If you're not from London what do you think of it?

[Clara-78]

I'm going to get flamed here I'm sure but I detest London. It's busy, grimy, overpriced. I grew up in Glasgow and now live in the rural outskirts of a market town. We do go to London occasionally as we have friends there but I always can't wait to escape and get home.

 

[Merpedy]

I prefer towns or smaller cities and honestly the size of London just seems scary and slightly inconvenient with all the dependency on public transport (wouldn't want to drive in London tbh)

Seems like it would also have too many people + the tourists probably get a bit annoying

Expensive

 

[Heyholetsgo]

It does seem a lot colder up north that puts me off!

 

[Mimble]

It has a definite 'buzz'. Can't describe it. But so dirty and the air genuinely feels like smog at times. People are in a rush and you are in their way. Weird mix of people being really cold and unfriendly and what I assume must be an eastend / Cockney / Londoner characteristic of being almost aggressively in your face friendly and generous and upfront. I get completely charmed by it, it's so likeable. I can't really describe what I mean!

I grew up somewhere that looked like a Warburton's advert so still find the 'big city' overwhelming. Figuring out routes and stops on tube seems designed to give people a nervous breakdown, but I see natives casually hopping on and off tubes and skipping platform to platform like it's nothing. Things are really expensive. There's more push and ambition and just a sense of this is where things happen and get started. Your snot turns black after a day there.

 

[rainbowlemon]

I grew up in North London and whilst I dream of living near the Cornish coast like Poldark, i'm still not sure I really can see myself living anywhere else.

I loved being able to just go somewhere depending on my mood.

I was always a huge museum fan and loved the Natural history museum and the imperial war museum the most.

The Christmas lights every year at Oxford street were magical and I loved looking at the Harrod's window displays.

Hampstead Heath was also lovely to walk through and to see the swans, same as Hyde park.

I'm not the type of person to pay £4.50 for a slice of cake from a independent cafe, so days out could be as cheap or as expensive as you wanted it to be. We would always bring our own food with us whenever we went anywhere.

 

[FoksiOska]

I grew up near London and now live about 3 hours away. I used to go several times a year on day trips visiting various different areas - I'd always find something new and interesting to visit and I loved exploring the museums. I do miss not living near enough to do it in a day trip. Well, I could but it would be a long tiring day.
I haven't been for a couple of years and I'd love to think that I'll go back soon.
Having said all that, as much as I enjoyed a day in London, I was always ready to leave.

I also love Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow

 

[Wifo1976]

I love cities and love London, but I couldn’t live there. I sometimes wish I’d lived there when I was younger. I love the vibe, the cultures, the history, even the tube and it’s station names interest me!
We recently visited Birmingham and stayed in the city centre, we loved it there too! We live in Lancashire but near Manchester and it’s a fab place. I like that we can visit when we want but go back to a quieter life down the road.

 

[SqualorVictoria]

I love London but to visit, not to live. There's a fantastic buzz about it but a weekend is enough for me. Have had some of the best times of my life there so will always come back for visits. The water is absolutely shocking though, hard as rock

 

[openbook1]

I used to love London, would visit for work often. I visited there in 2019 for the first time in years...and parts of it were utterly disgusting. Garbage bags everywhere and many of the streets smelt of pee. My husband and I were literally gagging walking down one of the streets near Trafalgar Square. It felt like a really dirty place which is a shame. We went to a lot of museums which we enjoyed but even the bathrooms in them were very dirty and smelly. Interestingly, the tube felt like the cleanest area, lol. We stayed in Chiswick which I liked, and Richmond was really beautiful and nice to walk around.

 

[Heyholetsgo]

We live about 45 mins away now and that's close enough for me. I don't think I could raise my kids there but do like the diversity of it which is a bit lacking where we live. That's what I liked about Manchester seems a lot of different cultures and things still. And the music scene of course!

 

[Sideboard Bob]

I love it. I know it‘s not perfect, and I can understand why people don’t like it, but the buzz of it gives me life.

 

[Peaches_xox]

Yeah, the black snots are grim. I call them tube snots. Always have to clean my nose when i get back from London.

I think its a little unfair, that Londonders get a hard time of being unfriendly. Its a mad pace in the city, the buzz and rush. Lots of tourism, lots of work, shopping, its actually small but overcrowded. When darting about from work or shopping, I probably looked grumpy and unfriendly too

Thank you I don’t think I’m unfriendly. If anybody asks for help with a pushchair or directions and whatever I’d give it but you’re right I’m usually rushing around, don’t notice people and am focused on where I’d need to get too

 

[hanq2021]

I did enjoy visiting London when I went and would go again. My stereotypical view on London though is it’s either ridiculously priced and posh or council flats where you get stabbed I would never in a million years move there to live on either side.

 

[Kim Mild]

I went for a weekend about 5 years ago and these are my observations

- it was less busy than I expected ( I've found Newcastle busier on a weekend)

- there were more cars driving around in Central London than I expected. There is a common theory that nobody in London has a car.

From Instagram, it seems like the ground is always dry in winter ( the ground is always damp up north) .

 

[Tatooine_legend1]

Forgot about two fantastic markets, and they are Borough market and Camden market. Both are lively, with good food places to eat and things to see. I do love a good market. Talking about London, makes me a bit sad I will likely never have the money to have my own house there, especially in any of the places I'd like to live.

 

[Bobbleowl90]

I find it weird that people expect to be smiled at on the tube why would I smile at a random stranger who I don’t know

Some people don’t even acknowledge you’re there. We spent a weekend in London with a pram and I nearly fainted when one person asked if we needed a help with the pram in the station as back up north it’s just so common!

 

[Niamhm]

Really dislike London. I'm from the Midlands originally but we moved a 45 minute train ride from London as husband commutes. Everytime I go it's just so busy, people are rude and it's dirty and smelly and expensive. It's the same in all major cities, so nothing personal, I just would never want to live there.

 

[emm]

I was born and I lived in London for 40 years. London was amazing but the tourist part of London isn't full of Londoners but tourists and commuters rushing to work. the outskirts of London are amazingly friendly or they were, but now most Londoners have moved away. My whole family were born and bred in London we all lived in the same area, both sets of grandparents lived within a 2 min walk but the only one remaining out of all of us is my brother, we have 100s of aunties, uncles, cousins etc all moved away. I moved out 23 years ago and even then London was not full of Londoners, but from people all over the world and from all over the UK.

There are no communities in London anymore and that trend is spreading. Not many areas that those who were born somewhere can afford to live there once they marry or leave home.

i dont know where you lived in London but to say there are no communities is ridiculous. i was born in london but now live in a totally different part of the city. i know my neighbours, we organise projects together to improve our surrounding area. there is very much a sense of community here. as someone else here has said, the diversity of london is what makes it a great place

 

[Begborrowsteal]

I am from there but its a real love/hate relationship.

Id never live there again but i loved the hustle and bustle of my 20s there, going for dinner and drinks after work. It did just feel really cool to dart about with a social calendar!

 

[lemonlime]

From a tourist's perspective, it's my favourite city. Meaning, having the free time and disposable cash to wander where you like and do anything you want, London is the place I miss the most when I'm away from it for a long time. I doubt I'd find it as comforting and entertaining if I had to make do with a tight budget, put up with the hectic commute and rush hours after working all day and if I couldn't live/stay wherever I wanted.

I can imagine London being extremely unfriendly and unforgiving when you're not living like a tourist (or a rich influencer lol), which was mainly the reason why I refused a low paying job offer, despite the fact it would have meant that I could move to the UK and to my favourite place. As much as I love London, I didn't want to struggle to the point where I've started to resent it. When I'm visiting for pleasure, I love that I can adjust the pace of the city to my liking. I take my time, live slowly, spend time at my favourite corners and have the luxury to skip something that I don't fancy doing.

If I could live there like a millionaire, I wouldn't think twice, but until I win the lottery, I'll have to settle for saving up for it and treating myself to 'my' London for a short period of time.