Visiting London for the first time can be pretty daunting – I mean, it’s big, it’s busy and it can be expensive. Luckily for you I’ve visited London a fair few times, and I’ve decided to compile a handy little guide to visiting London right here, to hopefully help make everything seem a little less overwhelming!
Before you go to London, it’s a good idea to plan where you want to visit because this will give you an idea of how much you can actually fit into your visit, and what transport you’ll need to take. You probably wont be able to fit everything in, but having it all there will help you to figure out what’s most important for you to do/see.
Once you know where you’re going you need to figure out how to get there. The best way to travel in London is by using the tube, and the prices of the tube are based around the ‘zones’ in the city. If you work out which tube stops you’ll need for each destination, you’ll be able to see which zones you’re visiting and then you’ll know what type of ticket you’ll need.
Id you’re using the tube a lot it could be worth looking into getting a visitors Oyster card. You should see how much daily or multi-day tickets would cost you, then compare that to the Oyster card fees, which get capped at certain prices. For example, if you had an Oyster card and rode the tube in zones 1-4, you wouldn’t pay more than £9.80 a day, even if your travel would have cost more than that. However an Oyster card isn’t always worth it, and you have to pay to set it up so make sure to research it properly before making a decision.
If it’s not 100% necessary for you to have a hotel in the city centre then for the love of God don’t. Central hotels are so over-priced, and if you’re going to be out and about most of the time it’s a huge waste of money. Look at some hotels outside of the centre, but make sure to check where your nearest tube stop is, and the distance to the centre. Try and get a hotel thats around 20 minutes or less to a central tube station, and doesn’t involve changing at loads of stations.
The best way to see London is through the eyes of a tourist AND a local. Be sure to check out blog posts and Instagram posts that Londoners have made about their favourite places, it’ll give you an idea of some cool places to visit to get an authentic taste of London, and to escape the tourist traps, even if it’s just for half an hour. (I’d recommend heading over to Greenwich markets, and when you’re done there take a walk through Greenwich park to the observatory, that was the highlight of one of my recent trips!)
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