A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR LONDON.
London, it is true, is full of Italians but what city is not?
The number of our of our compatriots dramatically increases in the summer.
Many people take advantage of the summer months to come here (well if you do not know HostelBookers.it is in London) for a study holiday, in short, to try to learn this language so difficult for us Italians.
Now that I think about it, going back a few years with the memory, the first time I set foot in London, it was in the summer for 3 weeks in a collage summer, well they were all Italians, therefore, except for a few hour lesson in the morning to the else seemed to be the oratory summer.
Without getting bogged down in nonsense after received on our Facebook page more than a message from people who plan to come to London, asking for some advice or some advice, I thought it’s appropriate to write a kind of little survival guide for newly arrived in London.
I’d fly over (unintentional pun J) on the advice with which low cost airlines book your flight.
All you will know that goes round and round unless you book with Easyjet will be with Ryanair.
Surely they are the two companies cheapest although it often happens that being your luggage is too heavy you decide to pay extra € 30/40 while not having to leave home something you think you can serve.
In this case you do well your accounts may happen that precisely considering the extra excess weight of the suitcase the more you’ll save about € 25 for London dall’areroporto, eventually you Agree flying with an airline such as British Airways, for example .
As I will explain better than later will save € 25 simply for the fact that with British or other large companies will land at Heathrow and you can take the tube (picadilly line) in the city: A single ticket costs around £ 4.
Here we are, therefore, the first useful information for all those, the majority, who set foot landing in London one of the 3 airports outside the city where low-cost airlines usually fly.
LONDON AIRPORT-
Gatwick
If you land at Gatwick you can decide whether to take a bus or a special train to the Gatwick Express which will take you half an hour to London.
The main differences between the train and the bus are essentially two: the time it takes to get to London and consequently the cost of the ticket.
The Gatwick Express is direct from the airport to Victoria station every 15 minutes and the cost of the ticket, round trip is around £ 26.
If you’re not in a hurry and want to save more than a dozen pounds EasyBus you can take the bus Easyjet, at a cost of £ 11.24.
The bus, depending on the stop, the parties can impiegarci by an hour to an hour and twenty minutes, unless clearly traffic, using the drawback that Gatwick Espress avoid.
EasyBus there you will leave at the end of trip to Earl’s Court / West Brompton in the center-west of the city, here you can move easily through the tube (district line) and with a few changes, or none if you’re lucky, you can get your hostel in London.
Stansted
For the many who will fly with Ryanair this is the airport where you land.
As mentioned also for Gatwick choices to get to the center of London are the usual ones: fast train or bus.
Try to guess what it’s called the train? To the astonishment is called Stansted Express.
The Stansted Express costs £ 26.70 (outward / return) and about three quarters of an hour will take you from the airport to Liverpool Street where there are 4 lines of the tube therefore you can easily reach your destination.
If your hostel or in general the place where you are going, is close to a tube stop on the Victoria line (not one of the 4 lines you will find in Liverpool Street cha) I suggest you get off at Tottenham Hale which is the stop before Liverpool Street Stansted Express.
You can catch the bus TERRAVISION that about an hour at a cost of £ 14 (outward / return) will take you to Liverpool Street.
If you do not speak English very well and need to get ticket for the bus there are no major problems, 90% of the employees of Terravision tickets are Italian.
Luton
In my humble opinion, the most uncomfortable of airports to fly to.
With the bus you have the usual two solutions Easyjet (£ 13) and Terravision (£ 14) both will take you to precisely center London Victoria in about an hour stopping along the way to Baker Street, Brent Cross, Finchley Road and Marble Arc.
As for the train, there are no trains from Luton Express but if we can catch a First Capital Connect train (the equivalent of our FS or TreniItalia) that will take you to Kings Cross Station Waterloo or 45 minutes looking at a cost of approximately £ 25 outward / return.
OYSTER CARD
All my friends who have been to London before you will have already warned about the insane cost of the meter and in general of public transport.
Indeed, the public transport are by no means cheap but knowing a little ‘better “how it works” you can save even a few tens of pounds.
First thing to do is just set foot in the city get off at the first station of the metro (tube) to go to the door and ask for an Oyster Card
The Oyster Card is nothing more than a magnetic card that you could go with the credit recharge to climb, a bit ‘like the cell phone, or do some sort of contract daily, weekly or monthly, allowing you to take the subway all the time you want.
Survive without Oyster Card is impossible for you to understand a metro ticket (single fare) will cost you £ 4 while the Oyster daily with from 5.70 to 7.20 pounds.
So here are some useful things to know to save with your Oyster Card
First of all, the cost of your daily or weekly varies depending on the area where you will use the meter.
From personal experience I tell you that zone 1 and 2 are more than enough especially if you are in London as tourists.
Clearly if you are here for a study holiday and your collage or host family is in zone 3 or 4 is a different matter.
To understand the area are the stations of the tube that interest you and in general to orient yourself in the jungle of metro lines I suggest you take a look at the official website of London’s public transport
Another thing I do not know is that travel by metro during rush hour costs more therefore if you can not take the tube in the morning from 7.30 to 9.30 and in the afternoon from 4 to 7 will pay 30% less.
Durations of these hours you can still use your Oyster Card to take the bus
Summarizing with your Oyster Card a daily day travecard zones 1 and 2 will cost you £ 7.20 or £ 5.60 off peak normally when it does not you will travel during peak hours.
A single run (of course now we always talk about the Oyster Card) for Zone 2 will cost you £ 2.30 This means that once took the tube three times there will be virtually paid off your day travelcard zones 1 and 2 and the fourth race then you will travel Free!
The Oyster Card is formally free but you will be asked for a deposit of £ 3, which back then no one asks, therefore, in practice costs £ 3.
If you’re staying a week or more and you will take the week travelcard zone1 and 2, or the weekly not have to pay the £ 3 deposit.
What fundamental and learned on my own skin: you need to make a sign with his hand or the bus does not stop.
Council ulilissimo to not end up like me to wait for 40 minutes the night bus (obviously only at the bus stop) and then see it through without stopping.
INTERNET SITES AND GOOD PRACTICE
Finally here are some website that could definitely come in handy.
Gumtree.com
The site by far more well known and more used.
Gumtree is a useful little ‘to everything whether you’re looking for home, work or something “second-hand” to save a few quid.
The site is very simple to use and works like a giant bulletin board online, just click on the category that interests you and enter in the search engine at the top of specifically what you need: you will find it safe!
To me it has served, among other things, to be able to find concert tickets already sold out but I did not want to miss.
Therefore, if after a few days here in London, you will discover that the concert of U2 or Muse are sold out do not despair a ticket you be able to recover even paying extra, you want to put back to Italy and say that you were at a concert in London! !
If you’re desperate for home as well as take a look also at Gumtree y both sites specializing in house flat sharing that is in find a room in a shared house with other people.
Council staff for all those who come to London for 2/3 months in the summer to “sew” and learn the language: rent a room in a house with no Italian or Spanish.
If you have to buy something for the house, in the suburbs of London there are a couple of great IKEA alternatively you could browse in the online catalog of Argos, where everything is cheap copresa but if the quality is a matter of a few months can go.
For all those who do not want to miss any of the events that happen in London I suggest you refer to the “bible of London life” Time out.
I said consult and not to buy because in many cafes and pubs especially in areas such as Camden or trendy Brick Lane can give him a puff free (otherwise it costs about £ 5).
If you need a hostel in London as you seek your room with HostelBookers.it know that you will have more price guaranteed.
