Am I alone in saying I dont like London and don't see the attraction ?

[Bertybamboozle]

I am SE based and can be in London in around 20 mins on the train. I cannot stand the place. There is no reason to visit, unless you are a tourist. I really cannot see the appeal and apart from the tourist things, there is nothing else especially special/different to do. I can do pubs/cinema/shows/shopping anywhere.

I feel like I am the only one who thinks this.

@HotCrossBunplease do you want me to list them all.
London ones in the last couple of years.....
Rocky Horror (3 times)
Grease
Dirty Dancing
Newsies
Annie
Six (twice)
Heathers
Had tickets for Mean Girls but had to cancel
Bonnie and Clyde
Had tickets for Hadestown but had to cancel
Wicked
Little Shop of Horrors (amateur production)
Have tickets for Oliver in January.
Not musicals...
Spirited Away
My Neighbour Totoro
Daughter and husband have also seen
Crucible
2:22
A Christmas Carol
Not London but in the last couple of years
Rocky
Little Shop of Horrors (amateur production)
Would you like to know all the ones I have seen in my life. I'm almost 50 so it's a few.....

Yes you are alone. No one else has ever said they dislike London. Ever.

And as a Londoner I know how to avoid crowds. So usually only in the centre during the week or weekday evenings and avoid tourist places like Oxford street (never go); south bank, Borough, Westminster and Covent Garden at the weekend. Tend to stay in neighbourhood or see friends at the weekend.

I come from a small town but have lived in London all my adult life.

It was cool when I was 20. Now, I just want to go "home", which I will do once my daughter moves out.

I don't like all the tower blocks going up, the fact families are leaving Central London, that many places have lost character since being gentrified, and that I am very lonely sometimes despite being surrounded by people. It's very isolating. Also the cost of living here is unbelievable!

The sheer variety and volume of things to do, yes of course other places have galleries and exhibitions and theatres, but in London there is so much more choice, I can pick any one of 30 shows or plays or ballets or exhibitions or music concerts to see each week, and it’s always changing. A lot of it is free. The variety and calibre of restaurants (yes there are shit ones here, yes there are good ones elsewhere, but there are so many more good ones to choose from in London). It’s just not true that you can do all the same stuff anywhere. When was the last time there was a Monet exhibition in Newbury?

Then again some people find stepping outside M25 is scary and alien.

You do you. Some of us couldn’t imagine living elsewhere and think it is mostly brilliant!

Hate most cities expect cathedral cities. We live semi rural and even moving to our local cathedral city is a no

London has a Cathedral. Actually 4 Cathedrals.

I've lived in London most of my life and I'd only move away to another international city. The things I like are: great public transport, variety of shops, children's theatre and concerts, children's activities, parks and playgrounds, school options, museum and gallery exhibitions, tourist attractions, rail and airport connections, sport and leisure centres, play opportunities. The crowds don't bother me, I find it satisfying that we live somewhere that people make the effort to travel miles to get to and our normal life is a bit of a treat for them.

DH and I moved abroad about 10 years ago, but we return to London maybe twice/year for a long weekend. We go shopping for stuff we can’t get locally, we see a West End show and/or visit a new exhibit with our kids, we go to big bookstores where everything is in English (a novelty for our kids), and we eat foods we miss at restaurants we don’t have locally. I’ve seen more of central London as a ‘tourist’ since moving away than I ever did when we lived in one of the outer London zones. I get the appeal of visiting now more than I did when we lived there!

@Balletdreamer London is very big though so it's not like everything is in your doorstep.
I live Zone 3. About 6 miles from central London.
To get to the West End takes me about 45 minutes (sometimes longer).
To drive from my medium size midlands town to get to Stratford Upon Avon takes about 25 minutes.
It's quicker - journey time - for my mum out in the shires to get to Stratford to see a Shakespeare play than it is for me to do the same in London.
So it's not like people living in average town UK can't get to other places where the "culture" is.

Agree

Yes, I was in twenties early 00s and was born in West London and grew up there, left in late twenties. I think it was much better then. I still work in central London but not every day.

For me back in the day it was more cutting edge with all sorts of creative opportunities as it was more affordable for these businesses to exist. Equally, the population of London as a whole is huge compared to the 90s and that is really noticeable, places that once were pretty quiet are no longer so. That said, I am in my 40s now so perhaps I am associating more exciting times with my youth i.e a better London!

I agree with everyone else. If you don't like it, then don't go, nobody's forcing you to visit. I love London. I lived there in my 20's before moving overseas. You could never get bored. The only thing I dislike is that it's so expensive.

I don't like London, it's too dirty. I also hate the way some Londoners don't seem to realise that places outside London aren't the same. You see post on here saying I've burnt Sunday dinner and there's nowhere near here open and someone will suggest go to nearest open supermarket, get Uber eats, etc.

I just want to address this. London has a cultural blackhole around it of about 50 miles radius. Anyone who lives in that circle inevitably ends up having to go into London for culture. And so people who live in that blackhole area think London is somehow special. But it's really just like any large and rich city across Europe. And obviously it's a great place to visit and is lively and dynamic and fun. But in reality most people living there aren't taking advantage of all the cultural attractions because they are spending all their money on rent, or it takes too long to cross the city, or there's just far too many theatre shows to choose from and so you end up not going to any.
Samuel Johnson may have said 'When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford' but he was talking about a London that was the size of Newcastle now. And there are several cities in the UK that are in that 500K to 1.5M population bracket that have plenty to do and see but are just a lot more pleasant to live in than London and its surrounds.

Well, I certainly am not suggesting that London is the only great city. I'm just making the point that there are lots of things in London that you cannot get outside of a big city. I do take your point though - we're particularly starved in Surrey, for example!

the poster I was quoting though was making the point that a mid size regional town will never have the things london has (and I'd argue, that many large cities have). There is absolutely a difference between say Guildford, Epsom, Kingston, Dorking, Woking - all towns relatively near me - and London (or Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol etc which I'd agree - have lots of the same cultural options and levels of dynamism and excitement).

There is absolutely a difference between say Guildford, Epsom, Kingston, Dorking, Woking - all towns relatively near me - and London

Kingston is London! But otherwise agree with your post.

@TheTruthICantSay - those cities do have a lot going for them (I regularly visit both Birmingham and Bristol, so I know them quite well), but they're not a patch on London when it comes to dynamism and excitement.

If you want to go to the theatre - in London, it's a case of 'what kind of thing do I want to see?' and you'll have loads of options. In B'ham, it's a case of 'what's on at the Hippodrome or the Alex?', and if neither of those are your thing, that's it. Same for museums - London has the Nat History, Transport, Imperial War, British, V&A, Science museums and so, so, so many more (both big and small). Birmingham has a couple of smaller ones and one in the Town Hall, but once you've seen them once, you're done. You could keep visiting the V&A every year of your life and see something new each time.

Then London has all the other attractions - Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Madam Tussauds, Tower of London, Royal Palaces etc etc (not all of these are to everyone's taste, but there's something for everyone, and something new every time you go).

And you can walk miles and see loads of interesting stuff - the South Bank, The City, the parks and open spaces, the canal network etc etc. A walking tour of Birmingham wouldn't take that long...

And the viewpoints - the Shard, the Sky Garden, the cable car, the new skyscraper whose name escapes me - all great for having a view over London and its unique skyline. There's nothing like that elsewhere in the UK.

Then there's the variety in the food - you can get ANYTHING in London. Any cuisine, at any degree of formality/poshness. Birmingham has great options, for sure, but it doesn't have the depth and variety.

And then there's all the different areas/districts - Brixton, Battersea, Marylebone, Wimbledon, Shoreditch... all of which are different and worthy of a mooch around. You don't get that diversity in Birmingham.

We have other great cities in the UK, no doubt about it - but there is SO much more to London.

Well those are all near London.

I live in a large regional town (~100K) in the north and I think people live differently and don't just think about their own town or going to the nearest city but make use of everything in the region. So e.g. I've been to the theatre in about 10 local towns and cities because they all offer something different. Even simple things like work nights out happen across the region because we all live across the region. So while my town has e.g. lots of restaurants, a good theatre complex, a multiplex cinema and a couple of museums and a wide choice of evening classes I'd never think those were my only options for cultural events.

ETA in 2020 we had a staycation and just went to local places during our summer holiday, despite having lived in the region for 20 years and we filled our fortnight with places we'd never gone to before and had a great time. London might have 'more' but most regions have 'more than enough'.

All true. I love London myself. I'm simply conceding that other citiies are also good.

My original post said that OP was being ridiculous! London is great.

I agree. I enjoy maybe the first hour or two of my time there then feel exhausted and overwhelmed by the place

Depends on your interests I guess. I love it for its history, access to the arts and beautiful green spaces. So many lovely walks to be done. Saw my first kingfisher on the River Lee near Stratford and I live I live in the country side! Love access to street food and unusual shops....
Again depends on the areas you go to, a weekend just off Oxford Street nah but there are so many beautiful and interesting areas ( history of Oxford Street is interesting but shopping in chains not my thing)

I love it from afar but I live in the countryside so I'm used to quiet and barely seeing anyone. When I have to go into the London office it stresses me out. People everywhere, everything feels rushed and cramped. As soon as I arrive I'm itching to leave but it's only because of what I'm used to. It has it's good points too.