A trip to London can be a fun holiday spot for anyone living in the UK or coming from afar. There’s plenty to do within the capital city that you could easily spend a number of days and still have lots left over to explore.
Getting the most out of your trip to London includes plenty of planning, as well as knowing what’s popular and what you might want to prioritise on your visit. With that being said, here are some helpful tips to get the most out of a trip to London this year.
Make use of London’s public transport
London’s public transport, while on the older side compared to other transport systems around the world, is helpful for getting around the city. London is broken up into zones, and what was once mainly zones 1-6 has expanded outwards to zones 7,8, and 9 now.
As a tourist, it’s a good idea to make use of London’s public transport where you can. While central London can be navigated mostly on foot, the rest will need to be done by public transport.
Aside from the underground, you’ve got the red buses as well as the hop-on, hop-off buses that navigate central London and can be used as a way of exploring the main tourist spots.
Explore central London on foot
As mentioned, London is a big city but when it comes to the central part of the city, a lot of it can be enjoyed on foot. It’s highly recommended you do this, especially as it means you get to see everything from the ground, rather than being behind a bus window or underground where there’s nothing really to see when you’re going in between stops.
Exploring the city on foot is definitely something that can make your experience a memorable one, but be sure to take breaks when you’re walking in the city. You’ll find yourself feeling exhausted after walking so far, so a stop off at a pub or bar will certainly be handy.
Take a boat trip along the River Thames
The River Thames is a wonderful sight to behold when you see it for the first time. While it might not be the cleanest of rivers, it’s definitely one that you should get on via a boat service.
There are plenty of boat experiences on which to enjoy the River Thames. There are ferries that you can get that are part of the public transport system, and you can use your Oyster card or any debit or credit card with a contactless function to pay for them.
You’ve also got more group and private experiences with individual boat companies, which is also worth exploring if this is something you’d like to do.
Download apps to navigate the city successfully
Just like in other countries, there will be plenty of apps available online to get the most out of your trip to London. If you’re looking for an app that’s helpful for navigating the city of London, then here are a few worth adding to your list.
- Visit London
- Santander Cycles
- Uber
- CityMapper
These are just a small fraction of what’s available, but it is certainly a useful mix of apps that are helpful when you want to get the most out of London.
Uber is a helpful service to get yourself around town at the top of your screen and the Santander Cycles is useful if you want to tackle London via bike.
Enjoy London’s variety of food and drink establishments
To make the most out of London’s varied culture, you should look at eating out at many of the food and drink establishments available.
London is home to a lot of different people from all different backgrounds. What that has done for London is creating a culturally diverse city which shows itself in all areas of city living – including the food and drink.
It’s worth downloading apps and getting to know the pubs in Soho London, so that you can enjoy all of the food and drink that the city has to offer.
Make a note of all the free attractions available
It’s important to make a note of everything that London has to offer and that’s free to enjoy. When travelling to a city like London, you’re faced with a costly holiday if you’re not budgeting carefully.
You should therefore look at what attractions you could be going to without needing to break the bank or spend any money whatsoever. There are a lot of free attractions beyond just the museums too. It’s a good idea to do your research online so that you’re armed with a list of options to work through. A few suggestions include:
- Borough Market
- The British Museum
- Sky Garden
- Natural History Museum
- Covent Garden
- Camden Market
Of course, some of these spots might require you to spend some money in order to fully enjoy the attraction. At least all of these can be enjoyed for free, though! It’s worth taking a look online to see all of the possible activities you could get up to while you’re in the city.
Book some unique experiences
Unique experiences are always something to take full advantage of when travelling to a new city. There will always be something going on in a city like London, so you’re never going to be stuck for things to do.
There are plenty of unique experiences worth trying out and it’s handy to get to know all of these activities or experiences via online resources. Whether it’s going on the Thames Clippers or experiencing The London Eye for the first time. While some might not be so unique to some, it might be a first-time experience for you.
London is a city worth visiting more than once but if you’re only just visiting for the first time, then you should make sure to follow all these tips to get the most out of your trip when you go.