Things to do in St Albans

Woke up early, to catch the Eurostar into London. After only a 2 hour train ride, I found myself amongst the buzzing crowds at London St Pancras. I`ve been here before and it`s probably one of the nicest train stations I`ve seen on my travels. The construction of the ceiling is amazing and gives a very light and airy feeling, in contrast to most train stations that usually give a dark and cold impression.

Today St Pancras isn`t my end station, St Albans is. St Albans is only a 20 minute train ride away from London, which makes it a lovely city getaway. A peaceful sanctuary to escape the huzzle and buzzle of the busy London, yet being close enough to be able to explore London city! A perfect combination.

So, what to see and do in St Albans?

Well, there were six travel bloggers to explore the hometown of @501places during this blog trip #blogstalbans.

We were taken on a lovely tour by Elizabeth and made our first stop at the Verulamium Museum. This museum is run by the town council in Verulamium Park which contains much information about the town, both as a Roman and Iron Age settlement, plus Roman history in general.

Enough walking around, time for lunch! Much to my surprise there is a Waffle House here, being from Belgium, made me really curious how good their waffles would be 😉

The Waffle House is centered around a 16th Century Watermill in a historic part of St Albans. The water wheel has been restored and is continually maintained to allow it to still turn today.

When I got the menu I was astonished by the choices they offered. For me waffles are a sweet treat or dessert, but apparently you can combine waffles with more than just ice cream, sugar, chocolate sauce or fruit. Here they serve all kinds of savory waffles, like a waffle with tomato and cheese or with pesto and lamb…

Afterwards we went to see probably the most famous highlight at St Albans, being St Albans Cathedral, which is a beautiful piece of architecture.

We got a tour inside the cathedral while the evening mass was song by the choir, which gave a spiritual feeling while walking around.

Today we were in for a special treat, we were lucky to be around for St Albans Annual Firework Display. I`m a big fan of fireworks and was really looking forward to it. When I asked Andy how many people usually attend, expecting him to say just a few people from around, I was blown away by the expected turnout would be over 25000 people. Wow! My thoughts straightly took me to a 4th of July firework display in the US two years ago, with big crowds gathering to enjoy the beauty of a nice firework display.