Good day mate! Surprise surprise, this post is not about Singapore either. A friend of mine is going to London for vacation and requested a London travel guide. So stay with me in Europe for a bit longer while we explore the Big Smoke, and possibly a couple spots around it.
There are many things to love about London. As usual, I'll break the guide down to several sections. This time, we'll focus on:
1. Neighbourhoods overview
2. Transportation
3. Activities
If we condense every location we'll cover in one graph, we'll get this map. It is not very telling on its own but I'll break it down for you!
So, without further due, ladies and gents, welcome to London Town. Cheers!
1. Neighbourhoods overview
Country-Level
Let's first start from a country-level overview. London is a city in England, which is one of the four constituent countries in the United Kingdom (UK).
But wait, isn't UK/Britain a country itself? How come it contains four countries?
Well, the United Kingdom is a a sovereign country, or mostly known as a sovereign state. The exact definition of such goes into the territory of internal law. For our purpose, we'll just consider a sovereign country as a centralized government over a geographic area. In the case of UK, its governing geographic area is roughly circled out in red in the following map.
(Once again, please excuse my bad drawing. This is not an accurate representation of the region. It's just to give you an idea.)
As you can roughly make out from the map, the four constituent countries in UK are:
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
The topic of discussion today, London, is towards the south side of England. This is the place that we'll spend most of our time on today.
London Districts
If you are a tourist in London, you'll probably spend most of your time in or near Central London. However, even Central London is partitioned into multiple neighbourhoods/districts, each with its own style. So here, I'll bring some light to you to the districts in or near Central London.
As you have seen in this map earlier, I marked six districts in London for you.
What's special about these six districts? Well they each has some uniqueness to it so you might want to explore.
District 1. Westminster:​
​Most of the most famous touristy spots, such as Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, and Westminster Abbey are here. These places are almost must-goes and thus getting around these places are quite streamlined, so I won't spend much time on them. I'll just show you some pictures of these must-goes to entice you.
District 2. Shoreditch:
This is where all the young blood is. Lots of bars, or should I say pubs, here. Also, lots of low-key restaurants for late night bites or hangover cures.
It is a super hip place where lots of students and young professionals hang out. So definitely check it out if you are looking for a fun night out.
EZ certainly had a lot of fun here as you can see in this picture. No shame. :p
District 3. West End:
If you are a theatre lover, then you can't miss this area. There are all sorts of shows showing all year round.
The Phantom of the Opera and Mamma Mia! are shown all the time since they both debuted in West End and are so characteristically British. Besides these two, there are a plethora of other shows changing from season to season. You can check out this Wiki Page for the most up to date shows in the theatres.
District 4: Whitechapel
Most businesses in London are located in Canary Wharf, which is even further east of London than Whitechapel is in the map. As a tourist on vacation, however, you probably have no desire to be reminded of your work life. So I'd recommend going to Whitechapel instead of Canary Wharf to get a light taste of the working scene in London.
Moreover, Whitechapel is also shrouded by some dark mystery, i.e. the story of Jack the Ripper. So if you are into murder mysteries, Whitechapel is your place to be.
District 5: Chinatown
EZ is blaming herself for not taking any pictures here. However, the Chinatown in London is probably the best Chinatowns that she has ever seen. And she is saying this after having been to the Chinatowns in LA, SF, NY, Toronto and so many more.
The cool part about the Chinatown in London is that it's quite centralized. This means that the whole Chinatown is relatively small but everything is so close to each other that you can easily walk around without feeling being overwhelmed.
Another cool thing about the Chinatown here is that the decoration is quite on point. You'll be welcomed with bright red Chinese lanterns as soon as you step into the Chinatown gate. The whole setup is simply quite welcoming.
District 6: Camden Town
On a sunny day when you want to walk around a food market that has its own character, then Camden Town is the place to be.
Camden Town is so characteristically colorful and vibrant. It's situated next to a canal, which adds to its character even more.
In short, you should check this place out and be prepared to spend hours here, immersing in good food and fun shops.
2. Transportation
You mostly have three options for getting around: on foot, by taxi, or by Tube (i.e. Subway).
London, especially Central London, is super pedestrian friendly. So lots of the times, you can just wander around your neighbourhood.
However, when the need of traveling afar do arise, you can either take a taxi or the Tube.
Uber is quite prevalent even when I was there four years ago. The most local yet super expensive alternative is the Black Cabs. They are characteristically British, almost as much as the Red Buses but so much more expensive.
Lastly, you can take the Tube. To do so, you'll need to get your Oyster Card, which is the transportation card for getting around London. Once you have an Oyster Card, you can get on Tubes and Buses of your choice. So get yours to facilitate your travels within London!
3. Activities
We already mentioned a couple of interesting spots when we were talking about the districts in London. However, here is a more detailed guide on things to do in London. It's beneficial for us to take a look at this map again:
I've color-coded the sites of interest into five categories:
Cultural activities
Food & drinks adventures
Shopping
Natural indulgence
Short excursions
Let's dive into them one by one. Feel free to skip to sections that interest you the most.
Activity 1. Cultural activities:
Tate Modern
Fine collection of modern arts. Don't be fooled by the title modern however, it is not just contemporary art. Many pieces of Picasso are exhibited here.
The British Museum
It's a massive museum that offers so much so you might want to carve out a whole afternoon for it. I personally didn't plan for enough time here so the whole visit was rushed. There are so many beautiful art pieces to see. So if you are into museums, definitely plan for several good hours at this place.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
Guess where it is? It's located at 221b Baker Street. If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, no more persuading is needed at this point. Just go check it out.
St Paul's Cathedral
It's typical of EZ to forget to take pictures of places that are stunning. I'll try to use my words to do its justice. This is quite a massive cathedral with a lovely garden on the side. Moreover, it's next to a Starbucks, which is rarely seen in London or Europe in general.
If you are not convinced about the cathedral, at least you can check this place for the Starbucks.
West End Theatres
I've raved about the theatre scene in London in the neighbourhoods section so here is a quick reminder for you to check them out.
Summer Activities
Some level of spontaneity is involved here. The summer that I was there, there was a pride parade, and a music festival (Wireless Music Festival). However, each summer in London is similar yet different so pick your own poison here.
Activity 2. Food and drinks adventures:
If you can only think about fish and chips when talking about British cuisine then you certainly should dine out in Britain a bit more.
Dishoom (New-age Indian Restaurant)
You should certainly check out the Indian restaurants in London. They are the best that I have ever had before. I do need to qualify, however, I am judging by creativity and presentation instead of authenticity.
Dishoom has the most creative and tasty Indian food that I've ever had. It's fun, upscale, and delicious. So if you want to indulge yourself a bit and be creative with your Indian food then certainly check this place out!
Borough Market (Food market)
Can't decided what type of cuisine to get? Then check out Borough Market. It has almost any type of cuisine that you can think of.
REMINDER: Camden Town
Don't forget this district has great food and culture. I'd recommend this place over Borough Market, which is more like your average food market. So if you have time to travel a bit far, go to Camden Town.
DSTRCT Lounge (Look here if you want a fun night out)
A great clubbing/lounging spot with great music. Let this place remind you that eurobeats are essential to the creation of House Music.
Afternoon Tea (possibly at The Ritz London)
The Ritz Carltons are known to deliver luxurious experience and they took afternoon tea to the next level as well. Everything is exquisite from the tea pots to the delis.
The price tag for such a fancy high tea experience is definitely high, it was about £60 four years ago. I'm not sure what the price point is now, but it definitely is not for everyone.
Yet, there are plenty of other spots for afternoon teas throughout London. The main message here is that you should at least try experiencing high tea once in London. In some places, it can be as low as £10, like the place that EZ was at. So:
Keep Calm and Have Your Afternoon Tea.
Nando's
It's almost impossible not to mention Nando's when you talk about British food. Nando's is not dark magic but this fast food chain in Britain that serves all sorts of Chicken dishes.
British people are as familiar to Nando's as Americans are to McDonald's. Hope that helps with explaining its popularity in Britain.
Parting Message on Food
One more thing before we move to the next section. There is such a thing called the European portion (compared to American portion). The European portion is smaller than American portion so you might need to eat more or more often if you are used to the American portion.
Activity 3. Shopping:
Selfridge & Liberty London
There are definitely many places to go shopping at but these two are uniquely British so check them out for a unique British Shopping spree.
Both are high-end department stores. They occasionally have great deals, however, so don't be afraid to check them out.
Activity 4. Natural indulgence:
Hyde Park
There are plenty of parks in London and it is amazing. You can easily walk into one as you travel around. However, there is one park that you can consider making a deliberate trip to and that is Hyde Park.
It's a Grade-I park and the largest royal park in London. Unfortunately EZ forgot to take a picture again! So you'll have to check it out yourself to find out what it's like!
Activity 5. Short excursions:
Wonder why British people sound so intelligent as soon as they open their mouths? I can't tell you all the reasons but Britain certainly has world class colleges are two of them are not too far from London.
They are Oxford and Cambridge.
Each of them is about 1 hour train ride away from Central London.
Need more motivation to check them out? Well the campuses might have been the actual sets for Harry Potter movies!
The campuses are retro, elegant, and magical.
Pictures are worth a thousand words so there you go!
Alright, so there you have it, your detailed and nots-so-touristy guide for London and its whereabouts. London is such a lovely city and I sincerely hope that you'll have a brilliant time there.
So Keep Calm and Travel On Mate!