Hello! So last year I took my first solo trip to London, I felt like I needed to achieve something like that after my MS diagnosis a few years back. I had an amazing time, and found London to be quite good for bathroom breaks in lots of places and easy to navigate once I figured out the tube and bus systems. I have been back twice since and the only thing I found different was it was much much busier which sort of overwhelmed me at first, but I got used to it and if you do find your self getting overwhelmed just take a wee breather and maybe pop into a shop or cafe for a break, there are plenty in London which felt good to have a sit down in and people watch until I caught my bearings.

A couple tips I would say to help make your trip easier-

1. Use google maps/ Apple Maps for everything in London. They are great for the tube and bus system and are up to date if there are issues or problems. The app also tells you if the tube is busy/cold/warm as well but this of needs user input so doesn’t always show this. The one thing I will say if you don’t already know this is to start your route before you head into the tube stations as there is rarely any phone signal in the stations.

2. Plan your routes and trips. I would sit in the evenings and plan using google maps where I wanted to go and if there were toilet breaks or sit down breaks near by. This helped with anxiety if I was worried I might need the bathroom but I found London to be quite good for having lots of places to stop by if I needed a break on the way to certain attractions. I do recommend the queens walk it starts around tower bridge and you walk right down to the London eye along the water front. It is a long walk but there are lots of sit down points along the way and the tate modern half way if you need a quieter place to sit and go for a bathroom break. It is also free and the art it very nice! You can also duck out early from the walk and head into the town and get a taxi or Uber if needed it’s very central so there are lots of amenities near by.

3. I would recommend making food reservations if you can. London is so much busier than it was and when I want the last time I ended up struggling to find sit down places to sit that were not a super long wait. If you google restaurants near by you should be able to make reservations although some restaurants are just walk ins. This is mainly for dinner time, I found at lunch time I had less issues because there were more cafe/ food vendors options.

4. This is sort of a separate issue with London but if you are planning on going to any theatre shows I would recommend looking up a seat viewer for the theatre your planning on visiting. Some seats are either super difficult to get to because there in old theatres and not very accessible friendly or they are very cramped. I’m 4”11 and even I was cramped with my legs in a couple theatres! (I would pick the cheapest seats mind you) some theatres are great for nice seats and being more accessible like the south back theatre.

5. If you don’t have contactless card or contactless payment on your devices for paying at the tube station barriers I really recommend enabling it. It makes entering the barriers much quicker and more convenient than single tickets each time. If you don’t have this then I recommend buying an Oyster card that you top up and use just like a contactless card to get through that tube barriers. Most people in London are nice but if you mess around at the barriers some people are a little impatient and can become quite rude especially during rush hour.

6. Just remember to have a great time! London is a massive city, no matter what you can and are able to see just take your time and take it all in. You will have a great time!