Once your plane arrives in London, England, there are numerous things you should know in order that your trip doesn’t require you to take out another mortgage on your home when you get back. In case you didn’t know it, London is easily one of the most expensive cities in the world. It doesn’t take much to make a few errors in judgment that will have you running to the cash machines as a consequence of underestimating your expenses. By the way, the currency in London is the British pound. It is worth more than twice the American dollar. Welcome to London!
When you first arrive at the airport, you should find it relatively easy to navigate your way through. Both Heathrow and Gatwick are well equipped for the needs of most international travelers. If nothing out of the ordinary has happened, you should be in and out in good time. My experiences with the immigration officials in London have always been surprisingly pleasant. They have been considerably easier to deal with than officers I have run into in other countries around the world and I have been around the world.
As you exit the airport building and prepare to head into the city, you have to make your first critical decision. Will you travel into town by cab or will you take the subway? The subway in London is referred to as the tube system. Let’s imagine you decide to travel by cab. Well, what cab are you going to take? There are tons of them. You should go directly to the cab stand and grab a black cab. They are easy to distinguish from the rest. The most important detail however is that inside you can see the meter and all the information you need to know about the driver and the cab company. These are the things you want to be able to see. If you don’t see these things when you are getting ready to get into the cab, go find another cab.
When you are exiting the airport you will be approached by many people asking you if you need a taxi. Ignore them. Keep on walking until you get to a cab stand. If you chose to go with one of these people, it is highly likely that you will not have a pleasant experience. First, you will probably not see a meter in the cab when you jump in, so you won’t know what the trip is going to cost you. However, as you’ve already learned, when you don’t see the meter you’re going to go find another cab. The other common scam is that they will take you to the wrong place. For example, you tell them to take you to the Holiday Inn. There are more than one Holiday Inn locations in London. So the driver will ask you which Holiday Inn you want to go to. You tell him the one on Victoria. He takes you to the one on Embankment. By the time you’ve arrived, you are tired and begin to check yourself in. Now you discover it’s the wrong hotel. Surprisingly, the driver is still waiting outside. He apologizes and offers to take you to the right one. But it’s not going to be for free! You can avoid all these possibilities by making the right decision at the airport.
Let’s assume that instead of a cab you grab the tube. That’s the subway. Now you shouldn’t just pay your fare and be on your way. You’ve got a couple great options here. The London tube system is one of the best in the world. It will take you pretty much anywhere in the city. If you’re only going to be there for a couple days, grab a day pass. This allows you unlimited travel on the tube and buses for the day. If you’re going to be there for longer, consider grabbing an Oyster card. This card allows you to load it up for as much as you want. It permits travel on both the city buses and the tube for a discounted rate. Finally, once you have used up approximately four pounds or so for the day off the card, the rest of your travel for that day is free. It’s a great value.
These travel tips should save you a small fortune while running around London. Here’s a few more things to keep in mind. Do NOT travel with unlicensed mini cabs in the city. You will hear horror stories about them from anyone you ask. They are dangerous and undeniably the worst kind of tourist trap. Do NOT accept free calling cards from a vendor off of the street. The cards will look enticing with promises of your first ten or fifteen minutes free to anywhere in the world. These cards are scams and will charge you outlandish connection fees. A friend of mine used one from his hotel to call his wife for a few minutes and the next day there was a $400.00 charge on his room bill. The hotel will not bail you out either. If you’re going to use calling cards, purchase only from reputable sellers with cards offered by commercially recognizable companies.
Take some time and ask around about great places to eat in the city. A good meal can be quite expensive but a little research will uncover some great deals on food. I really enjoyed a number of reasonable places I found in Leicester Square and Camden Town. If you’re real hungry and in the area, try Camden market after 3 p.m.
That should get you started and keep the pounds in your pocket. Enjoy!
