Best London Reader Tips
I have a wonderful group of London hackers, boom-ba-ba-bam. Here they are all cited below. Your Hack Your City reviewer is on Dayquil today and is conscientious enough to give you the best tips for London, compiled from our smart and probably beautiful readers earlier this week. Check out the entire chain or read the best of the best right here.
Places to go
Reader semangeloph1 provides some good advice, including a church worth visiting:
I recommend a church service in one of London’s old churches. My personal favorite is Temple Church (unsurprisingly at the end of the Strand near the Temple metro stop). It is a 12th century church built by the Knights Templar in the circular style for which they were somewhat famous. The acoustics are amazing and the late morning service usually has a male choir not to be missed.
Keith L. suggests several less obvious museums:
Yes, go to big monsters like the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum, but also visit Dennis Severs’ house to find out what London was like in those days, in a completely original way, go to Sigmund Freud’s house to find out what it Was very similar, and visit the Layton House Museum for amazing art and sculpture, and the cartoon museum for childhood favorites and new and interesting satirists.
London looks amazing from above. Do you like Kipling? knows a good vantage point:
Skip the London Eye and head to the Heavenly Garden. It’s free (you only need to make a reservation). It is the pinnacle of an office building with a lovely inner garden overlooking the whole of London. There is an outdoor terrace and a bar where you can order the most beautiful cocktails.
Try some of these restaurants recommended by dunebuggy . (There’s a lot more in their original comment.)
For some excellent Indian food, head to Dishoom, which are scattered around the world. Their naan breakfast is a great way to start the day. More authentic South Asian food, but in a darker setting, can be found at Tayyabs or Lahore Kebab House in Whitechapel, east of town.
Ranoush Juice (various locations) serves excellent Lebanese food and shawarma at reasonable prices. Some gastropubs offer delicious food, but they are expensive. For a quick and smart lunch, find a Leon branch.
Reader asulliv12 offers several historical sights:
Hidden London Tours : Awesome tours of abandoned tube stations and other interesting places in underground London. They are run by the London Transport Museum and are selling fast.
Go bathe , says Galosaurus :
If it’s summer now, the best thing to do in London (I think) is take a dip in the ponds on Hampstead Heath. There are male, female or mixed ponds, it costs a couple of pounds and it is a completely unique experience. But there are no lockers here, so leave your valuables at home.
Here’s a tricky hack. Mr Barraclough said: “Get a discount 2 for the price of 1 at some popular tourist attractions”:
National Rail is giving out a booklet called Days Out Guide for free at all train stations, just ask at the ticket office. At the back are these 2 for 1 entry coupons, suitable for travel guide locations such as the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, etc. To use one of the coupons, you must have a ticket on any National Railroad. the subsidiary railway is dated the same day.
The ticket is not required to actually be used, and any ticket with the National Rail logo will work (so Metro or DLR does not count). For example, a one-way, non-refundable ticket from Waterloo to Richmond costs around £ 4.80 and is eligible (valid train ticket, not subway, remember). Places like the Tower cost over £ 24, so a £ 5 ticket to Richmond or anywhere outside the city is well worth it.
The only problem is that you cannot buy matching tickets at just any metro stop, it must be one of the main stations that also has National Rail services. But chances are you will still be driving through one of the main stations like Paddington, Waterloo, London Bridge, King’s Cross, etc.
Bypass
Reader cesariojpn found a quick guide on how to get from the airport to the city:
According to PJISOLBP, the metro is the best way to get around the city, unless you are close enough to walk :
You always choose the metro! The bus service is great, but you’ll always be faster on the metro, even when changing routes, although don’t expect to have privacy. Buses are the best way to get there if you are traveling to the suburbs or between lines.
However, be aware of the real distances between metro stations. When I worked in South Ken, we laughed at how Americans lined up to get the subway up to Knightsbridge – the next stop – for Harrods. You spend 5 minutes walking to the platform, two minutes traveling, another 5 minutes returning to the surface, and ultimately a 5 minute walk from where you started.
Taxis are convenient on the “last mile” of the trip, but the sheer number of one-way streets in the city center means the trip can be much more roundabout than you’d expect.
Download the CityMapper international transport app, says Mr Barraclough :
Hooray for CityMapper! I cannot recommend this app enough for navigating London. While the Tube can be operated by simple human intelligence, efficient use of buses is impossible for a tourist without the assistance of CityMapper.
And even for those who can navigate the metro fairly well without assistance, ETA is great for determining when you need to leave your hotel in order to reach your destination in time.
CakeBurner has some tips for affordable travel around London:
I went to London last summer and learned a lot while I was there. We needed accessible routes, so we had a unique requirement. The dungeon is amazing and the staff are VERY helpful. Not all metro stations are accessible, but ALL buses are available.
We found a general rule of thumb: use the Plan Your Trip site. This is a lifesaver. Alternatively, if the bus journey takes more than 25 minutes, take the metro.
“Don’t delay queues,” says Only Industrial :
It is not necessary to wait for the gate to close before holding the Oyster card to the yellow reader until it beeps. In fact, you only save a few seconds on your journey, but it becomes rather frustrating for a Londoner to linger behind tourists who spend the entire game waiting.
“Don’t get confused ,” says Pantherakugar :
Remember to look to the right when crossing the street, as traffic is on the opposite side of the road. I was surprised how hard it was to get used to it as a pedestrian when I spent some time in the UK.
“In London, pedestrians do NOT have priority rights,” adds Asulliv12 .
We’ll leave you with a few final tips:
- Pubs on campus are allowed to sell booze for less than what is normally allowed by law, says There Are Four Lights . But for that you need a student, says Parkilondon .
- “Buy a UK data plan SIM and use Google Maps,” says another_average_joe . “Cellular services in the UK are much better and cheaper than in the US.”
- “If you don’t have a chip and PIN card yet, get one,” advises Chip Overclock .
- “We don’t have a tipping culture,” says JoMack . In any case, a 10% additional service charge will usually be added to your bill. “
- London’s train system is divided into zones. “If you stay in a hotel outside of Zone 1 (or even close to Zone 1, like Earl’s Court), you can save tons of money,” says pF5a .
- Remember that London is closer to the North Pole than any major US city except Anchorage. CakeBurner visited in the summer: “The sun did not set until 10:30 pm and rose again at 3:30 am. It definitely took some getting used to. “
- “Find your nearest Konditor & Cook store and order their curly brownie,” says LL365 . “And visit the Regency Café for breakfast off Horseferry Road and pretend you’re doing a Guy Ritchie movie.”
That’s all! Read the original post for details, and post your tips below.
Come back Tuesday for the next Hack Your City when we return to America for tips for a Midwest city known for walking in circles.