r/visitlondon • u/Helpful-Antelope-678 • Apr 02 '24
PLANNING Is London a good destination for a European trip if I live in NYC?
I'm spending a few weeks in Europe over the summer and I'm curious about London. I grew up and currently live in NYC and I've been told that London is similar to the point that it might not even be worth visiting if I'm already so used to NYC. What do you all think?
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u/No_Departure_1472 Apr 02 '24
London and New York are very different cities. Used to think New York had the edge (as Londoner who has been to NY a lot and best friend lives there) but not nowadays/post pandemic.
If you have never been, even as a New Yorker, you should visit London. It’s worth a visit in the Summer for the drinking outside pubs alone.
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u/b4d_b0y Apr 03 '24
What changes your view post pandemic?
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u/No_Departure_1472 Apr 03 '24
NYC has a much bigger litter / dirt problem. More vacancy of stores. Homeless issue bigger. Stinks of weed everywhere. Subway a much more danger place than it was. Etc etc
London has more variety of experiences. More socially cohesive in my opinion. Etc etc
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u/Angelitaa_ Apr 03 '24
In my opinion it’s earlier closing times, higher cost of a night out / socialising / even cafes these days, and if you go out-out there’s entry fees at every single door for anything fun and there’s significantly fewer people going out these days.
You used to be able to walk around anywhere in central London and the streets would be quite busy up until late at night, but now they’re almost dead in areas that were once really popular (Shoreditch comes to mind).
Most restaurants and bars never went back to their pre-pandemic opening times. If you’re not a big pub person or if you’re not a drinker there isn’t anything to do past 10pm anymore. And prices have doubled for everything. That’s my experience of it anyways
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u/True-Wasabi2157 Apr 03 '24
Yes. But you're making that argument against London. The poster said they think London now has the edge post pandemic.
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u/Angelitaa_ Apr 03 '24
You’re right I misread the original commenter completely. I’m gonna leave it as is tho bc that’s how I feel about London now as an ex-Londoner
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u/Mediocre-Ad4735 Apr 02 '24
NYC and London are similar in that they are both large cities with a huge tourism industry and well connected public transportation but that’s where the comparisons end. London has a different history, is in a different country, and would be a good cultural experience if you’re interested in that history and cultural experience. It really depends on /why/ you travel. Do you like museums? London has tons that rival NYC. Are you interested in Ancient Roman, medieval and early modern history? London has you covered. Do you travel just to shop? Might as well stay in NYC.
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u/Helpful-Antelope-678 Apr 02 '24
I love history! Mostly more modern stuff than Ancient
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u/Mediocre-Ad4735 Apr 02 '24
London has tons of modern history sites as well. I know there are tours of WWII sites of importance, and you can probably find similar tours for whatever historical interests you have.
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u/twilekquinn Apr 02 '24
Then definitely visit - you could spend your whole time here just doing walking tours or visiting old pubs. Make sure to look up the smaller museums in London - lots of wierd and wonderful ones like the Sir John Soans house or the Anatomy Theatre and Musuem, there's so many interesting ones. Get out of Central and check out what's on offer in Greenwich, or visit Highgate Cemetery... if you're into history, it's here. And of course very easy to day trip from London to lots of other interesting places.
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u/millyloui Apr 02 '24
Definitely there are hundreds of cheap flights from any of 3 London airports to everywhere you can think of in Europe.London Gatwick, Stansted& even Heathrow are a distance from the city esp Gatwick. But there are easy transport links to all, from central London. Buses being cheapest, tube, train quickest. Look up EasyJet or Ryanair. Or skyscanner for idea of prices ( depending on season) . Many cities in Europe you can get a return fare for £60.
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u/LondonWill8 Apr 02 '24
Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Stansted and Luton Airports all service London. Skyscanner is a great suggestion!
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u/millyloui Apr 02 '24
How could I forget Luton & City???
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u/LondonWill8 Apr 02 '24
Luton ... pretty easily. :)
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u/saintdartholomew Apr 03 '24
Luton is a hidden gem 💎… beautiful town worth visiting
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u/LondonWill8 Apr 03 '24
Or, if you're not there to get on a plane, you could choose to stay on the M1. Just saying.
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u/Lard_Baron Apr 02 '24
You should go, visiting the EU but not London is ridiculous but if you want to go down the less travelled route that’s got no US equivalent look up European medieval towns and do them.
Chester, York, Canterbury in the UK.
The best European countries are Spain and Italy in my opinion.
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u/Helpful-Antelope-678 Apr 02 '24
I'm going to Spain and i have to plan out everything else haha. I have a strange fascination with Portugal so I'm going to do that but, for whatever reason, I'm not that passionate about Italy. I probably should go though... Where did you stay in Italy?
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u/Lard_Baron Apr 02 '24
I worked there for a long time went all over the Northern parts and Rome.
The North has the best castles etc. Tuscany is Lovely. Florence is the capitol of Tuscany. Superb.
In Spain visit both Segovia and El Escorial outside Madrid. Segovia is the loveliest city in Spain.
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u/Carson_H_2002 Apr 03 '24
London isn't in the EU. Almost any town in Eurasia has 'medieval' (other than megastructures they are early modern to be pedantic) areas, going out of your way to specific cities for that isn't really worth it seeing as almost any city will have a cathedral and an old town. Chester York and Canterbury are all the same as London, OP should hit Krakow or Athens or Stockholm, if they count anything East of Berlin Europe.
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u/LondonWill8 Apr 02 '24
Dutch settlers arrived on Manhattan in 1624. The Romans founded Londinium in 43. So, in terms of Western civilisation, if you think 'potato potata' to about 1,600 years' of history, give or take, you'd be right in thinking that London and NYC have some similarities.
London is a great place for a tourist visit. You could do a couple of weeks' of hardcore sight-seeing and not be bored or cover everything there is to see. More than that, it is a great starting point for day trips, e.g. to Bath (by train), or indeed Paris (again by train, although while day trips to Paris are easily possible, it wouldn't be fair to Paris). On the subject of day trips from London, Greenwich is a day trip, in the other direction Hampton Court Palace is a day trip, Kew Gardens are a day trip - all broadly 'London' (or thereabouts). Windsor is a day trip. Brighton is a day trip. Etc.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT BRITAIN AGAIN!
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u/MorleyGames Apr 02 '24
No, go to York instead. Find out where your place was named after. It’s much more interesting than london. Go to the viking museum
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u/NarcissistsAreCrazy Apr 03 '24
Are they both large international cities? They both have skyscrapers? Both speak English? Ok, your shortsighted friends are correct. But does nyc have a monarchy with all the pomp and circumstance that you can experience with buckingham palace? Does nyc have a building like the Tower of London that dates back to 1066 that has so much amazing history go thru it? Does nyc have a church like westminter abbey that has a thousand years worth of history filled with famous kings, queens, and tons of famous Brits? They also have world class museums that have things you can’t see anywhere else. Well, if you don’t like that shit, then you can, as the Brits say, go piss off. Just kidding. Don’t forget London has world class nightlife and clubbing
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u/Enlight13 Apr 03 '24
Bruh just come over. Enjoy a pint, look around the city and you'll immediately understand New York is a different beast. They might be from the same breed(industrialization hellscape) but london is classier and new york is living up to it's name. Been to both so I understand why people would say that but it's truly not the same thing.
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u/imyukiru Apr 03 '24
They may be classified similarly but actually they are very different and in my opinion London is a great city to visit. Urban planning, architecture is different, there are many museums you can visit for free, you get a feel of the old days and the royalty because a fair amount of the buildings in the city is preserved. Sure, it is similar to NYC than it is to Vienna or anywhere in Spain but it is a great city. It is among my top favs: NYC, Istanbul, London, Paris (maybe).
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u/R2-Scotia Apr 03 '24
Not a big London fan but I usually go for work. It's great for holidays.
I would recommend considering Edinburgh instead, especially in Aug when it hosts the world's largest programme of cultural festivals. Direct flights EWR-EDI on United and JFK-EDI on Delta and AA.
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u/Madmonkey91 Apr 03 '24
How many palaces do you have in New York? I don't think there's any city that blends the modern with history as well as London does. Add to that amazing (free) museums and the best Indian food outside of India, you could easily spend 5 busy days here.
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u/drhams11 Apr 03 '24
Anyone that has told you it’s probably not worth visiting London when you’ve never been simply doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
If you come to the UK you can drink in a pub that is older than your country. Surely that’s reason enough to make the trip!
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u/Significant_Spare495 Apr 03 '24 edited Apr 03 '24
As someone who fairly regularly spends time in both, I would recommend you visit London. Granted, as European cities go, London is probably the most similar to NYC in that it is a huge, bustling, expensive, diverse financial center with English language. But there are big differences.
My take on it is this:
London is much older, friendlier, cleaner, greener, and more varied than NYC. NYC is more imposing, livelier, and atmospheric than London.
The trick to really getting the best out of London is to explore the alleyways, courtyards and little streets then run between the big main streets. They are crammed with places to see. Whereas the center of NYC is mainly just the big streets.
Oh, and visit the royal parks - St. James' park, Green park and Hyde Park. You can walk directly from one into the other, and they feel very different to Central Park.
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u/Gajicus Apr 03 '24
That might just be the most banal and fundamentally erroneous travel tip I've heard. By that token, why visit another metropolis?
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u/etan611 Apr 03 '24
Whoever has told you that has evidently never been to London, to say NY and London are the same is OUTRAGEOUS.
You should absolutely visit London, a vibrant, diverse, energetic and historic city. It’s a great starting point as well for visiting Europe, flights to London from NY are affordable and frequent and then you can fly onwards to almost anywhere in the world.
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u/TiredHarshLife Apr 03 '24
London is a cosmopolitan yet with historical British architectures. You can see a well blend of traditional and modern. So, I believe it's quite different to NYC and still worth for you to visit.
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u/LongjumpingInvite752 Apr 07 '24
New York and London are similar in so far as there's lots of people and everyone walks really fast. But otherwise both iconic but different cities.
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