London is my favorite. The crush of people on the sidewalks. The history. The hidden gems. I love it more every visit. Even better, London is just 300 miles–a 45 minute plane ride–from Dublin. And on Ryanair (love ’em or hate ’em), we can fly there for about €30 per person! Why don’t I go there every weekend?

For Christmas, we gave the girls (and us) tickets to see Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre. We have all been dying to see the show. In fact, we had plans to see it in Minneapolis last fall, but, well, moving to Dublin put a crimp in that! So Hamilton was the main focus of our January getaway, and it did not disappoint. The show was spectacular and it was fun to see it in England; we definitely laughed at different parts than other audience members. Hamilton is staged in Victoria Palace Theatre, which was refurbished to house the musical. It’s a stunning venue.

While Hamilton was the purpose of our trip, we added a musical to our itinerary to make a whole weekend of theatre-going. I read about a show called Six, which tells the back story of the six wives of Henry VIII. The historical perspective seemed like a good complement to Hamilton, plus it features strong female characters. What I didn’t expect was how much we would love the show. It was more like a concert than a traditional musical with high-energy performances and one of the prettiest ballads I’ve heard. Six was a revelation and we can’t recommend it enough. If it comes your way, go see it!

After the show, we got to meet the cast of Six!

Between musicals, we had time to do some sightseeing. We shopped and ate our way around the city. Even when it’s cold and grey, London never disappoints.