Things To Know BEFORE You Visit LONDON 🇬🇧

right my hair is still damp i am wearing  way too much blush but i have no time to   fix either of those because somehow london  found out that i'm doing this video today   this is literally the nicest sunniest day we've  had in 2022 so far and we're getting straight   into it i don't want to lose the sunshine starting  with number one currency let me see if i have some   coins to show you so the official title of this  currency is the great british pound also referred   to as a pound or more colloquially quit and when  you use the word quit don't pluralize it you don't   say you have five quids you say you have five  quid but far more frequently especially since   the beginning of the pandemic you will find places  using cards and sometimes cards only and to that   end i want to mention the sponsor of today's video  our sponsor is wise formerly known as transferwise   i have mentioned them in a few of my videos lately  and that is because they are such a good relevant   service for travelers the wise international  account also gives you access to a debit   card which you can use when you travel to make  different transactions or withdraw money according   to their research wise are on average six times  cheaper than old school banks when it comes to   spending sending or withdrawing money abroad which  can result in some pretty huge savings and that is   really relevant when you're traveling in a city  like london which can get really pricey so if you   are a traveler i definitely recommend you look up  wise and if you need some extra incentive i have   it there's a discount link in the description and  in the pinned comment below which entitles you to   a first free transfer and my final tip is about  withdrawals when you go to an atm a cash machine   make sure that that specific machine or company  doesn't charge additional fees if you are coming   here from abroad and you don't have a card like  the wise debit card yes you will be charged some   fees but you don't need to be charged these excess  ones when you click through to the machine it   will tell you if there is an additional fee and if  there is then walk a little bit further because in   central london there are atms literally everywhere  but as i mentioned you don't really have to have   too much cash on you because you won't really need  to use it next up i want to talk about when to   visit london and the answer is honestly whenever  it's not a place that is hugely seasonal the   weather remains mild and vaguely rainy throughout  the entire year but there are some benefits and   also some downsides to different seasons so let me  talk you through them in spring you have smaller   crowds there aren't as many visitors and the  weather whilst it can be rainy can also be really   beautiful there are loads of cherry and apple  blossom trees around london spring is also the   time of easter which can be a good thing and a bad  thing you might get to witness a bit more culture   one of the downsides however is that stuff  tends to be closed on bank holidays summer is   our next one and that is high season in london  that's when we have the biggest crowds here   and it's partly because london in the sunshine is  magnificent that's exactly why i'm filming with   vaguely wet hair because it's worth it um but  again that does have its downsides whilst yes   you will have wonderful festivals and events going  on it does also mean that things will be busier   and also a little more expensive in autumn or fall  weather can be hit or miss it can be pretty bad it   can be pretty good but again similar to spring  you get some really beautiful scenery gorgeous   orange leaves and then finally winter christmas  markets london is lit up by lights along all the   main streets like oxford street region street they  put up beautiful decorations my third category   is documents and all the practical stuff which i  can't go into too much detail on because it really   depends on where you're from where you're flying  in from one set point worth mentioning is brexit   and how that's impacted travel eu visitors can  still come here without a visa and that's also   true for us citizens but there is a limit on how  long they can stay and that limit is 180 days in   a 12 month period so not just a calendar year but  literally any 12 months when it comes to covert   regulations i will also not be giving out any  advice because it does literally change all the   time just for an example i went on three different  trips in the past like three months and for every   single trip the rules were completely different  sometimes i needed a pcr test after arrival and i   needed to isolate sometimes i just needed to do a  lateral flow test okay next category accommodation   london is an expansive city it's also an expensive  city but that's more on that later but it's huge   and it doesn't have a well-defined center in the  same way that a lot of other large cities do so   most of the places that you want to visit will be  scattered around the city i would personally say   don't worry about being in like the best location  because i don't even know how to define that   is that next to hyde park is that like right on  trafalgar square is that next to saint paul's   by the tower of london these places are quite far  apart let me give you a few options of areas that   i think are really great to stay when it  comes to the intersection of being central   but also keeping things to a budget okay next up i  want to talk about transport and this is a big one   first of all public transport in london is great  it is a city that's extremely well connected the   main modes of public transport you're likely  to use are bus underground or the tube as it's   called here and the overground when it comes to  buses they are the cheapest mode of transport and   they are also the most iconic you can get a ticket  for one pound 55 currently and that entitles you   to an hour of transport so you can tap in and then  hop onto a different bus you will tap in again but   you won't be charged which is great news if you're  on a tight budget and there are a few buses whose   routes are truly incredible from a sightseeing  perspective so if you get on this bus you will   basically be getting a sightseeing tour for a  pound 55. when it comes to the underground of   the tube it's a bit of amaze i mean look at this  map it's overwhelming one thing worth figuring out   before you use the tube for the first time is what  direction you're headed in because the directions   on the tube are given in that fashion it will say  southbound versus northbound or eastbound versus   westbound so if you can locate yourself on a map  that will really help you out when navigating   another thing to remember is that a lot of the  tube lines have different branches so you need   to check really carefully that you're getting on  the right train it will say the direction and the   destination directly on the train and also on the  little screen above but it's something that you   need to be hyper aware of and the overground is a  lot like the underground but one benefit of it is   that you can see out the windows because you're  above ground overground and you also will have   signal if if you have wi-fi or roaming enabled  or if you bought a local sim which by the way   is definitely something that's worth doing if you  want to use any of these forms of public transport   you need either an oyster card or a contactless  debit card okay if you have a contactless card   great you don't need to do anything else you  just tap that and then tap out if you are on the   underground or if you're on a bus you literally  just tap in and then you get off you don't need   to tap your card again but if you don't have  a contactless card you will need to obtain   an oyster card you just put money on that  card and then as you tap in and tap out   you will be charged directly to that oyster card  there are weekly or daily or monthly travel cards   that you can load onto your oyster card that might  be worth purchasing depending on how frequently   you're going to be using public transport okay  that's public transport done now if you don't feel   like slumming it then you can definitely take cabs  now i know black cabs are an absolute institution   and getting a black cap driver's license is  really difficult but if i'm being realistic it's   not a mode of transport i would recommend taking  very often because they're so expensive and yeah   as much as it pains me to say it is far better  well far more economical to either get an uber a   captain or bolt cars i don't drive and basically  none of my friends in london drive because it's   so expensive owning a car in london and that's  partly because of you know all the insurance   and all the regular stuff but also partly because  you need to pay a green tax when you drive within   the center of london and if you want to go into  that zone you will be charged a pretty exorbitant   fee so if you're just visiting london i would say  renting a car isn't worth doing but if you do want   to visit more places around the uk it might be  something you want to look into and in that case   do check that your driving license is valid in  the uk one final actually no two final points   the first one is city mapper this is an app that  virtually every londoner has on their phones   you can use google maps and i actually rely on  google maps most days but city mapper is far more   detailed it will literally tell you which carriage  you should go into on your train and which exit   you should leave from and finally i also wanted to  mention city bikes they're most commonly referred   to as boris bikes or santander bikes it can be a  little scary cycling in london for the first time   because the roads are very very busy but  it is fun this by the way isn't the only   bicycle service that you can use there are so many  nowadays all of these you can use and some of them   are also scooters okay moving on let's talk  about food my favorite topic if you've ever   wanted to try food from literally any country in  the world but not had an opportunity to visit in   person you can do it while you're in london a lot  has been said about british food and how terrible   it is and i completely disagree british food  whilst maybe a bit beige and a tiny bit black   is absolutely delicious if you want to get it on  a really strict budget i definitely recommend you   visit weatherspoons it's a huge pub chain that  serves british food very cheap and generally   speaking pubs have really good food anyway i'm  sorry we're just gonna have to get on with it   if you are on a budget don't worry about it too  much because you can definitely find cheap food in   london it's usually going to be one of those small  mom-and-pop hole-in-the-wall restaurants as it so   happens those tend to be my absolute favorites  anyway and i am planning to do a video about   the best budget restaurants in london so if you  haven't subscribed yet definitely do if you eat   a specific diet maybe you're a vegetarian or vegan  maybe you only eat halal meats or you eat kosher   you have come to the right place london is  absolutely perfect for that especially when   it comes to halal restaurants there are so  many and many of them are actually indian   restaurants there is a huge indian and south  asian diaspora in london and in the uk at large   and they make some of the best food in the country  look i don't want to play up to any stereotypes   but the drinking culture in the uk is robust  and very fun to be honest the pubs in london   can be incredibly historic there are more upscale  gastropubs that turn out literally michelin star   dishes and there are some more kind of working  class pubs where you can find a pint for as   cheap as three pounds fifty that's that's pretty  unbelievable by london standards when you're there   here are two things you should know about number  one doing rounds you might be asked to get the   round which means getting a drink for everybody  in your group and paying for it but then after   that somebody else in the group will pick up the  tab and you'll go around the entire group until   you're completely wasted um and the other thing  worth knowing is that when you're ordering a beer   you order by the pint this is a pint this is how  you order in the uk you can also get a half pint   if someone judges you for that that's on them  not you get a half pint if that's what your heart   desires or don't drink at all there are so many  places where you can get really nice mocktails   nowadays finally no video about dining out  would be complete without mentioning the subject   of tipping more often than not when you get your  bill you will already have the tip listed at the   bottom typically it's going to be 12.5 and you can  opt out of that charge but you would only really   do that if you were incredibly unhappy with the  service typically you would just pay it move on   with your life um but if that charge isn't listed  on there i would say tip anywhere between 10 to 15   and you'll be in the clear our next category is  plug sockets this is a really straightforward one   but just be aware that the uk uses these  plug sockets and these plug sockets only   if you are on public transport on a train or on  a bus you might find some charging points there   which you will only need a usb cable for but you  definitely shouldn't rely on that and carry a   portable charger with you if at all possible and  finally this is one thing i still struggle with   when using a plug socket make sure it's  switched on and if you don't flip that switch   it just won't work our next category is  insurance or health and i'm not going to   dwell too much on this because it does depend on  where you're coming from first of all i do want   to say wherever you travel whenever you travel  do get travel insurance i know it adds a bit of   additional cost that seems unnecessary it is not  unnecessary it's really really really important   that you get travel insurance and do look out  for policies that don't have a high access if   you're a traveler from the eu i also recommend you  bring an e-hick cart this is not an alternative to   travel insurance he's sneaky so-and-so but it  will help you get medical attention by the way   we have something called the nhs here in the uk  the nhs stands for national health service and   it is our public health care which everyone that  resides in britain has access to and it's also the   same system that you'll be going through if you  need urgent medical attention because we're in   the middle of a pandemic hopefully hopefully not  the middle hopefully toward the back end of it but   we are in a pandemic i also want to mention that  all coveted related medical attention should you   need it is going to be free in the uk next up i  want to talk about the best things to do in london   that is a topic that could literally fill 100  videos right london is one of those cities   that is just has endless possibilities but  what i do want to suggest is that you check out   this video where i featured 50 free things to do  in london i mean 50 free things and all of them   are pretty incredible um maybe i'll show this  video there's a there's a lot of london-based   videos on my channel the next topic is budgeting  i'm going to redirect you to a video i did   this video has done extremely well so many people  have watched it and hopefully if budgeting is   something you're interested in this one's going  to help a lot but yeah just to mention it really   really depends on whether you're going to take  public transport or cabs are you gonna go to   free museums by the way in london pretty much all  the museums are free to enter it's unbelievable   so are you gonna be doing that or are you gonna  be going to afternoon tea at the ritz if you are   staying for longer can you maybe rent an airbnb  which might work out cheaper than renting a hotel   room can you stay with friends can you couchsurf  all of that is going to play into your budgets and   our final category is a vocabulary if you are one  of the people guilty of these mispronunciations   it's not really on you because a lot of london  places have names that aren't pronounced how they   logically should be this is leicester square it's  not lycester square this wonderful market it's   not borough market it's borough market this fancy  london square is pronounced grosvenor square this   famous train station is called king's cross saint  pancras not pancreas this is marlborne not mary le   bone this is madame two swords like two swords and  finally the mall rhymes with pal and that's it i'm   gonna stop talking i'm gonna see you on friday  and i'm gonna go get ready for crazy golf bye

Channel: Girl vs Globe

Views: 206,861

Keywords: sabina trojanova, girlvsglobe, girl vs globe, london travel, london travel tips, before you visit london, lodnon travel

Id: JpjFtGCrlWs

Length: 16min 22sec (982 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 11 2022