"The Big Smoke..." London by M0B1US

London Travel Guide: 23,056 reviews and 47,246 photos

'X' marks where I used to live... - London
'X' marks where I used to live...
Highlights

London is in many ways my spiritual home having gone to school and lived most of my life here, and although I am no longer living here it will always hold a special place in my heart and I will always enjoy visiting it - as a tourist now!

London is one of the great cities of the world, exuding character and history everywhere you turn - there is so much to see and do that you could be here weeks and only scratch the surface!

I am proud of London - more so since I have travelled and realise just what a special place it is! Things are really looking positive here now that we have a central (Mayoral) government looking after this great city in a focused manner - things are actually getting done!

As for my London page, my goal will be to lift the lid on a few of its secrets and dispel a few myths...

If there is one thing that gets my goat, it is people who give London a hard time saying that it is an expensive city. It doesn't have to be that way, and one of my intentions on this page is to prove it by posting my money saving tips and tricks so that I can pass on my savings to you! I will also try and concentrate more on South London as people tend to write much of this area off when there is so much to see here such as the Southbank, Greenwich, Dulwich, Clapham, Richmond and Kew for example...

Whenever you see a tip headed 'FREE London', well it's FREE! 'Cheap London', tips are a hint on how to save money in this wonderful city - after all I'm sure the Artful Dodger never paid top dollar and HE was a Londoner! ;-)

I have also linked every site specific tip to a MAP using the excellent Streetmap website, so that you can find out exactly where each of these places are in London and plan accordingly. I have also started noting the nearest tube stations in the tips and will be updating the older ones to have this feature as I go along.

Check back here often as I will be updating this page regularly now that I'll be back here for a while...

Please, if you see any inaccuracies, spelling mistakes or grammatical errors - no matter how small, kindly let me know and I will fix them!

Welcome to the city I grew up in - ENJOY!

Quick Tips & Suggestions
Canary Wharf, viewed from Greenwich - London

Canary Wharf, viewed from Greenwich

At 650 square miles, London is the largest city in Europe, but don't let that daunt you! No visit to London would be complete without seeing the very things that made the British Empire the largest the World has ever seen...

Of course, the sun has well and truly set on that chapter of our history, but the rich legacy of that era and the things that contributed to it, remains in abundance!

But apart from the obvious that every visitor knows about, I will try and draw your attention to other, less well known sights as well...

Borough Market is one of my favourite places to visit in London, for some reason not many tourists seem to come here, which is odd really as it is literally surrounded by many of South London's best landmarks. Check out my Borough Market Travelogue for a 'taster'...

My top tourist tip would be the walk from the London Eye along the river all the way until Tower Bridge, it's a few miles but it is definitely my favourite thing to do in London as it takes in some of the most famous sights London has to offer!!!

Check out my My Southbank Walk to see what I'm talking about...

Canary Wharf is my favourite place to work as it manages to mix the old and the modern of London's historic Docklands - it also has a great bar scene and is an all round great place to hang out!

It's funny, but Canary Wharf Tower looked better when it was on it's own - now looking from afar, it's hard to believe that it's the tallest building in the UK and the 2nd tallest in Europe...

Getting Around
Borough Market - My favourite London market - London

Borough Market - My favourite London market

Much as we Londoners love to moan about it, we have one of the best and most integrated transport systems in the entire world! It is only when you start travelling overseas that you truly appreciate what you have at home...

It is true that the system is still suffering from the rampant mismanagement of the Conservative Government, but things seem to be changing rapidly recently.

Whether you like him or loathe him, Ken Livingstone has always had a good head when it comes to public transport and I think that many of London's woes stem from the decade or so that London was without a single coordinated citywide authority, be it the old Greater London Council or the new post as Mayor...

Under Ken's stewardship, already transport has improved hugely with the massive overhaul of London's red buses (a trip on an old routemaster is a must!) coinciding with the introduction of the long needed congestion charge.

A controversial 'Public Private Partnership' (PPP) is also investing money into the venerable London Underground to the tune of billions of pounds, so that looks set to overhaul the world's first underground network...

So for short to medium trips around London, ride the buses and you will be amazed at how quick and easy to use they are - in many cases faster than the equivalent underground journey!

For longer journeys, either take the tube or british rail - it is worth noting that the latter trains run almost as frequently as the tube and very useful in getting to certain destinations.

For nights out on the town, London is unparalled in night time transport with a huge and extremely efficient night bus service. Otherwise there are London's famous Black Cabs which are another excellent means of transport if a little expensive! Don't ride in unmarked 'mini-cabs' unless from a recommended company - most are illegal in too many ways to mention and potentially dangerous too...

The River Thames also provides excellent opportunities for trips up and down its length and there are regular scheduled passenger services between Westminster and Greenwich.

Remember, London may be a huge city, but once you have a hang of the easy to use transport system getting around is a breeze - apart from the occasional delay... ;-)

Pros and Cons
  • Pros:Art, Culture, History - One of the foremost cities in the World!
  • Cons:Can be expensive if you're not careful...
  • In a nutshell:One of my favourite cities in the World, and where I call home! :-)
  • Last visit to London: Sep 2004
  • Intro Updated Sep 19, 2004
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Comments (39)

  • Reply
    Jan 5, 2008 at 4:14 PM

    I used to work near The Anchor pub Bankside. One day I was late for a meeting in the Shakespeare Room once and as i sat down at the table something tapped me sharply on the shoulder twice. Although no-one was near enough to me....

  • Reply
    sourbugger's Profile Photo
    Apr 7, 2006 at 3:16 PM

    one of the best london pages i've read in a long time and superb warning & dangers section

  • Reply
    Bwana_Brown's Profile Photo
    Jan 21, 2006 at 4:28 PM

    Wow, what an amazing page on London!! You are really looking after we poor travellers with all this inside information! Excellent restaurant ideas here too! I will be back for more.

  • Reply
    keida84's Profile Photo
    Sep 15, 2005 at 10:20 PM

    Helpful & interesting tips, I did not get all the way through them. I will be in London this January, looking forward to some of those pubs you mentioned. Kat

  • Reply
    Sharon's Profile Photo
    Aug 20, 2005 at 2:19 AM

    Sat' morning, your London page... I'm "thrown' back to "my" borough market (just on the right time)... and to other places i miss SO much. what A Great page !! I can't wait to be back there. Thanks for a real good page !

  • Reply
    sue_stone's Profile Photo
    May 18, 2005 at 11:58 AM

    Fabulous!! Very helpful and interesting tips. I still have so much to discover!!

  • Reply
    LauraWest's Profile Photo
    Apr 19, 2005 at 7:31 PM

    Very impressive pages. I'm not even done reading them yet & already I'm glad I found your London pages! Happy travels to you. I'll be in London in less than 2 months, first trip!! Yeah!

  • Reply
    polardabar's Profile Photo
    Sep 7, 2004 at 1:43 PM

    great photos, great great tips, great great great pages! :) polar*

  • Reply
    nomad04's Profile Photo
    Sep 4, 2004 at 5:55 AM

    Really enjoyed your London pages. Youve given me some great ideas for keeping the cost down when i visit there next week. Thanks !!!

  • Reply
    vichatherly's Profile Photo
    Sep 4, 2004 at 4:57 AM

    Excellent London page.

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