What should one do in London?

[Moros]

Okay during summer I'll be going to london for a couple of days. I've been there once and I think I've seen the most typical things as well. (Though I no doubt missed a couple) Either way what things can or must one do, visit, see,... when in London? Especially some less obvious and original ideas are most welcome! Other tips or recommendations would be lovely as well!

[InsaneApache]

What should one do in London?

Get the **** out as fast as possible, it's a ******* ********.

trust me.

[Fragony]

What IA says. The tower is cool if you REALLY have to. Otherwise, hijack the plane and tell the pilot to land in Dublin.

[Gregoshi]

I disagree. I was in London for about 3 days ten years ago but only had 8 hours of free time on the last day to see the city. So I did a huge walking loop barely stopping at anything longer than a couple of minutes because there was much to see and so little time. I was astounded seeing all these famous places I've read about since I was a boy. One of the things that struck me was that pictures did not do them justice. Another was the sensation that I could feel the rich history - old history. Not like Gettysburg or Valley Forge - much older. I remember walking along the Parliment building and seeing the statue of Richard the Lionheart in the parking lot. I got instant goosebumps. The funniest moment was when I realized I walked past 10 Downing Street and never saw it.

I'd love to go back to London some day and actually spend some time there. I'd also like to get out into the countryside too. Of course, I'm an uncultured, heathen Colonial overwhelmed at the sight of real civilization, so what do I know?

[Hooahguy]

the english countryside looks nicer than London. well, thats just me, speaking as one who loves spending time in the countryside, regardless of the place.

[Lemur]

Drink heavily. That's what the locals do. When in Rome, etc.

[Megas Methuselah]

Drink heavily. That's what the locals do. When in Rome, etc.

Going by that rule, you should also not brush your teeth or mouthwash in any way.

[Beefy187]

Watch some soccer match.... Though its off season now.

[The New Che Guevara]

I come from outside of London, yet have family living in the GLA.

Basically, go to the London Dungeons (Once is enough), Take the tube, carry a bag, dont take a tour bus... the guides are annoying. Take pictures, speak your own language, annoy the locals. Go see a show, just to say you have, invade the tower, and always... Go Staines via Waterloo. Catch the shuttle to Thorpe Park! Never a bad time.

[Moros]

Drink heavily. That's what the locals do. When in Rome, etc.

Gah! being Belgian, I'll rather have to teach them what drinking heavily really means!

Also London might not b Paris or something, but you ain't going to tell me that the place doesn't have nice historical monuments and buildings? Or doesn't have great musea?

We were actually planning indeed to see a show. I was thinking about Avenue Q, Monty Python or the great classic Billy Elliot. Though Stomp doesn't look bad either.

Any other ideas for things worth visiting or doing? A city as big as london must have more interesting things to do than what's posted right now!?

[Fragony]

Well the tower is actually very cool, you can do the 'glad I am not really here' tour (from the eyes of a prisoner), pretty creepy. But Londen really kinda sucks imho, has this cheapness over it.

[Jolt]

Well the tower is actually very cool, you can do the 'glad I am not really here' tour (from the eyes of a prisoner), pretty creepy. But Londen really kinda sucks imho, has this cheapness over it.

1. Travel to London Bridge.
2. Take a dive.

[PBI]

IMHO the British Museum is well worth seeing. 200 years of plundering antiquities from ancient civilizations has its perks, lots of interesting Assyrian, Egyptian and Greek stuff.

Otherwise I'd recommend the National Gallery if you're at all interested in art, and the Imperial War Museum. The former is on Trafalgar Square so has the advantage that you can just pop in while wandering around the main tourist bits, the latter however is out in the middle of nowhere on the south bank of the river and is quite a trip to reach.

The above three all have the added bonus that, last time I checked, they were all free admission (as I believe are most if not all the major museums in London).

Otherwise the Tate Modern has two reasons to visit:
1) The building itself (a former power station) is pretty impressive on the inside.
2) The cafe at the top is quite nice (and you can skip straight past the modern art to the top if you want).

Also, it's a nice walk from there along the river bank to parliament square, from which you can then easily get to Trafalgar Square via Pall Mall, thus seeing half the "famous" bits of London in one fell swoop.

The Science Museum and the Natural History museum are OK, though a little too "kiddy-friendly" for my tastes (though I do work in science, so a historian may well say the same thing about the British Museum).

I haven't been to the Tower in years, but IIRC it was expensive and crowded, though quite fun if you fancy something a bit less serious after all the highbrow art and ancient history.

Avoid the Underground at rush hour (though I suppose that applies to any major city), and I would recommend getting an Oyster card when you first use it, it's not any cheaper but makes getting the Tube a whole lot easier. Try not to have a heart attack when you see how much it costs for a cup of coffee anywhere in London. Be prepared to be molested and have your bag searched (and very likely be glared at by panicky-looking policemen with submachine guns) every time you enter anywhere.

I'm not quite sure why London seems so unpopular here, IMHO of the major cities I've visited London is as good as any, and a lot better than most. Certainly I can't think of anywhere where you can find as much interesting stuff to do for free.

[TinCow]

Anyone who says London isn't fun is insane. I lived there for 10 years and it's my favorite city in the world. As PBI said, the British Museum is excellent, but the Imperial War Museum is actually my favorite museum anywhere. It is a glorious place, with lots of fascinating stuff, excellent exhibits, and pleasant staff. If there's nice weather, I also highly recommend a stroll through Regents Park with a picnic lunch.

[Xipe Totec]

The British Museum is Paradise on Earth. It's always full of hotties, and has a great bookshop in the middle.

[Lemur]

Does the Groucho Club still exist?

And yes, as other posters have said, The British Museum is where they keep the loot of Empire. Very impressive.

[Louis VI the Fat]

the sensation that I could feel the rich history - old history. Not like Gettysburg or Valley Forge - much older. I remember walking along the Parliament building and seeing the statue of Richard the Lionheart

Sorry for bursting romantic views of the world, but this is one of my pet peeves.

Do you realize that Valley Forge is much older, and Gettysburg as old, as the Parliament Building and the Statue of Richard the Lionheart?

The United States is ancient, much older than most European states. In the nineteenth century, America was a forward-looking country, constantly renewing her legacy, whereas European states build and invented themselves traditions and a history during this period.

Americans travel to Europe, and go see, for example, Budapest and think they are in an ancient town. Never realising that except for maybe an old cathedral and a fortified castle everything they see around them was build in a historical style at the exact same time that Chicago was already building skyscrapers.

Splendid older monuments apart, most of London, like Paris, is nineteenth century, when the congested medieval town was replaced with wide streets and large appartment blocks. Alas, further twentienth century renewal hasn't been kind to London. I must agree with prince Charles that London has lost its historical character.

Which is not to say that London isn't the hippest, possibly most exciting city in Europe.

-~~-~~-~~-<<((O))>>-~~-~~-~~-

As for what to do - that all depends on one's personal preferences. I usually just barge in and soak up the atmosphere. And..I am actually always proud of being a stupid tourist. I work off the list of famous landmarks that one ought to see. And then get some personal must-sees done. If I'd be in London right now I'd go see:
St. Paul's
Westminster
Canary Wharf
a Dickens tour
the Natural History Museum
Places from where I can avoid seeing that dreadful ferry wheel.

And I would:
Buy a retro-1980 Arsenal kit. One of those with devastatingly short trousers that are tighter and tinier than present day underwear. Then see a Tottenham match in it. Sit myself next to a few fat blokes, and shout for ninety minutes 'this what you (fl)ossers call football? Daylight robbery, I say, twenty quid for this (w)hite!?'

Stand an afternoon on Picadilly Circus. Blasting loud Norwegian Metal from my ghettoblaster, headbanging and shouting at the top of my lungs 'EnglishAssassin! Assassin! Where art thou?'

[InsaneApache]

Anyone who says London isn't fun is insane.

You got me banged to rights there guv.

[TinCow]

Sorry for bursting romantic views of the world, but this is one of my pet peeves.

Do you realize that Valley Forge is much older, and Gettysburg as old, as the Parliament Building and the Statue of Richard the Lionheart?

The United States is ancient, much older than most European states. In the nineteenth century, America was a forward-looking country, constantly renewing her legacy, whereas European states build and invented themselves traditions and a history during this period.

Americans travel to Europe, and go see, for example, Budapest and think they are in an ancient town. Never realising that except for maybe an old Cathedral and a fortified castle everything they see around them was build in a historical style at the exact same time Chicago was building skyscrapers.

Splendid older monuments apart, most of London, like Paris, is nineteenth century, when the congested medieval town was replaced with wide streets and large appartment blocks. Alas, further twentienth century renewal hasn't been kind to London. I must agree with prince Charles that London has lost its historical character.

I'm going to have to disagree with you here. As an American who became a naturalized British citizen, I have spent a great deal of time in the US, the UK, and pretty much all of Europe. There is no place in the US that has anything remotely like the historical feel of even the smallest European towns, let alone the main cities. I went to law school in Williamsburg, Virginia, which is famous for having a large section of rebuilt and restored structures from the Colonial period. Even that place pales in comparison to any random small town in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, etc.

True, much of Europe has been knocked down and rebuilt. However that is no different than the US. Americans knock down old buildings and put new ones over them far more often than Europeans do, simply because we don't think many of our buildings are historical in any way. The simple fact that Nash townhouses in London are Grade 2 listed structures already goes far beyond the history of most structures in the US. Sure, 90% of buildings in London are relatively new, but a good deal of that other 10% is older than our entire country.

From an American perspective, what is truly amazing about Europe is that your historical buildings are still used for practical purposes. People live in 200+ year old homes and work in 200+ year old offices. And don't get me started on the stupendous number of churches, castles, palaces, and miscellaneous ruins scattered about the countryside, many of which were built before Columbus ever set sail. In the US, structures that old tend to be turned into museums or otherwise taken out of use as normal facilities. This is a reflection of how truly rare they are. It's really not that surprising, because most early American structures were built out of wood. Wood does not last long. All you need to do is wander through the French Quarter of New Orleans. That area has some of the oldest wooden buildings on the continent, and they look BAD. I sure wouldn't want to live in them, and they stink to high hell. Europeans have been building out of stone for a very long time, and that has made their structures last.

If you think that Europe has no more history in it than the US, that's probably because you grew up with that history all around you and don't notice it as much. Americans notice it all, because we don't have it over here. At least, not like you do. It's not the individual buildings that give it the historical feel, it's the entire city, the entire country, indeed the entire continent.

[Louis VI the Fat]

any random small town in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, etc.

Small towns breath history indeed.

Many smaller cities can be historical as a city as a whole: Florence, Bruges, Amsterdam, Rome, many in Britain too. Each one a former metropole. Here one can sense history.
There are also old cities, that really consist of modern buildings interpersed with a collection of old monuments. This makes the city appear very old, when most of it is new: Paris, London, Vienna, Barcelona, Rome.
Then there are plain modern cities that simply look like they're old: Munich, Budapest, Berlin, Rome.

It is a matter of taste, of preference maybe. The US/Euro view of history I must respectfully leave for another thread, however interesting.


Postcard version of London. There is nothing in the picure below that precedes the 19th century:

[TinCow]

Small towns breath history indeed.

Very true. I prefer small town (rural is not the proper word) Europe to the bigger cities. One of my goals in life is to be able to retire to a small town with good farmer's markets in Britain or France.

Postcard version of London. There is nothing in the picure below that precedes the 19th century:

Also true, but there's almost nothing in the entire US which pre-dates the 19th century either. The only things that are that old are on the East Coast, mainly small government buildings and townhalls in places like Boston and Philadelphia. Washington DC, our capital and the home of most of our national museums and monuments, wasn't even founded until the 1790s. The White House wasn't finished until 1800 and the impressive Capital building wasn't finished (in its current form) until the 1860s! Ask any American what they consider to be their 'cultural' buildings, and you'll get a list that looks something like this:

White House (1800)
Capital Building (1811 and 1863)
Empire State Building (1931)
Golden Gate Bridge (1937)
Brooklyn Bridge (1883)
Hoover Dam (1936)
Sears Tower (1973)
Times Square, NYC
Hollywood, CA

Sure, we have stuff like Independence Hall and Faneuil Hall, but they aren't often at the top of the list when Americans think about the iconic symbols of this country. Our symbols are often things of industrial history, not cultural history. Menlo Park (Edison) and Dearborn, Michigan (Ford) are major tourist sites!

[Xiahou]

I spent about 5 days in London a number of years ago. To me, the Tower was by far the most memorable experience from my time there. Followed closely by the British Museum.

[Samurai Waki]

I don't know. I guess it depends on whose eyes you're looking through in regards to feeling the history of an area... having grown up, and living in a place where its mostly wilderness, and you're out hiking and stumble upon random artifacts like an arrowhead, or cave painting you get a sense of just how new you are to this area. Sure, we've been here a little awhile, but we weren't the first by far, some of those paintings you see that are over 3,000 years old just reinforce that sense of newness..

EDIT: As for London, I really enjoyed Trafalgar Square and the British Museum.

[Fragony]

Said 'imho'. There is just something trashy about London I can't stand. What should be a world class city is............. I dunno London and me don't click. War museum is indeed cool by the way.

[rasoforos]

Dont listen to anyone who says bad things about London. They are just jealous

I love this city.

My favourite place is the Natural History museum. An amazing building and an amazing collection , I would spend many hours in each visit and would go there often while living in London.

There is no way you can visit all museums and sights in less than a month. Just immerse yourself into the atmosphere of London, take the tube and visit anything that sounds like fun.

I ve lived in many places, and I ve only lived in London for a year or so but it is the best place to be

[miotas]

I'm not quite sure why London seems so unpopular here, IMHO of the major cities I've visited London is as good as any, and a lot better than most.

Cities in general are terrible places to be, so claiming to be the best of something terrible isn't something to be proud of, if you want to see what a country is really like then go to the country.

I prefer small town (rural is not the proper word) Europe to the bigger cities. One of my goals in life is to be able to retire to a small town with good farmer's markets in Britain or France.

In Australia small towns that aren't rural are called regional. That sounds like a good life goal you've got there, I personally would like to spend my far distant retirement years traveling around Australia in a winnebago.

[SwordsMaster]

Was it Oscar Wilde who said: "When a man is tired of London, he's tired of life."?

Haven't actually been there myself yet, which is silly as i live a 45 min flight away. So will have to correct that mistake eventually.

[InsaneApache]

Samuel Johnson. He was wrong BTW.

[Gregoshi]

TinCow, thank you for patching the balloon Louis so rudely burst.

[Prussian to the Iron]

[inappropriate, Lemur]