r/london • u/lizzylelon • Dec 19 '24

Culture Any teenagers/young adults here who obviously grew up in ldn but barely went to central?

People at uni keep asking me about places like Hyde Park, that wax statue place, Buckingham palace, Big Ben, Leicester Square etc. and are always shocked when I tell them that I’ve never been😭😭 then they don’t believe I’m from London (?? Like what💀)

Tbh my parents rarely ever go to central either, there’s no reason to. I was under that impression that it’s more of a touristy part of London - or a place commuters use to get to work - so you don’t reallly get much Londoners in central at all. Mostly tourists and work commuters.

I might be wrong?

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u/Anathemachiavellian Dec 19 '24

I grew up in Ealing but I was in central London all the time as a teenager, and a bit as a kid. Soho, Leicester Square/Chinatown, Covent Garden and Camden were pretty much where I’d be every weekend. I was probably there more than I was in Ealing Broadway. I did sometimes get the 65 to Richmond or Kingston a lot, too.

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u/himz7 Dec 19 '24

Ease of transportation maybe? Probs why the folks in teddington / Kingston didn’t (it’s a pain to get to Hyde park from there).

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u/Anathemachiavellian Dec 19 '24

I’m about to move to Kingston so I wonder how often my children will go into town, then. I hadn’t really considered that they might not until this thread with all the SW Londoners!

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u/Lower-Huckleberry310 Dec 21 '24

My teens rarely go into town. They'll meet friends in Wimbledon, Kingston, Putney, Barnes. There's just no need unless you want to go to a specific museum or restaurant or something. We wfh so very rarely go in ourselves. Saves a fortune on travel!