One of the luxuries of London is how easy it is to get from one area to another. One of the many things millennium tours gave us for our study abroad was Oyster cards. These cards work on the underground and buses to take you all around London.
On days I want to explore new parts of London, I use the tube to get to different neighborhoods of London. I have learned that each area of London has something different to offer.
One of the neighborhoods I visited that I really enjoyed was Notting Hill. The walk-in through where residents live was very quiet and refreshing since London always seems to be loud. We made our way to Portobello Street which is their famous street full of street vendors and stores. We shopped the streets and even made friends with a woman selling rings. I really enjoyed the local atmosphere of Notting Hill that didn’t feel congested with tourists.
Another neighborhood I loved was Shoreditch. We went on a business class retail tour of Shoreditch and learned about its history. Shoreditch used to be the “slums” of London and very unsafe. Then in the 2000s it became home to many startup tech companies and other businesses. It’s now thriving with a unique young, hipster and local flare. I loved walking to the shops that were so different from other parts of London. I enjoyed this neighborhood of London so much that I actually brought some friends back a couple days later.
The day we came back to Shoreditch, we went to Borough Market beforehand. This was one of my favorite places to visit while in London. The market has hundreds of food and drink vendors with the most diversity I have ever seen. It felt like every culture and type of food was represented there and everything looked so delicious. It was honestly hard making a decision of where I was going to get food from because so many options looked so good. I did not go to Borough Market until our last week there but I wish I would have visited sooner. If you are going to London for a few weeks like I did, go to Borough market sooner rather than later because I promise you will want to go back to try more of the food.
Something unique to London compared to the many other cities I have visited, is that each neighborhood or area offers a whole different vibe. I loved how I was so easily able to get on the tube and go to what seemed like a whole different plaque only a mile or so away. Each neighborhood had a different look, with a lot of different things to offer. I highly recommend exploring as many neighborhoods as you can while visiting London.
