Rachel, Marekait, and Alex's Guide to London

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RACHEL’S GUIDE TO LONDON

"Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of human habitations which are crowded

together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists. The happiness of London is not to be conceived but by those who have been in it. I will venture

to say, there is more learning and science within the circumference of ten miles from where we now sit, than in all the rest of the world. Why, Sir, you

find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can

show.”—Samuel Johnson

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It’s impossible not to love London. There is always something new to do, see, eat, or experience. That also makes London incredibly overwhelming. The whole time I was there, I felt like there was an endless list of things I wanted to do before I left, and the list just kept growing! So I wrote this guide to help you figure out some of the stuff I wish I would have known beforehand, and hopefully it will help you bypass some of the confusion so that you can focus on enjoying every minute and getting the most out of everything London has to offer

Anything in bold was added by me (MK), everything else was by Rachel. I found this guide pretty helpful, and you can always ask me if you need any help or advice, although I’m sure you’ll be fine!

Anything in red was added by me, (AM), everything else was done by a friend of mine from UPitt (Marekait) and one of her friends Rachel.

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Table of Contents

Helpful Websites………………………………………………………………………………………5

Practical Knowledge…………………………………………………………………………………5

Food…………………………………………………………………………………………………………7

What to Do………………………………………………………………………………………………8

Nightlife…………………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Travel……………………………………………………………………………………………………..11

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Helpful Websites

Transport for London: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/o Different tube lines will close on different days sometimes without warning,

especially with all the repairs going on for the Olympics. This has the most up to date information on closures and alternative routes.

o This site has a Google maps-type feature that lets you put in your starting and ending locations and gives you the best route with public transportation.

o The tube is amazing. It’s so easy to get around once you get to know it is your best friend. But also walk around a bunch since it’ll be nice out when you get there. Things are so much closer than they seem on the tube and it’s definitely the best way to get to know the city!

Timeout: http://www.timeout.com/london/ o This is a well known site, but it’s still helpful for finding new places to go and

things to do. Student Beans: http://www.studentbeans.com/london/offers/

o This site is easy to sign up for and has some really good deals, especially for cinema/theatre tickets and a few restaurants.

Last Minute: http://www.lastminute.com/o This site also offers discounts on things like theatre tickets and restaurants. It’s

great for making reservations at higher end restaurants for a low, fixed price. British Airport Transfers:

http://www.british-airport-transfers.co.uk/?gclid=CLn0_qvO3awCFcjb4Aodvw5ArQo Obviously you should shop around and compare, but this site had the cheapest

prices I saw for getting to and from the airport. Hostels: http://hostelworld.com and http://www.hihostels.com/web/index.en.htm?

linkid=988000&linksubid=hostelin5&gclid=CIOO9vW1sq0CFcfe4AodOF68OQo Both websites are good sources for comparing different hostel prices in all

different countries. Reddit: -Seriously saved my ass more times than I’d care to admit. The for-hire

subreddit actually got me a job that kept me on my feet. The meet-up sub got me into a secret Of Monsters and Men show where I had the time of my life.http://www.reddit.com/r/London, http://www.reddit.com/r/london_forhire/, http://www.reddit.com/r/LondonSocialClub/

Gumtree: - Basically Craigslist for the UK, http://www.gumtree.com/

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FreeCycle – Site where people post things they don’t want, but would rather not through away. Cool source of free junk. http://www.uk.freecycle.org/

FoodCycle – Rad community run vegetarian foodbank/café organization. I volunteered here and they hooked me up with some awesome food, I also met quite a few interesting people. http://www.foodcycle.org.uk/

Trashwiki – A wiki page dedicated to areas of London where you can dumpster dive if that’s what you’re into. Personally, I enjoyed it, and also scored some free beer. http://trashwiki.org/en/London

Practical Knowledge

Always, always carry an umbrella with you. Budget your bandwidth! There really isn’t a need to buy extra internet time if you don’t

waste what you have. If you’re planning on Skyping, I found it best to do it early in the week, right after you reload on Sunday mornings so that you know what you have left to work with for the rest of the week. CAPA’s internet is pretty slow and somewhat unreliable, but if you want to load shows or movies, you can set up your laptop to load during class so you can watch at home without using bandwidth…and without getting caught.

o (obviously this was for my program, you might have unlimited internet. If you do that’s awesome haha )

o Be prepared for slow Internet! Look both ways before you cross the street!! It may seem obvious, but London drivers

are vicious and there are a lot of strange road layouts so that you don’t really know what direction the cars should be coming from. Plus sometimes the road looks exactly like the sidewalk it cuts through—that’s how Dempsey got hit by a car. Not fun.

o Generally speaking its best to bike on the right side of the lane you’re in. You’ve probably been warned, but the washing machines/dryers are kind of crappy.

Your apartment will most likely have an all-in-one machine which will clean your clothes just fine, but will leave you with hot, damp clothes, not dry ones. Since you don’t have to pay to wash clothes, doing several tiny loads may give you dry clothes, but it’s easier to just hang your stuff on a drying rack.

Be prepared to be confused by most of the appliances in your kitchen. Plug your American plugs into the converter BEFORE you put the converter in the wall. I

thought it was an unnecessary step...until I got shocked. Lesson learned.o Don’t try to bring any heavy duty electronics, I blew up my speakers this way.

To top up your phone (if your using the one I had), you can take it to any place that has vodaphone top ups. Usually I did 20 pounds… it gave me 500 mb of data and 500 mb of data free so a lot of data and then 300 texts and some odd number of minutes.

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It seemed that phone calls always drained the money on it fastest. Texting is probably your best bet, and I never went over my data. Also theres an app to check how much you have left of it. You can top up at vodaphone, I usually topped up at tesco (a grocery store)

The international student ID you can buy probably isn’t worth it. Instead, bring your Pitt ID with you! The CAPA ID doesn’t have your picture on it, so using your school ID can get you some more student discounts.

Primark is a great place to go for cheap clothes and anything you might need for your flat as long as you’re ok with supporting child labor. Avoid the store on weekends: it’s a lot like entering a war zone. Clothes will be flying and the lines will be ridiculous (actually this is almost always the case, but it’s far worse on weekends). But still, it’s hard to beat a £5 pillow and £1 sunglasses.

If you can, try to do your internship in fewer, longer days. It opens up more time for travel and sightseeing.

Even though you won’t really get homework, try to do you work in advance, especially for finals. Most of your work will probably be papers, and you don’t want to have to spend your last days in London locked in your flat writing all day.

Go to as many CAPA-sponsored events as possible! Though some weren’t as great as expected (the Harry Potter walking tour in particular), there are none that I regret doing. A lot of them have limited space, so sign up as soon as you can. (probably use your programs sponsored events) we had a ton of free dinners so that is always good on a budget.

Make friends with the girls at CAPA’s front desk! They’re always nice and a great source of information, not only for touristy things, but for stuff you might not have thought of doing. They’re especially knowledgeable about good clubs to go to. Katie (if she’s still there?) also has a large collection of drunk stories she’s willing to share.

Resist the urge to waste you weekend days hungover and lazy. At the beginning, it feels like you have so much time, but before you know it, you’re out of weekends!

o I could not stress this enough. I worked about 3 jobs and had 5 classes and I still wish I spent less time in bed. That may be my only regret about the trip.

Last but not least, British “pants” ≠ American “pants.” You’re probably rolling your eyes because everyone keeps pointing this out, but it’s an inevitable mistake to make.

o Don’t tell anyone that you “got brown stuff on your pants,” they will think you’ve lost it.

Food

I don’t care what anyone says about British food. I loved it.

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It is possible to eat cheaply in London, especially if you combine your weekly stipend with your flatmates. You should be able to buy enough food for 4 people for around £50 total per week.

Meals are a lot easier if you shop and cook as a flat. Sainsbury’s is typically the cheapest and definitely the most widespread grocery store.

Waitrose is comparable, with a slightly larger selection of higher end items and possibly better pre-made food. Mark’s and Spencer’s, along with similar boutique-y stores, is the most expensive.

Personally I loved Tesco and we had a Tesco Express down the street which was helpful to get something last minute etc. they were also pretty cheap. Sainsburys and tesco is where its at

Also Sainsburys for alcohol usually had better deals, or just any super Tesco/Big Sainsburys. Its easy to just go to the corner store but they are often more expensive.

Depending on where you live and your proximity to a grocery store, your best bet may be to grocery shop at the Sainsbury’s next to CAPA and take your food back on the tube. (I think your program is on the same street if its Gloucester Road tube stop theres a huge Sainsburys at the end of the street.)

o Personally I recommend hitting up Sainsburys for proper pregaming supplies. Be warned, the Sainsburys vodka packs a punch and led to quite a few interesting nights.

Buy digestive biscuits and eat at least one a day. (the chocolate kind are sooooo good)o Never did this, but whatever you do don’t confuse biscuits and cookies.

Definitely try the meat pies. Most pubs offer a decent selection. Grocery stores also have frozen ones that aren’t bad.

o I didn’t find out til the end of my trip that these sometimes have fruit in them and not actual meat.

Pasties are another must have. Stop at a Cornish Pasty Shop, most frequently found in larger tube stations, and get one. The frozen ones at Sainsbury’s are also pretty good. Chicken and mushroom is my personal favorite.

Watch for Sainsbury’s meat deals. A lot of times, they will have a deal where you get 3-5 packs of meat (like ground beef, chicken, and pork chops) for £10. This is a great way to stock up so you can always have something to cook in the freezer.

o While I was there, and I assume they will continue to have this, Tesco offered a 3 for £3 deal which was basically a sandwich, drink, and chips for £3.

If you get bored with pasta, chicken, and eggs, which you’ll probably be eating a lot of, pick up a Sainsbury’s week meal guide at the front of the store. They have new recipes every week that use items currently on sale to make each meal £5 and under.

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Try the falafel at Gaby’s in Leicester Square. I’ve been hunting for falafel this good since I got back and still haven’t found it (http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/venue/2%3A1039/gabys). Plus it’s super cheap.

Don’t leave without going to afternoon tea at least once! It may seem girly, but it’s a very British experience and the food is delicious. If nothing else, at least have a scone with clotted cream and jam. There is a huge range or prices for afternoon tea. There’s no need to do the £60 experience at the Ritz Carlton. The tea we had at the National Gallery was only £18 each, and it was great. (this you may not wanna do but actually loved afternoon tea… maybe a good date idea for a cute girl? Idk haha )

Of course, you also have to try bangers and mash, and fish and chips. I’m not a fan of either one, but I guess it’s something you need to do at least once.

There will also be nights when you just don’t feel like cooking or going anywhere to get food. http://hungryhouse.co.uk/ is a good place to go to order take away.

I’ll through out another shout out to FoodCycle and recommend the Pie in the Sky Café in Bromley-by-Bow. Basically pay what you like vegetarian food at its finest. Super nice people as well. Great experience if you want to go see what London is like for “non-tourists.” Heres the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/FoodCycle-Pie-in-the-Sky-Community-Cafe/307636265931099?fref=ts

There are some interesting eating clubs at Imperial College, if you’re an associate member through this university you should have free reign to join. https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/activities

Top Nosh Locations:The Breakfast Club – Shoreditch staple http://www.thebreakfastclubcafes.com/ The Gallery Café - solid vegan food http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/gallery-caf%C3%A9-london-4 Kitchin N1 - awesome all you can eat Indian, Italian, and Thai. Food quality varies by time, but you can’t beat all you can eat Indian at £10. http://kitchinn1.co.uk/ Brick Lane – If you don’t spend time wandering brick lane looking for the best deals, then you haven’t been to London. Make sure to remember that almost all of the places will let you byob and theres plenty of cheap wine around.Pizza Metro Pizza – Pizza in London is a heated debate no matter who you ask, personally this one was my favourite, giant pizza, reasonable price, and a solid excuse to go check out Battersea. http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/pizza-metro

What to Do

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There really aren’t any “tourist traps” in London. Almost everything is worth seeing. Don’t forget that almost all of the museums are free, so even if you aren’t particularly

interested in one (i.e. the National Gallery), it is still worth taking a quick look. The Victoria & Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, and Imperial War Museum are

particularly great.o V&A Childhood Museum in Bethnel Green was a fun day trip.

http://www.museumofchildhood.org.uk/ The London Eye (aka the Millennium Wheel) may not seem worth the money, but the

view really is amazing. They also offer a combination ticket with Madame Tussauds. It’s a good value if you’re interested in going there, but it is one museum you could probably do without. (if you do it, do it at sunset… I really didn’t think it was worth it but its up to you 20 pounds is steep haha)

When I was there, CAPA offered free tickets to the Tower of London, so you might want to find out if they are doing that again before you buy them yourself.

Definitely try to experience at least one show in a London Theatre. CAPA will probably offer limited tickets to at least one show during the semester, but if they don’t, you should go anyway! Tickets can be really cheap if you get them through a discount website or the official discount ticket booth in Piccadilly Circus. Most theatres also offer student discounts.

Check out all of the markets. Portobello Road Market is by far the best, and has different things depending on which day you go. Saturday is the biggest and most crowded. It’s a great place for gifts and souvenirs, too. Camden Market doesn’t have the best stuff for sale, but it’s a really cool and quirky area. Camden was abosolutely my favaorite market. They have any type of food you can imagine and its all pretty delicious (although I don’t suggest the Japanese food Colin and I were a bit disappointed) good pizza though, which is rare in London. I def frequented this market the most and I know you have heard of the area and I think you will like it. Borough Market is all about different kinds of food. It’s a great place to go for lunch, just to walk around and taste things. This was the best food market. Get the Vension burger if you go off your vegetarianism I thought it’d be gross but its so good. Also a ton of fresh juices and bread and pastries and so much food haha Old Spitalfields Market is kind of quirky and artsy. It has a lot of unique clothes, handmade crafts, and some different food. Plus it’s covered. It’s also right next to Brick Lane Market, which mostly just sells junk, but it’s in the area that’s known for Indian food. There are lots of other small markets throughout London, and many neighborhoods have fresh fruit and vegetable markets on the weekends. If you get the chance make it up to Dalston and shop at the market there, much cheaper than the Borough market and in my opinion

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much better. Broadway market is also a solid choice; it had some of my fav Indian food. http://broadwaymarket.co.uk/

Harrod’s is a necessary tourist destination. I wasn’t particularly impressed, but it’s still worth checking out at least once. The size alone is impressive. The best part is the food hall, which isn’t all as overpriced as you’d expect, plus all the food is really delicious and some is pretty unique. By the end of the semester my friends and me ate at the food hall so much, almost everything is delicious esp this bacon cheese bread thing. Check it out for sure.

o I didn’t go, shit was expensive. They do nice Christmas stuff tho. When it gets warmer, make time to just hang out in some of London’s parks. They are

all beautiful and all different. Kensington Gardens were my favorites.o I had a very romantic evening in London Fields Park followed by walking by the

canals in east-London. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regent's_Canal This is something no one told me to do and I’m super glad someone showed me. http://www.hackney.gov.uk/cp-londonfields.htm

o I also strongly recommend the Southwark Park, closest tube stop is Canada Water.

Barclay’s bikes are a cheap and fun way to get around for a day if the weather is nice and you’re tired of the tube. It’s easy to make an account online and the first hour of riding is free. You have to make the account first we made the mistake of going there first and not being able to ride bikes. They have bike stands all over the city and you just drop them off when you’re done! So cool.

Don’t forget about all the other cities in England! CAPA took us to Stonehenge and Bath, but Oxford is also really cool, and I’ve heard good things about Cambridge too.

Go to the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race (on April 7th this year)! It’s basically a day of drinking and partying leading up to the exciting 5 minute race. (unfortunately this was in the Spring, but I’m sure they’re will be cool things to see… you can probably tour the Olympic Stadium, which is one thing I regret not doing.

There is a Gnarly “skate-park” in the south bank area of the Thames waterfront. This area in general was one of the more fun. If you’re in London in September check out the Thames festival that they have in this area. Fantastic way to start your trip. http://thamesfestival.org/

One location I have to recommend more than anything else is Primrose Hill. Apparently its one of those obvious places you’d think tourists would be all about but aren’t. Just Google it and take a look at the view you get of the whole city skyline. It was one of the most captivating experiences I had during my time abroad. Perhaps second only to the Eiffel tower. Grab a bottle of wine, a blanket, a cute date, and enjoy.

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Greenwich doesn’t get enough love I think, super rad little town with small bars and very few Americans lingering around.

Westbourne Area is pretty cool, there’s a big American-style mall if you’re feeling shop deprived. The BBC’s old studio building is also in this area. They got one of those Dr. Who jawns. http://uk.westfield.com/london/

I’m also super fond of the Bow Road area, it was most reminiscent of living in Philadelphia. They had diners that had solid £4/5 lunch and breakfast. Including eggs, tea/coffee, and baked beans, which I fell in love with.

Honestly, I just looked at the tube map and went anywhere my oyster card would take me. I could recommend things all day, but this is probably the most useful word of advice for exploring London.

Nightlife

General Tipso Do NOT forget some form of legal ID that proves your age. No one really cares

how old you are, but they’ll card you anyway. And the British don’t like to negotiate. And don’t stumble or be too rambunctious at the door: bouncers do like to bounce. I was once turned away from a club in Covent Garden for being too drunk so try to keep it together… I got into a club in Camden later that night so you can always just try a new place.

o Have at least a general idea of what night busses will get you home. The tube lines stop running sometime between midnight and 1am, as do the normal daytime bus routes. The night bus map/listings can be really confusing, especially if you can’t see straight. If you take my droid you’ll luckily have access to google maps when most of your friends have shitty 2002 phones… so its nice incase you need to look it up at the last minute… although the internet is 2g and sucks. But it’s a good tip to figure out a way home before you leave. You’ll probably memorize routes by the end.

o Sometimes it’s better to just suck it up at take a cab home. It’s cheap split between a few people. Just remember that drivers in London are a lot more official than in the US ( don’t even think about riding in an unregistered cab), and they won’t take more people than their legal capacity (usually 5). Honestly I never took a cab home. I’m cheap, and the night buses are very reliable, but if you’re in a bind this is a good option. I never carried that much cash on me for cabs though because if I take a ton of money out I’d spend it all on alcohol… so I would only have 10 pounds on a normal night.

o If you don’t have a particular destination in mind, Leicester Square is usually the best bet for finding somewhere to go. There are some good clubs here, most of

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them are typical dancing ones they do have a ton of pubs and a few bars in Convent Garden which is a 5 min walk from Leister Square.

o Club promoters are super annoying and super sketchy. But every once in a while, they actually have good deals. The key is to make them work. Talk to them if you’re looking for somewhere to go, but make them walk with you like you already have a plan that’s better than what they’re offering. Eventually they’ll suggest a decent club at a reasonable price.

I actually did a bit of club promoting, I know, I know, it will seem lame. But it got my friends and I into the clubs cheaply, and I never really tried to sell the tickets to anyone but my friends as cheaply as possible.

o The later it gets, the higher the clubs’ prices will get. Many are free or much cheaper before 10 or 11pm.

o Getting on clubs’ guest lists can be very helpful. Many will either have an online guest list or a number you can call. Usually these lists will guarantee you entrance and a flat rate no matter what time it is.

o For the most part, drinks at the clubs are WAY overpriced. It’s best to pregame enough that you don’t need/want to buy any drinks once you’re out.

Imperial College Student Union this was for CAPAo http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/ o The Union is split into the main bar area, FiveSixEight which serves drinks and

pretty cheap food; the club, Metric, which is open on certain nights and has different specials/themes from week to week; and the Union Bar, which is small and rustic looking, and caters primarily to the rugby team after games.

o Wednesday nights have the cheapest drink specials.o This is a good place to meet other CAPA students (and British students) in the

first few weeks, especially on Wednesday nights. Everyone will tend to migrate here in the beginning, but then find new places to go (especially since British universities run on different schedules and Imperial will shut down for the semester midway through the CAPA semester).

o The biggest club nights are the Wednesday £8 all you can drink wristband deal (you can opt out of this and just pay the cover and buy your own drinks at the bar). These nights are kind of hit-or-miss: in theory it’s a great deal, but the bar will be super crowded so it’s hard to get your money’s worth of drinks. The wristband is only good for drinks on tap, not liquor.

o We were associate members of Imperial college, not sure if you would be with your program, honestly didn’t go there that much so its fine.

Sports Caféo http://www.thesportscafe.com/london

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o Once you’re over nights at Imperial (which will probably happen pretty quickly), Sports Café will be your new best friend for midweek drinking.

o The drinks here are reasonable and they have a ton of TVs showing all major sports in the US and UK. A lot of guys tended to spend every night here during March Madness.

o Tuesday nights are student nights! Free entrance after 10 pm with your student ID, plus drink specials. We were there almost every Tuesday.

o Extremely American, it’s good for weekday drinking because pubs close at midnight. They do boat races and have pong tournaments. IF your feeling homesick its good. Mostly all American Study Abroad students.

Tiger Tigero http://www.tigertiger-london.co.uk/ o This was one of our favorite clubs, and one of the few that we returned to

multiple times. o There are multiple levels, each with its own bar and dance floor. Each floor has a

different theme. Groovy Revolution on the bottom floor was our go-to o I went here once, it was a typical club in London very similar to Picadelly

Institute also in Picadilly Circus. Its fun pretty touristy Strawberry Moons

o http://www.strawberrymoonsbar.co.uk/ o We did not enjoy this club. Maybe it depends on the night, but we encountered

an older and generally weird crowd and never went back. Zoo Bar

o http://www.zoobar.co.uk/ o Usually a lot of fun. It’s set up pretty similarly to Tiger Tiger, with multiple levels

and different dance floors, but tends to be slightly cheaper. Rumba

o http://www.barrumbadisco.co.uk/about.php o A good fallback for when you can’t think of anywhere else to go.o We frequented this bar a lot mainly because its one of the few bars in London

that plays hiphop. o They also have a 50 pound drink that is in a huge martini glass that’s about 3

feet high, good to split between a ton of people and get you really drunk.o This place let the girls I was with trade their bras for £30 credit which was sick.

Moonlighting/Cheapskateso http://www.moonlightingnightclub.co.uk/index.php?action=8&id=5

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o It’s not that great of a club, but every Wednesday, it turns into Cheapskates which offers admission for £4.50 if you print the flyer and drinks for under £1.00.

o It will get really crowded by the end of the night (to the point that you can barely reach the bar), and the vibe is a little weird, with a lot of underage high schoolers and some strange music, but it’s still a good deal.

o Honestly this is a weird place, they have really cheap drinks and it looks like it’s from the 1980s. Definitely somewhere to get drunk for cheap kinda weird.

o I loved this place cause it was super cheap and full of a younger crowd that were really into how American I was. Is that shallow? Absolutely. Does every American in London secretly want people to be enamored with their foreignness? I think so.

O’Neill’so http://www.oneills.co.uk/ o Like you can probably guess, O’Neill’s is an Irish pub/club. There are lots of

locations in London, but the biggest one is in Soho/Leicester Square.o Admission is usually free before 10 pm, and it’s always a great place to start the

night if you can get there in time. It’s also free most weeknights. It’s a good place to go out during the week only the first two floors are open. More of a bar crowd. I loved it and they have Smithwicks on tap.

o There’s live music most nights, and it’s guaranteed that they will play “Sex on Fire” at least once a night and that everyone will sing along at the top of their lungs.

o O’Neill’s is a good mix between pub and club. No one really dances, but the music is loud, it’s always crowded, and there are two levels (plus a rooftop smoking area). It much more low key than going to a club, and it’s even a good place to stop during the day (the food is supposed to be pretty good, too).

KOKOo This was definitely our favorite club. It’s an old theatre converted into a club in

Camden. Its four pounds before midnight, and at midnight they always have a live performer. The live band is hit or miss, although we did see a sweet hip hop group that was actually on the top 20 countdown in London. Madonna also played here before she was huge. I think you’d enjoy it overall and they have good deals on skittle bombs!

Proud o In the Camden Markets. Also has live music and a dance floor/outdoor area.

Pretty fun its set up in an old horse stall place so on the one side the tables are in the stalls.

Camden Pub Crawl

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o We did this one weekend; it takes you to all the major pubs/clubs in Camden including Proud and KOKO. Its ten pounds and you have free entry to all the cover clubs and a free shot at each bar. Pretty fun to do with a group of people and it’s a good way to get to know the Camden nightlife!

o Highly recommended. I did this one twice, it was a lot of fun. Also I worked for the 1 Big Night Out pub-crawl in order to get free tickets. http://www.1bignightout.com/

o The London Social Club subreddit I posted earlier often had themed reddit meet up pub-crawls. This was a fun way to meet new people and go on more interesting pub crawls.

Shoreditcho Another good area to go out in a bunch of different clubs/pubs/bars its good if

you’re not into the dance club areas. There’s also a club with a swimming pool in it, I don’t recall the name but definitely another area to check out.

Ministry of Soundo This club is pretty famous in the Elephant and Castle area (which is pretty

poor). This is one of two famous electronic clubs. There is also Fabric, which I didn’t go to, but Colin and Erin did and they both enjoyed it. Not sure how into electronic/house but I’d say its worth it at least once, because Europe is known for their house music. Its pretty pricey though so if it’s not your thing maybe don’t go. I had fun they are open til 5/6 am and the line to get in is pretty long. Its definitely a cool club though, kind of what you except after watching Skins.

Also try London Pride (Hell Yes) and the Chiswick Bitter. I loved bitters and miss them so much. And you can tour the Fullers factory which me and the boys tried to do but were a little to late!

I’m not sure that I can offer too many club and pub suggestions, as I was fairly broke the entire time. But I’ll give it a shot. I’m a bit of a hipster so most of my favorite places were intentionally off the beaten path.

The Alibio An interesting club in Dalston which, when I was in London was the sort of still-

hip-hipster area. It was a typical hipster basement club, but it had a karaoke night where you got a free drink for singing a song. That was all the encouragement I needed.

Rockets

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o This one was up in Kings Cross area. I think it may have been called something else most other days of the week. It was largely younger undergraduate students and it offered £1 pints and snakebites. Can’t beat that.

Weatherspoon’s The Asparaguso Super cheap Inbetweeners style pub in Battersea (one of my favorite areas), they

had £1.50 pints that were actually really good. The atmosphere was probably too boring for your average retirement home resident, so it was fairly ironic to hang out there, and definitely quaint enough to study.

The Mayflowero My co-workers at my internship suggested this one to me. It’s a pub that looks

like it belongs in Harry Potter. It has a back deck which you can literally see the river Thames beneath through the floorboards. Oh yeah, it also apparently is made from wood that the Pilgrims used to build the OG Mayflower.

The Wheel Barrowo My personal favorite Camden Pub. Straight up punk rock. No more no less.

Cheap absinthe. I got in a bar brawl here. I came back the next week. What more do I need to say?

I’m probably breaking some sort of punk-rock rules, but check out http://collective-zine.co.uk/ if you’re into the punk/diy/indie show scene. http://punktastic.com was also solid.

Travel

You’ve probably been told this already, and will probably hear it again, but it’s just that important: Don’t get so caught up in travelling that you forget to focus on London. Even if you spent every day exploring, you would never finish doing and seeing all of London, so just think how much you’ll miss if you spend every weekend away.

Make sure you top up your phone before you leave England! Even though you can add money remotely by calling with a credit card, you can’t top up with an American credit card. Also remember that texts and calls cost more when you’re out of England, so make sure you’ve topped up enough to last your whole trip (especially over spring break).

Airlines like Ryan Air aren’t always the cheapest way to go. Sometimes they do have the best deals, but there are often a lot of hidden fees. British Airways usually has pretty good deals within Europe, and it’s much better service.

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I loved EasyJet www.easyjet.co.uk they were much more friendly and nicer and usually cheaper, the earlier you book the cheaper the tickets and the website is more user friendly.

Also Easybus (www.easybus.co.uk ) is the best way to travel from central London to Gatwick/Luton/Stansted, which are probably the airports you’ll use for any plane travel. They pick you up at prominent places in central London and have a coach that leaves every 20 minutes, although you book in advance on line. It was usually about 15 pounds round trip, also figure out the night bus back too if you get in after 11.

Proscenium Travel (http://www.prosceniumtours.com/) and International Friends (http://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/) were the best sources for bus trips. I personally used Proscenium for Paris and IF for Amsterdam and Bruges, both of which were great trips. Compare prices for these kinds of trips on your own versus with a tour group; sometimes the tour groups are a rip off, but for the most part they are a good value, especially since they are so much more convenient to plan.

If you are going to be travelling within a foreign country, try to book transportation before you leave London. It was much easier to plan spring break in Italy after we had all of our train tickets between cities.

Remember that you need a different converter for mainland Europe than in the UK. They sell these at lots of places, one being the convenience store to the right of the CAPA building.

You may not want to carry your passport around with you when you’re in other cities (or you might want to keep it with you, depending on how secure your hostel seems), but having your student visa will typically make you eligible for student discounts in foreign countries.

Let me know if you want specific hostel recommendations for any of the cities we stayed in. We had good experiences with all of them.

One major thing I wish someone told me was to open a Bank of America account. If you have one you can use Barclays in London/UK for free and have no charge to withdraw money. Definitely if you have time open an account if you can. They also have partner banks in many countries like France and Italy (BNL). PNC does refund some of the charges since you’re a student. But 5 pounds per withdrawal is a lot; usually I just took out 200 pounds each time so I didn’t get too many fees. But be careful because I know some people that got mugged at the ATM.

o I did this. It was a good idea. Saved me a lot of money.

I honestly only traveled once on a non-school sanctioned trip. I went to Paris and it was awesome, but largely because I met up with people I had met in London. I do regret not traveling more, however my main goal was to experience London and the UK. I think it is easy

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to get tied up in the idea of a semester abroad being an extended holiday. If you can travel, by all means do it, but don’t let it get in the way of experiencing London and all it has to offer (which is more than you could ever really experience).

If I could offer just a bit of advice it would be, make as many sincere friendships as you can, they will last after you land back on American soil, and dig deep for the experiences some locals don’t even know about.

HAVE FUN!

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