To ask what you love most about London?

[Lopsidedlou]

Decided to take the bus instead of tubes home today just because I had some time and like looking down from the top of a double decker and was just reminded of how much I love the city.
I’d say I love (apart from the typical attractions and museums and parks) the sense of just ‘coolness’ around the place- real sense of style with lots of the people you see. And Morley’s (south )

The village also has an annual ball and we call it ‘The Ball Ache’

Wrong thread. Sorry chaps. Nothing to see here, move on.......

It’s the only place in the world where you can’t be surprised that someone defended the public from an armed terrorist with a narwhale tusk

How absolutely true that is!

Oh, and I love the John Soames Museum. Truly sums up, for me, the amazing eccentricity and unexpectedness of London.

@BetteDavisthighs I hope you love it. It's a fantastic city it's exactly what you make it. If you Drudge in drudge out day after day I can see why that might get tedious but if you spend time partying/soul searching/friend making it's the best!

Cycling through Richmond or a run through Greenwich park.
Seeing the pelicans in st James park, endless bars for all sorts of types, just so much fun. Eclectic and diverse as can be, everyone fits in somewhere.

I can confirm I'm definitely an outsider in my current village which brings it home even more right now !

Thank you @godivaqueen! I have lived in London before, but with a 3 month old baby who is now a teen, so am very much looking forward to doing more adult things and exploring the city. I am going to read all the posts in this thread and make a list!

I think people who slag it off sometimes forget that many people simply love it because it's their home, were they were raised, educated & where their families & friends are. There are plenty of things I did that I would hate now but I have very fond memories, , eg clubbing at 15 in Leicester sq, millennium fireworks, thames boat party's, shopping the sales on Boxing Day, 3 night-buses home, etc

@getupnow The people who slag it off are the same people who have "university of life" set as their alma mater on fb.

@BurtonHouse nope, you were being a killjoy

The breadth of culture and cultures.

Pretty much everything. When I moved away, I missed London like a departed lover, with real heart ache.
It’s the best place in the world.

Hyde park in the summer! Followed by mooching around the shops in Knightsbridge and dreaming...

I love the food and the fact that I can find a shop that sells ANYTHING the day I need it.

Coming from a very rural childhood (bus every two hours) I like not having to plan my journey. Know where I'm going ish? Walk to the tube and go. No waiting.

I'm also south. Just outside Z1 and in the thick of it.

Where I love Yorkshire when it's brisk and cold and bright... London parks in the hot summer sun, bottle of Rekorderlig, mates, music... bliss

I walk home from pretty much every restaurant/theatre.
I know all my local neighbours and dogs etc. Live surrounded by restaurants and pubs and museums and squares.
It really excites me when tourists come out of a tube station and look all astounded and excited (as well as knackered) - makes me so proud.
agree re narwhal tusk. I too thought that a real London moment in amongst the tragedy.
Have my own list of stuff ‘i must do’ - still working my way through it and will not be done when I die.
Love the fact my late lovely old ma the day before she died was organising a trip to an exhibition -she was out and about all the time - London for sure kept her ‘alive and curious and active’ to her very end and I love her for that especially.

The convenience, food and culture

I like that there is lots to do and it’s easy to get around. Some parts of London can be quite cool as well.

The way the tube smells. That hot dusty kinda smell. I love it.

The history of it all. How it constantly changes yet still basically underneath stays the same. The Tower Of London utterly bewitched me. How mad and wonderful that they still have Yeoman Warders and do gun salutes and lock up in exactly the same ceremonial way that they have for centuries.

The art that is displayed at galleries and museums.
The choice of cinema.
We have public transport unlike much of the UK.

Loads
The parks
The opportunities
People are welcoming (new neighbours, work, local places)
Going over the river on a bus
Museums

That in my children’s school community, the parents of their friends come from Spain, Iran, Bulgaria, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, Pakistan, Germany, New Zealand etc... as well as some who grew up locally and went to the same primary school.

As others have said, all you have to do to be a Londoner is move here and work out which side to stand on the escalators.
Being able to live without a car, and pop out in the evening to pick up food from shops 5 minutes away.
That whatever your passion you can find other people to share it with (ok, mine is music-related, this may work less well for e.g. mountain climbing or sailing!)
Pre-kids, I used to love walking round London, along the river or exploring hidden streets. Don’t have much time to do that any more!
I’m less a fan of the air pollution and the house prices. But there’s no way we’d move.

I do love an early morning walk in Hyde Park with my dog. It is very special.

Honestly. Rural England is like a sea of white middle class people/ then another sea of white poor people

Why do people do this? It just sounds clueless, awful and not as half as witty as you might imagine.

I visit for work every other month or so. I like walking if I have the time because you never know what you're going to see (came round a corner straight into The Golden Hind once - lovely surprise!)

If I'm lucky enough to get an overnight stay, I choose a hotel overlooking the river and sleep with the curtains open so I can see the lights as I go to sleep.

I love it in short bursts. I'm not cut out for the speed of it every day.

Londoner born and bred. Love the place. Moving to a small market town in the country was the dumbest thing I ever did.

...it's factual, Neckpain? Rural areas are intensely white. London is less than 45% white British. Most of the rest of the country is 85-plus %. It freaks me out.