Your Ultimate Guide to London, United Kingdom

Traveling to London for the first time and don’t know where to start? Are you traveling solo? Going solo anywhere in the world could be daunting and especially if you’re doing it for the first time. I remember texting my sister how nervous I was for my trip and if you look at the text below, that’s what she told me.

Maybe she was right. After all, I did do a lot of research but to be really honest, I was just scared that what if none of that was true. Since I had to go through so many different blogs, and websites, and travel guides, I had totally lost it and as if it wasn’t already a lot for my brain to process, I had to find good vegetarian food options. Being vegetarian is good and all until you’re traveling solo and you have to find a good place to eat abroad. Either way, I decided that when I start my blog, I wanted to include the details of what I’m doing. We’ve all seen blogs where they list out 5 different things to do in a specific city and what to eat and there is nothing wrong with it. I love those blogs but what I found missing was, how did you navigate through the city? Yes, knowing what attractions to visit is really nice but how did you really get to the city center? Did you use public transportation? And that’s what I wanted to include in my blog. Yes, I will include what you must see in a city but also, some of the details that is needed and left out. So, if you’re traveling to London after this crisis is over, solo or not, be sure to save this blog as I’m going to tell you just what you need to have a successful trip to London.

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1. Airport – London Gatwick International Airport – LGW

I few Aer Lingus from Chicago O’hare International Airport (ORD) to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) with an hour layover in Dublin. Usually, when you hear London, You head London Heathrow but Gatwick is also Europe’s 9th busiest airport. It’s just not as modern as Heathrow. I’ve landed at Heathrow as well and to be honest, I prefer Gatwick because public transportation takes only 30 minutes to get to the city center compared to an hour from Heathrow.

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2. Public Transportation to the City Center

The reason why I like landing at Gatwick is because of the public transportation. There is service called Gatwick Express that runs every 15 minutes between Gatwick Airport South Terminal and London Victoria Station every day from 5 am to 00.30 am. The journey time is 30 minutes and the service is non-stop to Victoria station. They have two options, you could either buy the ticket on your phone or buy it at a kiosk in the station. I really recommend buying it on your phone and here is why. The kiosk could get really busy depending on the time you arrive and especially during rush hour, the ques are extremely long. I made a mistake of not buying it on my phone and ended up waiting in the line for almost about half hour. Gatwick Express could get a little bit expensive so they also have another service line called Thameslink, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour due to having stops in the between the city and airport.

• Here is a link if you would like to book at the Gatwick Express tickets: Link (One-way from airport to the city is 17.80 Pounds ($22.08))
  • You would take the train from London Gatwick and get off at London Victoria
• Here is a link if you wish to buy a Thameslink ticket: Link(One-way from airport to the city is 11.40 Pounds ($14.14)
  • You would take the train from London Gatwick and get off at London Bridge (This train has stopped, so make sure to check beforehand on which stop is closer to your hostel)

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3. Hostel – Astor Victoria – 3 days

• How many days should you stay in London? If you’re planning on going or have been, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself that question. How many days is enough to really take in London? I recommend 3 full days to really see it all. London was my first stop on my solo backpacking trip and my first time in Europe as well so I wasn’t really sure about staying at a hostel but at the end of the day, I decided to stay anyway because that’s when you get the true backpacking experience. I stayed at the Astor Victoria in Pimlico, London otherwise known as their Astor Victoria location. This hostel was nice, clean, super close to the underground metro station, and a short walk to a lot of the attractions (so close that I didn’t have to buy any public transportation passes). They have multiple different locations throughout London and have the most amazing staff. They made sure everything went smoothly for my first time which helped my fear of staying at hostels go away. It wasn’t a fear where I was scared for my safety, I was just nervous because I had never done something like this. To this day when I think about London, I want to thank the great staff of Astor Victoria for making every backpacker feel at home. It’s also a great hostel for solo travelers, they have an open space living room where other guests from the hostel are always playing games, planning their day in London, chit-chatting with each other. You can easily strike up a conversation with other travelers and who knows, maybe you guys will be exploring London together.
  • If you wish to reserve Astor Victoria for your stay in London, here is the Link(When I stayed, I paid about 27.50 Pounds a night ($34.12)).

4. Five things you MUST see in London

Lets say you had a 24 hour layover in London, what are some of the main important things that you want to make sure you put on your list of things to see? Below are the 5 things you do not want to miss in London.

1. Guard changing at The Buckingham Palace

FREE

This is one of those things that you HAVE to do or you haven’t been to London.

Here is the timetable for when the change happens: Link

2. Walk across The Tower Bridge

FREE

You could pay 10.60 Pounds (13.15) and go up to the glass floor of the tower bridge but to be honest, it’s not worth going up because it’s covered in railings and you can’t even see the skyline that well.

If you wish to go up the bridge, you can buy your tickets here: Link

3. Ride The London Eye

37 Pounds if you do an advanced booking & 40 if you book the day of ($45.90).

I know, it’s a bit expensive but it’s worth it. Remember how I said that you can’t really see the skyline from on top of the bridge? This is your chance.

You can purchase your London Eye tickets here: Link

4. St. Paul’s Cathedral

18 Pounds ($22.33)

You can pay 18 pounds and visit the cathedral or if you wish to go for free, you can go on a Sunday during a service because anyone can attend the service.

You can purchase your tickets here:Link

5. Go to the top of The Shad at night. It’s that triangular building in middle of the London Skyline

Don’t pay to go to the observation deck to see the view. it’s 25 Pounds

Instead, there are number of bars and restaurants at the top. Pick one and pay for a drink while you enjoy the view.

Some great restaurants you can try:

Restaurants & Bars

5. Public Transportation & Currency Exchange

Public Transportation

Public transportation is fairly easy in London but I never really bought any kind of passes. Everything was so close to each other that I pretty much walked everywhere. It was worth it because you get to see the other small things while you’re walking around in the streets. In my opinion, that’s the best way to see not just London but any city.

Although, if you do feel like you’re going to need public transportation, you can find all the information here.The easiest thing is to buy an Oyster card when you land at the airport and then I think there is an app that you can fill the card with and every time you want to use it, you can just tap the card since it’s a contactless card. America is still behind on the whole contactless card thing, so if your credit card is not contactless, this is a good option.

Currency Exchange (Local Currency = Great British Pound (GBP))

You have 3 options, I recommend option 3:

1) Open a prepaid card. This is the method I used and it had its ups and downs. I used Travelex Money Card that you can find here. It’s pretty much like a debit card. What you will have to do is, open the card for $10 and you will be able to link it to your bank account. Every time you feel like you want to convert some money onto your Travelex Money Card, you can use their app to say what currency you want to convert it in and with in seconds, that money will be on your card and you can use it right away. It’s also contactless, so you can use it on the public transportation and you can set a 4-digit pin so you’re safe as well. I did a lot of research when I went to open this card and I couldn’t find a better exchange rate than Travelex. So if you are planning on picking this option, you’ll get a good rate out of it’s competitors.

2) You can also carry around cash but I DO NOT recommend this option. When you’re exchanging cash, you won’t get a good exchange rate and there is change of it getting stolen or lost.

3) Open a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I recommend this option because when I left for my backpacking trip for the first time, I did not know such credit cards existed and so I never did my research. My personal favorite is United Explorer Visa Card that you can apply for here. I use this card pretty much anywhere I go abroad and since it’s a Visa card, it works almost everywhere. Another reason why I really like a credit card is because no one will give you a better exchange rate than a bank. It’s also very easy to use, simply use it as if you were to use it in the US and when prompted to choose between USD or GBP, pick GBP. It’s also contactless, no foreign transaction fees and you 2 lounge passes for United. So, if you’re in a place to open a credit card, I really recommend this option.

6. Favorite Restaurant – Dishoom

Dishoom is a South Asian Restaurant that serves really good vegetarian options. Their food is beyond amazing! My brother-in-law, Dhiresh, you was actually born and raised in London, gave me this recommendation and I obviously can’t ignore a local’s opinion. Another reason why I really like Dishoom is because for for every meal they serve, they donate a meal to a child who would otherwise go hungry through two charities— Magic Breakfast in the UK, and The Akshaya Patra Foundation in India. A meal for a meal.

• You can reserve your table here: Link
  • Make sure to reserve your table way in advance as it gets really packed and booked and sometimes the walk-in line goes around the block.
  • There are 8 locations in London so just in case you can’t find a time that suits your schedule at a location, check the other locations as well.
• Try their Okra Fries!! You won’t regret it. I hate okras but for some reason I liked those fries.

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