- Hello from London.
I have tourists tell me all the time
that they end up booking tickets for things
that at the end of the day
they realise wasn't really worth it
or they had to queue up for a long time
to get in or they just didn't really feel like they enjoyed.
And that's because a lot of people come here
and don't know about the things you should do
but also the things that you shouldn't do while you're here.
So in this video, I'm gonna tell you five things
I think that you should avoid when you're in London
and also some great alternatives
that I think you'll enjoy better anyway.
Let's start with the view from the Shard.
The Shard, behind me, is the tallest building
in Western Europe.
You can pay 32 pounds per person
for a ticket to the view from the Shard,
which of course has amazing views over London.
It's obviously the highest place
from London that you can get a viewpoint
but you're gonna pay that ticket amount
and you'll basically go up there,
get your pictures and call it a day.
I have a better alternative for you.
Instead, go a few floors down in the same building
and book yourself a table at Gong.
A luxurious Chinese inspired cocktail bar where
you're gonna have almost the same views
as you would up at the view from the Shard
but instead of only paying for the ticket
you can take that money and get yourself a cocktail,
and there are really good cocktails here.
But if you've got the kids in town
and you don't wanna take them to the bar, that's fine.
You could instead book in for a special afternoon tea
up in the sky at one of the restaurants
in the Shard called Ting.
The Afternoon tea here is amazing, highly recommended.
Have you ever seen one of those Hop-on Hop-off tours
with those big buses with the open tops
filled with tourists who are just
going around the loops
seeing the biggest tourist attractions?
Well, you can do that, but at 41 pounds a ticket
maybe that's gonna be a bit too steep for you.
So instead I have a much cheaper alternative.
You can actually hop on one of our public
red double decker buses and get a very similar vibe
but for only 1.65 pound per ride.
In fact, if you take the route number 11,
it goes by loads of the major attractions
here in Central London.
So you can hop on and hop off as you please
or you can just sit on the bus
and go around until you make the big circle and see it all.
By the way, this video is sponsored by
Google Pixel.
I have been using Google Pixel phones for years
and you might have spotted this Google Pixel six Pro
in some of our past videos and content.
There are a lot of great features
when it comes to this phone
but my favourite by far is how good the camera is.
I use it constantly, whether it's for work,
shooting stuff for the Love London Instagram account,
or for fun.
Whenever I take group photos of my friends
they always insist that we take the picture
on my Google Pixel six Pro
because the pictures just come out that much better.
And if there ends up being anything
in the the background that we don't want
we can use the Magic Eraser to take it out just like this.
Like I said, I've been a Google Pixel fan for years
and this video has been sponsored by Google Pixel.
And if you wanna find out anything more
about the phone and all the features it has
just click the link in the description box of the video
and now back to things that you should avoid
and what you should do instead.
Okay, let's talk about Leicester Square.
It's a funny one.
It is right in the centre of London
in between Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden and China town
and all these other areas,
and it is the perfect area to completely avoid.
It is a soulless square that is covered
in international food chains,
weird brands, casinos
and there's even the M and M store.
Instead, I would go a few steps away to Soho,
which is one of the buzziest coolest areas in London.
Also, a few steps away is China town
where you can eat really well, drink really well
and we've actually got a whole video telling you
how you can spend an entire day in China town
which you can watch next
if you want some ideas for what to do there.
So to summarise,
there are much more interesting areas
super close to Leicester Square
so you can completely avoid this while you're here.
There are four attractions here in London
that often get put together
in these ticket bundles that frankly are terrible.
They're soulless, there are experiences you can do
in many other parts of the world.
They're not particularly very London focused
and they're really expensive.
I call them the awful four.
And the awful four are the London Dungeon,
Shrek's great adventure, the London Aquarium
and that creepy wax museum, Madame Tussauds.
There are so many other better things
that you can spend your money on in London.
So I'm gonna tell you about four better ways
to spend the 30 to 40 pounds you would've paid
per ticket for the awful four.
Number one, booking afternoon tea.
You can find very affordable afternoon teas around the city
most of which are kid friendly.
Number two, get tickets to a West End show.
We have amazing theatre shows here
and you can find tickets in that price range for sure
if you book in advance or you do last minute.
Number three, go see some live jazz at Ronnie Scott's.
You've got a world famous establishment
right in the heart of Soho,
you got live music and you got good drinks, it's perfect.
And number four, it is right behind me.
This is the Tate Modern, a contemporary art museum
which is actually completely free to enter
but if you wanna take that ticket money
and spend it on something,
you can see one of their paid exhibitions
or go crazy in the gift shop.
Next up on the list, the London Eye,
what used to be the tallest ferries wheel in the world
and now that spins people around
in glass capsules for 30 minutes at a time.
That's all well and grand except for
one, you gotta pay up to 36 pounds per person to get on it.
Two, you still have to queue up
even if you have a reserved time slot.
And three, you're stuck in this capsule
with like 25 other people for 30 minutes out of time.
Instead, a great alternative is
the Sky garden.
At 160 metres or 525 feet above ground,
this is actually 25 metres higher than the London Eye.
Sky Garden is the tallest garden in London
and it's also one of the tallest viewpoints
in all of the city with 360 degree views
of the city skyline.
And the best part is that is completely free to visit.
You just have to make a reservation in advance
which those do book up quickly.
So make sure you do them asap,
or if you don't manage to get a reservation
you can try to get a walk in
on the day and see if they have any spaces available.
I hope this helps you to avoid
the not so good stuff
and go do some much better stuff
when you're here in London.
And if you want some more tips for your London trip
then click one of the videos popping up right around me.