{"id":744,"date":"2012-07-30T12:17:24","date_gmt":"2012-07-30T11:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/?p=744"},"modified":"2026-08-20T20:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T19:29:29","slug":"the-beginners-guide-to-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/en\/news\/the-beginners-guide-to-london","title":{"rendered":"The beginner&#8217;s guide to London"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As London welcomes visitors from all over the world this week, we&#8217;ve put together our own guide to the city, with a selection of hints and tips to help you feel like a local&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>While you&#8217;re here<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Why not take the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=327&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">River Bus<\/a>\u00a0from Putney to Blackfriars, then on to Greenwich? It&#8217;s a fast and comfortable way to cross the city, with amazing views &#8211; and no traffic jams!<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; A visit to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=330&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shakespeare&#8217;s Globe<\/a>\u00a0will set you back just \u00a35 for a standing ticket and is well worth it, as long as the sun&#8217;s shining\u2026 Or you could see a show in the West End &#8211; there are discount ticket booths in Leicester Square and Covent Garden where you can buy tickets for the same day.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Go and take a look at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=338&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Shard<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; the tallest building in Western Europe, which has just opened near London Bridge (be prepared for a sore neck). From next year visitors will be able to travel to the top and take in the amazing views &#8211; but in the meantime, here&#8217;s a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=325&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">website<\/a>\u00a0that lets you see what you&#8217;re missing. It really is pretty special.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; If you fancy getting out of the city centre,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=332&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richmond Park<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=334&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kew Gardens<\/a>\u00a0are lovely &#8211; although not far from town, you&#8217;ll feel like you&#8217;re in the countryside. At Richmond, you can even see their famous deer herd.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; London boasts some fantastic free museums; we recommend the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=331&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science Museum<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=333&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Natural History Museum<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=336&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">British Museum<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=329&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tate Galleries<\/a>, but there are plenty of others to choose from.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/bus1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-748\" title=\"London bus\" src=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/bus1.jpg\" alt=\"London bus\" width=\"500\" height=\"179\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Useful tips<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; If you&#8217;re not going far, don&#8217;t take the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=328&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">London Underground<\/a>\u00a0(also known as the Tube) &#8211; you&#8217;ll find it&#8217;s much quicker, cheaper and cooler to stay at street level and walk. This is particularly true of stations on or near the Circle Line so don&#8217;t get caught out! You can&#8217;t go too far without stumbling across a station, and there are maps pretty much everywhere, so it&#8217;s quite hard to get lost. But if you are travelling on the Tube, get yourself an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=337&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oyster Card<\/a>, it&#8217;s by far the easiest way to pay for your tickets.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Alternatively, if you want to be able to see where you&#8217;re going, but don&#8217;t fancy the bus, try hiring a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=326&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8216;Boris Bike&#8217;<\/a>\u00a0(named after Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, in case you were wondering). You can just pay and go, then when you&#8217;re finished, return the bike to any of the docking stations located around London &#8211; no need to bring it back to where you started.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Most people don&#8217;t really talk in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=335&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cockney Rhyming Slang<\/a>, so if you try addressing someone as your &#8216;china plate&#8217; you may get some funny looks. But then again, we don&#8217;t all talk like The Queen, either. Terribly sorry, old bean.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; To feel like a real Londoner, just roll your eyes and say to random strangers, &#8216;Well at least the sun&#8217;s come out at last.&#8217; You&#8217;ll fit right in.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; On a similar note, do remember to come prepared for all weathers &#8211; a typical bag should contain sun cream and sunglasses as well as an umbrella and some warm layers of clothing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; And finally, food &#8211; we have some strange names for our dishes, so be prepared. For instance,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=341&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">black pudding<\/a>\u00a0is not, in fact, a pudding but a type of sausage (and something of an acquired taste).\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=340&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eton mess<\/a>\u00a0sounds horrible but is actually a very tasty dessert featuring strawberries, meringue and cream. And\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/mailing\/link.php?M=515971&amp;N=282&amp;L=339&amp;F=H\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">toad in the hole<\/a>\u00a0does not contain any toads. Honest.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/london1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-749\" title=\"London by night\" src=\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/london1.jpg\" alt=\"River Thames by night\" width=\"500\" height=\"152\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, we hope you enjoy your visit! And don&#8217;t be afraid to ask the locals for help &#8211; we Brits may seem a bit grumpy (especially during rush hour) but underneath we&#8217;re really very nice people\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Are you a Londoner with some useful advice? Or maybe you&#8217;re visiting and have already discovered a hidden gem? Please share them in the comments!<\/p>\n<p>Liz and the EuroTalk team<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As London welcomes visitors from all over the world this week, we&#8217;ve put together our own guide to the city,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[97,18],"tags":[201,78,84,202,203,136,107,28,204,205],"class_list":["post-744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips","category-travel","tag-britain","tag-food","tag-london","tag-museums","tag-parks","tag-theatre","tag-tourism","tag-travel-2","tag-visitors","tag-weather"],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":744},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":97,"label":"Tips"},{"value":18,"label":"Travel"}],"post_tag":[{"value":201,"label":"Britain"},{"value":78,"label":"food"},{"value":84,"label":"London"},{"value":202,"label":"museums"},{"value":203,"label":"parks"},{"value":136,"label":"theatre"},{"value":107,"label":"tourism"},{"value":28,"label":"travel"},{"value":204,"label":"visitors"},{"value":205,"label":"weather"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Richard 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