Am I the only person who has never been to London?

[MamaCrazy]

I live in central England. I have never been to London. I have also never been to Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Am I the only person to have never been to any of these big cities? By going to them, I mean actually parking and going into the city centres. I have been to Birmingham New Street Station to switch trains.

I don't really like visiting London because I hate using the tube. But on my last (rare) visit from the depths of the west country shires, I found out that it was quite a nice walk from the coach station, past Buckingham palace and all the way to Big Ben.
The river boats are fun as well.
I can only take so much of visiting big cities (Mordor).
Yes, it's very 'Lord of the Rings', makes things more interesting.

And if you don't like crowds, then use your imagination - there are lots of options. You can lose yourself for a day in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Hundreds and hundreds of acres of beautiful, green open space.

London is my favourite city in the world. So much history and culture and of course restaurants! Edinburgh is beautiful too.

There are plenty of shows on outside of London! And galleries etc.

Never been to the others. Not really had a need to but I adore London!

The shopping, night life, theatre its all wonderful!

Yeah, what's London got to offer? I mean apart from the Thames, Houses of Parlament, Big Ben, St Pauls, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, Hyde Park, Green Park, St James Park, The London Eye, The Shard, Greenwich, The Cutty Sark, Borough Market, Leadenhall, the Bank of England, the City, Fleet Street, the Inns of Court, Spitalfields, Camden Market, Portobello Road, Covent Garden, Soho, China Town, Kensington Palace, Earls Court, Olympia, Wembley stadium, the O2, upwards of 30 full size grand theatres, the South Bank Complex, The National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate and Tate Modern, literally hundreds of museums from The Natural History museum and the Science Museum downwards, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street, Savile Row, Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury

I mean it's all just pigeon shit and dirt yeah? No different to shopping on the local high street with it's branch of Peacocks and Greggs.

Peacocks and Greggs. It's all you need, innit.

I love London with a passion. My life would be considerably poorer if I didn't visit it regularly. If all it means to you in pigeons and dirt, you're going to the wrong bits.
Birmingham is pretty vibrant and DS loves Think Tank.
Never been to Glasgow but have been to Edinburgh.
Been to Manchester years ago to visit a friend.
I do find it a bit odd that someone wouldn't in their whole lives have had the urge or just a practical reason to see their capital.

I live in outer London and go into the city fairly regularly. I haven’t been to any of the others on your list but I have been to other UK cities like Cardiff. I like cities and have been on holidays to big cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong. I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea but still I’m surprised that people from only a couple of hours away have never been to London. It is a huge city with so much to see and do. To be so close but never have gone to a West End show, or one of our national museums or galleries, or to see the landmarks like Parliament or Buckingham Palace, seems a bit of a shame to me. As others have noted some people travel around the world for it. It seems odd to have it on your doorstep and never go.

I’ve moved from London to a very small city in the East Midlands. It’s extraordinary how many of the parents I’ve met during school years who have never left their city, never traveled, some have never learned to drive or even been on a train. I find it very bizarre, although I’ve traveled a lot UK and world. My daughter had travelled to more countries by the time she was about 10 than some people I know. They are however happy I guess that’s the main thing.

We've got Scottish relatives who have never been to England, but have been to Europe and USA.

I expect there are lots of English people who've never been to Scotland but have been to Europe and USA.

I thought the UK was part of Europe?

You can't just say pigeons, dirt and crowds! London is a small country of its own. Greenwich, Southwark, the City, West End, Hampstead etc etc all different flavours of parks, river walks, historic buildings, new buildings to take your breath away. I could go on but will probably bore you.

London is crazy busy and full of dirt and pigeons.

Of course it is, it’s just like that in the Royal parks, down Marylebone high street, in the silent little windy roads just off oxford street where tiny little independent food shops jostle with 4th generation Turkish barbers and family run Italian cafes and the children on scooters racing their way to school. It’s crazy busy just at the back of borough high street near the allotments and the beach volleyball pitch and the football games after work and the pub which has been there for 400 years.

It’s all about the dirt and the pigeons, absolutely

And if you don't like crowds, then use your imagination - there are lots of options. You can lose yourself for a day in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Hundreds and hundreds of acres of beautiful, green open space

I’ve lived most of my life in the countryside and live very close to it now, why would I want to visit some grass and a few trees in London?
How does a person get to those places without encountering crowds?

There are many places outwith London that are of great historical and cultural significance, many theatres, galleries and museums too.

That’s the thing. You literally have to take one step away from the main tourist streets and you’re in beautiful quiet areas where the real London happens. I’m always blown away by how quiet and local London feels as soon as you step away

I think in this day and age it is a little pathetic to state that you "just don't fancy" visiting anywhere bigger than a very small town or village, and even more ridiculous to have never visited London.

We live in a multicultural and cosmopolitan country and time. We should be embracing this and teaching our children that it's important to widen our horizons and broaden our experiences in order to continue and nurture these aspects.

To be so incredibly insular seems to me to be a form of inverted snobbishness and just a way for some people to try to garner attention or an opportunity to dredge up stereotypical negatives about anything they haven't actually experienced for themselves.

So no OP, I'm not impressed and I think you should get out more.

You stick with your local, and your Peacocks and Greggs then, Fission. 🤷🏻‍♀️

But don't be surprised when people think it's mundane and sheltered.

How parochial.

why would I want to visit some grass and a few trees in London?

...and again, you're embarrassing yourself by how you come across, because you haven't seen it for yourself, and your descriptions are so wide of the mark.

I'm from the Lizard and have been to London 3 times in my entire life, have been to the USA several times Scotland once Australia once and several visits to cities in Europe. I think London is ok but don't see myself ever living there as seems far too busy and I'm always glad to get back home.

You stick with your local, and your Peacocks and Greggs then, Fission

I think the one thing that visiting a big city gives you is the breadth of multiculturalism, the knowledge that every race, colour, religion, sexual orientation live side by side. I think that’s a true gift and something which you don’t see on the same scale outside of the big cities

I agree with haverhill, I feel happy whenever I'm in London. It's my favourite place in the world. I live just outside (in zone 6) and go up as often as i can. In fact I'm going today with ds and his friend! It's the best city in the world. But I love the busyness and some hate that so I do understand why it's not everyone's cup of tea. I do think it's good to travel in your own country though. If I get to retirement age and have some money is love to spend a few weeks touring the British isles. I haven't been to Glasgow but have been everywhere else you've mentioned. I loved Edinburgh, went there for new year with dh and had a fab time.

I've lived in Barcelona since 2001 and still haven't been to Madrid I've been to Seville, Cordoba, Bilbao, Santander, Valencia, Andorra-Pyrenees, as far as Zaragoza... But not quite as far as the capital. I will one day, no rush.

I haven't been to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham (except travelling through on the bus), York, Oxford... So many places, but so many I have seen and enjoyed - including about 40% of Scotland some Wales, ROI but not NI, as yet. Belfast is on our list.

I wouldn't go as far as slagging off Madrid, although it seems to be a local pastime in Catalunya

I think if you are going to be a pig about a city then you're better off not going there, nobody likes a catsbum face wandering round Covent Garden.