When you get to London, there are a million things you have to do
to get settled in and it can be really overwhelming.
So, to help you prioritise, I reached out to three of my fellow American classmates
to make a list of the five things you need to figure out on day one in London.
Number one, getting into London.
London has many great airports to choose from
and each of them has plenty of options for getting into the city.
Heathrow has a tube line for getting directly into the heart of the city,
and that’s what Jonah used.
It was just the cheapest and easiest option for me.
The station is literally in the airport and you can ride
from the airport to the middle of the city for as little as 3 pounds.
There’s also a train called the Heathrow Express which has its own advantages –
speed, definitely,
especially to sort of north, north-ish London, northwest London.
It’s a little more expensive, but it only takes 15 minutes.
Besides cost and speed, another thing to consider is how much luggage you have,
because if you have a lot
I’d say get an Uber or taxi or something
just because when you carry a lot of things it’s so annoying
to change all the time in the tube.
Other airports like Gatwick, Luton, and Stanstead
have their own buses and trains you can take,
so make sure to map out the best option for you based on your location,
your budget, and how much luggage you have.
Number two, converting your currency.
While some people may want to use their American card to withdraw cash,
that can get really expensive and
paying with cash at restaurants, at cafes, is, generally speaking, not a thing here.
Especially after COVID,
most places will have a sign saying “we’ve gone cashless”.
Instead,
most places do use contactless,
the tube uses contactless, any grocery store uses contactless.
So instead of using cash or swiping and signing your card, you
just tap and go.
The two main ways to get a British account
with your own contactless card are
one, sign up with a traditional bank,
or number two, the more popular option,
sign up for an account on a mobile banking service
like Revolut, or TransferWise, or Monzo.
That’s what I use and you can transfer money into your account
and convert it for little to no fees,
but if you go with this option, you should
download it before you get to London so you build history
because some of these companies like customers who have history with them.
So for a few months, I just used it on coffees and gas in the U.S.
and then when I came over here I was a “valued customer”
and could exchange larger amounts of money for rent and things like that.
Overall, pick the option you’re most comfortable with,
but do your best to look for the best exchange rates and the lowest fees.
Number three, getting a phone plan.
It’s extremely important to have access to a phone when you get to London, because
you don’t really know where you’re going or like how to get from A to B,
and since there are so many different trains and buses,
it’s just good to have access to data
so you know where you’re going, you don’t get lost.
Some American phone plans offer an international plan, but
even though it’s very doable to have an American phone number here,
I would highly suggest getting a British phone number,
because signing up for things, creating accounts, whatever it is,
you’re always going to run into that one thing
where you need a British phone number
and it’s just always very helpful to have one
and it’s not that difficult to set it up here and it’s also not very expensive.
I pay about 10 pounds a month for my phone, so...
Things like setting up your utilities, wifi, a bank account like we mentioned earlier,
or even signing up for food delivery services require a British phone number
so it’s important that you have one while you’re here.
You can go for a more traditional option
where you get an annual contract with a phone plan,
or you can get a SIM card with a monthly option where you
order it, it’ll be there at your accommodation, your flat,
wherever you’re living, in about a day or two and then you
just plug it into your phone and you pay every month to top it up.
When choosing between phone providers and plans,
there are a few things to consider, like
If you know you’re just going to be in London, that’s a major consideration.
if you’re going to be traveling a lot then maybe one that
does have a better roaming deal or
is maybe more reliable in other parts of the country.
So you just need to decide what your priorities are,
For me, it was having the most data for the least amount of money,
so I went with a monthly option.
Number four, setting up your technology.
There are a few apps that are essential to life in London.
First off, everyone will say
download Citymapper
definitely Citymapper
Citymapper is the best, it’s the most accurate.
It’s a navigation app where you can go anywhere in London on any type of transit,
and it’s the best, like they said.
Then there are helpful apps like food delivery apps like
Deliveroo, Just Eat, I personally like Deliveroo better than Just Eat,
but there are a few different options.
Or taxi and ridesharing apps like
Bolt rather than Lyft or any other equivalent.
Bolt is sometimes cheaper than Uber which is nice.
Once you have your App Store settings set, and the apps you need,
some other helpful settings to switch are your time,
because in London they use 24-hour time or what we would call military time.
So, all the buses run on that,
and even your class schedule uses that time sometimes.
And then the other thing would be to switch to
Celsius so that you just know what people are talking about in everyday conversation
and you can get used to that type of measurement.
Number five, picking up your BRP.
When registering for LSE, you have to pick a location to pick up your BRP
and there are a few things to consider before picking a location. First,
make sure you know that the post office is actually open
because I sent my BRP to a post office that was closed.
And second,
there is an Aldwych post office,
which a lot of people do decide to put their BRP there,
but it becomes super busy that people have said
it can be up to two-hour wait times to pick up your BRP.
So instead, pick a location close to where you are staying,
an area you’re familiar with, somewhere close to friends and family.
That will be much easier.
Although you’re not required to carry it around, it’s a helpful form of ID
and you need to pick it up as soon as possible
to make sure that all of your travel documents stay valid.
But definitely make sure it’s open.
There’s so much to figure out when moving to London for LSE,
but prioritizing these five things should make your transition much easier.
So, if you’re coming here soon, good luck with your journey and I hope this helps.