I have been to the London once before, a quick trip of only a few night as we were passing through. I rather famously, or perhaps infamously, didn’t have the best time. Granted I was 12 years old, and had just come from a very full on week in Cornwall, but I crashed out rather spectacularly. I remember the worst it got was probably sitting in Hyde Park one afternoon, I was super hungry, it felt like we’d walked across half the town, there were sirens going non-stop and I lost it a little bit. I was so grumpy I didn’t let mum take any photos of me with the touristy things on the way back to the accom. Regardless, I’m all grown up now, and I was ready to give London another shot. I had no idea what to really expect (apart from my money to disappear by the second), so I went in again with open eyes and an open mind, over a decade later. Here’s what changed.
Arrival in London:
Last time we arrived at Heathrow and jumped straight into the Underground to get to town. I remember it being quick and easy, but we didn’t stay long. We pretty much immediately headed to Paddington Station and took the next train to Cornwall. This time was somewhat similar. We arrived in Stanstead Airport, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s weird as hell. The baggage claim room was also the customs room? Which led straight to the exit basically? But there was a train station attached to the airport which is my number 1 hallmark for a good airport. We jumped on the Stanstead express train which takes about 40 mins to get to the city. Normally it would cost £25 which frankly is shocking for a 35 minute city/airport link, but we had locked in to a day of Eurail travel, so it didn’t sting for us. The train got us all the way to Liverpool St Station – great success.
Popping out of the station, we walked for a little ways to stretch our legs after a train-flight-train. We wandered for a bit, then caught the underground the rest of the way to our hostel, right on the edge of Hyde park.
The Cost:
Last time I was in London I was 12. Mum paid for everything. I remember buying a pair of Skullcandy earbuds for £10 and the London Eye miiiiight have been £27? Maybe? That’s all I can remember at least. This time I was on the hook for everything. To cut a long story short – yes it was expensive, but I was actually not disgusted by the prices of most things. If anything, Copenhagen and Stockholm were far worse. For example, our hostel was $37 NZD each for the night! Granted we were packed onto triple high bunks in a 15 bed room, but seriously, we paid a few bucks more for a 10 bed in the middle of mainland Greece in May… so it was really quite reasonable I thought.
I think we had a £3.5 coffee at one stage, which is expensive for sure, but again, within the ballpark of what I was expecting from London. We scored some free coffees in CPH that would have cost us 15 NZD had we paid for them, and they were just normal barista flat whites. Food overall was fine? We had one treat takeaway dinner which we ate in the Hyde Park, which was maybe 20% more than the NZ equivalent, but London is also where we got stuck into the Tezzie Mezzie Dezzie. The mighty Tesco meal deal. £4 for a main, drink and snack! And only 3.60 with a club card. We found out you could use the hot drink machine as part of the deal – that would have cost 3.20 by itself, and then you get a proper meal and a snack too. And it was pretty good food. Sure there were a few fried and unhealthy options, but also salads, pastas, loaded wraps and sandwiches. Plus the snacks could range from sushi to boiled eggs to carrots and hummus. Sure it’s still a bit more than cooking a meal yourself, but for travellers who were only in town for 36 hours, it went down a treat. Also we did have at one stage a really nice wood fired pizza between the two of us for about 10 bucks total, which is a good deal on just about anyone’s metric.
The final cost point I want to talk about is the public transport. This part definitely stung. A ride on the underground within one zone across town was close to £5, busses being about half that. I found that a bit crazy compared to everywhere else we’ve been, considering that was just for the one ride, that’s not a two hour jump on jump off ticket like I feel is standard in most places. Plus the more regional trains were ridiculous. One way to our next destination for pet setting, only 35 mins away was 50 NZD each. It would have cost us 100 bucks each to come into town for a day trip, 35 minutes each way. Bonkers. I imagine driving is worse with fuel and all the congestion charges.
The activities:
Last time I was in London, we did actually do some cool things in between my crash outs. Most memorably for me was probably the Natural History Museum. I think we spent most of a day in there, and as a geeky kid it was heaven. Specific memories I have: taking photos of all the huge diamonds and gemstones. A big case full of hummingbirds. Huge sequoia tree ring. And of course, dinosaur skeletons. The other big activity from my last visit was a round on the London Eye. I remember it taking a lot longer to get around than I expected, but it was cool.
This time round, you already know we did more museums. This time the British Museum and the V&A. Both very good, it felt great to be in this expensive city and still get into quality venues like that for free. Especially considering we were paying 10-30 euros per museum in other parts of Europe. Saw some cool art in the V&A and lots of cool historical stuff in the British. I saw one painting of a dog in the V&A that I really loved, but forgot to get name or photo of, which I’m really gutted about. And the British Museum was excellent, as you’d expect, or hope at least. So many incredibly significant artefacts, like the Rosetta stone, and a really cool African art exhibit. I was even rather impressed at how well they exhibited Māori people and culture. There was proper respect and deference shown where I thought was due. The impressed feeling fell apart a bit when we later found a plaque that described how the Aboriginal people had welcome the British and lived in harmony since the 1700’s, but it was nice while it lasted.
Next free activity – go to Hyde Park to read a book and watch the squirrels. That was kinda it. We had a blast though, there were so many squirrels around and they were all going absolutely bonkers, it was phenomenal. There were other things we would have loved to do, but didn’t have the time or budget. Maybe see one of the many many theatre shows on offer. We didn’t go out at all, or go to any pubs, which I feel like is a whole culture on its own, so there’s definitely things to come back for.
Overall:
I mean obviously my last experience in London was not representative or fair, but I have to say, this trip really left a good impression. I still think I need to stay a bit longer and wander around into a few more corners of the city to past a complete judgement, but it still passes the first impressions vibe check. Yes, it is expensive, there’s no way around that, but honestly not as generational-debt-inducing bad as I was led to expect. To be honest, I feel like a big chunk of the expense is due mainly to the currently rather shocking exchange rate between pounds and NZD. Seeing as many of the Masters programs Milly has her eye on are in London, we tried to wander the streets with a lens of, “would we live here?” And I’d say the answer is yes, for a short while at least anyway. Yeah we probably wouldn’t be piling cash in the savings account if we make that decision, but the city felt vibrant and alive and brimming with opportunity. All in all, glad I gave this city a second chance, I will be back again.
p.s. sorry for the relative lack of photos, for some reason both of us took barely any.