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

[WilmaHun]

I love it! I can spend so much money in the M&M shop, my fav I like the fact there's literally every shop you could think of! I come from a tiny town with awful transport links, so I love the fact you can just hop on the tube and be the opposite side of London in a really short time. Whereas to get anywhere from my tiny town it's single carriageways for ages and at least an hour and half to the motorway, so being in London with good transport links is great to me. It's so different from where I'm from, but I really like it. You can see so much in even just a day!

The only downside is how expensive it is, but I guess if you lived there then your salary would reflect the cost of living. My wage wouldn't last me a week

 

[caterday28]

Edinburgh is beautiful, I don't know anyone that lives there but I imagine it's expensive too. Would take Edinburgh over London any day!

In terms of buying, you can get a decent one to two bed flat in and around the centre for around 250k. For rentals you will want to pay at least 800 per month for a one bed, if you want something that isn't too bad/not mouse infested. Not cheap but much cheaper than London and still cheaper than many southern cities (e.g. Bristol, Oxford).

 

[Tatooine_legend1]

Great museums, great art galleries, fantastic eateries, lovely parks. As people have already said, if it wasn't for the price I would really like to live there. There is so much to do and see in London. For me it's one of the most enjoyable and exciting cities.

 

[HumphreyB]

Ive never lived in London but have friends who are from London so we visit often enough. I do like it, but then again I like city living in general. I love how invisible you can be. Just one person amongst many going about your business. The public transport is great, love the food options too. I do think given the chance I would live in London but perhaps outside the city. I do think its very expensive though and not always justifiably so.

 

[hehehe]

Edinburgh is beautiful, I don't know anyone that lives there but I imagine it's expensive too. Would take Edinburgh over London any day!

I live in Edinburgh (from Glasgow, which I love too) and I'm so grateful to live in my favourite city.

 

[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.

 

[nbt]

I love visiting London.

In normal times I’ll try and go a couple of times a year. I just feel like there’s so much to see that can suit so many different people. One of those places where you could have been dozens of times and yet still see new things - my list is never ending.

I prefer to go off the beaten track but also happy to do the tourist type places with people that haven’t been before.

Have taken my kids a few times and don’t find that daunting as long as you plan in advance and know what you’re doing, same in any big city. Same with feeling safe - I wouldn’t even fancy walking alone at night in the quieter areas of my own town, so I’d avoid doing it in London too.

 

[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.

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

The main thing I love about London is that there is always something to do. There’s loads of places to walk, shops to look around, sights to see, museums etc etc… where I live there’s basically nothing to do

 

[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.

 

[Calabria]

It’s a great feeling getting the train up from the coast for a day or weekend in London but it’s an even better feeling getting on the train to come home again

 

[matchalatteuwu]

i’m not from the UK & when I visited London I was so shocked by how much y’all jaywalk just went at it like nobody’s business!

 

[Icbaaaa]

I've only been to London twice. First time was a school trip, we stayed for a couple of days, went to museums, the dungeons etc. Didn't realise how fast the underground went and fell as I wasn't holding on Was quite fun but really busy.
Second was only for a concert so didn't get to explore.
I'd love to go back to properly see it!

 

[CatCafe234]

I grew up in the country but went to uni in London and also lived there for a while afterwards. I miss it a lot, although living somewhere whilst you’re at uni probably gives you a slightly unrealistic view of what it’s actually like to properly live there. I loved the culture, the shops, the fact that doing stuff didn’t have to involve military-grade planning and you could literally just walk to a tube station and be somewhere amazing within half an hour. I loved the public transport and the feel of different areas, the markets and the general feeling of being somewhere buzzy and vibrant. I always thought of myself as a country mouse but I’ve realised that what I actually prefer are extremes, either deep country or the middle of a big city. I live in a town now and hate it - you have all of the hassle and downsides of a city but none of the facilities.

However, there were things I didn’t like. It’s expensive, and renting there sucked (it sucks everywhere but renting in London was a special kind of sucky, because landlords know there’s people queuing up for properties so they don’t care). I didn’t like living somewhere where I knew I could never really settle down, and if you don’t have loads of money you have to make some big compromises on where and how you live. So it’s swings and roundabouts, if I had the money I would move back to central London in a heartbeat but not unless I was well-off!

 

[Sunflower91]

I grew up in the north and first went to London in my early twenties. I’d grown up being told it wasn’t safe and there was no real need to go there. I have to admit that my first trip I was a bit terrified. I constantly felt lost and was scared on the tube and I’d really not done enough research to work out how to do things. I even got yelled at for standing on the wrong side of the escalator.

My second time was much better- I met a friend who was from London and had a much better experience with her so when I got offered the opportunity to work in London I took it. My third trip was to hunt for a flat and then a month later I moved there. My opinion has drastically changed. I loved living in London for the most part, the perception of it being unsafe went away. The only thing I found difficult was how lonely it could be at times. Covid was the straw that broke the camels back and I’ve since moved back to the north but will always be down in London for visits. It’s one of the first places that felt “me” and like I fit in.

 

[chickhicks86]

I've not been since an art trip as a teenager, and even before then had only been through in transit to somewhere else. I've visited more foreign cities properly than our own capital. I do wonder if what I see portrayed on TV is how it really is, seems like a different world to where I live! Even my nearest cities are not overly urban and built up (Westcountry girl).

 

[Lucylocket81]

I’m a country girl and live in Sussex but I LOVE a day/weekend in London, I get such a buzz arriving to all the Hussle and bustle. I used to work there a fair but when I was in banking and stay over and always really enjoyed it but I couldn’t live there now I’m older with horses and dogs. Love seeing the lights at Christmas!

 

[17xa]

I’ve been living in London 6 years now, currently living in SE. I’m fed up of it and want to move away but it’s just not feasible work wise for my fiancé or I.
I think I will enjoy it a lot more in the future when I can live somewhere else and enjoy the occasional trip to London.

 

[Tatooine_legend1]

I'm thinking about going to London for Xmas. What would be good to do at Xmas in London? I've never visited at Xmas time.

 

[FoksiOska]

I'm thinking about going to London for Xmas. What would be good to do at Xmas in London? I've never visited at Xmas time.

Oxford Street, Regent Street and Carnaby Street for the lights. Expect it to be busy but if you can go during the week it may be a bit more bearable.
Selfridges (on Oxford St) always used to have amazing window displays but some years they were a bit weird but maybe that's because I prefer traditional Christmas decs?!
Picadilly circus
Somerset House
I'd suggest to walk everywhere rather than take transport if you can as you're more likely to see random little side streets, shops and attractions that you may miss if you do it all on the underground definitely wear comfy shoes!

Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park is good to wander through.