How To London
London
London is the amazing city in which to study abroad; this post is a list of suggestions and ideas about what do and see in this spectacular city. If you plan to travel to London for a short visit, I would definitely map out what you plan to do, because there is a ton going on, and the city is very large. Planning in activities that are close together will be a must to get the most out of your experience.
General Suggestions
1. Download the Tube App. This lets you plan your routes or journeys extremely easily by putting in locations or Tube stops of where you will begin and end. The app puts together easy directions to follow.
2. Do not walk in front of buses they do not stop. Bus drivers for TFL (Transport for London) are told that it is more dangerous for the passengers on buses if they stop abruptly, so they often will hit pedestrians...
3. If you type in “Underground” on maps it will show you Tube stops in the area. Or, you can google "'your location' closest tube" and look on Google Maps for Underground symbols close to the location you seek. The symbol to look for is a red circle with a blue line cutting it in half horizontally. If you zoom into the map far enough you will see a name for the Underground station.
4. Night Tube: Check how late different underground lines (Ex. Central, Piccadilly, Northern) stay open because it is different between the lines, and sometimes even the stations the further from the center of London you travel.
5. Always keep your students I.D. on you, many places offer student discounts especially around the Bloomsbury district where JMU abroaders live.
London To-Do List
Check out some of London's best attractions below! Click on each to-do, for more information.
Key
* | free, or free components
Museums
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)*
Lots of art and some historical artifacts, also has changing exhibits
I have never seen so many ceramics pieces in my life, I believe it was 11 rooms (6th floor)
Cool exhibition on revolutionary music in the 60s-70s era
I went four times and I still did not seen everything
Mixture of history, art and artifacts
Right near Bedford Place, it is a two minute walk, also tourist central
Fun fact there is a statue there that is a Poke-Stop reachable from Flat D
Did not end up going, but heard good reviews if you like history
Get tickets online cause there is usually a long line
Did not go
Seems to be good for kids
Modern art, many parts are free
There are four Tate museums, I have been to Tate Modern and Tate Britain which were both amazing
In the first building go to floors two and four (free) and transfer to the other building and go to floors four, three, two, and ten (free)...a Tate Modern employee recommend this order to me
Offers free and easily accessible view of London
Also very pretty
Did not have time to go
Touristy Essentials
Try to coordinate going to see the changing of the guard outside
Go in, they have a guided audio tour which is free with tickets
Queen Victoria Memorial just outside
Super beautiful
Had an exhibit on the Queen's fashion throughout her lifetime (tour was also in Windsor)
check if this exhibition is still happening, it is temporary
Historical, grand and cool with lots of interesting history
Great photo opportunity
If you cross tower bridge you will be close to Borough Market
Offers a beautiful view of London
Along the South Bank
Think about what time of day you want to do it (London in the daytime versus London lit-up at night), all are pretty
Extremely pretty
My favorite building in terms of beauty in London
Has an audio tour with tickets
Look at it
You could touch it
Official name is Elizabeth Tower
You are in London!
Plays
Look up best plays in the West End (theatre district)
No Mans Land were seeing later but it stars Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was very good – Gielgud Theatre
Harry Potter if you are magical and can get tickets
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Globe Theatre, make sure you see a show at the outside theatre if it is open (warm weather), see below for more details
Google smaller theaters for a less flashy experience
Because Harry Potter
Jesus Christ its magical
So amazing good luck you will die (positive death)
Check out my blog post about it for more details!
Negative death there aree a lot of stairs
Not good if you don’t like heights
Top view is really beautiful view of London in all directions (it’s a circle)
Some stairs in here were in Harry Potter
Walking Tours
Jack the Ripper tour
Nice place to walk with a garden and café in the inner circle
Adorable animals
Never went here
They give tours most days from 9am-5pm
Was a good tour
Shows depend on seasons but typically begin att 7:30pm usually
Not open Mondays
Never went heard but it was alright
High Tea
I went to Grand Royale in Hyde Park
You get to dress up and pretend you are the Queen
Google best places to go near you
Bar Crawls
A Socialist bookshop
Reminds me of D.C. bookstores
British Media and Society class will go here
Did not go
Friday and Sunday usually
Special skates for holidays
They had one for Halloween on a Saturday
Parks
Walk through it from Buckingham Palace to get to Westminster Abbey
Pretty walk with ponds, pelicans and swans
Nice walk, very pretty
People often go running here
Winter Wonderland is held here in the winter it is a tourist delight
Markets
Only free until you decide to purchase items.
So much great food
Do not eat beforehand
The most extravagant and coolest street market ever
Please go into Cyberdog you will not be sorry
Do not bring in small children
Buy street orange juice
Only on Sundays
Very cute plus flowers
There are two cute bagel shops nearby walk around this area it is cute
Near this are two bagel shops, one of them is the Beigel Bake
Near pastel townhouses of Notting Hill
Giant antique market
Both stands along the road, and local stores
A junk festival
Lots of produce sales
Baker Street/Brick Lane Market/Spitalfields*
Brick lane is really cute and has the best Indian food in London
Adorable street market and overwhelming indoor-food area
Go to Dark Sugars for the literal greatest hot chocolate and experience
Christmas Festivals
In Hyde Park
Really amazing and huge
Free entry
Mostly good for food with an awesome selection
Has ice skating
I did not attend
I bought my favorite hat here,
Has small booth huts selling all kinds of items
Did not go
Did not go
Cute Areas
This is the touristy walk down the river that is the view you see in all pictures
Thames River is the giant river you walk along
Go over the bridge close to there for fancy views and getting to other side
Also walk through Westminster the area for the most beautiful castles/churches in the world
Go to Westminster Tube stop
Soho*
The cool place to go out
Hip and trendy, can find college aged kids here
The Harry Potter Palace Theatre is here
Lots of gay clubs/bars/stores, refer to hip and trendy comment
Giant pole and big lions
Is in West End which is the fancy theatre district
Fleet Street*
Yes it is the street from Sweeny Todd
British journalism home street
Go to the Bridewell Museum of print if you care about journalism, you will drool
Piccadilly Square/Oxford Street*
Largest shopping area in London
YOU MUST GO TO PRIMARK
Tourist central
Take the Tube and get off at Oxford Circus for full effect when you enter into the think of it from the Underground
Other stores to consider if you are a high school or college aged girl: New Look, Pull and Bear, Top Shop, Office
Baker Street*
Sherlock Museum
Notable location in many fiction novels
Sports
Sorry I do not know tons about sports.
English Football
QPR have cheap tickets
Arsenal
American Football
NFL games
Rugby
Food
I am not the best resource for food, the list from my program at the bottom of this blog post may be more helpful.
Tips:
Honestly just walk into pubs and restaurants
Look at menus first this is the most expensive city in the world
Buying alcohol at supermarkets is remarkably cheaper
Refer to list at the bottom
Brit chain on every corner
yummy and a good cheap eating option
Sainsbury’s/Tesco/Waitrose
Grocery stores
Waitrose is the highest class and where you can find the most stuff but is most expensive
Go to Sainsbury’s for normal things its cheaper and good, also they have the very best frozen Indian food
Tesco is okay I think it is the least expensive the one by us was super tiny
Nandos
Where the "cheeky Nandos" joke comes from
It is just Mexican food I went to one in D.C. but it is a London chain
A chain restaurant bar that is popular (every place in London is a bar)
I went and would go again
Did not go, heard good reviews
this place has relevance in the show but I have not watched
Be careful or you will buy a full bottle and pay a million pounds
It is a chain
Really cool inside, very trendy, you do not have to play ping pong but the aesthetic is hoppin'
The Bloomsbury Café
If you like screaming Italians
Manager will tell you his life story
Student discounts here
Sadly did not attend
Real-life cats
JMU in London Program List
This is a list of what to do in London created by students who did the JMU study abroad program. I received this list during my program orientation.
