Friday was World Photography Day, so I decided to pay my respects to the old camera by taking it on an adventure, snapping a photo every hour throughout the day.

This could have gone awfully wrong if I was stuck in work – no one want’s to see my messy desk and half eaten sandwich. Fortunately I was playing tourist around London for the day with my friend Alice.

It’s not something I get to do very often. Even though I work in the capital, I live an hour and a half away, so I don’t spend much time there.

Check out what I got up to for the 12 hours I spent exploring the city.

12pm

We started the day with lunch in Leicester square, overlooking the William Shakespeare fountain. I have honestly never noticed this beauty before. Leicester Square is always so busy that I try to avoid it, but the recent downpour meant that no one was around, so we almost had the place to ourselves.

1pm

After buying my weight in MnM’s at their flagship store, and wandering around China Town wishing I had saved room for an all you can eat buffet, we traipsed over to Trafalgar Square. This place was packed with street performers dressed as Star Wars characters, and people dancing to the tinny sounds of a boombox.

2pm

No trip to London is complete without a glimpse at Big Ben, so we headed down to the River Thames, passing Downing Street on the way, which was incredibly underwhelming for  one of the most famous streets in the world.

3pm

After looking at all the statues around Westminster Square, and giving Nelson Mandela a high five, we stopped off at Westminster Abbey to take a few photos. It was a stunning building – so much taller than I expected.

4pm

At this point we stopped off for a coffee break, then headed to Buckingham Palace. I’d never seen it so empty. There were hardly any people around, inside or outside the gate. I did get to pull faces at the iconic guards though who stayed true to their duty and didn’t move.

5pm

St James’ Park was next. Right opposite Buckingham Palace, it was serene and beautiful, and full of wildlife and stunning plants. It’s deceptively huge. It took as a good half an hour to get through to the other side.

6pm

We decided it was time to explore a sightly different part of London, so hopped on the underground at St James’ Park, and headed to Monument. It wasn’t the most interesting place, but we wanted to see St Paul’s Cathedral.

7pm

The cathedral was definitely my favorite building out of all the one’s we had seen throughout the day. It looked like a giant birthday cake, covered in cream, with lots and lots of frosting. It stood taller than everything around it and commanded attention from all.

8pm

By 8 we decided it was about time for dinner, so we hopped back on the underground and headed to Camden Market. I’ve heard so many amazing things about this place, so I really wanted to check it out. In hindsight, Friday evening wasn’t the best time as it was rammed, but I got a good look around and managed to grab myself a tub of mac and cheese.

9pm

We ended the night watching Motion City Soundtrack at the O2 Forum. They’ve been one of my favorite bands since I was in college, and were absolutely amazing. I stopped taking photo’s at this point because I was enjoying the gig too much, and to be honest, I was a little too tipsy to hold my camera.

What are some of your favorite things to do around London? Have you ever visited any of these London Landmarks? Which is your favorite?