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[FromTheFuture]

So I'm going to be studying in London for half a year, and I pretty much know nothing about what there is to see and do here (this will be my first time going). I need to take in as much as I possibly can, so I'm calling out to all of London/UK-GAF to help me out here. Absolutely any suggestions, big or small, popular or hidden, please throw my way! Whether it's great places to sight see, monuments to visit, shops to check out, great hangout spots, whatever, I'd love to hear them all.

And especially so if it has something to do with food. Got a delicious bakery, a fancy restaurant, or a little hole in the wall you know about? Do let me know! I need all the suggestions I can get, GAF!

 

[waypoetic]

London is one of the most popular cities on this planet. You can just google "things to do in london" and you'll get thousands of guides.

 

[SteveWD40]

So I'm going to be studying in London for half a year, and I pretty much know nothing about what there is to see and do here (this will be my first time going). I need to take in as much as I possibly can, so I'm calling out to all of London/UK-GAF to help me out here. Absolutely any suggestions, big or small, popular or hidden, please throw my way! Whether it's great places to sight see, monuments to visit, shops to check out, great hangout spots, whatever, I'd love to hear them all.

And especially so if it has something to do with food. Got a delicious bakery, a fancy restaurant, or a little hole in the wall you know about? Do let me know! I need all the suggestions I can get, GAF!

Where are you coming from? where are you studying?

London, much like New York has everything, I know plenty of fellow BritGaf'ers who live there who can give more tips than I, but places I liked (food wise):

Wahaca Covent Garden

Mexican "street food" done in style by one of the Master Chef winners, you don't book, just roll up for lunch / dinner and enjoy. The Pork Tacos' are amazing.

Neals Yard

Cute as hell (also in Covent Garden), one of the Python team used to live here, nice whole foods all freshly made, great to sit out in the summer as it's away from the roads and not as busy.

Breakfast Club, Hoxton

Bit further out but Hoxton is cool, this place was amazing, had a full on American style Breakfast there (never had eggs with Maple Syrup before, it's glorious!), really nice vibe.

Other things: if you are from the US, don't worry as much about tipping, think more like 10%, 15% if it's really good. You can often walk around London and skip the underground, it's surprisingly easy with google maps and sometimes the underground gets stupidly busy.

Get an Oyster card, you can top it up online and use buses, trains and the tube with ease.

 

[Nickiepoo]

Chinese dinner before a film? Try Mr Kongs, leicester square.

Greek? Daphne, near Camden.

 

[edgefusion]

If you're into theatre at all you must see Wicked, it's incredible.

 

[SteveWD40]

If you're into theatre at all you must see Wicked, it's incredible.

My gf's friend is in that show right now.

 

[edgefusion]

My gf's friend is in that show right now.

Who do they play? I went to see it just a few nights ago. Totally blown away.

 

[Kinder Egg]

I really really recommend...

http://www.luckychipuk.com/

They do a 'John Belushi' burger there for £16 - it is without a doubt the tastiest thing I've ever eaten and I'm not even massive burger fan.

Other than that, I recommend looking at a map of Central London and keeping an eye on the fact that all the hotspots there are right next to each other. Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden are all a couple minutes walk from one another. Do a lot of walking and don't be afraid of getting lost and if you do get lost, use your GPS because as I said, everything is next to one another. I'd recommend stuff outside of Central London but considering you've never been there before, I advise you to check the touristy stuff out first and soak up the atmosphere.

 

[FromTheFuture]

I'm coming out of the US - New Jersey to be exact. I've spent a ton of time in NYC and Philadelphia, and so far I'm digging London (been here a few days settling in). I'm not huge on the whole touristy type stuff, but I figure that I pretty much have to do it and I will, but I also definitely want to dig a bit deeper into London if I can.

 

[Jeffahn]

Misato(Japanese)

Wong Kei(Chinese)

...

 

[SteveWD40]

Who do they play? I went to see it just a few nights ago. Totally blown away.

He's in the chorus and the leads understudy.

 

[Into]

I was in London for the second time about 5 weeks ago, the weather was lousy but the Christmas decorations made up for it. Try talking a walk down Oxford St. i must have spent a entire day there, plenty of shops.

The Lion King musical was great, and so was the Imperial War Museum, mostly WW1 and WW2 stuff.

As for food, i basically just ate junk food, amongst all the restaurants, my favorite was the 2 pound Piri-Piri Chicken at Tesco, and some Butter Chicken at a Pakistani restaurant

 

[angelkimne]

Random things you should try at some point -

- As a student; hit up the LSE's 'public events' website (possibly also Gresham College too) and check out the free lectures in the evenings, often with some awesome academics and famous figures.
- Some of London's parks are really nice and pretty. St James, Regents, and Richmond are my favourites. You could walk, you could picnic, you could just go to eat at a cafe, you could cycle... or all of the above.
- Go to the viewing floor at the top of the Shard. Haven't gone myself but I've booked.
- Get annual membership at the Prince Charles cinema for £10, thus watching loads of cool films on the cheap.
- Watch stuff on the BBC Iplayer website using your Brilliant British IP Address.
- Google up a list of London museums and see what catches the eye. (Pretty sure London is the most museum-ed city in the world, statistically.)
- For the weekend or on the holidays; go up to the Lake District, or to Oxford ('the city of dreaming spires'), or to Bristol/Bath, or Cornwall, or to the Scottish highlands, or to wherever else interests you.

 

[Ra\/en]

What's there NOT to do? London is a city of endless things to do. I was only there for 3 days back in 2005. I could have stayed weeks.

Go see some historical stuff like the tower of london, st. pauls or take a look at some of the museums. If you are more into the night life, look into that. Food? I"m sure they have you covered for any type of cuisine. Art too.

etc etc etc.

tripadvisor is probably a great place to start. Take a look.
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractions-g186338-Activities-London_England.html

 

[Darren870]

I always like going to the top of St. Pauls and seeing the view.

Camden is always fun for bars and clubs.

Byron Burger has great Burgers that are similar to the North East of the US. There is a crap ton of good restaurants but some will cost you an arm and a leg.


Oh and I assume you are one of the many US students coming over for a semester abroad. I tend to run into a bunch of students this time of the year. Ran into some girl from my home town in NY just last week when I was out clubbing.

 

[kharma45]

If you're into theatre at all you must see Wicked, it's incredible.

Yeah Wicked is fucking amazing, I saw it when Rachel Tucker was playing Elphaba and holy fucking Christ did she knock it out of the park, pity she's not doing it still but I guess after 2 and a bit years you'd want to move on and do other stuff, like have a family.

I'd also recommend Matilda too, although again I saw it with a different cast.

 

[Krabardaf]

OP, very small contribution from me, but took breakfast there and it was really great, simple English food, very well prepared : https://plus.google.com/108287670105328685078/about?gl=be&hl=en

Camden Town is where you eat tons of asian stuff (quality is okay) for 2£. +it's a very fun place to see.

And IMO Richmond park is also something you ought to visit once. Beautiful huge park, and central Richmond is a nice place too.

Apart from that, all classic tourist places are great.

PS: went there few times, last was 2 weeks ago. I'm thinking about moving there for a few months, absolutely love this city.

 

[Incontinentia Buttocks]

Eating is good, drinking is good and wandering around various parts of London admiring the scenery/architecture is cheap and awe inspiring at times.

Whereabouts in London are you living?

 

[Suairyu]

Some of the best galleries and museums in the world, all free. Natural History Museum is a must. Avoid the Science Museum like the plague.

If you're into theatre at all you must see Wicked, it's incredible.

Just get the soundtrack. The staging of the show itself is dull.

 

[Incontinentia Buttocks]

Some of the best galleries and museums in the world, all free. Natural History Museum is a must. Avoid the Science Museum like the plague.

Just get the soundtrack. The staging of the show itself is dull.

Science museum sucks almost add much as Wicked.

British museum is a must too.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Visit the second greatest museum in the world.

The British Museum.

Two new exhibitions starting soon:

 

[frankie_baby]

Science museum sucks almost add much as Wicked.

British museum is a must too.

The science museum is awesome,

 

[kharma45]

Just get the soundtrack. The staging of the show itself is dull.

Science museum sucks almost add much as Wicked.

You're both terrible people.

Yeah British Museum is a must, Imperial War Museum too and I really liked the Churchill War Rooms.

 

[StayDead]

Take a walk down the south bank. It may not be as beautiful now all the christmas lights are down, but it's still an amazing place to walk down and dat history you see all around you.

 

[King_Moc]

Take a walk down the south bank. It may not be as beautiful now all the christmas lights are down, but it's still an amazing place to walk down and dat history you see all around you.

I concur with this. The south bank of the Thames is gorgeous. There's also this very strange little victorian theme park that was kind of cool down there.

 

[FromTheFuture]

Eating is good, drinking is good and wandering around various parts of London admiring the scenery/architecture is cheap and awe inspiring at times.

Whereabouts in London are you living?

My apartment is in Dalston, and I'll be spending the majority of my time in Islington, but I do definitely want to go out of my way to experience as much of London as I possibly can.

 

[Incontinentia Buttocks]

My apartment is in Dalston, and I'll be spending the majority of my time in Islington, but I do definitely want to go out of my way to experience as much of London as I possibly can.

Kingsland Road has a lot of Vietnamese restaurants towards the Old Street end that are cheap and tasty.

 

[Addnan]

My apartment is in Dalston, and I'll be spending the majority of my time in Islington, but I do definitely want to go out of my way to experience as much of London as I possibly can.

Are you a student at City Univeristy?

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

If you're in regents street come and see me and I'll show you around. Some cool back street paces to eat and visit if you know the area well

 

[Tex117]

Tower of London
British Mustam
British Portrait Gallery

And go drink beer dude..
Love English Breakfast.

The pub culture there is excellent.

 

[Bleepey]

OP you are a 10-15 min bus ride from me.

 

[JessicaPadkin]

And especially so if it has something to do with food. Got a delicious bakery, a fancy restaurant, or a little hole in the wall you know about? Do let me know! I need all the suggestions I can get, GAF!

Dude... bro... pal... you have to go to Borough Market. So much incredible food.

Also, my secret love is the dessert bar at William Curley near Sloane Square. It's £15 for 5 courses of very nice desserts: http://www.williamcurley.com/page/Dessert+Bar

 

[Darren870]

My apartment is in Dalston, and I'll be spending the majority of my time in Islington, but I do definitely want to go out of my way to experience as much of London as I possibly can.

You are probably close to me. I live near Canonbury but use the Dalston Junction overground for my daily commute.

Let me know if you want to grab a drink sometime.