No wonder it’s considered one of the world's great cities: London is hard to beat for history, sightseeing, shopping, food, culture, and personality.
It also is an ideal destination for first-timers crossing the Atlantic. The flying time is relatively short, the language is (mostly) the same, and the city feels somewhat familiar thanks to decades of TV series, films, and royal-watching. Rather than culture shock, visitors are more likely to experience cheeky cultural surprises.
I’ve been to London many times (including a youthful stint as a fresh-faced Air Canada passenger agent at Heathrow), yet every visit brings something different and memorable. If your clients (or you, for that matter) haven’t been yet, here’s a first-timer's guide.
But first, a quick word on costs: London isn’t cheap and prices may come as a shock. What we pay in dollars, they pay in pounds – so that £3 coffee converts to about CDN$6. (The pound is currently about CDN$1.90.)
FLYING TO LONDON
1) All Canadian travellers to the UK now require an ETA, or Electronic Travel Authorization, which can be applied for online. It costs £16 and is valid for two years. (Beware of ETA scam sites, a topic Open Jaw recently covered,)
The ETA dramatically streamlines arrival. Just scan your passport at the airport and you're through.
2) Another reason London is such an easy sell? Lift, lift, lift. The day I wrote this, there were eight flights to London from YYZ alone, split between Heathrow (LHR) and Gatwick (LGW).
Major carriers include Air Canada, British Airways and Air Transat – plus the newest entrant, Virgin Atlantic, recently featured in an Open Jaw video. Virgin Atlantic offers daily service between YYZ and LHR on their B787s, and in partnership with WestJet has feeder fares from 13 cities across Canada.
Both LHR and LGW are massive facilities with excellent public transportation options into London proper.
GETTING AROUND
3) Speaking of transit, getting around London is easy, thanks to its marvellous underground subway system known as “the Tube.” With 270 stations spanning London and its outskirts, the Tube is fast and frequent, making exploring the city a breeze.
And of course, there are also the iconic red buses, especially the famed double-deckers. There is nothing quite like snagging the front seat on the top level to make you feel like a delighted seven-year-old.
Despite handling millions of visitors each year, I've always found London transit staff to be helpful, patient, and astonishingly cheery.
Even if your clients are only spending a few days in the city, it's worth recommending an Oyster Card, a super-handy reloadable transit smartcard similar to Vancouver’s Compass or Toronto’s Presto. There is a one-time £7 activation fee after which they can load any value onto the card. It is valid across London's entire public transportation network, and fares vary by distance, so remind clients to tap on/tap off. Multi-day passes are also available.
ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS
4) No surprise here, London offers everything from modest guesthouses to five-star luxury, depending on your clients' tastes and budgets. On our trip, we stayed at a no-frills two-star hotel in the charming neighbourhood of Kensington, which ran £250 per night, EP. At the other end of the scale, a check of rates this month at London’s sublime Four Seasons shows rooms starting from £1,235 per night.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
5) London boasts countless attractions, including numerous museums, many of which offer free entry. However, I strongly recommend pre-booking for your clients timed tickets so they don't have to wait in line for long. Keep in mind that special exhibits may carry a surcharge.
For museum lovers, London is pure heaven, not only home to world-renowned institutions like the British Museum, Victoria & Albert, and the National Portrait Gallery, but some obscure and wonderfully quirky ones dedicated to everything from sewing machines to cartoons to (eek!) Jack the Ripper.
6) And of course, the theatre scene is legendary. At any given time, dozens of shows run in the West End – the city's equivalent to New York’s Broadway – and across London. For clients who are flexible and a bit adventurous, last-minute tickets can often be snapped up at the central theatre clearing booths in Leicester (“Lester”) Square, which handily is located right on the Tube.
SHOPPING PICKS
7) What can I say? From the famously posh Harrods to fun, funky street markets –Portobello Road in the Notting Hill neighbourhood is a personal fave – London delivers endless retail variety. Clients will also spot Britain’s famed retail trifecta just about everywhere: Marks & Spencers (mostly clothing), Boots (pharmacy essentials), and W.H. Smith (books and magazines).
DAY TRIPS FROM LONDON
8) London also makes a great base for day trips by train. England is compact by Canadian standards – roughly twice the size of Nova Scotia – so you can see a lot without spending a lot of time in transit.
We headed to Canterbury for the day and met fellow Canadians planning similar jaunts to Cambridge and Bath. Our train tickets and guided walking tour were pre-booked from Canada – another easy add-on you can offer clients. Trains are generally reliable, but a heads-up: London has a whopping nine main train stations, each serving a different region. These stations are massive, so advise clients to build in extra time at the station to navigate and find their departure track.
MIND THE (LANGUAGE) GAP
9) Brush up on your English. No, really. British English has its quirks, and it's fun for clients to learn some of the local lingo. For example, quid = pound sterling; lift = elevator; loo = toilet. Knowing the lingo adds to the charm, and helps avoid puzzled looks.
One final tip for your clients: Keep your ambitions in check. London is vast and layered, but you also need time for the city to work its magic.
As famed British writer Samuel Johnson put it in 1777, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” Imagine how much fun he could have had with an Oyster card!
