London: The Guide

Things To Do

• Top Secret Comedy Club – free with student ID on Monday nights. Reserve student tickets online for free, they’ll ask for a donation at the end but it’s optional. 
• Sky Garden – best rooftop view in London – pro tip: go two hours before sunset to watch golden hour/sunset, most people come an hour before so it leaves time for pictures and ordering before the crowds. Must reserve tickets online prior, but they are free. 
• Brick Lane – full day of thrifting (tons of vintage American products – NFL, NBA etc), amazing street food
• Broadway – a must, go to as many West End shows as you can. Download this TodayTix to buy all show tickets. They release rush deals for hit shows so keep your notifications on. 
• BoxPark – many locations around London 
• KinglyCourt – three story bar & restaurant venue in SoHo 
• Carnaby Street
• Must See Shops – Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Liberty, Bond Street (all designer stores)
• Night Clubs
  • VIP – always go through a promoter, you will have free drinks and a booth all night.. VIP is fancy – heels & club attire, think Vegas – Cirque Le Soir (personal fav), The Box, Reign, Libertine. Open crowd clubs – XOYO, Ministry of Sound, Fabric
• Sunset picnic on Primrose Hill – surrounded by cute shops, cafes and pubs 
• Rent bikes and ride through Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens 
• God’s Own Junkyard – neon sign bar, perfect for drinks/pics

Museums/Tours That are worth your time

• Victoria & Albert – Free with student ID
• Imperial War Museum – Free with student ID
• Wembley Stadium 
• Tate Modern – Free with student ID
• The British Museum – Free with student ID
• St. Paul’s Cathedral 
• Tower of London
• Beatles Tour – you hit Abbey Road at the end 
• Kensington Palace 

Markets

• Portobello – Bright, colorful, girly aesthetic with great street food and cute vendors 
• Camden – Grunge, edgy aesthetic with THE BEST street food (by the river). Hotspot for designer dupes. Pro tip: Always negotiate because vendors will come down in price. Do your research and point out differences in the real products to seem knowledgeable of the brand – lowball their price and they’ll meet you in the middle. You can negotiate most items in Camden – hats, apparel, accessories, souvenirs etc. 
• Borough – one of my favorite food markets in London, come HUNGRY and don’t forget cannoli’s from Gastronomica – they’re a must 
• Spitalfields – I worked across from Spitalfields and loved hitting lunch hour there. It’s full of food and shopping vendors with fun bars surrounding it. Very busy at lunch hour but a great vibe. My personal favorite pick is the vegetable pad thai from Thai Street Food
• Exmouth – post work pub vibe with string lights above the streets

Easy To-Go Meals

• Download Too Good To Go for free late night bites from fast food/restaurants in your area
• Tesco Meal Deal
• Pret – Sign up for the membership and you get your first month free (five free coffee, teas or smoothies a day) – pro tip: cancel after your free month and re-sign up with a new phone number or email… repeat for your time in London free Pret your entire time abroad 

Fav Eats

• Ivy Asia – afternoon tea, lunch deal
• Dishoom – Shoreditch location is the cutest
• Gloria
• Brother Marcs – bottomless brunch
• Coppa Club – Tower Bridge location (book an Igloo) 
• Alto by San Carlo – rooftop 
• Sketch – afternoon tea 
• Poppies Fish & Chips – Spitalfields location 
• The Hoxton – English breakfast 
• Farm Girl – Notting Hill 
• Padella
• Fortnum & Mason – afternoon tea 

Lunch Favs – Tossed, The Salad Project (sooo good, pricey), Beigel Bake (famous)

Fav Pubs/Bars – Old Blue Last, Electric Shuffle (need to reserve), Barts Speakeasy Chelsea (pricey but fun), Barrio (lots of drink deals during the week), The Old Bank of England 

Grocery Shopping – £ Sainsbury, Aldi, ££ Co-op, Waitrose, Marks & Spencers 

Weekend Travel Tips

• Accommodation – look on Hostelworld.com and AirBnB
• Experiences – TripAdvisor is huge in Europe, Airbnb experiences 
• Travel
  • Eurostar (very cool/easy experience, can be pricey), if traveling through mainland Europe, check train options/times because they can be faster/more affordable 
  • Airlines
    • Budget (only allows you an under the seat bag/backpack) – Ryan Air, Easy Jet
    • Nicer (worth the money if you plan on bringing a carry on suitcase) – British Airways, TAP Air Portugal, Vueling, Iberia 

Random Tips, Tricks & Findings 

• Citymapper
  • If there is anything you need to take away from this post, this is it. Download city mapper – it’ll save your life. It works in all large European cities so take advantage of it during your travels. It’ll tell you the tube, bus and walking routes/times
• Splitwise
  • Splitting the bill is not a thing in Europe so one person will most likely be picking up the entire tab everywhere you go. Download Splitwise to make your life 10x easier when figuring out who owes who what. We used Splitwise for every trip, drinks and dinner we did during our time abroad
• London is open container so if you are in a pub at close they will hand you a plastic cup and ask you to drink outside, its quite funny actually 
• Public transportation is your best friend – don’t waste your money on an Uber or Taxi
• Bring a travel backpack with you, you’ll need it if you are flying budget airlines and do not want to pay £50 extra for a carry on
• Gift cards and store/restaurant membership rewards do not work in the UK because your account is attached to US postal codes – leave the Starbucks and Chipotle gift cards at home, they won’t work
• Walk on the left side of the sidewalk, stairs and literally everything – STAY LEFT
• Although they speak English in London, they use entirely different words for lots of situations/phrases so just pick up context clues and pretend you know what’s going on – you’ll catch on eventually 
• Don’t waste your money on the London Eye – you can get better views from rooftops for free 
• European men are very forward, it’ll catch you off guard 
• You WILL be asked about American politics, laws and society – don’t bother carrying on a conversation about it
• If you change to a UK SIM card/number, you need to make sure your phone is “unlocked” – call your provider and ask, you may have to pay off your phone to unlock it

Most Instagrammable Spots Around London

• When walking out of Westminster station, with Big Ben in front of you, head right, cross the street and take pictures at the phone booths facing Big Ben. You’ll have gorgeous views of Benny himself with Westminster Abbey in the background 
• Colorful houses at the beginning of Portobello Market
• Sit on the ledge of the river on the south side of Tower Bridge for gorgeous pictures with the lit up bridge in the background