Moving to a city can be a daunting prospect – especially when that city is London. A vast and sprawling place with almost nine million inhabitants spread over 1,572 square kilometres, London can seem impenetrable and confusing to the outsiders, or newbies.
Fortunately, these days we have the internet to help us out. Especially Reddit, where one person took to the forums to ask the resident Londoners (both local and adopted) what their tricks for bossing life in the city were.
“I've been here a little over 2 years and still learning,” they wrote. “What’s your go-to “London” exclusive tip or hack that more people should know?”
The rest of the internet delivered, offering advice, tips and tricks on how to boss life in the capital. Here are some of the best.
Build community
“This isn't a hack as such as it's hard work, but try actually thinking of the area you live as your home and try and make local friends/connections,” one wrote.
“For me this was having coffees with coworkers or friends of friends who lived nearby but I might not have otherwise, as well as joining my local branch of the renters union and volunteering in a community kitchen. Honestly transforms your experience of London and you wont spend half your life on tubes going across the river to meet people for an hour. Plus important to build a sense of community and feel part of a place, and contribute.”
Another user made a case for the power of community centres. “This city has loads of community centres and if you’re a member they offer all sorts of cheap or free classes and events and it’s a good way of making local pals!”
“I started a food coop through my community centre and they do loads of lovely stuff like line dancing and yoga and clothes swaps and it only cost me £5 to join up and that’s free for me now,” they added. “The crowd isn’t necessarily trendy but it means I see more people I know out and about, and that incidental contact is so lovely.”
Transport
Unsurprisingly, there were quite a few tips for how to get around the capital more easily.
“If you have a railcard, you can ask station staff to link it to your Oyster card to get discounts on off peak fares,” one wrote. Another person had a specific tip for where to stand on the platforms to get in line for where the tube doors are: the yellow lines are “more worn where the doors usually open.”
Somebody else suggested that getting the tube to Covent Garden was a waste of time.
“It's quicker to get it to Leicester Square, then leave the station and walk. It doesn't matter which direction you're going,” they added. “Fun fact: the distance between stations is less than the length of the train.”
Or, others suggested, ditching the tubes entirely was the way to go. “Cycling is quicker and cheaper than public transport in most cases, and the infrastructure is good enough now that you don't feel like you're going to die constantly,” a Redditor added.
Others agreed. “I’ve been in for London 20 years, cycling to work for the last 5,” another wrote. “I cannot stress how nice it is to know I’m immune from tube delays, cancellations and timetable changes.”
Plus, apparently, it’s possible to get cycling lessons. “You can reach out to your council about cycling lessons if you feel unconfident,” one user pointed out.
Getting out and about
The chat, unsurprisingly, abounded with people sharing tips for how to get the most out of London’s thriving cultural scene.
“This city has tons of really niche cool museums including the old Crossness pumping station, a museum specifically about Egyptology, a bunch of guys who just collected shit (Viktor Wynd, John Soane – John Soane does candlelight openings Tuesday evenings!),” one person wrote.
“My personal fave is the postal museum, where you can go on the mail rail. Most of them are inexpensive. The ones that cost more than a tenner will let you pay a very nominal additional fee of no more than £2.50 to extend your ticket for a whole year, which is a great deal – even if you don't plan on coming back hold your ticket and give it to a pal.”
They also made a case for getting your hands on an Art Pass, which offers free or discounted access to hundreds of museums and exhibitions around the UK, not just London.
“There are loads of cool exhibits in town always,” they wrote. “Especially if you’re under 30 or a student and can get it for £5 it is literally incredible value.”
Food hacks
The benefits of living in the city: easily accessible food, a lot of which is sneakily discounted at the end of the day.
One example: the TooGoodToGo app, which has “food available that would ordinarily have been discarded at the end of the day - it's safe to eat and cheap!”
Another added their cheap sushi hack: “Wasabi and Itsu both axe their prices by 50% in the hour before closing if you’re out and about and want cheap sushi at 8pm.”
Or, indeed, if you want to eat at a proper restaurant, that’s possible too. “There’s an app called first table where you can get 50% off the bill at certain restaurants if you eat at off peak times,” another Redditor added to the thread. Tasty.
