London is as Cool as it is Cultured
A CITY THAT NEVER FEELS AS BUSY AS IT IS LARGE
For some reason, I didn’t picture the UK as being one of my favorite places on my world tour. I’d been to London once before and while I did enjoy it - I didn’t remember loving it. I felt differently this time. I fell a bit in love with and in London, and my infatuation in the UK has continued to bloom since.
I think what I found most remarkable about London was that it consistently doesn’t have the wild, cramped hustle I would expect from a 9 million person city. At all points, even downtown, it always felt spacious and accessible to me. I found the architecture and monuments beautiful - but never so overwrought or so glorious as to outshine their neighborhood. The result was a cohesive, livable metropolis.
London had a few things working in its favor to get a glowing endorsement from me. I was there during Pride and found a deeply charming one-day boyfriend to spend it with cozily together; leaning into each other in the West End theater district along a monument is definitely a highlight of the trip for me. London is also the most vegan friendly city I’ve been to so far - and I was amazed by even the grocery store selections (and pre-made meals) available to me. And after two months of places where I don’t speak the local language fluently, getting back to English was also a bit of a relief.
But I think these biases aren’t the bulk of the reasons I enjoyed my time so much. London is one of the culture capitals of the world - from theater (Broadway comparable) to being one of the world’s four fashion capitals to having Europe’s largest concentration of higher education institutions, London drips culture. Its scale, diversity, and economy leave something for everyone.
Out of all places I’ve been so far that I’d consider moving to, London is currently on top.
HEAD DOWNTOWN
I can’t say any single one of London’s major tourist spots truly awed me on its own - but many of them are concentrated in the same area of the city, leaving it beautiful, charming, and awe-inspiring collectively. Within a reasonable walk, you can head from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. Then you can cross to the South Bank and see the London Eye, cross back to see Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, and end in Soho and the theater district. You’ll get a real taste for what the busiest section of London has to offer.
EXPLORE HYDE PARK
Just outside the city core, Hyde Park is one of London’s biggest parks and is a favorite for joggers because of its sprawl. It’s nice to sit next to The Serpentine (its lake), the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain (which may be the most unique fountain I’ve bumped into), or the lily ponds of the Italian Garden. If you explore just outside the park in Kensington, you can see a section a beautiful, enormous embassy houses.
Hyde Park also bumps adjacent to Green Park and St. James park, which are both also lovely and surround Buckingham Palace.
STROLL THROUGH NOTTING HILL
My Thai host mom’s favorite movie was Notting Hill, so I’ve seen the movie several times and it’s left me with a soft spot for the neighborhood. So, naturally, I went to see the blue door . . . Which was extremely underwhelming.
BUT - the Notting Hill Neighborhood is extremely charming. The architecture is quite different from other sections of London, and the colorful row homes make a stroll through the area idyllic. If you have extra time to explore an area not far form downtown, Notting Hill is a good choice.
OTHER THINGS TO DO
London is enormous, so there is absolutely no shortage of ways to spend your time. More than other cities, when I looked at guides online, they overwhelmed me because they wouldn’t limit themselves to 10 or 20 of the top to-dos; for London, they’d often go into the triple digits.
I think, because of that, it’s important to not go into London with FOMO and just enjoy what you can experience. Here are a few of the common things to get up to:
Go to a Show: The West End is comparable to broadway for its quality theater and world premiers of new shows. If you like the theater and have the budget, this is a great thing to do.
Visit a Museum: London is full of museums, such as The British History Museum, The Natural History Museum, The Science History Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Ride the London Eye: This Ferris wheel is an iconic part of the downtown skyline, and a common to-do for tourists.
Go to a More Out of the Way Neighborhood: You’re only going to get a small, biased taste of London if you stay downtown. You can head out to one of the other well known neighborhoods to see more of what London has to offer, such as Camden, Brixton or Shoreditch.
Shop at Harrods: One of the most famous department stores in the world, Harrods is a common stop for shoppers.
I wouldn’t recommend over-packing your days in London, and instead just try to let the marvel of the city unfurl before you.