London Tourist Mistakes: 5 things NOT to do.

London receives 5 million tourists a year who spend over £3 billion, making tourism one of London’s most important industries. When travellers arrive in London is can be daunting at first, so many things to see and think about, but there are a few small things that tourists can do to make their stay a lot more enjoyable, smoother and cheaper.

I’d like to do my bit in encouraging more people to visit this great city, so using my experience I’ve come up with the 5 London tourist mistakes that you should NOT do when you come to London (and what you should do instead).

1.  ONLY use the Heathrow Express service if you are in a big rush.

Heathrow Express

Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world and therefore many of London’s incoming tourists arrive here. There are many advertisements places throughout the airport that encourage you to take the Heathrow express as it’s the ‘fastest route into central London’. Whilst this may be technically true, it isn’t worth the extortionate price.

The Heathrow express will take you directly to Paddington station in around 20 minutes, which is on the outer limits of central London at best.

Instead of taking the Heathrow express, which can cost up to £21 per person, take the Piccadilly line of the London Underground. There is a station at every Heathrow terminal that will take you into Central London in under 40 minutes and will only cost £3.40 per person. You can easily transfer onto other London underground lines to reach your destination.

2. DON’T stay in a Central London hotel.

Central London

If you are finding the idea of visiting London way too expensive, maybe you should try looking for a hotel outside of central London.

Central London is usually defined as zone 1 on the London underground map and many tourists feel that they need to stay in this area to get the most out of the city. This is untrue, thanks to the widespread underground transport system in London, staying in zone’s 2 or even 3 means that you are only between a 10 or 30 minute train or bus journey from central London, plus there are many exciting areas to explore outside the centre of London.

3. DON’T buy individual transport tickets (get an Oyster Card).

Oyster Card

Oyster cards are ESSENTIAL for travelling around London. They are cheap, efficient and you can purchase  one (for a £5 refundable deposit) at any London Underground station. When using an oyster card, the price of a zone 1 journey is reduced by almost half, in fact using an oyster card is the cheapest way to travel around London by any mode of transport.

4. DON’T stand on the left hand side of the escalator.

London escalator

If you were to ask Londoners ‘what is the most annoying habit of tourists’ I bet the answer would have something to do with escalators. In London, escalator etiquette dictates that if you wish to stand still and wait for the escalator to take you to the  top, you stand on the right, if you want to walk up the escalator, you stand on the left.

If you interrupt this dignified system by standing still on the left hand side, you will face the wrath of Londoners. Thankfully being such polite people, they will simply wait for you to realise that you are in the way before you move, but inside they will be seething with rage.

5. DON’T take the tube everywhere.

London-Tube

If you are exploring and intend to visit another attraction that is 1 or 2 tube stops away, then please, don’t take the tube. Chances are that the next 2 or even 3 closest tube stations are within easy walking distance.

You really only need to take the tube if you want to travel more than 4 stops away from where you currently are, if  you are unsure, use your smartphones map app to see exactly how far away your next destination is.

By walking between locations you will see a whole lot more of London than if you travelled via the underground, you may even discovered same unexpected sights.

 

Have any tips of your own for the millions of tourists coming to London every year? Let me know in the comments below.

Daniel Pharaoh

Daniel Pharaoh

London Writer and Blogger. Featured in the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times.

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