After you’ve taken advantage of the cheap flights from Delhi to London, you will want to enjoy as much of what London has to offer during your stay as possible. It’s one of the larger capital cities, so it’s easy to get lost or try to do too much while there.
Here are a few tips for when taking a vacation in London.
Take Advantage of Transport Options
While you may take a taxi, an Uber or drive yourself everywhere back home, London is a congested city and so it’s a good idea to take advantage of the local transportation. There’s regular buses across the center of the city that crisscross everywhere. However, the best option is to use “the underground” which is a network of trains that mostly run beneath the city. Also called “The Tube,” it is not difficult to navigate the system and get between stations to visit places of interest. Helpfully, many tourist spots are within walking distance of a tube station too. One-day passes make it cheaper to pack more into a day if you’re only in London for a short time.
Choose Places of Interest Near to Each Other
Given that even central London is expansive, it’s best on multi-day sightseeing visits to plan your itinerary based on location. You don’t want to be zipping all over London on the tube and perhaps some British Rail trains to reach the outskirts of south London and spend half your day traveling rather than sightseeing. You’ll quickly discover this is the wrong way to go about things.
Attractions like Hyde Park, Westminster Abbey and the National Gallery are close enough to each other to spend ample time at each one and then use rapid public transport to reach the next attraction. There are useful online multi-day planners for London that suggest a list of destinations with a map indicating the miles between each attraction that will help when planning each day.
Plan to Go on Foot Too
Many of the best places to see in London are reached on foot by roaming around. Because of this, bring a comfortable pair of sneakers with you to prevent your feet getting tired. There are walking tours and places that suit people who like to casually look around. Covent Garden with its interesting architecture, small boutique stores and eateries is certainly one. Chinatown has Gerrard Street as its main thoroughfare, but some interesting newer Chinese restaurants are situated down side streets within walking distance that are worth considering too.
Safety First
Like with any other tourist destination, be careful of your valuables. Men’s wallets are best kept in the front jeans pocket, not one of the back ones. Women should be aware of their handbag and keep it close to them at all times. Avoid wearing an obvious travel pouch. When on vacation, we tend to let our guard down while relaxing in a new city or country. However, staying aware of your surroundings and being careful with valuables is a sensible way to ensure that you have a pleasant trip without incident.
When traveling in London, it’s always best to start with a plan for the day. That’s key because otherwise you’ll get easily confused about what to see that day. Once you’ve arrived at a destination or a part of the city with several nearby attractions, then wandering around to see what you can stumble upon that interests you is a great way to make a visit more enjoyable.