Name: LONDON TRAVEL TIPS FOR FIRST TIMERS | 40+ Must-Knows Before Visiting London + What NOT to Do!
Uploaded: 2026-03-03T09:49:56.000Z
Duration: 17 min 38 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

The imperative

If you're visiting London for the first time this year, make sure you watch this video because I'm going to be sharing all my best tips and tricks for first timers.

Hi, I'm Christina from happytowander.com and I've spent a lot of time in London over the years, most recently spending three months there.

To-infinitive

So I've learned a lot from trial and error, what to do and what not to do in this amazing capital city.

So in this video, I'm going to be sharing all my best tips and tricks for first timers to make sure you have an amazing time.

So we're going to start with some London travel planning tips.

First things first, in terms of when to visit London, honestly I every season has something really cool to offer.

The only thing I would say is to avoid peak, peak season being July and August, just because this is when everyone and their mom is going to be visiting London, so it's going to be really busy.

And also when it gets hot in London, it's not the most pleasant experience just because the tube system is not built for heat, so it gets very sticky, very humid, very disgusting.

So I would really not advise visiting London during the thick of the summer.

In terms of how long to stay in London, I would say four days is an absolute minimum, just because anything less than that, you're going to feel stressed trying to capture all the sites and you're really not going to feel like you've seen a lot.

But minimum 4 days more if you want to do some of the day trips around the city.

So the Greater London area is actually served by six different airports.

So there's Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City Airport and London Southend Airport.

Now, for visitors coming from overseas, odds are you're going to be entering through Gatwick or Heathrow, whereas the other ones are more meant for shorter flights, usually coming from elsewhere in Europe.

Now, if you're coming from Heathrow, I would definitely advise against doing the Heathrow Express just because I know it's quick but it's very, very expensive.

And also, unless you're staying at a hotel really close to Paddington Station, you're going to end up having to take public trans export further and transfer to your next stop anyway, so the Tube is definitely a much more cost effective solution.

Luckily, Heathrow is on the Tube line, so you can just hop on with a contactless card and it'll calculate your fare for you.

So it's quite a simple way to do it in terms of hotels, there are thousands of potential hotels and rooms that you can choose from.

But generally speaking, I think the most important thing in London when you're choosing a hotel is comfort.

Whereas I'm more inclined to pick based on location for other cities.

London is such a spread out and huge city that just booking an accommodation that's close to one attraction doesn't necessarily put you at an advantage when you're going to sightsee in other places.

So really, picking a hotel that's comfortable in a nice neighborhood with good food options to me is more important than staying like next to the London Eye or close to Big Ben.

So long as you pick a hotel that's close to a tube station, honestly you'll be fine for getting around.

I would prioritize places that are in zone one and zone two just because that's honestly cheaper when you do public transport that way.

And also staying in one of those zones will put you kind of within a stone's throw of most attractions in London.

That said, I would personally prioritize things like the specifics of the hotel and whether or not they suit your needs in terms of comfort.

Now it's important to note that a lot of hotels in London are actually repurposed from older buildings.

Sometimes they will have no elevator or lack of amenities that you might be used to like air conditioning.

So when you're vetting hotels, be sure to look beyond just a few photos.

Be sure to read the descriptions quite clearly, look at some reviews, because a lot of older hotels in London will not have some amenities that you would come to expect from a hotel.

Now another important tip is to make sure you get an international SIM card or at least an international data plan, just because oftentimes you'll be relying on Internet a lot when you're in London.

A lot of restaurants even have their menus just on QR codes these days.

But the good news is it's very cheap to get a SIM card when you're in London.

Actually at the airports they have machines, look for vending machines from three, they sell SIM cards and you can set it up really easily and it's very affordable as well.

Lastly, before you head to London, make sure you have a travel friendly credit card.

And the reason I say this is because London these days is becoming very much a cashless city.

You're going to be using cards to pay for a lot of things.

So if you have a credit card that charges you every time you Use it abroad, then that's not really going to work out in your favorite.

And I highly recommend getting a wise card.

You can hold a bunch of different currencies in one account and it also minimizes any potential fees when you're using it abroad.

So I highly recommend using that because you are going to be using card a lot when you're in London.

Now, in terms of getting around London, here are some must knows.

First things first, you definitely wouldn't need to rent a car.

Unless you're planning on driving out to the countryside or doing some more remote trips within the city, you're not going to need a car and you definitely shouldn't be wasting your money that way because it can be very stressful driving in London and most people won't be used to it.

Second, when taking taxis, I definitely recommend downloading an app called FreeNow.

It's basically like Uber except they work with licensed taxis.

So you can easily order a taxi through an app and then they'll come to you.

And so this is way easier than trying to flag a taxi down.

It's also really good because you can see the estimated fare.

So that way you know when you're getting scammed or when you're not getting scammed.

Third, I definitely wouldn't rely on these hop on, hop off buses as a mode of transport, to be honest with you.

I have taken one in the past and I thought it was really fun as a sightseeing tour.

But as a mode of transport it's really not that reliable because the schedules aren't as consistent and it's really, really not the most efficient way to get around.

Now way better than the hop on, hop off buses is just relying on public transport as millions of Londoners do every single day.

Now the public transport system in London relies on a tap in, tap out system that automatically charges you as a visitor.

You can either just use a contactless card, anything with this symbol and that will automatically charge you, or you can get an Oyster card.

The easiest thing is probably just to use your contactless card.

There's actually no difference between the fares that they charge you with.

There's only a few situations where as a tourist I think it makes sense.

The first one is if you plan on getting a rail card.

So if you get a rail card, you can actually register it with your Oyster card and that's going to save you one third off all your train journeys, including your tube journey.

But of course, this only really works if you're staying in London for a longer period of time or if you plan on coming back really frequently.

The other situation is if you have a credit card, but

it's not a travel friendly one, in which case you're going to be charged every single time you do any transactions abroad.

In that case, then it might be worthwhile getting an Oyster card.

But besides that, contactless is the way to go.

Now, in terms of public transport in London, you have a few options.

You have the Underground trains, also known as the Tube.

You also have buses and overground trains which connect you out to more suburb areas.

Now, as a tourist, you're mostly going to be relying on the underground and on buses.

But for me personally, I would recommend tourists more prioritize the bus actually, just because it's cheaper, because it's charged just one zone across the board.

It's also really fun to ride in a double decker bus like Up Top and you get to see a lot more.

You also get cell service, so it's easier to navigate.

That said, there are some downsides with the bus.

Of course, you're at the mercy of London traffic, which can be really brutal.

Also, the buses are often not as punctual.

So if you're using Google Maps to navigate, never trust the estimate that they give you on there just because it doesn't factor in traffic.

Instead, look for the electronic stop times that are usually at the stop.

Those will tend to be a lot more accurate.

Regardless of what option you choose, just always make sure you have a good buffer time if you have to go anywhere specific.

So if you have a show you need to catch or a certain train you need to catch, give yourself a lot of buffer time in advance just in case the public transport system fails you because there's often delays in busier tourist areas.

To be honest with you, I would prioritize walking above all else because often this can be faster than taking the bus or the Tube and it's just a more scenic way to get around.

Now let's run through a few basic tips for riding the Tube.

I would never willingly go on the Tube during rush hour as a tourist, just because you have that flexibility.

Not only are the fares more expensive during that time, but

it gets incredibly busy and it's just not a fun time to be around.

So definitely avoid the tube around 7:30 to 9:00am and also 5 to 7:00pm Another thing is to always keep your ticket or your card handy, because whenever you're riding the Tube, you have to tap out at the fare gates every time.

So the last thing that you want to do is hold up everyone behind you because you can't find your card.