With eight advisors from across the United States, we boarded our American Airlines flights to London for our first stop in the epic adventure. Greeted with luxury private transfers provided by Shangri-La The Shard, London we each settled into our home in the sky.

The Shangri-La The Shard, London is a quintessential part of the London skyline and the building is an architectural icon and Western Europe’s tallest building. The hotel lobby is located on level 34 and has sprawling views over all of London. It’s walking distance from notable landmarks such as the London Tower, Shakespeare’s Globe, Borough Market and the St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were welcomed to our rooms with fun writing on the windows and a lovely amenity!

After checking in, we joined the Chef to explore Borough Market and see where they get lots of their fresh products. The market is full of fresh produce, cheese, seafood and more! We tried some mushroom risotto and fresh cheese from the countryside.

From there, we walked over the Tower of London Bridge to visit the Tower of London fortress where we had the pleasure of meeting a guard who shared a bit about the history of the Tower of London. We were able to walk around and even got to see the crown jewels. Unfortunately, no pictures were aloud, but loved seeing them and learning about the history.

Dining at TING at the Shangri-La The Shard, London is fine dining with Asian influence and also the classic British gastronomy from both cultures. Locals in London come to celebrate special occasions and the epic views! Another unique feature at the hotel is, especially during the pandemic, they’ve partnered with The Proposers to curate special private experiences for couples to get engaged. They can enjoy a romantic setting and special dinner for two. Honestly, Shangri-La really does go above and beyond for gorgeous Instagrammable moments around the world and the Shard didn’t disappoint. Believe it or not, over 2000 couples got engaged at Shangri-La The Shard, London in 2021!

During our time in London, we enjoyed some activities curated by NoteWorthy. See the full descriptions of the unique curated experiences and contact NoteWorthy for you or your client trips to London!

Behind the Scenes at the Changing of the Guard. The Changing of the Guard is one of London’s most famous ceremonies. With NoteWorthy, you can experience preparations behind the scenes. You will meet the Queen’s personal guard as the suited and booted gather for inspection before their duties begin. You will have the chance to learn about the ceremony from the Guardsmen, as well as opportunities for memorable photos with the serving military officers at your side. When the time comes for the parade, you will watch from inside the Parade Ground, separated from the tourists crowding the railings who get a much less satisfactory glimpse of the proceedings. After your special access experience, you will visit the Guards Museum, where you can try on the Guards’ tunic uniforms and bearskin hats. This experience is enriched, both before and afterwards, b your NoteWorthy guide’s tales about London’s most important sites nearby, including Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Whitehall and St James’s Park. Please note, the Changing of the Guard is subject to weather and may be cancelled due to rain.

Street Art Master Class in East London. East London has become a hotbed of graffiti art; its streets colourful with painted motifs and slogans ranging from the simple to the exquisitely detailed. This experience offers you the chance to unleash your inner Banksy during a graffiti masterclass with a professional street artist. Enroute to the experience, your NoteWorthy guide will build up the backstory as you pass, and pause, at important pieces of London’s street art. Once there, prepare to get hands-on with the paint as you learn about this subversive art form and have a go at it yourself. You will discover more links to Van Gogh than you might have thought possible.

The morning of departure, we enjoyed breakfast with views of London at the TING restaurant. After checking out we went to tour the Kings Cross St. Pancras station. We toured the train station where we learned about the movies created there (Harry Potter and Spider Man) and all of the history. It was easy to see how convenient taking the train was vs. hopping on a plane to connect you to Europe.

While on the Eurostar train, we enjoyed the scenic countryside of London before entering an underwater tunnel that connected us to France. There was high speed internet to get plenty of work done and we enjoyed lunch on the train. In just two hours we arrived in Paris and started our second part of the journey.

We arrived at the iconic Shangri-La Paris, the former home of Prince Roland Bonapart and now a gorgeous Parisian luxury hotel. With 100 rooms and suites, the hotel overlooks the Eiffel Tower and the River Seine located in the 16th arrondissement, just minutes from the Champs-Elysees. True to the Shangri-La brand, it mixes traditional Asian hospitality with the grandeur of European style.

The rooms were nicely appointed and spacious and most with views overlooking the Eiffel Tower. We joined the hotel management team for a reception at their impressive Shangri-La Suite with the largest terrace ever and we got to see the Eiffel Tower twinkle throughout the night. Truly an impressive suite for a honeymoon, romantic getaway or proposal – really special!

The next morning, we enjoyed a truly Shangri-La Paris breakfast at the La Bauhinia restaurant. The spread was very impressive with your choice of French toast, eggs, pastries and even noodles or dim sum. We also had plenty of croissants!

We enjoyed an exclusive Guerlain Perfumery experience before their shop on Champs de Elysees opened. It is an iconic perfume brand that has influenced perfume around the world for over a century and oldest shop on the avenue since it opened in 1889. Since then, they’ve created over 1100 perfumes, with over 4000 rough materials and currently 130 available to purchase. We learned about the complexity of perfume from Dominique the Expert Perfumery and history of the company. One of my favorite parts was smelling the raw ingredients and guessing what it was and describing it. Everyone had a different take on the scents, so it was a really fun activity that I’d highly recommend to anyone traveling to Paris. This activity was arranged by local tour operator, 1889 Experience and they will truly open doors for you in Paris!

Another fun activity we enjoyed, was a tour around the city in some vintage cars with this unique concept of the 4 roues sous 1 parapluie. It was such a fun activity and our guide, Roger was a wealth of knowledge about Paris. It was raining, so we didn’t get to open the tops, but would be so fun to experience with the open tops of the cars and seeing the sights above! We stopped along the River Seine and took in the views, house boats and local community. Also recommend for small groups of friends to get acclimated with the city in a unique and fun way.

We enjoyed dinner at a rooftop trendy restaurant and enjoyed cocktails at a Parisian lounge to celebrate our last night together with the MIT FAM group. Truly it was an amazing experience and we couldn’t have asked for better partners for such an epic trip. Thank you Shangri-La The Shard, London, Shangri-La Paris and American Airlines for making this trip so memorable.

MIT Does London + Paris with Shangri-La & American Airlines

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