Things to do in London

Hey guys!

This will be my first blogpost in English, and it’s in English because this way the friends I made in the UK can read it ;p Some people asked me about recommendations for things to do in London, since I’ve been there a lot when I was studying in Hatfield. At first I didn’t want to make a blogpost about it, but since a few people asked already I decided to make one anyway.

The first thing I want to say is that I don’t have any accommodation recommendations, since I lived super close to London. I had been to London before my exchange, but those hotels or hostels weren’t that great, so no recommendations for this. Another option next to a hotel or hostel is AirBnb. The only thing I can say about accommodation is that I would book an accommodation that is close to a central underground station, so it won’t take you that much time to travel during the day.

For travels I highly recommend buying an Oyster card and taking the underground. You can get the fee you pay for the card back when you leave, so don’t worry about that. Next to this, there is a maximum amount you can spend with your Oyster card on one day, so after a few rides it won’t charge you anymore. But even though it’s cheap, don’t be lazy and do everything by the underground! London is a great city to walk in, and it doesn’t take that much time as you would expect. To compare: it takes 22 minutes to go to Piccadilly Circus from Kings Cross by underground, by foot it will only take you about 42. And if you decide to walk you can see a lot on your way!

Another thing I recommend is to always ask for student discounts. Especially on tickets there are a lot of discounts for students.

Ok, so next to the obvious things like the London Eye, the Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. Pauls, Trafalgar Square and Tower of London (I expect you either went there already or plan go there), these are my recommendations for London:

Things to do (during the day)

Sightseeing

One of my favourite areas in London is Greenwich. There is a lot to do here; you can see the Cutty Sark (big boat), the Greenwich market, the Old Royal Naval College (the painted hall and the estate are so worth it) and the National Martime Museum. The O2, a big arena, is located in the North of Greenwich and cool to see. From here I recommend to take an Emirates Cable Car to Royal Victoria underground station. You can just check in with your Oyster card and the cable car will take you over the Thames. I did it during the day but I think it’s even cooler to do during the evening, but check opening times for this first! Another cool thing you can do during both day and night is visiting Skygarden. This is a tall building close to the Tower Bridge, with a stunning view of the city. You have to register for going up beforehand (don’t worry that’s free), and I recommend to do this two weeks in advance because the time slots are booked really fast. While you’re near Tower Bridge, I recommend to go into the Bridge and to see the glass floor of the Tower Bridge. When we went there, there was a discount of 1+1 free on the entrance tickets if you took two train tickets with you, maybe that’s still on.

Museums

Next to the sightseeing, London’s got a lot of great museums. My favourite museum in London is The Natural History museum, especially the part with the animals and the dinosaurs. The British museum is another favourite of mine, it’s a beautiful building and I really like the part about Egypt. I can also recommend the National Maritime museum in Greenwich. Next to a lot of things about boats and ships, you can also find great art about the sea here.

If you’re into art I can recommend the National Gallery (surprise!), but also the Tate Britain. I went to Tate Modern but I didn’t like their collection as much as the collection of Tate Britain; Tate Britain has the largest J.M.W. Turner collection and he’s my favourite painter. Next to this, the building of Tate Britain is so much nicer than the building of Tate Modern.

Shopping

Another great thing to do during the day is shopping. London’s got a few cool markets and some great shopping areas. When it comes to markets I can recommend the borough market; you can find a lot of food and food related stuff here. Next to this I can recommend the Brick Lane market, together with the Old Truman Brewery market, which are both located in Shoreditch. It’s only open on Sundays so keep this in mind. While you’re here I highly recommend to go to Beigel Bake, a cheap bagel place for lunch or a snack. At Covent Garden there is a small market as well, with a lot of handcrafted things. Sometimes there is live music at the café’s downstairs. Greenwich also has a small market as I briefly mentioned in ‘sightseeing’. Check opening times for these markets first! The last market I can recommend is the Camden market. It’s open every day and it’s huge. There is the Camden Lock market, but also a food market and the Stables Market (located in old horse stables). I recommend to just go here one full afternoon and to walk around until you’re tired. While you’re here don’t forget to check out a shop called ‘Cyber Dog’. Don’t google it beforehand, just ask people there where to find it. The surprise is one of the best things, this shop is one of a kind!

A great shopping area with actual shops is Stratford, it has a huge and beautiful shopping mall called Westfield Stratford City. Another great area to shop is an obvious one, namely Oxford street. Next to this I can highly recommend you to go to China Town, and try some new food there. They sell great Stir Fry sauces and snacks at the supermarkets in China Town.

Since I love books and libraries, a few good book stores made it to this list as well. I highly recommend to take a look at Blackwell’s, Foyles and Waterstones. I’ve only been to Blackwell’s when I was visiting Oxford, so I don’t know a good location of it in London, but Foyles you can find on Charing Cross Road in Soho, between Oxford street and Leicester Square. There is a Waterstones at the Galleria in Hatfield, but there are also some in London!

Parks

To chill out a bit, especially on a hot summer day, I can recommend some parks in London. One of the coolest parks I went to is Regent’s park. This is a huge park where a lot of people work out. You can find a lot of squirrels here! In the North of Regent’s park, you can find Primrose Hill, where you’ve got a beautiful view of the city. I went here on my last day in London and it was kind of an emotional moment ;p Another great park I went to is Hyde park, a big park with a lot of beautiful wide open spaces. Don’t forget to check out the Wellington Arch while you’re here!

Lunch

For lunch I can recommend a few things. The thing I did most was buying a meal deal (a meal deal consists of a drink, a snack and a sandwich for just 3/3,50 pounds) at a Tesco, Sainsbury’s or a grocery store like that, and take it to the park or a ‘square’. The squares I mean are basically like large gardens, usually with a fountain or something. Some squares I can recommend are Soho square (close to China town) and Russel Square (close to the British museum).

Another great option for lunch is the Camden Food Market. They sell a lot of international foods here, and although this is not the cheapest option, it’s usually really good food.

Some really specific places I can recommend for lunch are Beigel Bake in Brick Lane, and the big and modern Pret A Manger on the other side of the street of the Royal Courts of Justice, with a great view on the Courts.

Further away

If you’ve got a lot of time I can recommend two things that are a bit further away from the city centre but definitely worth the ride. The first one is the Hindu temple BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, or Neasden Temple, which takes 50-60 minutes from Kings Cross. You can visit the temple, see the praying rooms, and they’ve got an exhibition in it about Hinduism. The second thing I can highly recommend is going to the Harry Potter studios. I took a bus from Hatfield, where I lived, but there are busses going to the studios directly from London. Especially if you’re a big Harry Potter fan the studio tour is so cool to do. You can visit the great hall, see props, drink butter beer… it’s just awesome.

Things to do (during the evening/night)

Pubs

Of course I went to a few pubs while I was in London. A lot of them weren’t that awesome to specifically mention here, but the one I can definitely recommend is Punch & Judy’s at Covent Garden. This pub is located in the Covent Garden building, and has three levels within the building. The lowest level is great for having dinner (the nachos are delicious), but the top level is the best for having a drink. Especially during the day, you can see the street performers from the balcony and that’s just awesome to see.

Another pub I can recommend for having cheap drinks/a cheap dinner is Wetherspoons. You can find Wetherspoons all over the UK and I think it’s a franchise concept since each Wetherspoons has a totally different design, but the menu is the same everywhere. I loved the burgers here.

Dinner

When it comes to dinner I only have two specific places that can be found in London, the others are just chain companies you can find all over the UK. One of the two specific places is Zhengzong Lanzhoe Lamian Noodle, an Asian noodle place really close to Leicester Square (33 Cranbourne Street). It’s super cheap, it’s hot inside, there is not much space for everybody, but the food is really good! My Asian friends recommended this place. Another place they recommended is Bang Bang, a Vietnamese Canteen close to Warren Street. Really good food, a nicer place to eat, and again quite cheap.

The chain companies I can recommend for dinner are: Wahaca (really good Mexican streetfood), Nando’s (Portugese chicken place, awesome but hottt), Garfunkles (not super delicious food, it’s actually just OK, but their fish and chips is good and you should try that in the UK!), GBK (or Gourmet Burger Kitchen, their burgers are delicious and they’ve got a cheap student menu) and lastly Five guys (a burger place again, just good, though unhealthy, food!).

Musicals

Seeing a musical at West End is an awesome way to spend your evening. I saw some on my exchange, but I also saw some on my other trips to London. The first one I can recommend is Phantom of the Opera. It’s the second longest running musical at West End, after Les Miserables. What I really liked about Phantom of the Opera is that although most of the songs are Opera, they seem very modern at the same time. The décor was pretty as well. Another great musical to see is Lion King. Such a great and famous musical, and with good reason. A must-see! If you like Disney-like musicals, you should also see Wicked. I still listen to the musical songs from time to time, they are just great. I also liked the fact that it’s another version of the story of The Wizard of Oz (if you’ve read this book, I kind of demand you go!). The last musical I can recommend is Mamma Mia. Not because of its décor or the story in particular but mostly because it’s a feel-good musical with a lot of famous songs.

Theatre

If you don’t like singing that much but you do like going to the theatre, I can recommend seeing a play at Shakespeare’s globe. You can see a play from 5 pounds, but you do have to stand 2,5 hours for that price. You can get a seat from 20, but the view from a 20-pound seat is pretty bad I believe. Next to the globe there is also an exhibition about the globe, the plays and the costumes. It’s quite interesting and not expensive!

Another theatre play I can recommend is Woman in Black. It’s a thriller/horror play, and it’s based on a book (there is also a movie based on the book). It’s seriously scary, and I don’t recommend this for people who don’t like thrillers. I bought a last minute ticket with a friend of mine for 25 pounds. We are still not sure if it is worth this, but if you can get cheaper tickets it ís worth it. We were really surprised by the way a play can scare you, and this is worth experiencing.

Going out

I only went to clubs in London one time, and this was during the White T-shirt Bus Party. A red party bus drove in London all night and I believe we visit 4 clubs. If you can, do such a tour like this, but the only club I can really recommend is club Proud. This club is based next to the stable market in Camden, and -surprise- it’s an old horse stable. This makes it a unique place to go out!

So, those are my recommendations for London. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. I wish you a wonderful time in the coolest city there is!

Love, Romy