My love affair with the beautiful city of London will never end. Having spent several years living and working there it has become my “other home”. A place where I grew up , fell in love got my heartbroken and met some pretty amazing people who have become my other family with whom I got to share special days with.
Often I have written about my adventures in London and why I miss this city so much 10 Things I miss about London. Several of my friends and family when planning their holidays often ask me for tips and advice so hence I decided to put together this lil guide to London. Travelling to London can be expensive check out this guide on things to do with kids on a budget https://travellingmama.com/what-to-do-with-kids-in-london-on-a-budget/ is really useful for everyone to have a read.
5 Travel Tips for London :
- Invest in comfortable walking shoes as you will be walking loads (perfect workout)
- Buy an Oyster card for getting about a weekly one is better and gives you unlimited travel on buses, trains and tubes. And is value for money.
- 3. Always carry an umbrella in your bag winter or summer as there are sudden downpours. I invested in a long waterproof coat with a hood
4 Never push in , as everyone here stands in a line.
5. There are newspapers and magazines at the Tube stations which are free pick them up for daily bargains and events. Reading while travelling is something everyone does. The British love reading.
FREE THINGS to do in London
Living or going on holiday in London can be very expensive , but there are so many Free attractions to visit that all you really need your travel card to get you there and a packed picnic lunch.
- Greenwich Park– this is such an amazing park and area to visit .It has little cobblestone streets , with alleyways filled with old-fashioned shops. It’s also the home of the Greenwich Meridian line which is worth the walk up the hill as the view is amazing. This park is visited all year round and is such a fab place to chill in makes you think you are not even in a city. The old-fashioned sweet shop is a sweet lovers paradise filled with endless jars of sweet treats packed for you into candy stripped bags. My other favorite shops here include the fab bookshops and a Milkshake shop that makes 101 different milkshakes from every chocolate to biscuit to candy(.Greenwich is also home to the very interesting Maritime Museum which houses some fab artifacts and is free and often pirates can be found roaming in this museum.)
- 2. Science Museum – another free and fantastic place to visit for both young and old. Interesting and interactive displays with 3D and 4D activities . Educational but definitely not boring.
3. The V & A Museum is another place I lose track of time from the Roman , Greek and Japanese rooms the sizes of these artifacts are mind-blowing and take one back in time. My other fav place here is the Architecture floor with models , floor plans and stories of most London famous buildings and buildings around the world. Often there are special exhibits.
4. China Town is another place that is filled with colour , interesting smells and bustle that makes you think you are in China. Even the street names here are written in Chinese so authentic. From eateries to supermarkets selling authentic Chinese products these are such interesting places to explore. The Chinese New Year is celebrated with much grandeur here.
5. Harrods is a defo must see for shopaholics and all those just wanting to see products which most of us average joes can’t afford. This store is beautiful and one can easily get lost just looking at all the fab products, each floor is for a specific type of products. My favorite floor is the food court with the most amazing selection of fruit, vegetables , fish and meat from around the world . It’s a foodie heaven. Though the store is expensive one can buy a few lil treats of yummy morsels, candy , bags and aprons to take home as gifts from your travels.
6. National portrait Museum is filled with beautiful works off art. A great way to spend a rainy day in London.
7. Green Street situated in London’s east end makes one feel as if you are in India. Streets lined with food,clothing and jewellery stores with blaring Indian Bollywood music makes for an interesting afternoon walk.
8. Free walking tours can be found all over London. A booking needs to be made although it is free. Check out www.freetoursbyfoot.com
9. Neasden Temple situated in North London is a beautiful Hindu Temple which is the largest temple outside of India.
10. Edgeware Road situated in central London just off the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street. On entering this road one feels as if they have entered into a different world with all things Arabic from food ,fashion and music. Read about A walk down Edgeware Road.
Here is a really useful London Guide.
I hope I have given you a little insight into the London I have started a passionate love affair with and the city that has given me a mild addiction for all things British.
Before you travel do you research your destination ? ask fellow travellers or do you just wing it when you get there ? 
Be Inspired !
Ciao
x
Great post and definitely agree that there are many wonderful free things to see in London. I’ve actually also written about a 4 day walking tour that you can do around London which takes you past many of the sights. Hope you don’t mind me mentioning it and would love it you wouldn’t mind sharing it with future London visitors too please? 🙂 https://whatudidntknow.wordpress.com/2016/05/24/london-itinerary-day1-olympic-trail/
Thank you for your comment x I will share your link
you are my inspiration!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK….. god bless you dear
Thank you so much for your support x
Perfect timing – we are going to London in August so I will definitely remember this post then.
I used to live in Manchester for three years and somehow I managed to survive without an umbrella. Life was a bit more wet then compared to now☺
Awesome glad to help 🙂 I always ended up buying pretty brollys from Primark lol
I’ve never heard of Green Street! I’ve been to London twice and free things to do is always handy, since it’s quite an expensive place to be. Thanks for the tips!
Hello thanks for visiting my blog.Green street is in the East End just past Stratford.
London is wonderful isn’t it. Well put together post and I agree with all the tips 🙂
http://www.karoliinakazi.com
Wonderful tips! Have to keep this in mind if I ever travel to London 😀
~ Jasmin N
Little Things With Jassy
Bloglovin’
I have been in London for 2 years and I wasn’t able to see all the things that needed visiting… Unfortunately living there is not like being a tourist, you just work to survive…
Yes for comfortable shoes!! Last time I had boots with heels and it killed me!!
xo, Margot
http://thepastelproject.com/
I absolutely love London! Every time I go there I discover new things and fall in love with it more & more
You had me at Harrods! Always hear about it and dying to visit. Thanks for sharing!
Love your guide, I definitely need to check out Greenwhich park next time I visit! When I went to London we also went to the Natural History Museum which is also admission free! 🙂
xo Saranda
http://sarandaadriana.com
Can’t wait to go to London. Many wonderful free things to see and activities to do. Great guide thanks!
I love this post. I love simple, factual tourist information. People tend to forget how many free attractions are on offer in London and the UK in general.
Thanks for sharing. Check out my blog if you get the chance. I’d love your opinion.
Gonna browse your other content 🙂
thanks for these! really helpful! will be bookmarking your page as I’m bound for london soon! 🙂
Great post, I often write about London’s great ‘free’ attractions, a simple walk, say along the South Bank can reveal so much of London.
Thanks for posting
Thank you for your lovely comment.London amazes me all the time ! Can not wait to come back
London is just a very special place. Last time I visited I managed to take advantage of traveling in via Railcard and getting some great deals on things like the 2 for 1 on the Eye. It is such an expensive city it is great to see all the free things to do.
These are great thing! I love just walking around anywhere in London and can’t get enough of Borough Market.
To answer your questions: Yes, I do research on a destination, ask travelers in FB groups, read blogs, but sometimes I wing it as well and let the destination surprise me, walk around without a clue and that way, great things happen as well 🙂
Great post. There are so many amazing free things to do in London.
I’ve been meaning to go to Neasden Temple for ages! Green Street sounds interesting too. Thanks for the useful tips
Love the tips! Definitely gonna use them during my next visit!
This is a lovely post, as a Brit I have to agree with you! Hope you had a fab time in London and will visit again! 🙂
Stephanie xo
.theldngal.co.uk
I also love London, and especially because there are so many free things to do in the city. My favorite is the Tate Modern museum!
I love that there are so many free things to do in London! Despite the super high cost of living here (I’m a Londoner) free museums and beautiful parks are our saving grace in many ways! I love the view from Greenwich park too.
London is in my top three favourite places in the world! And mostly because of all of the amazing free things to do there. When I first moved there I couldn’t find a job for ages so I’d spend lots of time doing free things in London. I especially loved the British Museum.
Your first tip is probably the most overlooked of them all!
Thanks for the good list here 😉 saving for when my friends ask about London blog posts next ( I have none myself haha)
Going this January, I’ll have to keep this pinned for my upcoming trip. Thanks!
So many of my London favorites on this list! I’m looking up flights back to England as I type this…can’t get enough of this city.
Great tips! I’m from London and I’ve never heard of Green Street – I’ll be sure to check that out next time. What you said about queuing is on point, cutting the queue is what grates on us most, and also a way for us to pick out the tourists!!! Haha!
I’ve been to London twice but never done even half of your list! Thanks for sharing your tips! Should’ve gotten the weekly oyster card and saved myself some money :/
London is my favorite city too. A long time ago when I lived in the UK for a while, I used to be in London every alternate weekend. It is London where I discovered my love for walking tours and now I have documented walking tours of so many cities in India.
Finding free things to do in European cities is KEY to traveling affordably there. So, this is a great list! London has so much great variety as well, and I think you capture that well.
Wow, this post has been very helpful as I plan to visit London next year! Especially the Neasden temple and Green street sound awesome!
Last time I went to the V and A I had to pay.
Has that changed??
Admission has always and is FREE.You pay to see special exhibits.Do have a look on the website they have all the info.