4hrs around Bloomsbury/Kings Cross to show DD life as a UCL student.

[Ufsse]

Where would you go?

The Foundling Museum & Coram Fields check Tracy Emin’s tiny lost mitten sculpture on the railings outside the museum.

Brunswick Square

The river from monument

Covent Garden

British Museum

Wellcome Collection

Go East for a younger vibe

Hope she likes it.

Is she considering living locally? Lidl in Tottenham Court Road.

Walk down to Russell Square and on to Covent Garden and Oxford Street, to show her how close to central London she'd be. (Whether she'll have any money to spend there is another matter.)

Also Coal Drops Yard
The canal boat book shop

Walk the Canal to Camden and on to Regents Park.

4 hours? You could get to the Lake District in four hours!

DS is going to UCL in September. He’s so looking forward to being in the midst of London life. Hope your daughter enjoys it 😊

Find out which building she'd have classes in, as some courses are based in buildings a bit further afield around Bloomsbury. Or even UCL East at Stratford?

www.ucl.ac.uk/maps

Assuming Bloomsbury campus, have a walk around the immediate area in all directions. Euston Road is a traffic artery and not a good introduction to London. Gower Street is bleak and devoid of things to do, but the next main road parallel to it is Tottenham Court Road which has loads of shops, cafes, Lidl, M&S Food. Head south and you'll find Oxford Street and Covent Garden. East of Gower Street you'll find garden squares and once you get past Tavistock Square there's less traffic and is a nice part of Bloomsbury - walk down Marchmont Street for independent cafes and the Brunswick Centre (small shopping centre with a Waitrose).

Have you seen the self-guided tour?

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/study/prospective-students/campus-tours/about-self-guided-campus-tours

I love this part of town! The students seem to mostly hang out on Judd St, Tavistock Place, Marchmont St, Russell Square. You can do a good Blue Plaque trawl down Marchmont St.

On Judd St, the King of Felafel is good. And Patisserie Deux Amis does really nice croissants.

Skoob books, tucked away at the top of the Brunswick centre, is good for a browse.

Saint George's gardens is a hidden gem - I went there once and never found it again (challenged myself not to use a map)

Big Waterstones on Gower st. John Soames museum. British museum. Just wandering around is great. Its a lovely part of town.

Thanks. We’re booked on to a guided tour of the campus which finishes at 1pm and the four hours are after that. So it’s more what to do in the surrounding areas to get more of a feel for life in London.

Thanks for all the ideas 🙂

You could also look towards where he'd be living in second year. My DS did his 2nd- 4th years in Camden. Walk through Regent's Park, past the zoo, onto the canal towpath. End up at Camden market, which is fairly unique.

My dd lives in accommodation in Wembley but loves to just wander & see what she can find. She hates Oxford St in business hours with a passion though! It's surprising how close everything is, once you stop using the tube & start walking.

Have a lovely day in the city 🙂

If the tour ends at 1pm I’d head for lunch first… It may be that DD gets chatting to other students on the tour and ends up in the student union bar so I’d have a back up lunch plan for yourself.

What is she interested in? And sightseeing or real life? Cos real life will probably be knowing where Lidl and the best Tesco/Sainsbury's locals are, public transport options to get to other places, and finding walking routes along quieter streets to avoid the hustle and bustle.

Does she know London as a visitor?

Where are the halls, ask that. I'd walk down Tottenham court Rd or goodge street, towards charing cross Rd, look at Foyle bookshop where students buy, Denmark St for 2nd hand music and bookshops. Back round to China town. Soho and soho square . If youre heading back to euston or kings x station I'd look around the brunswick centre and Marchmont St, British library if you have time. In this weather coal drop yard is nice to sit in.

Second hand bookshops at the back of Brunswick centre. Big Waterstones on Gower Street and Foyles on Tottenham Court Road. British Library (end of Judd Street). Cheap Indian food at the YMCA on other side of Tottenham Court Road. Cinema in Brunswick Centre if you still have time to kill

The Cordon Bleu cafe in Bloomsbury is fun (a totally different type of student there). Exmouth Market and just beyond it, the Angel and Islington (more residential) and yes, the Brunswick Centre. If it's hot and she likes swimming, the Oasis (open air) swimming pool at Covent Garden...

I went to ucl......several years ago. Charlotte street, Chinatown, Waterstones on gower street, Russell square, national portrait gallery, british museum. Food, books and museums in that order :)

Haha, love you recommending the Lidl. It is fab. I wish I lived nearer! But yeah there are so many overpriced places in that area it was a delight when they opened it!

The hospital behind it is one of the best in the country as well.

Berwick St market is good for veg, I trained at that hospital, it's a great area to live in.

Going the other direction towards Camden, Drummond St is great for cheap Indian food

It's a shadow of what it once was, though (the market, not the hospital). Now mostly street food stalls down Berwick St, with maybe one veg guy at the bottom. And, as with most of Soho, the tiny little cheap bistro holes-in-the-walls have been replaced by chains.

UCL/SOAS students looking for bargain veg might be better off at Chapel market in Angel - still a few good stalls there

That's a shame, I used to love Berwick street then down to Greek St and old compton St. Chapel market is a good shout and upper street used to have a few cheaper places, is Galliano still there.

Good old Galliano! I had my birthday there one year. Think it's gone now, and I noticed last week that Le Mercure (?), the old school French restaurant by the Almeida, is also gone. There are some nice non-chains on Theberton st.

Upper st is still nice to wander down, though - some lovely clothes shops! And a few bookshops.

hi OP, may be one of the things to do is check where the student halls are located. She could check from the website which one look more appealing to her. That is a good way to check the area as well.
my Dd just finished her degree at UCL, I lived very close to UCL hospital when I moved to the Uk so I could tell her what areas were better or felt safer when she was trying to decide which student halls to chose. She loved her 3 years at UCL and living in Central London

Yes it was a great place, there were several with slightly different menu. The vegetarian Indian in chapel St used to be really good value ?bel poori. Govinda in soho is great, there are loads of cheap eateries if you look and the uni has student bars, not sure if the 52 club in goodge street is still there.