10 Tips for Traveling to London
- Get an Oyster card right away. It’s £5 and you can top it up for any amount you would like (don’t be fooled by the options that are given in increments of 5 in the machine).
- Take buses EVERYWHERE. You can generally get from any point in the city to another with a single bus + a 10–15 minute walk. It’s like a hop-on/hop-off tour for a fraction of the cost. It’s slower than the tube, yes, but you’re on vacation. You’ve got nowhere to be.
- The best phone plan to get in London is the Pay-As-You-Go by Three. A sim-card will be .99p and will work with any unlocked phone (sim, micro-sim, nano-sim). An additional £20 will get you 12GB of data; £25 will get you unlimited data. The only drawback is that tethering is not allowed.
- Book your London Eye tickets online for a specific 30-minute timeslot. This is the best option as it is the cheapest one that will allow you to skip the queue. If being tied down to a specific time-slot isn’t your thing, just get a “Fast-lane” ticket on the spot.
- Avoid book stores. They are filled with amazing books and awesome souvenirs and everything seems so nice and lovely until you find yourself a day later with 10 books and doubts about whether your suitcase will weigh too much.
- Feed squirels in the park. It’s fun and they’re hella cute.
- The Pizza Hut on Lecister Square is way less crouded than the one at Oxford Circus.
- If you’re stupid and decided to travel with cash instead of a card, the best place to exchange money is Thomas Exchange. There are many of them downtown and in the business area, but be prepared to stand in a line anywhere between 5 and 30 minutes.
- When packing clothes focus on layered outfits. Shirt + Cardigan > Jumper.
- £50/Day is a very comfortable spending budget. You can take it down to £25 if you have breakfast at home.