To think that sightseeing in London is incredibly stressful and not enjoyable

[EllebellyBeeblebrox]

We've just got back from a long weekend in London, using AirBNB. Kids are 5 and 9, and I'm 24weeks pregnant (which, I admit may be affecting my feelings on this matter)
We've had a lovely time, the kids thought the zoo was wonderful, enjoyed the tube, and the river taxi. I however am utterly shattered and drained and have the following gripes...

1. There was at any one time about 50 other people trying to walk in the same square metre as me. In all directions, like crazed and manic ants.
2. People just stopping in front of me randomly whilst walking to take a series of selfies in front of a lamppost.
3. Everything is horrendously expensive. £5 for a small gift shop key ring, aggravatingly underneath a sign which said "pocket money toys".
4. QUEUEING EVERYWHERE
5. Rude people pushing and barging and generally invading all personal space
6. The realisation (mainly at the Tower of London) that I have less than minimal knowledge of British history, and indeed the French family behind me in the queue knew more about various kings and queens than me. My children also seem only to be interested in historical things that are either gruesome and bloodthirsty (prisons/dungeons) or childishly amusing (Henry Viii's codpiece). Sadly the same could be said for me.
7. Big Ben looks like a building site and Westminster tube station smelled of piss.

Am I a total joyless bastard? Should I have been more enthralled at the historic and cultural sights? I'm so happy the DCs (mostly) enjoyed it but I'm utterly fucked, my feet and back are in agony after marching around for three days and not sleeping on a sofa bed. I'm so happy to be home

I live here, and I avoid tourist spots aside from weekdays in school time.

The only thing I disagree with is unfriendliness. I never worry about my buggy on the tube as I always get an offer of help. In busy cafes most people are totally cool with table sharing and chat too. People often chat in parks with kids.

I think with London you just have to know your times and spots to enjoy it. Conram fields all to yourself is lovely, great after a British museum visit. The southbank bit of ‘beach’ is great t run around on for a time out and there’s so many little garden spots, especially in the City of London area. Somewhere like the Barbican conservatory is a delight. Tower of London is best on a mid winter day, then it can be amazing.

When pregnant or with tired children you just need the balls to tell the carriage you need a seat, people then unfocus from their iPods etc and do pleasantly. I travel with my autistic daughter and even in the most hellish carriage if she flaps, squeaks and looks scared I get simultaneous seat offers for her without saying a word.

I like London but it is always busy and very popular with tourists. I am usually OK in busy places, my DH is not always so keen though.

DD also loves London. We go there for a weekend a few times a year and use Tesco vouchers for the tourist-y stuff. Not surprised you are shattered though, enjoy your own comfy bed tonight rather than a sofa bed OP!

Blimey tourists moaning about tourists and then blaming London. Of course it’s busy and if you go to the standard tourist attractions it is expensive but there’s so much to see beyond the obvious sights.

Oh and my biggest but, one thing a day is the best way to see London. Is totally enough!

Like your mix of gripes!

Add message | Report | Message poster HollySniffs Mon 27-May-19 21:43:28
Which ones notacooldad? Not Rome, Madrid, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam or Berlin for starters
I agree with you wth those cities but I find Vilnius, Oslo, Talli, Rig and Warsaw and Helsinki a lot more comfortable and return to those place over and over again rather than go to London. ( apart from Berlin, I love going there and go at least twice a year)

Go on a weekday, and go early morning. I live in London and did a load of touristy stuff I’d never gotten around to while I was on mat leave, and if I did my sightseeing between 9-11am on a Tuesday in November, there was nobody about.

And yep an entire day of sightseeing is exhausting, especially at 24/40. Same would be true of an entire day hiking the Yorkshire Dales, or anything else where you were on your feet all day.

Hollysniffs
I forgot to add Chisneau, Tiraspol, Luxembourg and Reykjavík as capital places in Europe that I have found quieter and less busy than London.

I live in London, some years ago we had DW relatives from the far east visit on what I didn't realise was one of the busiest days of the year. I remember standing in the Natural History museum and it was wall-to-wall people in every direction. I mean, crammed like a tube train in rush hour, people in contact with other people on all sides, it wasn't a case of picking your way through a crowd, it was almost impossible to move in any direction. The only way to move was to worm your way into a queue of people shuffling in a particular direction a few inches at a time.

It's definitely a good idea to do some planning before trying to go anywhere.

TBH I think allowing a crowd like that ought to be a health and safety violation, they should control entrance numbers. (I hope they do nowadays.)

Love London & love taking my kids (never done with kids whilst being pregnant!).

Took my 6 & 4 year old a couple of summers ago - on scooters from Tate Modern, Southbank, London Eye, Westminster (no scaffolding), horse guards parade, Trafalger Sq (climbed the lions), Pizza Express & home. Only went into the Tate Modern, everything else was admired from outside, as it wasn't worth the cost to take them in.

Free transport for kids meant we have jumped on & off buses & tubes going all round London - going to see the Monument, Tower of London, Shard, and popping into the amazing free museums at 4pm as everyone else is leaving so no one queuing.

That's an impressive list notacooldad. Out of those I've only been to Reykjavik though so I'll have to take your word for it.

Imagine what it's like for the rest of us having our streets and tube stations clogged up with tourists! It's city life. I think most major cities are like this and London is one if the greatest cities in the world.

But my view is that central london is for Londoners during the week at tourists at the weekend.

"Were they Japanese? They seem to photograph everything"

Nice bit of casual racism there.

Or the people who walk so slowly that I don't understand how they maintain balance. 😄 This is annoying when you're trying to catch a train after work to pick up your child in time.

Lol at the Oxford St challenge

Notacooldad is obviously trying to impress the ladies with how well travelled he is. I live in London and obviously love it otherwise I wouldn't have put up with the absurd house prices for the past 34 years. I don't commute into the centre daily any more and haven't done for a long time, but I still absolutely feel the thrill of being "in town" and everything that means. I think most Londoners are proud of their city and are on the whole welcoming to tourists. Of course it's going to be busy ... it's the greatest capital city in Europe.

I've lived here for 11 years and I hate the crowds. I'm relieved my family have been enough times now we don't have to do Buckingham palace, southbank, Trafalgar Square etc as they are crazy busy. When they visit now it's lovely as we can go to unusual, quirky places and it's so much better! I take them to unheard of museums, shows, restaurants etc --- so much better!

Oh I said so much better twice. I'm very emphatic about this 😂

I love London , it’s my home. But that’s because I have the insider knowledge to go to those places on week says not bank holiday weekends. It’s always gonna be packed on a bank holiday weekend.

Well their cleaning Big Ben I didn’t realise that was news to people?

*days

@IamAlwaysLikeThis not casual racism though it’s true!!

I’ve even had Japanese people want to take photos of children I’ve been looking after.

I think Notacooldad is being a bit tongue in cheek. All of those places are tiny and some have fuck all in the way of tourist attractions or, unsurprisingly, tourists, apart from beered up stag parties in the Baltic States.

The trick to doing London with kids is to go early - get to the Tower when it opens. And also to intersperse culture/history with more child friendly stuff like Coram’s Fields or the South Bank, where they can do fun stuff and let off steam.

I live in a small town in Italy and love to get my London fix twice a year. Yes, it's busy.
But it's also incredibly well organized, the people are friendly and helpful and prices for a keyring of a pillar box in London are no more expensive than prices for a keyring of a pillar box anywhere else in a touristy shop.

My Italian sil and her family were there at Easter and I waited for their "the food is awful, the weather is awful, everything is expensive" comments...they came back and the first thing she said was "why the fuck are you living down here when you could be in the UK" and they haven't stopped talking about how civilised everything and everyone was to non-English speaking tourists.

I think that about all city "breaks". That's why I never go on them. You end up coming back feeling more harrassed and tired than before you left. Dirty, noisy and stressful.

And hold the front page at the shocking realisation that foreign tourists are perhaps going to want to photograph a place and things in that place that they are probably visiting on a once in a lifetime trip.
Do Brits find taking photos of camels, the Sydney opera House and the Eiffel tower infra dig then?