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Revisiting London, England

1/17/2014

6 Comments

 
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I first visited London in 2012 with a few buddies – we were on our first European trek (my second actually) together, and to be honest, we made A LOT of mistakes. We under-researched, over-planned the wrong parts of the trip, and was basically not ready for a lot of what we encountered. We over-payed for hotels and rental cars, not thinking about the simplicities of things like insurance or the cost of gas – and a couple of the guys didn’t bring enough money to survive a week on, so to say the least, things were a bit stressful at times.
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The worst part was that London was the last destination we had all planned together – I decided to extend my trip by three days, to visit Amsterdam. By the time we hit London, they had a total of about £20 (about $33.00 USD) between them. But luckily, I made them pay for the hostel ahead of time by booking online, so we wouldn’t have any MAJOR issues. We didn’t research anything about London, we just thought we’d wing it and roll in without a plan – plus, the hostel we booked was a dingy place located in a rough area. Needless to say, we ended up having a bit of a tough time in London, seeing very little, and actually disliking our experience so much that we vowed not to come back again.

However, being a travel writer, I can’t just mark off one of the most iconic and largest multi-cultural cities in the world. So in 2013, as I was finishing up my nearly eight month trek around Europe and northern Africa, I knew I would have to pass through London on my way out to Reykjavík, Iceland, and I decided to do everything I could to make it the best possible experience for me – I even wrote an article on the subject ahead of time.

For this time around, I wanted to make no mistakes, and I absolutely didn’t want to repeat any of my previous silly blunders. I researched, and I researched, and I asked around for the all of the advise I could get my hands on, and with some help from some industry friends, I made it the best time that I could. I researched accommodations and ended up finding a wicked great short-term apartment in Victoria. I researched transportation, considering Mint Coaches, among other options, and I was able to arrange everything accordingly. I made reservations and planned fun mini trips with friends that I met during my travels, who were all based in the area. I even winged a couple of random and interesting experiences, like a helicopter flight over the city – now, THAT was cool!

All in all, now that I’m writing about this in hindsight, I can say that London is a complex place, offering SO MUCH for every kind of person, so while I admit that I had a much more lovely time the second time around, I still have a lot to see and to experience. What was your favorite experience in London? Did you also have a difficult time when you first visited the city?

6 Comments
Shauna
1/18/2014 01:28:01 am

Great insite , I've traveled a lot and have found the best way to see the city's are the hop on hop off busses , I use them everywhere I go . It's a great way to see everything and most of the company's also offer other excursions as well . When I was in LHR ( sorry it's the airline in me) we did the hop on hop off and was offered a boat ride on the Thames river and a haunted pub walk , there were other options to use from but it was 2 days before Halloween so we took the walking tour and it's was the best ! We went to pubs that we would have never known of and walked around the city for 2 hours leading about really cool stuff
My advice is do your research !!!!! It's so easy nowadays

Reply
Brandon Elijah Scott link
2/26/2014 02:39:43 am

Thank you very much! Oh, yes. Research is key! It is very easy to find out everything that you need to know at a drop of a hat. Happy travels.

Reply
Pauline link
1/22/2014 09:00:14 pm

Shauna is right; the hop on and off buses are a good idea. You can also buy a travel card which allows you to travel on buses and trains which take you all over the city. I live in Kent, but worked in London so know it fairly well. It is an expensive place to tour but you can look on line to find free entry to museums, art galleries, and other exciting venues. You can go to Leicester Square to get cut price tickets for shows that same day and many restaurants have an 'all you can eat' section of pasta and salad - if you're into that kind of thing.
London has a rich history dating back hundreds of years and depending on your interests you can usually find lots of things to do and see while you're in London. Travel Lodge or Premier Inns offer reasonably priced accommodation - you may have to pay for meals as an extra but it's not a lot of money. You may even get breakfast included as part of a special - it's always worth checking out. And never buy your currency at the airport - you never get a good rate - buy it online or from your own local travel agents before you travel. I hope this helps.

Reply
Brandon Elijah Scott link
2/26/2014 02:41:03 am

The bus idea is a great way to travel and see the world. With a travel card it would probably be a cheaper way to travel and see things as well.

Reply
Mat link
1/29/2014 02:58:34 am

If you are able to walk do NOT bother with the hop on hop buses. Get a map and plan a walk around these places (buses can't get to some of them): Regent Street (Carnaby St), Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Covent Garden. Soho (Old Compton Street). Then jump on a tube to St Paul's Cathedral and walk along the river to the Tower of London. Now you have seen most of London's major attractions in a day with time to spare. If you have time on another day check out Brick Lane, Spittalfields, Regents Park/ Canal, Borough Market, South Bank, Bankside (a bridge away from St Paul's Cathedral), Hyde Park, Denmark St, Cecil Court.......the list goes on. p.s. Change your currency at the Marks and Spencer store in Covent Garden (top tip) and take a walk down Neal Street (shopping heaven) with your wallet heavier than expected!

Reply
Brandon Elijah Scott link
2/26/2014 02:41:59 am

Thank you for your detailed comment. It is full of great information that I am sure will help others as well. :)

Reply



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