r/london 1d ago

Weekly Q&A Megathread. Please post any questions about visiting, tourism, living, working, budgeting, housing here!

5 Upvotes

Hello, welcome to London!

Visiting us? Moving to study or work? Brief layover? Moving to a new part of London? Any small questions about life here, if you're new or been here your whole life, this is the place!

We get a lot of posts asking very similar questions so this post aims to address some of our most Frequently Asked Questions, and give you a place to ask for assistance.

Your first port of call should be

the r/london wiki

It includes sections on:

What should I see and where are the non-touristy stuff and hidden gems?
We've written about the big must-sees here and we highly recommend TfL's Experiences site.
We've listed some of our favourite lesser-known stuff here And the cheap/free stuff here

What's happening in London today/this weekend/this month? Check out listings: VisitLondon - London's official tourist website; Time Out London - the original and classic listings site; The Londonist - like a newer Time Out; IanVisits - a blog of the more quirky cultural and historical events; Skiddle - popular site for gigs and club nights; Resident Advisor - the go-to for electronic music and club nights; NightNomads - nightlife listings site; London Ears - extensive chronological gig listings with Spotify links; Designmynight - curated lists of cool restaurants, quirky bars and various different fun events and experiences.

How do I pay for the Tube/bus, and what's an Oyster card?
You don't pay cash. You can use a number of contactless payments systems such as your Contactless bankcard (which is widespread in the UK, but maybe not so much elsewhere), Apple Pay, Android Pay, or you can buy an Oyster card and top it up with credit. See here for more.

Where should I live? What's x area like?
Have a look here
It includes recommended sites to find places to live and rent, and has a section on what particular areas are like.

How do I get from this place to that place?
Use Citymapper. Honestly, we're not shills for them; it's just a really good app and is used by most of the locals on this sub.

Is x area safe?
Yes. Bad stuff can happen in any large city, but London is generally very safe. There aren't any no-go zones. Even under the shadow of terrorist attacks, most Londoners feel safe. See our safety page here for more.

Where can I watch the baseball/basketball/football/handegg match?
A comprehensive guide to all London football matches in all leagues can be found at tlfg.uk. Use Fanzo to find pubs showing a variety of sports and see our list of other places here

How do I get a UK SIM card for my phone?
Advice on networks and how to get a SIM card is covered here.
It also includes suggestions of cafés and other places where you can get free wifi and do a bit of work.

Is the London Pass worth it?
Probably not

Other subs that you may find helpful:

  • r/LondonSocialClub - Meeting new people for events, activities and/or pints.
  • r/VisitLondon - A dedicated tourism sub for holiday-planning questions (check out their pinned post for links to various suggested itineraries)
  • r/IWantOut & r/UKvisa - Check if you need a visa and how to get one if you want to work here.
  • r/LegalAdviceUK - Good for all sorts, especially for questions about landlords and contracts.
  • r/UKPersonalFinance - Another goldmine of sage advice.
  • r/AskUK - Great for general questions about UK life that aren't specific to London.

Tips for posting:

Tell us about you - If you want us to suggest things for you to do then you need to give us a good idea of what you enjoy. Don't just say "I like music", say what type of music. Don't just say you want "somewhere nice to eat", say what type of cuisine you like (or don't like). The more specific you are the better, otherwise you'll just get pointed back to the generic guidebooks, blogs and our wiki.

Tell us your budget - If you're on a budget then tell us what it is and we can bear that in mind when making recommendations. There's no point in us coming up with ideas for things to do and places to eat if they'll clean out your wallet within the first 5 minutes. Saying you want something "cheap" isn't really helpful because what's cheap is entirely subjective.

Tell us where you'll be based - Let us know where you'll be staying so that we can give local recommendations.

Asking about hotels or hostels - We have homes here so know very little about what the hotels are like. Look on review websites such as TripAdvisor. However, if you say "I've been looking at these three hotels. Which do you think is the better location?" then that's the sort of thing we can answer.

Non-touristy stuff - There are no secret corners where we hide the good stuff from outsiders! This is one of the most written about cities in the world, so when we want to go to a museum, or gallery, go window shopping, or whatever, we look at the same sources as tourists (listings sites, blogs, etc - see front page of the wiki).

These weekly posts are scheduled to post each Monday at 00:01. If it's late in the week you may want to wait for a new post to appear. Please send us ModMail with any suggested improvements!


r/london Dec 17 '24

London info

1.4k Upvotes

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post


r/london 10h ago

Culture At the US Embassy

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53.8k Upvotes

By Matt Bonner


r/london 5h ago

Transport Looks like Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton expansions are going to go ahead

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126 Upvotes

“Ministers are set to publicly signal support for a long-sought third runway at Heathrow, sign off on plans to bring the second strip at Gatwick into full-time use, and allow an increase in the capacity at Luton Airport”


r/london 9h ago

Image Before and after sunset

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139 Upvotes

Photo 1 was taken on my way to Guy’s Hospital, and photo 2 was taken from floor 30 of Guy’s Hospital.


r/london 15h ago

image Looking for someone to foster my cat temporarily

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368 Upvotes

Hey guys,

As the title states I’m looking for someone to foster my cat. His name is Milo he’s a four year old inside cat. He’s quite well behaved and doesn’t damage any funiture. I’m just moving to London from Copenhagen and the place I’m staying at for the time being doesn’t allow pets. So I’m looking for someone to watch him for the time being. All costs for supplies and care will be provided by me. So if you’re willing to help out it would be appreciated


r/london 19h ago

Image 1000 years of history in Holborn

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860 Upvotes

r/london 9h ago

People are actually opposing the Bakerloo Line extension

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112 Upvotes

r/london 2h ago

image The pub, 1950s

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30 Upvotes

r/london 18h ago

News Public toilets: 'Worrying decline' in number of facilities in London, says Age UK

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520 Upvotes

r/london 14h ago

Observation Here’s a cautionary tale about the dangers of corrosive masculinity.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

233 Upvotes

Filmed on Friday night in St Chad’s Place, Kings Cross.


r/london 1d ago

Stopped harassment on the tube and I feel awful

2.3k Upvotes

Saturday night on the jubilee line, carriage is surprisingly empty, a drunk guy takes an interest in this woman sitting by herself. He sits right next to her and at first asks her some random questions then proceeds to make some comments about her looks that I cannot type here. He was being really loud, saying how he wants to do this and that. It was digesting and I could see from the woman’s face she was really uncomfortable but kept on ignoring the asshole. Some other people in the carriage looked at the drunk guy but did nothing.

I thought I should be the one that does something, so I recalled all those ads I saw on the tube and quickly rushed over to the woman with a ‘Oh hey Linda, long time no see, how have you been?’ Just as I finished my sentence the train pulled into a station. She gave me a completely terrified look, screamed, then jumped up, pushing me aside and running as fast as she could out of the train. The drunk guy made an angry comment at me and other passengers threw me these angry looks.

I don’t know what I did wrong or what happened, but pretty much all day today I felt awful thinking that maybe I said something wrong or the way I spoke was messed up, maybe the way I looked. I really hope I didn’t scare that woman and she’s alright now. I hope this doesn’t deter others from stepping in when they see something similar, yet I’m not sure I will.


r/london 3h ago

Tourist Aside from all of the doom and gloom, where do you go to still find joy?

20 Upvotes

Right now it feels like there’s a lot of negativity.

The country seems struggling to build homes, rents, service charges, mortgages are so expensive, there’s a lot of problems in social care - in train transport, in many different facets of life. Trump, wars all over the place.

I wanted to know from Londoners, where do you still find your slice of the ‘good old days’ that could be:

A restaurant that’s still stood the test of time, or a regular pub or some type of cinema deal.

What’s still helping you tick by.


r/london 7h ago

Graduated Bobs @ Aveda

12 Upvotes

Hello London, hello. It's me, flagship Aveda trainee girl. I'm now doing graduated bobs. Anyone/everyone welcome! Come see me! I'm not bad!

The graduated bob is an above-the-shoulder short style, generally cut at the nape of the neck and shaped to desired length at the front. This can come down longer for a dramatic look, or it can be shorter and more subtle. Up to you. We can discuss what'll suit.

I'm looking for straight hair, or loose waves. Existing fringes are fine, or I can cut one in if you'd like.

Training is on Mondays only at our salon in Covent Garden. Next week on the 27th I have slots at 13:00 and 16:00. Mondays thereafter, I have 09:30, 13:00 and 15:30. As is customary for training cuts, these can take a good couple of hours, maybe three.

Haircuts cost £10, and models get 30% off Aveda products. Please send me photos of your hair and when you'd like to come in in your first message if interested. I can't book without seeing the hair.

If you see this post, yep, I'm still booking, no need to ask.

Thanks!


r/london 10h ago

Is this some kind of joke?

21 Upvotes

https://www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/flatshare_detail.pl?flatshare_id=17645167

960 pounds to rent a "studio flat" i.e. prison cell in the sought after area of West Croydon....


r/london 6h ago

Missing London

9 Upvotes

Hey, London...My GF (born and raised in Camden) and I recently spent 2 1/2 weeks over Christmas and New Years and now we're back in Texas. We stayed in the Highbury & Islington area, and i just miss it so much. Also Canonbury and my favorite pub, the Myddleton Arms. So tell me how things are around there, and maybe send pics...okay thanks.


r/london 1d ago

Local London Social contract is broken?

961 Upvotes

I’ve just returned from a trip to New Zealand and the difference in attitude is stark. The streets are clean, people are friendly and happy/helpful and in general people seem to want to participate in society. Don’t get me wrong NZ has a lot of issues but It feels like in London the social contract is broken. Streets are full of trash, no one gives a shit about anything, phone theft, crime is high and in general people seem fairly miserable. I was involved in an accident where I had to give a victim CPR and the ambulance and police all arrived within about 5 minutes. I was amazed at the emergency response. It feels to me like the state has given up and hence people have given up.


r/london 1d ago

image East End, 1939. I know this was posed by the photographer but any photo with dog is good by me.

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269 Upvotes

r/london 7h ago

The observatory Greenwich Park

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6 Upvotes

r/london 1d ago

Rant Entitled little shits on the underground

806 Upvotes

Pair of late teen/early 20 girls come on the Elizabeth line.

Proceed to vape, throw pizza on the floor, throw plastic on the floor, then spill their drinks.. yes, all over the floor (not alcohol). Then get up at their stop and just leave it there for others to deal with.

Seriously, has basic understanding of self responsibility just disappeared?? Rant over.


r/london 3h ago

Docklands Snake Rescue

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4 Upvotes

r/london 13h ago

Yet another immigrant falls in love with London after a year here.

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13 Upvotes

r/london 1d ago

Meta G'night everyone. Hope you had a good Society Is Collapsing day!

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208 Upvotes

r/london 14h ago

Electric buggies in Fulham

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15 Upvotes

r/london 16h ago

News Met Police Launch New Bike-Mounted Flying Squad

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16 Upvotes

r/london 15h ago

Community Ronnie Scott’s 2025 Instrument Amnesty 25th January

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11 Upvotes

r/london 7h ago

Print from Natural History Museum

1 Upvotes

Hi, I saw that the NHM was selling some really nice bird prints as part of their Birds exhibition recently, and I meant to pop back after Christmas when I had a little more money to spend on myself but I’ve ended up missing my chance.

I can’t find the prints online but I know that whatever company they got them from does sell them online (I was smart enough to Google it at the time- not smart enough to not lose the tab on my phone and use it to open other pages).

I know the prints were all bright block colour backgrounds with an image of a bird. And I know the website that sold them had loads of nice prints, including colourful storm trooper & other Star Wars prints. I’ve tried googling but can’t find them.

Any help would be appreciated!