London, England

"Old London Town", never fails to impress me on my visits. There is so much to see, do, and explore.

I've been fortunate to have a few visits to London, including two lots of house sitting.

I've been to free and paid tourist sites, been to a number of West End Theatre shows, and spent a lot of time just walking around discovering all that this amazing city has to offer.

I believe to truly see beyond the usual tourist attractions, you need at least 2 weeks in London, to really get an experience beyond the 'normal' places to see! However, if your time is limited and you want to 'tick off' those tourist attractions, I'd suggest allowing 3 days - it'll be quick it will be busy, but you'll get the 'job' done!

To Do, See, and Explore

You have to pay an entry to get into Kew Gardens, but it is easily a place you could stay at all day, especially if the sun is shining! Beautifully laid out gardens, with flora and fauna from around the world, and also home to Kew Palace. Well worth a visit.

Kew Gardens

The Vitals

Getting About

When it comes to getting about in London, you are spoilt for choice!

Underground (tube)
Overground
Buses
Taxi's
Uber
Walk

Which method/s you will choose will depend on your budget, the amount of time you have in London, what you want to do while you are there, and your capabilities!

Personally, I've done a mix of the underground, overground, buses (hop on hop off), and loads of walking.

I found the Transport for London (TfL) website and app a great tool to use when navigating the underground, overground, and buses.

For the hop on hop off buses, there are a number of companies that offer this around all the 'main' tourist attractions in London. They often have special deals that can include things like the London Eye or Madam Tussauds. I find there are a few benefits of using one of the hop on hop off bus operators including;

It helps you get your 'bearings' in London,
You get to see the tourist sights and you decide whether to get off and take a closer look,
They give a commentary about where you are and what you care seeing,
If you are short of time in London, you can just stay on the bus and take in the sights from there, and
Often they have tickets that can be used on more than one day.

You can check out some of the London hop on hop off operators HERE.

I'd also suggest if you are in London, especially at Christmas time, take one of the night bus tours that you get to see all the beautiful christmas lights. Most companies run these tours from November through to January. I did the one offered by Golden Tours, and would recommend them.

Getting There

I've arrived in London using air travel and trains. In my experience it is a very well served city with multiple options for getting to London, both from within the UK and from overseas.

I have used trains as a travel option when travelling within the UK, and air travel both within the UK, and when arriving from overseas.

Important things to consider are;

Knowing your budget
When you want to travel
Do you want to get their 'quickly' or are you comfortable taking a bit more time
Your preferred mode of transport
Where you will be staying in London

Accommodation

I have been very fortunate to have had over a months worth of free accommodation in London, while providing house and pet sitting services.

However, I have had to find one nights accommodation and I stayed at the Mentone Hotel, due to its proximity to Euston Station, where I was arrivving by train and also handy for the underground to get me to where I was doing one of the house sits. The room I had, was small, but serviceable and while they describe themselves as a 'boutique' hotel, it was eclectic in layout, with some period features, but I felt it fell a bit short! However, value for money and its location it should be considered!

Weather

London on a good day, when the sun is shining is a beautiful city, however even in summer there can be times when there is rain!

As with a lot of the UK, it pays to expect 'four seasons' in one day, regardless of the time of the year so I keep an eye on the weather and plan what I am going to do depending on the weather that is being forecast.

Fortunately, there is plenty to do indoors in London if you are not wanting to brave any adverse weather conditions!

When I am travelling and planning getting out and about to experience a destination I use the weather app on my iPhone - 99.9% of the time I have found it be 'bang on accurate'!

Otherwise if you want or need to navigate the not so sunny days, dress accordingly and as needed take an umbrella and a waterproof coat!

I know that when I travel I am not always going to get sun, sun, sun everyday, so I look at the positive ways I can see the days that are not so great. Photos take on a different look and feel, and in fact sometimes not having brilliant sunshine can mean your photos will turn out better. I also see it as an opportunity to experience museums, art galleries and other venues that I sometimes feel guilty about visiting when it is a sunny day out.

Eats and Drinks

When it comes to food and drink you are spoilt for choice, but its not always cheap! However, there are ways to keep costs down if like me you are sometimes on a limited budget, and would rather spend money on other experiences.

Having said thatI have been fortunate to have experienced some dining experiences at some 'famous' chefs establishments. As a former chef I wanted to experience the offerings they had. The ones I went to weren't their '5 Star Plus' restautrants, I couldn't justify the expense!

Gordon Ramsay's Heddon Street Kitchen
Marco Pierre White's Steakhouse Bar & Grill London Angel and Kings Cross

I'd also recommend the following restaurants and bars if you get a chance;

Prince of Wales Feathers - great place for a bite to eat and a pint
Maple Leaf - great Poutine and atmosphere
Franco's London - not a cheap dining experience but the food was next level
Bella Italia - simple and affordable Italian and they have a number of sites around London and beyond
The Swan Hyde Park - great place to stop off for a drink or some food, especially if your exploring Hyde Park
Mr Fogg's Tavern - an absolute quirky bar, worth a visit just to see all of the 'stuff' on the walls, floors, and ceiling
The Red Lion - made a mean Pimms, which was very welcome on a hot sunny day after having had a BIG step count day

So while it looks like I do have a tendency to eat and ahem drink out a lot to keep costs down I do the following;

Stay in accommodation with self-catering facilties and go to the markets or supermarkets and buy food to cook
Many of the markets or supermarkets also have a wide selection of cold or hot or heat and eat options - I 'take it away' and go have a picnic, weather permitting!
Buy your non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverages from a supermarket or off-licence and enjoy a drink at your accommodation or some of the public spaces you can enjoy it too, just make sure its legal to have alcholic beverages!

If you are looking a food market, I would highly recommend the Borough Market - a brilliant array of fresh produce from around the UK and beyond. You can eat as you go, or buy to cook up a storm later on!

Money

Pounds (£) and pence (p) [British Pound Sterling (GBP)] are your cash currency, and are used throughout the UK, including Scotland, who has its own currency and Northern Ireland.

Scotland has its own currency, it is still £ are issued by a few different banks in Scotland. It is officially not a legal tender in the rest of the UK, so businesses are not obliged to take it. If you've spent time in Scotland and ended up with Scottish £, try using them up in Scotland or you can take them to any bank in the UK, and they will generally exchange them for GBP for free.

Pounds come in the following denominations;

£5, £10, £20 and £50.

Pence come in the following denominations;

1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2.

All the places I visited where I had to pay e.g. retail, tourist sites, transportation, eating and drinking, and accommodation accepted credit/debit cards and many were set up with 'tap and go'. So you can carry a card/s and/or use you phone if you are set up with that facility.

I did not use the 'cash out' service that is quite common in NZ through a lot of businesses, it did not appear to be common in the UK. But don't dispair, cash out machines ('hole in the wall', ATMs, cashpoints, or cash machines) are plentiful, if you do get caught short of the 'readies'!

Possbily some of the market stalls or street food and beverage vendors you may need cash, so it can be handy to have some on you. Just remember to keep it safe and don't 'flash the cash'!

The UK does not (and never did) accept the Euro (€), so save that currency for the countries that do accept it!

Maps

If you've got a mobile phone and looking at how to get from A to B, use the map app, 99.9% of the time it will get you there!

I have also found that many tourist sites, accommodation, retail outlets, transportation options can be found on Google Maps (my preferred mobile map app). I just enter the actual name of what I am looking for e.g. Tower of London or Big Ben etc. or simply enter in the search function what you are looking for e.g. pharmacy or supermarket or tube station etc. and most of the time the app will show me what is close to me and I select what I am looking for.

Another way of making use of your app is searching on your mobile web browser what you are looking for and often the search of listings or an acutal website will have a function linking to a mobile map app and you click on that and it will take you through to your app and then you can find your way there!

If you prefer a 'paper' based map, these are still available and can be sometimes found free from many tourist operators or you can visit the City of London City Information Centre (CIC), the only independent tourist information centre.

Here's a few links to tourist maps that you may find of use while you make your way around the city, especially to visit those famous tourist attractions.

Apps

I often find the best way to find apps is just search on the App Store, read what they are about and what they will help you do, and look at any of the reviews. If it appears to tick all the boxes, add it to your device and just start using it. If you discover its not what you wanted, then just delete it!

Here are the apps I found of use during my time in London. These are all from the App Store, but many will have the equivalent available from an android equivalent. Just click on the image below and it will take you to a website where you can download the app.