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