Essential Things To Know Before Visiting London

London Eye

Yes, it rains a lot in London, actually it doesn’t just rain, it POURS.

“Quay” is pronounced like “key.”

Saying sorry is the rule rather than the exception, even when someone runs up into you.

When people in shops ask “You alright?” they are not worried about you.

If you want to cross the road while the traffic light is still red make sure you walk near someone in a suit. No way a cab/car is going to hit that.

Try to avoid letting agencies.

Londoners might get upset if you call it the subway or metro. It’s only acceptable to call it the Underground or Tube.

London

British taps … yeah, I still haven’t figured it out. Is just doesn’t make sense to have a seperate tap for cold water and a seperate for warm.

Yes, they drink their tea with milk over here, but not a lot of Londoners do afternoon tea.

People tend to pick their tube/train carriage based on where the exit is for their end destination.

London is never boring and you can always find something to do or somewhere to go.

Londoners are very serious when it comes to queuing; make sure you follow the unwritten protocol and ask everyone if they are in the queue before joining it. That person who is kinda near the queue is probably in it, and will definitely let you know if you ‘push in front’.

No staring, I guess that’s why they have so many museums where you can stare.

Always take a copy of Metro or Evening Standard when taking the tube. Their headlines will grab your attention and you’ll be forced to casually try and read the copy of the person sitting next to you.

‘Excuse me’ and ‘Would you like to sit down?’ is the only acceptable form of conversation on the tube.

It’s true, talking to other passengers in the London Underground is not appreciated. Sit. Stare at your various devices and eventually you’ll arrive at your stop’.

Avoid Oxford Street as much as you can. Yes, even the streets next to it. Screw it, avoid Zone 1.

Do mind the gap. Those announcements might be annoying but no one is joking when it come to the gap.

Most Londoners you meet won’t be from London, most have moved to the city, just like you.

Yes, the rent situation in the London is crazy. And that’s being kind.

Yep, that was a mouse you saw on the tracks of the tube. They seem to be the least stressed commuters of all. What’s their secret?

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21 Comments

  1. I can tell you why the taps are separate. You see in the past they used to fill a bowl with water and then splash it on their face (and dip hands and splash etc). That’s why they never bothered to use 1 tap. I was studying in England for a year and though in the kitchen there was one tap, you could tell that the hot and cold water were not properly mixed!
    Oxford Street can be a mess, but Zone 1 has the best places. Take Covent Garden for example. My favorite place in London. Just avoid during weekends! And yes rent is London is a mess, but apparently so is it in other places as well (Paris for example, or Boston, USA where I live now).

    1. Hey Anna – the Brits have separate taps because the warm water comes from a sitting tank which isn’t considered drinkable by health standards. My boyfriend said they found a dead pigeon in their’s once… Here’s a YouTube video explaining: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHgUu_8KgA

      Great post, Tea – spot on! I loved it 🙂

  2. Ah yes, the queuing rules in England. Daar kunnen ze in Nederland nog iets van leren. En rechts staan op de roltrap!

  3. I live in London and this is hilarious!! Travelling on the tube should also come with a health warning, anyone that coughs without covering their mouths gets the evil stares!!

  4. I am new to your blog and seriously loving it. Are you currently living in London? I want to visit so badly. This post is so great! Thanks for sharing.

  5. Hahahah dat sorry zeggen ja, dat had ik al snel in de gaten. Eerst heel hard sorry roepen en je vervolgens gigantisch aan de kant beuken. :p Maar ze zeiden wel sorry..

    En die muizen ja, niet heel raar opzich toch. Ik zou daar ook wel als muis zijnde willen wonen hoor, in die donkere tunnels. Mooi leven denk ik haha.

  6. I like the no staring rule, as long as it applies to people…that’s one of things that drives me crazy when I go to a different country!

    – Ava
    beck daily

  7. I did a study abroad in London one summer and this just made me laugh, bringing back so many memories of the underground, and “Do mind the gap”. I loved London and would love to go back, I loved zone 1 but like another comment mentioned, its where everything is, but agreed on avoiding during the weekend, crazy!
    xx, Jodi
    http://highheelsandtutus.com

  8. I loved this post! I used to live in Kent and I love London so I could really relate to it. The ‘you all right’ one was my favourite- when I moved to Ireland people didn’t get that when I said that it was a greeting, and they used to respond with ‘yes, I’m fine thanks’ and an odd look 😀

  9. This is fabulous, but I can assure you that most of this is England as a whole and not just London! What can we say, the English have their own (very peculiar) ways!

    Sammy xo.

    littlefickleblog.blogspot.com

  10. Being British and having lived in London and currently living near London I did enjoy your piece. Still having been to many of the worlds great cities, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong etc London still knocks the socks off off them, even with all its partculiarities. Keep up the good work.

  11. I love this! When I went travelling to London and the girl behind the grocery counter asked ‘You alright?’ I went on to tell her about my day, which looking back, I knew she didn’t care haha

  12. Haha my friends from abroad always take the mickey when I say “you alright”! You don’t realise what a strange saying it is until you leave England!

    Also – apparently the taps are separate as most buildings are pretty old, and designed back in the days when we had to have a separate storage tank in the loft for heated water. If the heated water tank got infected (happened a lot back then), it was still okay to drink from the cold tap!

  13. Geweldig om te lezen! Vooral de ‘Sorry’ volgensmij heb ik dat wel 100x op een dag gehoord op zone 1 :’)

  14. Haha – I think one of the best things I’ve heard on the tube is: “due to the heat we recommend that you please carry a bottle of water and stay hydrated”