Please share your general London tips.

August 29, 2005 3:35 PM

I'm moving to London in a few weeks to attend a graduate program [UL's SOAS]. I am leaving my long term boyfriend and many friends in Vermont for 9 months to attend classes. I've already lined up a part time tutoring gig and my housing is covered through the university. I don't have anything specific to ask, just general advice about being an American late 20-something non-single student in London. [I've lived in second world countries before for extended periods of time, general travel won't be too helpful.] Money is a concern, but not an obstacle.
posted by k8t to Travel & Transportation around London, England (23 answers total)

Best not to tell your hosts they're a "second-world country."
posted by docgonzo at 3:55 PM on August 29, 2005

"second world"? Pff.. good luck with that.
posted by coach_mcguirk at 4:05 PM on August 29, 2005

I presume she's talking about Vermont.

Give the head of the SOAS student union a good kick in the balls from me.
posted by cillit bang at 4:11 PM on August 29, 2005 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Buy Time Out, get a Student Oyster card (and a student railcard), go to gigs and museums, travel, make friends so that you don't feel isolated... um. Help us out here?

London's big. If you've not lived in a big city, it'll be daunting. Think of it as a lot of small cities joined together. Which part of London is your student accommodation? People's Republic of Tooting, given the 'second world' comment?
posted by holgate at 4:14 PM on August 29, 2005

k8t--please tell me the reference to "second world countries" was not a reference to the UK but someplace else --also--googling "second world country (ies) turned up absolutely no hits--is this possible and what are second world countries (y)
posted by rmhsinc at 4:30 PM on August 29, 2005

rmhsinc, I've always understood "Second World" to be a Cold War-era term, referring to the Eastern bloc countries under the USSR's sphere of influence. Here's what the Wikipedia has to say about it:

The three terms did not arise simultaneously. After World War II, people began to speak of the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries as two major blocs, often using such terms as the "Western bloc" and the "Eastern bloc". The two "worlds" were not numbered. It was eventually pointed out that there were a great many countries that fit into neither category, and in the 1950s this latter group came to be called the Third World. It then began to seem that there ought to be a "First World" and a "Second World".

Eventually, it became common practice (though not in the United Kingdom) to refer to nations within the Soviet Union's sphere of influence (e.g. the Warsaw Pact countries) as the Second World. Besides the Soviet Union proper, most of Eastern Europe was run by satellite governments working closely with Moscow. The term "Second world" may or may not also refer to Communist countries whose leadership were at odds with Moscow, e.g. China and Yugoslavia.

Like "Third World," it strikes me as a rather indelicate term that is best avoided, especially when it's easy enough to use something like "Eastern Europe."
posted by cobra libre at 4:39 PM on August 29, 2005

Giving k8t the benefit of the doubt, I think she meant that she has lived in second-world contries, whichever those are, so with that experience she expects to be find in a first-world country.
posted by danb at 5:46 PM on August 29, 2005

Best answer: Here are the three things I wish someone had told me before I moved to London:

First, learn to drink. It's impossible to know English people unless you go to the pub with them and get wrecked. You'll never have a personal conversation with anyone before the fourth pint. Make sure you order food, or eat beforehand. Many English people will drink all evening until closing time with no thought of dinner.

Second, learn to take being ridiculed with good humor. I'm not sure how it is if you're a woman, but for men, you can tell that an Englishman wants to be your friend when he starts to aggressively make fun of you.

Third, dress warmly. It doesn't matter that you live in Vermont, the humidity in London is another kind of cold entirely. All the windows have gaps in them, the heat and hot water are intermittent, and you'll never see the sun in winter. I've never been cold in my life like I was in London.
posted by fuzz at 8:36 PM on August 29, 2005

Best answer: When I studied there one of my advisors said, "Everything takes longer in London." And man, was she right. Don't take on too much schoolwork so you'll have time to just wander around, travel, and get things done in general. The tube will break down at inconvenient times. You just have to be prepared for it and go with the flow.

And take advantage of all the free museums! When all the Londoners wake up they can give you better advice on things to do.
posted by jetskiaccidents at 9:40 PM on August 29, 2005

fuzz writes "Third, dress warmly. It doesn't matter that you live in Vermont, the humidity in London is another kind of cold entirely. All the windows have gaps in them, the heat and hot water are intermittent, and you'll never see the sun in winter. I've never been cold in my life like I was in London."

Good grief man - put on a jumper!

For reference, k8t, the English can build houses with sealed windows and supply constant water and electricity to pretty much every home in London. fuzz is just being a big girl's blouse!
posted by benzo8 at 11:14 PM on August 29, 2005

I'm guessing fuzz is approximately 200 years old, because housing in London is of the same standard that it is in North America.

Speaking of cold though, I lived in a flat that had no heating of any sort at all. NONE. I, and every other tenant who lived there previously, used a space heater, which was perfectly adequate. England is pretty temperate-- think of it kind of like Northern California with a bit more rain.

Oh, and it's really not rainy all the time. It is grey quite a bit, but that's the case in a lot of places.

I'd just advise you to walk a lot and keep your eyes open-- there's a phenomenal amount of stuff to see, and you'll do well to see it on foot. That, and go to Wimbledon in June (it's cheap and a wonderful experience, even for non-tennis fans).
posted by NYCnosh at 12:41 AM on August 30, 2005

This thread is becoming way too negative. Sure, we have our problems but doesn't NYC, LA, etc. and all have the same? I have been here for 8 years now and I still enjoy it tremendously.
posted by keijo at 2:07 AM on August 30, 2005

When I first moved here, I was told not to just "plan for the weekend." Indeed, in the States I feel like people work during the week and then relax / have fun on the weekend. Here (and in many other places) it's not uncommon to go out drinking or to concerts or to dinner any random night of the week -- it's okay to have fun on a "school night"! Might sound a rather obvious / trivial thing, but I think it increases one's quality and enjoyment of life (though it can also get rather pricey rather quickly!) So in a nutshell, my advice is to not be reticent to get hammy on a Tuesday night.
posted by lazywhinerkid at 2:59 AM on August 30, 2005

Best answer: Gratuitous and innacurate insult aside, you haven't actually given us much to go on, so have a quick brain-dump:
- Although "[m]oney is a concern, but not an obstacle", don't forget that pretty much everything will cost more than you are used to.
- The buses are nicer than the tubes, and really not that hard to work out. Just look for bus shelters (rather than the plain bus stops) which frequently have a list of common destinations, the bus numbers that go there and (seperately) a map of the local area showing where to catch each bus.
- Don't feel constrained by the tube closing time. The night bus network is fairly extensive (although obviously check in advance that there are night buses in the area.)
- Stand on the right on escalators. Really.
- If you're not used to big cities, don't forget to get out of them every so often.
- Look into EasyJet and RyanAir for cheap flights away.
[more later, have to pop out]
posted by rjt at 3:17 AM on August 30, 2005

Best answer: As already mentioned there are a number of really great museums and galleries nearly all of which are free and plenty of concerts, theatre, stage shows to see.

Also there's some nice parks right in the centre of town and close to where ever you'll be I'd bet. Hyde Pk isn't anything special, but Regents Pk, Holland Pk, St James Pk etc. are nice if the weather's dry.

I know you asked about London, but as the UK is fairly small you'll be able to travel, for weekends or even day trips, to a fair percentage of the country within a reasonable budget, especially if you can get a student railcard: Oxford, Bath, Brighton (+ many more) are all worth visiting and not far away.

Some of the markets are good, but the most famous (Camden) is more of a tourist trap: try Greenwich (the date line thing is there obviously), Petticoat Lane/Brick Lane (close to Jack the Ripper's area) for a fun day: mainly sundays, mainly in the mornings.

I think one of the worse things about London is, if you're not careful, you can end up paying very high prices for very mediocre food, especially in the centre of town.
posted by selton at 3:24 AM on August 30, 2005

Best answer: If SOAS is organising a room for you, then you'll probably be living right in the centre? Then you'll save loads of money on transport, and you'll be near the main train termini if you want to get out of London. Plus you can walk to the West End, South Bank and the City with ease! So you're sorted for cultural opportunities.

When starting grad school in London, I found it useful to take every opportunity I was offered in the first few weeks, then ease off (to rescue my sanity). SOAS has a great reputation for being a varied, intellectually exciting place - good luck! And take advantage of all the student discounts - Transport for London offers 30% (I think) off season tickets for full-time students.

Not much advice on the relationship front, except that it'll go very quickly.
posted by altolinguistic at 3:49 AM on August 30, 2005

Response by poster: Yes, 2nd world was somewhere else. I just mentioned that to let you all know that I have been under some extreme circumstances while traveling and being a student abroad... no water, no power, corruption, etc.
posted by k8t at 4:14 AM on August 30, 2005

Response by poster: And to add, yes, 2nd world, means Former Soviet Union.
posted by k8t at 4:19 AM on August 30, 2005

Be sure to check out the Columbia Road Flower Market in Bethnal Green on Sundays and Borough Market at London Bridge on Fridays and Saturdays. Central London and Westminster are great, but like many other big metropolitan centers, the center of town is filled to the gills with chain stores. Plenty of local gems remain, but the signal to noise ratio is bad. Some of the areas farther afield, such as Greenwich, Camden Town, The Borough, Notting Hill, Angel etc. are more interesting (thought also quite gentrified) in my opinion. If you want grit, you can't go wrong with Whitechapel. There are some great clubs in Brick Lane in addition to the by-now-familiar curry houses. There is also an amazing 24-hour "beigel" shop.

Prices for things will seem pretty reasonable - until you realize that the prices are in pounds, not dollars. Yes, London prices are outrageous. But, as others have said, the museums are free, and I found that the fact that all the everyday stuff was so expensive really pushed me to get out and explore the city - I did a lot of walking around on Hampstead Health and elsewhere because it was a cheap way to have fun and get a little exercise.

Oh, and make sure you buy and "A to Z". You can't live in London without it. And I agree with rjt - the bus is preferable to the tube. Sit on the top deck and soak it in.
posted by nyterrant at 4:48 AM on August 30, 2005 [1 favorite]

I second nyterrant's suggestion of sitting on the top deck of the bus and soaking it in. When I lived there for 6 months about a year and a half ago, I would just use my weekly pass (9 pounds, I think? Much cheaper than the tube...unlimited usage on buses) and just sit up there and ride around on different routes. It got me used to the layout of the city (vastly differently structured from the strict grid system I'm used to in Chicago) and gave me ideas of which neighborhoods I wanted to explore further. It's a really beautiful city, but if you rely on the Tube, you miss out on everything.

I also second the suggestion of getting out of town for a bit. My two favorite getaways were Brighton and Canterbury...both a short train ride away. And, for some reason, Greenwich always felt like a little mini-getaway in itself. Goddard's pie shop has the most amazing apple crumble EVER, definitely worth the trip just for that.
posted by zombiebunny at 5:26 AM on August 30, 2005

[a little more]
- It's "football", not "soccer". "Pissed" means drunk, not annoyed.
- Please learn the difference between the UK and England.
- Looking for stuff to do? Try London Free List, Flavour Pill, Urban Junkies, Lost and Found, Londonist, and London by London can be worth subscribing to.
- Or just buy Time Out (weekly).
- An awful lot of museums and galleries are free. The Tate Modern is great (and free), Madame Tussauds is neither.
- The Evening Standard has a nice Tourist London [pdf] document.
- Pub etiquette.
- A basic TV package ("terrestrial" TV) is just 4 or 5 channels. If you want more you'll have to ask about cable/satellite.
- If you're in university accomodation, you'll probably have net access included. Otherwise check out ADSL Guide for options. Broadband goes up to 8MB.
- It really doesn't rain as much as its reputation, but it is often grey, though.
posted by rjt at 6:18 AM on August 30, 2005 [3 favorites]

[and one more]
- The ground floor and first floor are not the same thing. ("First floor" is the one above street level, making the "ground floor" effectively floor 0, although it is never called that.)
- When you're wandering around, even in the most commercial areas, remember to look above street level as some of the architecture is great.
posted by rjt at 6:20 AM on August 30, 2005

Central London is small. Learn the city by walking around and taking interesting-looking side-streets.

Food can be tricky. It's an acquired skill to be able to identify a restaurant that's likely to be decent.

As with anywhere, make sure you get out and do stuff. Particularly in winter when it's dark very early and cold, there's a tendency to get home and huddle in front of the TV. Fight it, it's worth it.

If you'd like to meet a friendly face, my email is in my profile.
posted by quiet at 5:20 AM on August 31, 2005 [1 favorite]