22 Tips I Wish I Knew Before Visiting London

These 22 tips to know before visiting London are what I wish I knew before my trip to London.

Hopefully these travel tips will help you from making some of my mistakes when traveling through London!

DISCLAIMER: I only express my opinion based on my experience. Your experience may be different. These videos are for educational and inspirational purposes only. Links above may include affiliate commission or referrals. I'm part of an affiliate network and I receive compensation from partnering websites. This video is accurate as of the posting date but may not be accurate in the future.

[zupermaus]

word of advice -DON'T get an exorbitant taxi from any of the airports, they will cost you $100 or more, and take absolute hours with the traffic. Get a train or tube and its 1.25 hrs at the most, or 30 mins, a fraction the cost. All trains from the airports will have been designed to have ample room for luggage, the tube not so much (but doable, plenty of people will be doing it too, and you'll be the first stop). Literally London is the world's biggest air hub (160 million fly into its 6 international airports p/a) and no one gets the taxi.

[Squeaks]

A tip for all would-be travellers. If you are really struggling to find good food in London (?) then you can always rely on Pret a Manger for good sandwiches and other lunch type foods and Leon for more substantial meal types. Both have branches all over the city. They offer good value and some healthier options also. If you get really stuck you could do a lot worse than taking advantage of the various "meal deals" that supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury's offer.

[zupermaus]

Richmond is actually in London (zone 4 out of 9), but is surrounded by some of the world's largest urban parks which many people think is the countryside (Richmond Park alone is about 3x the size of Central Park in NYC).

[patfernandes]

Always interested in travellers POV of London. Taxis are really expensive in London. All the airports have express trains into Central London. (Heathrow also connected by the Tube). - Get into central by train and get a cab from there if you must. Richmond IS London and that little river is the Thames - London is a massive city with all types of experiences to be had but England is small enough to hop on a train for as little as 90mins to visit places like Cambridge, Oxford, Brighton, Cotswolds etc. As for the the hell have you been eating?? Might have been true in 1970s but there is a tremendous and thriving foodie seen in London, from traditional to modern British and pretty much any global cuisine you care to think Edinburgh is in Scotland (different country).

[jenn]

i`m a londoner and i`m surprised you found it hard to find good healthy food, there`s so many amazing restaurants in places like : islington, chelsea, battersea, clapham etc, plus all the beautiful old pubs with the delicious sunday roasts...

[andybaker]

A language tip. One of the words you used to describe Camden Market was "spunky". It's probably best to avoid using that word here in the UK. It has a TOTALLY different meaning! 😂

[hugostiglitz]

I spent my year between Berlin and Frankfurt and London and Dublin. Don't know where you get this idea that you can't get good food in London, there's literally thousands of all nationality of restaurant in London. If your idea of great food is a bagel shop then you're probably lost from the start.

[johnswift]

Tube is a good service to heathrow. Do it monthly from the north from King's Cross. 65 minutes. Train every 10 minutes to all terminal.

[jaymora]

Appreciate this video! I've been to London a number of times and for my next visit in October, you've given me some good ideas! Thanks.

[alexwhb]

Love the content man! Super aprecate all the advice! This is by far the most down to earth non touristy video I've seen on London so far.

[gollyboys]

Commenting as an ex Londoner of over 30 years, As many people have commented already, Richmond is in London.

Secondly don’t believe that the food is bad, London has some of the best food in the World with literally thousands of bars/cafes and restaurants from cheap and cheerful to 2/3 Michelin star eateries and there is something for everyone, just buy yourself a decent local food guide and you’ll discover some fantastic restaurants to suit all tastes

Lastly sorry to say, but a lot of the places mentioned are tourist traps and will rip you off with ridiculous prices, Camden and Portobello for a start, there are some wonderful places to see if you look around, my old area of Hampstead and Highgate are lovely places as is Marylebone High St with lovely shops and great bars. Chelsea/Kings Road are well worth a visit too. Go south and Clapham is a lovely area too.

Canary Wharf (the financial district is interesting to see) and on a nice day you can walk to Greenwich under the foot tunnel (although it’s also a bit touristy)

Enjoy our wonderful City

[neiljaye]

Great video! You might want to resist the urge to stay in central London. I usually stay in Chelsea or Kensington, and while these are more 'upscale' parts of town, the hotels are generally cheaper. Additionally, these areas are safe to walk around in at any hour. Remember to use the Tube and buses. You can get anywhere in the city, and while the per-ride cost may seem a little high, there is a daily cap (8-9 pounds for zones 1 and 2, I believe), so once you reach it, you can ride for free for the rest of the day. Remember to use the same card/payment method throughout the day to get the cap advantage. Do not get an Oyster card unless you don’t have a tap-accessible card or phone. It’s not worth it. Also, be sure to visit pubs. Contrary to popular belief, Londoners, and UK people in general, are quite nice and friendly (as a whole). I’ve found it very easy to strike up a conversation with locals in pubs, and it’s such a big part of British culture. If you’re on a budget, grab the Meal Deals at places like Tesco, Sainsbury's, etc. They come with a surprisingly good sandwich, chips/crisps, and a drink for about 5-6 pounds. These seem to be an institution there. Yes, like most major tourist destination cities, London can be extremely expensive, but with a little planning and thought, you can do things fairly affordably.

[john_smith]

@4:57: Richmond is nice, but rather than the underground I use fast trains from Waterloo station, frequent service, journey times from 16mins to 28mins.

[username_]

As a Londoner who has grown up and lived here all my life - great video but I completely disagree with the food being bad and unhealthy. London has some of the best food from all over the world pretty much everywhere (I have never in my life heard the Brick Lane is the only place with good food - like ever!?), so respectfully that is very wrong. 

People will find great food if they just look a bit and don't just go to posh looking places within central - there is sooo much more to London (both food wise and everything-else-wise) than central London - if you want to have the best, non touristy experience in London, go outside central.

And saying that it is difficult to find healthy food in London is also unheard of within London, especially nowadays honestly. So yeah overall really confused with that take on food - imo you nobody can make an opinion about the food within just a month.

but apart from that great video :)

p.s you were completely right about the beigels in Brick Lane though - they are amazing and are so iconic to Londoners as well :)

[reneerobertlancaster]

Family traveling from the US. We landed at Heathrow and took the public transit to Paddington station for 15 pounds each. Enjoyed the trip into the city which took just under 30 min on the new Elizabeth Line. No reason to pay more for traveling into/ out of the city. We then took the train to Ely, rented a 58 foot narrowboat and cruised the waterways around Cambridge for a week! There are so many ways to see the UK but I highly recommend!

[remy]

I go to London every year, primarily for the food. Pubs can provide fantastic food, and there are a ton of gastropubs providing Thai, Indian, traditional, fusion, etc. options. Fresh ingredients, healthy options, and fast service are the norm. I'm always sure to hit Chinatown for London's famous crispy aromatic duck with pancakes. And Dishoom has several locations around the city and serves delectable meals.

[unusefulmadness]

Also I hate to break it to you but Richmond is in London. But it is very beautiful. Loads of bits of london feel different from the centre. Greenwich and Hampstead are similar too

[GiselleBel]

Interesting video with some great tips. But no, no, no, no, no on ubers or taxis from any of the airports in and near London. An uber charges an airport surcharge to pick up there, it costs so much more than public transport. Exorbitant. Like someone else said: in Heathrow you're the first stop on the Piccadilly line (tube) and many Elizabeth Line trains. The Elizabeth Line has LOTS of luggage space, the Piccadilly line a bit less but stake out a corner and stack up your stuff - just don't expect to dump your cases in the middle of the car because you'll get dirty looks and people falling over them.
Take a train (it can be but doesn't have to be the Stansted Express, normal trains are just as good) from Stansted, because a taxi from there is ridiculously expensive. Why would you do that? Same for Gatwick: just take a train!
Honestly uber/taxi to or from airports in/near London? Very bad idea. Don't do it. It will also take forever, you'll sit in traffic without an option to get out. Go on the tube or a train, just be sensible with your luggage because lots of people will join along the line.

[vanburger]

has some of the best foods in the world. And it's everywhere but not in the tourist hotspots. So when I hear that someone had a bad food experience I know where they hung out. Go off the beaten track don't get fish and chips in a pub with a view of big Ben. and if you are a tourist be aware that the best foods are found in some of the outer neighbourhoods. Or in the countryside. The food around the tourist traps are for tourists only just like any city in the world.

[BeckyPoleninja]

Richmond d is a Borough of London, that River was the Thames. Good food is everywhere