Being a tourist can be tiring.  You want to see everything in the city you’re visiting, but sometimes little obstacles can get in the way.  You might get sore feet from pounding the cobblestone, feel soggy and damp from the rain, have too many bags to carry, or maybe you just don’t know where you’re going?

If none of those things apply to you,  perhaps you just like to be pampered and feel a bit special.  You are on vacation after all.

Cue David.David is the driver for Love London Taxi Tours, and after a long travel journey with two kids, I couldn’t be happier when he arrived to pick us up for our private black cab tour.

Sometimes you don’t want to navigate an unfamiliar city on your own.  It can be difficult to keep track of where you are going; or maybe you just want to wear your cute shoes instead of sensible walking shoes.

For me it was a bit of both.  I was traveling without my husband, the human GPS, so I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility of showing my parents and kids around the city.  It had been 12 years since I was here last and I was definitely rusty on my London geography.

Our travel journey to London left us late on our arrival for our meeting with David.  He was right on time though; patiently waiting at our hotel with a genuine smile on his face.  We all piled into his taxi and turned his car into our own space for a couple of hours.  Traveling with young kids means you carry a lot of stuff, so I was happy the car was spacious and I had a place to put my bags down for awhile.

Right away I learned a few interesting things about the famous black cabs of London.  For example, the reason that they’re so tall.  Did you know it’s because back in the day when men wore those tall hats and they needed to fit in the car with them on their heads.  Cool, right?

Before becoming a black cab driver, there are 6000 streets every driver needs to learn, as well as 1000’s of points of interest.  This takes years to learn, but results in every driver being unbelievably knowable about the city and its landmarks.

We drove through London feeling a bit like royalty ourselves, as we were shown around and got dropped off right in front of Buckingham Palace.   Our new buddy David waited while we had a look at the guards and indulged in all sorts of touristy pictures.

From there we hoped back to the cab, where we drove down the Royal Road, which is red, because if there isn’t a red carpet, why not a red road.

Next stop, Westminster Abbey.  It’s as beautiful in real life as it was when we all watched the Royal weddings from our living-rooms.We stopped and had a peak at the London Eye.The parliament buildings….St James’s Palace: one of 3 palaces in London.  The other two being Buckingham and Kensignton.  That info obviously came from David, not me.Big Ben let me know that there was a reason my tummy was starting to rumble.Are you tired from all that sightseeing? Of course not, because it’s nothing but relaxing with David driving you to all those places.  Leave the running shoes in your suitcase and don’t pack any band-aids because you won’t have a single blister on your feet if you have your own private car. It’s luxury sightseeing at its finest. Put on your cute shoes and go see London with David at the wheel!  Your feet will thank you!

Thank you to Love London Taxi Tours for having us as guests.  All opinions are my own.