’t been there yet, so cannot comment on those.

However, the most impressive place is Lift 109. You can take the trip on an elevator to get up inside one of the station’s pipes to a height of 109 metres and to watch the London skyline. I recommend this and it may be an even better alternative to the London Eye.
It’s best to book your tickets in advance as this attraction is in high demand. The adult ticket cost £17, in my opinion, this was a very reasonable price for what we got. Various multimedia effects are used to make the entire journey even more exciting.

Why to visit Battersea Power Station?

If you have already visited enough museums and exhibitions, then this is a place where you can have a good time, eat good food, watch a film and observe London from above. What I liked most was the fact that being in a historic building it feels in every way that you live in the twenty-first century – history, heritage, technology and the opportunity to relax as you wish.

Spa hotel in England

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Late in May we went to relax for a weekend, the destination – SPA hotel in Buckinghamshire, England. Hotel name Crowne Plaza Marlow.

For those who have been to SPA hotels in countries such as Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic or Hungary, a Spa hotel in England may seem different from what they use to imagine about this kind of establishment, although overall, things look quite good there.

About Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a county in the south-east of England, but to make it clearer, it is located to the west from London. It borders Greater London to the south-east, Oxfordshire to the west and a few other counties in other directions.

Sunset in Buckinghamshire
Sunset in Buckinghamshire

Because London is relatively close by, many people who work in London live in Buckinghamshire, making the region quite expensive to live in. In total, the county is home to just over 800,000 people and covers an area of less than 2,000 square kilometres.

Buckinghamshire is the 32nd largest of England’s 48 territorial units (the largest being North Yorkshire, which is more than four times the size). In the south of the county is located the officially recognized Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where people go to relax and enjoy nature, especially during weekends.

Spa Hotel

The hotel itself surprised in a positive way. Firstly, it has a large area, not the usual lack od space as it’s used often to be in England. Parking spaces are spacious, both just outside and around the hotel. Well-maintained driveways and greenery all-around with three-storey hotel buildings located in a fairly large area.

The rooms are also very large compared to what is common in other hotels. So a very good rating as the first impression.

Hotel room
Hotel room

The receptionist was professional, we checked in quickly and happy went to our rooms. However, everything else did not follow so smoothly. It was planned that a bottle of prosecco would be in the room after our arrival, but it did not arrive even after a number of repeated inquiries. After seven in the evening it was finally brought to our rooms. Of course, it’s better late than never, but it really can’t be recognised as a four-star service.
Of course, this did not prevent us from enjoying our stay in hotel’s bar and Spa located in another building.

Spa complex

The size of the spa complex was a bit surprising. It was definitely not as big as you might think, although in other places the spa complexes may even be smaller.

The complex has comfortable changing rooms, although we failed to make lockers work. It was not important though because we could leave all the valuables in our rooms in the safe that worked.

The pool has two relatively wide paths for swimming, where three people can swim freely in one and another for two people. There is a small children’s pool and a hot tub by the pool. However, it was impossible to sit in hot tub for longer time, because the water was heavily chlorinated.

The next day we visited the procedures (massage), the rooms of which are located in the same building next to the pool. Treatment rooms are relatively small, just as much as a massage table to install and to take off clothes. The procedure itself was normal, punctually executed – nothing special, but generally good.

Hotel restaurant

Apart from the rather chaotic service, the best thing about the hotel was the restaurant, where we had dinner and breakfast the next morning – all respect to the chef.

Food offer in hotel restaurant
Food offer in hotel restaurant

All the dishes we ordered were really tasty. Since we got our sparkling wine delivered in the room just before dinner, we took it to the restaurant and the staff did not object us drinking it there during the dinner. On some occasions some of the staff did not seem very professional, however they were nice and we were very happy about the dinner.

Overall, our late May weekend in Buckinghamshire was a success.

Glasgow

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Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city, the fourth largest in the UK and the 27th largest in Europe. More than 600,000 people live in Glasgow today, even though the population was over 1.1 million before the middle of the 20th century. Since then, many people have moved to nearby towns and now in Grater Glasgow region live almost 1.8 million people, about a third of Scotland’s total population.

What to see

The city is well known for its university, founded in 1451. The university has 35,000 students from 140 countries, employs around 9,000 people and is one of the world’s top 100 universities.

University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow

There are also a number of other highly ranked universities in Glasgow where young people from many parts of the world come to study.

Although Glasgow has always been an industrial city, especially known for shipbuilding, it also has a very large cultural heritage. There are many museums, art galleries and exhibitions in the city, but the history can be felt simply by walking through its streets.
Popular attractions include the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (free admission), the Riverside Museum, Glasgow Science Centre and George Square in the heart of the city. And of course, the central building of the University of Glasgow is worth a visit; both the exterior of the complex and the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery inside are impressive (it can be visited free of charge).

Traffic

There is an underground transport in Glasgow – subway. It has only one round line and trains run in both directions. Interestingly, subway cars are much smaller than, for example, in London. It feels like miniature railway arrives to the platform.

It is best to get around the city by underground or train if you need to go somewhere more far away from the centre. Of course, buses also run across the city, however I have only used buses a few times in three years when I lived there. I did not like that busses are often be late, slow and also relatively expensive.

The city centre is walkable and has pedestrian-only streets.

Sauchiehall street in Glasgow
Sauchiehall street in Glasgow

Those who want to go to other destinations must remember that Glasgow has two main railway stations and you cannot get to where you want to go from both stations. The stations are about a 10-minute walk away, so trying to find a bus or taxi to get from one to another doesn’t make much sense. Of course, if you have a lot of luggage to handle, you just have to take a taxi.

There is also a bus station in the city centre, with buses to major cities and other destinations in Scotland and England. In general, intercity bus services in Scotland are good.

If you arrive at Glasgow Airport, almost the only cheap choice to get to the city is the bus that stops at the terminal. However, if you arrive after midnight, you may have to take a taxi, which is not cheap at all.

Where to go

There are many shops and cafes in the city centre, during the day you can walk through the pedestrian streets, see the central station from the inside and go to the eastern part of the city centre, which is not far away and has its own charm because there used to be city warehouses.

Evening in Partick, Glasgow
Evening in Partick, Glasgow

But the city centre is turning very busy in the evening, as many nightclubs are opening up and life is getting different. The most popular, in some ways even legendary, entertainment street is Sauchiehall Street. Life in the area is bustling until three o’clock in the morning, especially on weekends.

Glasgow is a very active city in general, where people relax after a day of work, and especially after a week of work, and it’s so different from many other Scottish cities that are much quieter. So if you are in Scotland, it is worth visiting Glasgow and enjoying its special charm.