First time visitor to UK, staying London. Advice from locals requested.

[SweetSallySue]

Hi, my DD (mid-twenties) and I are very excited to be planning a trip to the UK for late May. We will be staying in London. As we (Canadians) are completely unfamiliar with the area, any advice (including suggestions of things to see and do) would be greatly appreciated!

One specific concern at this stage involves booking accommodations for our stay . My daughter has found an ApartHotel that would suit our needs well in the Dalston area. However, we are concerned about safety and wondered if locals can advise as to whether this area of London would be relatively safe for us as female tourists.

I look forward to your comments and guidance!

If you're going to one of the big paid for attractions, be sure to have something reasonably substantial to eat and drink before you go in. There's a lot to see and it can be tiring. Doesn't have to be a full English, unless that's what you fancy, but something more than a black coffee and a muesli bar.

Good choice, you'll be fine there! The Turkish café directly opposite - Evin, is great for breakfast if you want more than a croissant! For pastries, walk down to Dusty Knuckle. Turn left down the High St, left at McDonalds, walk down to the end of that little road - looks like an industrialised waste land so a bit confusing - DK's at the end in the yard. It gets totally packed at the weekend, but isn't too bad on weekdays. If the weather's warm-ish, Dalston Eastern Curve garden (funky community garden) is kind of perfect for afternoon tea/ early evening drinks. (they open something like 1pm - 8pm). Yell if you need more suggestions. 😀

For west end shows, comedy clubs etc look on sites like Groupon for best value.

Also depending on the day you go sometimes you can get a free upgrade. Once went to see a popular west end musical on a Monday night and for dinner and the show seats (up in the Gods) it was £23 for 2 of us. Which was already a bargain.
When we got to the theatre we got moved to the stalls (prices started at £97 per seat) for free

The App called Fever is great for booking tickets to comedy shows, random exhibitions, and event spaces.
Thoroughly recommended.

I've just come back to thank @SweetSallySuefor the original post. I've enjoyed reading the responses and daydreaming about my ideal itinerary for a week in London. I hope you and your DD have a wonderful time and the sun shines for you. This is a brilliant city and I'm sure you'll love it.

Thanks LollyWillow, that's s o nice of you! I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time.

And thanks to all who took the time to post, I appreciate each and every response and will take all suggestions into account in planning our trip.

ABBA Voyage
Very near Stratford (DD and I walked last time as DLR was out ) but right on the doorstep of Pudding Mill Lane on DLR

Fab-u-lous

I live around there and it’s a fun area, as others have mentioned can be a bit gritty and chaotic but loads of good restaurants, coffee shops etc and good transport connections especially with the Elizabeth Line.

Do watch out for phone snatchers as others have said, they do operate around the station so try not to have your phone out in public. It happened to me so I’m very wary now!

Haven’t read the whole thread so might be repeating others but a few local suggestions -

If you walk ten/fifteen minutes up the high street road you’re in lovely Stoke Newington which is a great hipster neighbourhood, you can walk along Church Street to Clissold Park, and explore Abney Park Cemetery on your way. Lots of great restaurants and cafes along there.

Another nice local walk is heading down to the Regents Canal and following it East to Broadway Market and Victoria Park.

If the weather is nice you’re not far from the Dalston Curve Garden which is a magical place for a drink.

Dalston has some of the best Turkish restaurants in London so definitely check one of them out while you’re here!

Hope you have a fantastic trip and feel free to DM me if it’s helpful.

Do come back after your trip@SweetSallySue and tell us what you did. It would be great to hear!

I'd like to add my thanks to you for posting and for everybody's suggestions - I've picked up a few ideas myself!

Will do!

Ditto from me too. I’ve loved your thread @SweetSallySue and learnt so much. I really look forward to seeing how it goes for you.

I have had many day trips to London through my life, but my first week long holiday last year was planned with help here too.
The information and help I got from posters on my own thread was invaluable.

Have a great time!

Very occasionally I pick up someone from West ham / London Stadium and whilst they are holding the traffic outside the Boxpark type bars I hear a DJ playing ABBA and the people singing along. They sound like those who had been to ABBA Voyage and carrying on after the show.

I always want to go just for the after show party

DONT know where the music comes from as I am usually sat in traffic on the road

I hope you have a lovely week!

I would think you won’t spend a lot of your time in Dalston given how much you’re likely to want to pack in. I’d use Time Out to look for interesting cheap places to eat in the areas you end up visiting. There are new places opening all the time and London has an incredible range of cuisines. Don’t get sucked into tourist traps - you’ll pay a lot more for indifferent food. I regularly despair at the restaurant recommendations on threads like these from people who don’t live in London. Brick Lane curries are not the best in London. Never get fish and chips in a pub. Unless money is really really tight you can eat far better than supermarket meal deals if you are only here for a week. Unless you really like the sound of it, don’t let anyone tell you that you must eat jellied eels or pie and mash!

I thoroughly recommend Hampton Court as a wonderful day out and a break from central London. Train from Waterloo or you can get the boat down from Westminster Pier. If you think you’ll do both Hampton Court and the Tower of London you can save money by joining Historic Royal Palaces for a year - £95 for two adults.

The Young VA in Bethnal Green (formerly the Museum of Childhood) is a lovely museum and close to Dalston and lots of good places to eat. Have a traditional English breakfast at E Pelicci.

Have a wonderful time in London.

Are you in London yet @SweetSallySue ?

Yes, today is our last full day in London!

We ended up staying in Dalston, which has worked out well for us. As many posters pointed out, it is a bit of a gritty area and some of the populace seems a bit rough around the edges, but we’re fine and have enjoyed exploring the area a little - there are definitely attractive qualities to Dalston!
Our hotel is nice and is located close to underground stations and bus stops. We’ve enjoyed visiting many areas of the city and have had great experiences, and we really feel we’ve had exposure to a cross section of London and Londoners.

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread, it’s very much appreciated!

We’ve enjoyed visiting many areas of the city and have had great experiences, and we really feel we’ve had exposure to a cross section of London and Londoners.

That's good. I always feel that people who focus on the big tourist attractions miss out on so much of the 'real' London, the one that people who live and work there know.

You've had some good weather, hope you were able to take time to visit some of the parks, which are often at their best around now.

When will you start planning your next trip? 😀

Glad to hear you have had a great time.
What would you say were your 3 highlights?

Glad to hear you've had a good time and have experienced a lot, most of it good I hope!

Do let us what you enjoyed most. And what surprised you or you weren't expecting or you found very different from your own country. It's always interesting to hear how things we take for granted appear to visitors. Before contactless cards were a thing in the UK I remember being astonished the first time I saw them being used in supermarkets in France. 😂

Yes, weather was mostly lovely (just one rainy day)!

And we did indeed get a chance to enjoy some of the city’s green spaces - cycling through Hyde Park and surrounding areas was a highlight, and we also really enjoyed a stroll along a trail in Islington, I think it was called the Islington New River Walk.

We would love to make a return trip one day!

Regarding highlights and things that surprised us - I would say we greatly enjoyed the outdoor experiences mentioned above; were also completely blown away by the architecture, so many breathtaking buildings! Even the less grand areas have a style of architecture we don’t see back home and elicited a lot of enthusiasm and picture taking. Just walking around and taking it all in was amazing. The sense of being immersed in history while still in a modern, vibrant and evolving community was very

special.

in terms of surprising things: we were surprised that street names were posted on the sides of buildings located at intersections, rather than having street signs (on poles) at the corner as we are used to.

We were also surprised at the walk / don’t walk signals for pedestrians in terms of how long you sometimes had to wait for a walk signal and how often people just gave up and crossed when it appeared safe to do so. We soon got the hang of it lol!

Overall it was great, thanks to all who contributed tips and suggestions and who followed up to check on our experience!

Just walking around and taking it all in was amazing. The sense of being immersed in history while still in a modern, vibrant and evolving community was very special.

I am glad you did this. It's something friends and I still love to do, even though we've known London all our lives. People who dash from one big attraction to another miss so much.

The New River, incidentally, was new in the 17th century. It's an artificial waterway, dug to bring fresh drinking water from Hertfordshire to London.

Every Londoner sighs at the way tourists wait for the light to change. The road is clear, just cross. We don't have jaywalking.

I can remember popping out of work to get a sandwich and being stuck behind people waiting for the lights.

I'm only partly serious.

So glad you had a good time.