Going to London For the First Time: Advice?

[theevilsanta]

I've visited London twice (from the US) for a total of about a month. The major thing I got from it was people are very rude there. You'd think having thousands of tourists would somehow foster good intentions and feelings among the tourists. Instead every server at a restaurant gave me the evil eye while I ordered from their menu. I went to a pawn shop and asked how much a nice-looking watch was. He replied, "Too much for you". The front desk people at the hotel we stayed at said we could easily find a taxi by waiting outside the hotel. Thirty minutes later we learned that only full taxis drive by there and we had to walk a couple blocks up the road to find taxis looking for fares. The second time I went the hotel managers made me pay $50 for having my studying abroad gf in my room for two nights. They noticed, and weren't about to let my American dollars slip away for having a guest for two nights. Fuck London. The residents are pigs. They don't want you there. Don't go there. Let their economy suffer. They're fine now, but at some point they'll miss all the business they could have got from tourists that vowed never to return (like me).

 

[Frozenfeet2]

take the tube, but watch out for the fact that the tube maps have no idea of scale.
I would say london eye/big ben/ museums are definitely worth visiting if you haven't before.

 

[Samnite]

-snip-

I think, like someone said earlier, it's almost a 'capital city' thing. Big, busy grey cities aren't exactly the most welcoming of places, and in places like London the novelty of having foreigners wore off a long time ago. Like when I went to New York everyone just seemed to be in each other's way - the friendliest people in NYC were the tourists.

OT: For the most part Brits are nice; may have to come up against the 'we ruled half the world at one point' proud mindset but come back with a few jokes like 'Ah, I miss those days as well...' or something and you'll be fine.

In addition, if you're doing a Study Abroad thing you'll be flying. The other students in your halls or on your course will almost certainly be happy to take you out drinking or see the sights.

 

[Casimir_Effect]

Invest in kevlar.

Or just go to Edinburgh for as long as possible. It's a grand place all round and the Scottish are typically nicer than the English. More relaxed and less arrogant I find, speaking as a Scot

 

[Anchupom]

Generally, I'd reccommend Camden Market.
And as a friendly warning - the general British public are an unsociable bunch. If you're used to being polite to passers-by in the street, expect a few wary looks from the locals. London is kinda a hive for people who distrust everyone and anyone.

As for other advice, get out of London for a day or two - visit smaller towns in the area. And go to Brighton, visit The Lanes.

And you have to experience the Great British Tradition of getting crippling disappointment at a mall.

 

[Anchupom]

Invest in kevlar.

Or just go to Edinburgh for as long as possible. It's a grand place all round and the Scottish are typically nicer than the English. More relaxed and less arrogant I find, speaking as a Scot

I find that anyone who doesn't like the English is more tolerant of tourists.

 

[Casimir_Effect]

Invest in kevlar.

Or just go to Edinburgh for as long as possible. It's a grand place all round and the Scottish are typically nicer than the English. More relaxed and less arrogant I find, speaking as a Scot

I find that anyone who doesn't like the English is more tolerant of tourists.

I like almost everyone, including English people for the most part.

I do tend to have an issue with Londoners though. Most English people don't give a shit about Scotland and we kind of feel the same way, so there's a nice balance. Londoners though, don't care about anything or anywhere in GB unless it happens in London. If fuel prices doubled everywhere else but London then wouldn't bat an eyelash, but if they then rose 1p in London then the marching and protesting and complaining would start. They're just so damn insular and self-centered.

Also they all have weird aspirations of retiring to the countryside or having a house in the country. It's as if the countryside appears to them as a nirvana which they can only improve by blessing it with their presence.

 

[FightThePower]

You may need to familarise yourself with the London Underground (aka 'The Tube'). Don't worry, it's pretty straightforward, just avoid it at peak times (i.e. when everone is going to or from work) and/or get a map of it, though there's maps in every station. Do not bother with Taxis are they expensive as hell; if you want to make using the Tube easier, get an Oyster Card as you won't have to buy a ticket each time you travel, you just swipe the card each time you reach a barrier.

I've visited London twice (from the US) for a total of about a month. The major thing I got from it was people are very rude there. You'd think having thousands of tourists would somehow foster good intentions and feelings among the tourists. Instead every server at a restaurant gave me the evil eye while I ordered from their menu. I went to a pawn shop and asked how much a nice-looking watch was. He replied, "Too much for you". The front desk people at the hotel we stayed at said we could easily find a taxi by waiting outside the hotel. Thirty minutes later we learned that only full taxis drive by there and we had to walk a couple blocks up the road to find taxis looking for fares. The second time I went the hotel managers made me pay $50 for having my studying abroad gf in my room for two nights. They noticed, and weren't about to let my American dollars slip away for having a guest for two nights. Fuck London. The residents are pigs. They don't want you there. Don't go there. Let their economy suffer. They're fine now, but at some point they'll miss all the business they could have got from tourists that vowed never to return (like me).

Oh yes, and this is entirely true. Londoners are rude, but they're not just rude to tourists.

 

[MasterSplinter]

If you don't dry hump the first person or animal you see in the city you will get deported.
I know, it's a wierd thing, just don't think too much about it, it's whats expected of you.

 

[Auxiliary]

Visit the British Museum nonetheless!

 

[Aesmodan]

1. Don't expect drivers to yield to you. Look left (not right) before you step out into the street.
2. See Harrod's, at least briefly. You'll be looked at funny if you don't.
3. Always drink the local microbrews. Beware drinking the coffee, there's a reason they largely drink tea.
4. See the British Museum, it's a very important collection. Also see Westminister Abbey and St. Paul's. Trust me. (Tower of London is optional).
5. Someone already mentioned Bath -- if you head that way, try to see Salisbury Cathedral. You'd probably also enjoy a walk around Oxford.

 

[Brian Hendershot]

I am going to London this summer on Study Abroad Program. Anything I should know? I am told that I need to try and get into the local culture. So any suggestions about were to go or what to do is appreciated. I seriously don't care. I just don't want to go to cheesy tourists spots. That has never been my thing.

Oh...and what is the weather like over there in the summer?

Weather is chaotic. No telling what the Atlantic or the North Sea will throw at us next or even what one gets priority.

As for travel tips, assuming youre not going to the usual tourist rat-holes, where are you going?

Well, the professors have some typical Touristy spots lined up. Couple of Museums, Palaces, and such lined up. I won't be with them the whole time though. Also I have no clue what a tourist rat-hole is. Could you please enlighten me?

Tourist rat-hole, Adj. : A place that is infested with tourists that go and see exaclty what they expect to see. e.g: 1) At the Tower of London one would expect to see ravens. There are ravens there, natrually. Most of them even have names.

2) Something about historically notorious figures in the London Dungeon.

The good stuff tends to not be in central London, and anything that is good is probably a museum. If you do go to central, stay the hell away from Parliment Square. Theres a shanty town biult in the park in the square and it is perhaps the single most unpleasnt... thing even look at much less visit that has ever been in the area scince the 1600's. Most of the squatters are still protesting about the assorted wars in the middle east, so natrually Americans are not very welcome.

The Tower is basicaly a complex of several museums[footnote]The walls, the interior and the tower itself.[/footnote]. I think it takes two days to complete all the tours available there, unless theres a new tour for all of them floating about.

As if i couldnt understate this, the London Dungeon is a waste of time. And youll be recoiling from daylight for a good 10 minuites after getting out.

Perhaps worse than the Dungeon is the London Tombs. I think its an optional extra after a tour of the London Bridge museum. Anyway there is nothing down there but people dressed up in extravagantly corny costumes all of whom were hired on the basis of how loud they could shirek.

Really Liverpool would have been a better choice for culture. Alas it doesnt seem your professors are going to make a last minuite change.

All right thanks man! Actually I think I may go to Liverpool. My friend Alana (from the good old country called Canada) wants to pop over there for a bit. I think she has some friends from the tennis team that live there.

 

[Venereus]

Don't carry a sidearm!

 

[Brian Hendershot]

If you ever get hungry, there's a Mcdonalds/KFC/Pizza Hut on literally every corner.

Thats Manhattan. Wrong continent mate.

I wouldn't eat there anyways. I don't even like those places and I am American. (Though my girlfriend says that Pizza Hut is nothing short of kickass in China. They have steaks and everything there.)

 

[obex]

The weather is unpredictable so shorts may be a bad plan, a pair of light jeans will give you the best of both worlds.

A quick google search for British slang may help stop confusion ( pants = trousers chips=crisps ect)

The underground tube is good for getting around

Stuff is stupid expensive so watch out

 

[Kingsman]

...The only thing I know about the British Isles is "bad food."

You poor devil.

 

[Brian Hendershot]

snip

Just remember that London is really bloody expensive. It might be better to stay out of that area if possible. A good thing to remember is that the further North you go, the cheaper things get. (well, they also get more anti-Tory [our current ruling government party] as you go further up North, but thats a good thing really

Also, try not to get into a political debate with us. Trust me, the political ideaologies are a bit... different... over here in Europe compared to America, and we can get a bit 'heated' when it comes to debates, particularly with the (many) people who aren't exactly happy with our current government

Lastly, bare in mind that you may encounter the odd protest march in London - look around the web, find out when/where such protests are happening, and try to avoid them if possible. Depending on the type of protest (student protests are particularly volatile), police will use a tactic known as 'kettling', where they surround the protesters (and any unfortunate passers-by along with them) and trap them in a confined space -this is very well known to cause a rather large amount of violence, so avoid such situations as much as possible.

Other than that, Britain in general is a very multicultural nation, and London is particularly so! Your probably not the only one who's unused to London, so I'm sure they'll be plenty of things designed to help people such as yourself

Thanks for the advice! I am already stealing my wallet for this trip by working overtime. My wallet still cries a bit when I open it to pay for things like...an oyster card, or a plane ticket, ect.

 

[ServebotFrank]

Don't go around chanting, "USA! USA! USA! USA! USA FOR LIFE!!!" They don't like that for some reason. I don't know why they just don't. :/

 

[Ghengis John]

look you can look at it as some kind of suppression and/or a stupid comment to make if you like and i may be inclined to over state the case but one of the things that IS different about the UK is that if you get into a heated argument with someone you can quite easily end up getting into a fight and having the shit kicked out you if you are unfamiliar with how that might go down.

Okay so I'll admit avoiding fist fights with idiots is good advice.

we don't have the deterrent of possible lethal force being deployed legally in the name of self defence hovering ever present in the background to make people back down or walk away in those situations. remember Fight Club and the fact that the major character had never been in a fight ? i remember seeing that and thinking it was just fucking weird until i thought about why that could actually be the case for someone from the US because i don't know a single person who has "never been in a fight".

Since you're only going off of suppositions here (It doesn't seem you've been to the US) I'll throw out a strange idea for you that's not often played up in ignorant stereotypes. Have you ever thought we might just be more civilized than you are? It's not like it's the damned wild west over here, where everybody's packing and flashing their pieces every time the sun hits their eyes. The number of Americans who've never had a fire-arm pointed at them has to hover at around 99%, meanwhile we have a culture essentially built on freedom of speech (Which we have enshrined). The dumbest (giant of a) man I ever met in America picked me up by the neck but as soon as I said "That won't get either of us what we want" he put me down and we talked it out and actually walked away with a compromise. I was once told by an english friend of mine from salt ash that saying "good morning" to people in London would get you punched in the face. I thought he was joking. If you consider that normal allow me to say you guys are weird.

when we say be careful what you say in unknown pubs and the like that's simple advice for anyone including, it has to be said, ourselves. hell i could book a ticket to Casualty by walking into "the wrong" pub right now and casually declaring my affinity towards "the wrong" football club in casual conversation at the bar...

You don't think that's a little... insane? I mean seriously when a fan of the wrong team walks into an american bar people pull him up a seat at the counter so they can rib him for it but even that's all in good fun and the other patrons will often celebrate the oddball. We don't generally bleed people for it.

 

[GLo Jones]

Londoners though, don't care about anything or anywhere in GB unless it happens in London. If fuel prices doubled everywhere else but London then wouldn't bat an eyelash, but if they then rose 1p in London then the marching and protesting and complaining would start. They're just so damn insular and self-centered.

Also they all have weird aspirations of retiring to the countryside or having a house in the country. It's as if the countryside appears to them as a nirvana which they can only improve by blessing it with their presence.

One of my friends has recently moved close to me from London (I live in Salisbury (the south west-ish)) and you have described him PERFECTLY. Seriously, what is this? Are you a wizard?

OT: I expect you've had countless suggestions to try fish and chips, but be ready for disappointment, it's not that special. In fact, that's the UK in general really, nothing special. It'll definitely be a good experience, and you'll probably learn a lot, but there's a reason we can be so unenthusiastic, and that's because we live lives of mediocrity.

Just how we like it.