Planning on going to London? Here are some tips for you!

Planning on going to London? Here are some tips for you!

Hello again everyone! Much to my regret, I believe this will be my last post about London - I say 'believe' because you never know... I would like to finish my series of posts about London by giving some advice to those of you travellers who want to visit this great and lively city. Let's go!

My friends and I in Windsor

Oyster card and travelling on the Underground

The first piece of advice I would like to give to those of you coming to London, get yourself an Oyster card. The Oyster card is a card which is used when travelling on the underground and I am pretty certain that if you are going to London, you will be for sure using the underground.

The Oyster card can be bought in the majority of underground stations (it also works on overground trains, by the way), unless they are very small and unmanned. The Oyster card tariffs vary: citizens of London who take the underground every day to get to work generally go for the yearly tariff. They pay 200 pounds, I think, and get unlimited journeys. You guys can go for the one which best suits how long you're staying in London for, whether that be five days, a week, two weeks, a month... paying X pounds gives you X amount of journeys.

Each journey costs about two pounds, but you also have to take into account from which zone you are travelling to and from. If you are going between London zones 1 and 2, you'll pay a lot less than if you are travelling from a zone which is further out, obviously.

The correct way to use the Oyster card is to scan it every time you enter the underground station, in the machine reader which counts the number of trips you are taking. A lot of people try to jump the queue and don't scan their card, believing they are 'cheating' the card, thinking that the card has not detected the journey, but this is pointless, as whether or not you scan it, the same value is shown on the card.

In fact, once my friend had 0 pounds on her card; she had forgotten to recharge it, made two trips "sneaking" through and when she went to see the balance on the Oyster Card, it was at -5 pounds.

As in, she owed five pounds. Londoners are not stupid. Do not attempt to skip the scanning machines, something which I have seen a lot of people do, because the fines can be up to 80 pounds.

The Oyster card is a good way of saving money when you're travelling on the underground

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Following on from this, another way of paying is by using your credit card. You can scan your contactless card on the reader just as you would with an Oyester card, and the cost of the journey will be directly debited from your bank account. I personally don't recommend this, as a travelling with an Oyester card costs less than using your bank card.

Oh, and if you lose your Oyster Card you can only recover it if you have registered it. If you are staying less for than two weeks is not worth registering it, but if this is not the case...do it. You will be able to get your money back in the event of losing it. For those of you who are curious, the word 'Oyster' was chosen because it it a metaphor for safety and security. The pearl is safe inside the oyster and at the same time, the Oyster signifies security in the London transport system.

If you have never been to London, check out the underground lines and how they work. It's quite simple once you know what you're doing. I live in a rural area and there is no metro service of course, so it was quite hard to understand how it worked, but in a week (or less) if you pay attention, it'll be a breeze. I'd recommend downloading the application CityMapper. It's an app which shows you all the types of transport for various cities. There aren't many cities to choose from, but it has London, so for me it was ideal. It is very up-to-date, and is refreshed every second.

How does CityMapper work?

You choose your point of departure and where you'd like to go. The application shows you the quickest way of getting there and the different transport options available: bus, underground, train. It also shows you the different routes for each mode of transport, often also showing the price of each journey and on top of this, how long it will take to get from A to B. Story time! One day, the app, after showing the usual modes of transport, suggested to me an alternative way of getting to central London: by teleportation. And next to it it said: zero minutes. The application's coordinator wanted to play a prank that morning, hahaha!

The app CityMapper is very useful

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This app is ideal even more so if you have mobile data, something which is difficult to get if you are only visiting London for a few days. If this is the case, you should look up the journey from a Wi-Fi hotspot. Ah, the reason that the app is refreshed every minute is because if a train is delayed or cancelled, you will be notified and given an alternative route. There is also a Twitter account which informs you about any changes or strike action affecting the London underground service.

The London Eye by night

Food in London

Normally you'll spend all day out and about. My advice is that you buy a sandwich or ask for order something to take away. There are many supermarkets, cafés and bars in London where you can buy this kind of food. Vegetarian sandwiches, pre-made salads or plastic bowls filled with fruit. They tend to be a bit more expensive than if you buy the ingredients separately, of course, but they are great if you're in a hurry and hungry.

Also, in London there are the usual well-known, international chains, such as Burger King, or McDonald's. For me, going to these types of restaurants on a regular basis is a huge mistake, not only because the food is not real food, but also because there are lots of small, local establishments, which are not very expensive, and cannot be found in other big cities in the same way you find Burger King and McDonald's everywhere you go.

Still, if you do visit any of these large chains, I recommend you visit Pret a Manger, it's a restaurant/bar/cafeteria where you can get sandwiches, filled baguettes and made-to-order good quality meals. It can be found everywhere and is usually very nice. It is also ideal for a mid-afternoon drink or a coffee to go. There are thousands of types of coffee...

Pret a Manger caféterias can be found everywhere

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Food in Pret a Manger

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The Language

Try to soak up a lot of English. Don't ride on the underground listening to music on your headphones. Listen to conversations, read the daily newspapers which are offered at the underground stations, speak to people. In London everyone is used to speaking with everyone, it's a city filled with foreigners and this is common knowledge. The more you speak and connect to people, the more you will learn. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. People are usually quite nice (the stereotypes are a lie) and they will repeat everything to you if needed. Sometimes they have no other choice.

The river Thames in London

The Weather

I am someone who is quite sensitive to the cold, so although I was in London in summer, I was hardly able to wear shorts or dresses. Obviously you have to pack some in the suitcase if you go at this time of year, but... I do not think that you use them very much and from seven in the evening, it gets chilly.

Be Sure to Plan Ahead

Time will fly by, so enjoy your trip to the maximum. Organise your stay in London before going: where to visit on each day, know the prices of the places you want to see, make sure you have changed your money into the correct currency, etc.

The emergency number in London (and in England as a whole) is 999, should you need it.

In Conclusion...

For me, London is a city which I will always love, and one which I associate with fun times. Often it's a city which gives you a lot, but also demands something from you. Everywhere is busy and there are queues wherever you go, but this is the case in every large city and it's something you have to take into consideration before going there. If you are someone who gets stressed easily, it would be better to choose a calmer holiday destination. Although having said that, I believe London is a city which you should visit at least once in your life, if you can. There are cheap flights there and often you can find many hotel deals...

I love London!

And that brings us to the end of today's post! I hope you liked it, I have left some of my own photos between my advice to make this post more enjoyable and to tempt you into getting to know this city better. As I said before, I think this is my last post about London, but who knows. We all like to occasionally reflect on the past and remember good times. See you soon!

London, United Kingdom

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Don't forget to check out our definitive guide that will tell you how to see everything that cannot be missed in London in only four days.

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