London: Say What?

England. The place where “crisps” are chips and “chips” are fries, “scones” are biscuits and “biscuits” are cookies. Better to learn this before you go to avoid confusion.

Remember to look right before crossing the street. If you’re visiting London, all of the crosswalks will remind you of this. Here are a few other tips that I found helpful or picked up from experience:

• Employees who work for public transit are super helpful so ask them for help!!
• You really don’t need to carry cash in London. Everywhere accepts card. Literally. The places that I least expected to take cards, such as street food vendors, markets, and even busses, will accept cards. AND they accept Apple Pay and contactless!
• Get an Oyster Card. The deposit is £5 and then you can load more money at any time. This gets you access to busses and the London Underground (subway system, aka the Tube).
• Tip 10-15% but make sure it’s not included on the bill already.
• The grocery stores have cheap lunch options. For £3 you can get a sandwich, “crisps” & a drink.
• Exchange currencies at the Post Office for the best rates.
• Skip the London Pass. There’s plenty to do and the art museums are FREE! If you’re going to pay to do something, go to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
• Hop on Red London Bus #453 at Marylebone Station instead of paying to go on a sightseeing bus. It only costs £2 and you’ll go by the major sights: Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Downing Street, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben (completely under construction while I was there) & the London Eye.

Here are my recommendations for restaurants, bars/breweries, museums, attractions, parks & gardens, and neighborhoods. Also note that I am only listing places that I actually visited. There are many more cool places that I plan to visit next time!

Food & Drink

• Camden Market
• Borough Market
• Cakes & Bubbles
• Churchill Arms Pub
• Kalamaras Tavern
• Urban Baristas
• Prince Alfred
• Vicinity at The Tower Hotel
• Dinerama

Museums & Attractions

• Tower Bridge
• St. Paul’s Cathedral
• Westminster Abbey
• Buckingham Palace
• Kensington Palace
• British Museum
• National Gallery
• Abbey Road Zebra Crossing
• Platform 9 ¾ 
• Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel

Parks & Gardens

• Hyde Park
• Battersea Park
• St. James’s Park

Neighborhoods

• Notting Hill
• SoHo
• Camden
• Shoreditch

To find out why these are my favorite places in London, stay tuned for my London blog post entries. Hope this helps you plan for your trip!