Have you been traveling this year? I just came back from my 3rd trip to London, and after a few trips to London, I have seen how the city has changed over the years and have learned so much about how to have the best trip possible! I wanted to share these travel tips that I hope will help as you start planning your trip. London is an incredible city, but there are some tips you need to know to best navigate your trip, so here are some tips I’ve learned in my various London experiences!

9 Mistakes Not to Make in London

Not Using the Tube

If you are from a city where driving is common, you’ll need to let that go and get on the tube! The tube is the most efficient way to get around London - it’s clean, it’s safe and it’s fast. London is pretty spread out and traffic can get fierce, so taking the tube can really make it faster to get around town.

If you are coming to London, make sure you get an Oyster card. It has a small surcharge of 5 pounds, but it’s going to save you a lot of time! If you buy individual tickets every time you need to ride the tube, it will actually be more expensive, and you waste a lot more time waiting in lines every time you need to get a ticket. Get the card and start with around 20 pounds for a 3-4 day trip, then add more as you go if needed.

And remember, you have to tap in when you get into a station and tap out when you leave a station – so do not be the annoying tourist fumbling in your bag looking for your Oyster card when it’s time to leave the station.

And one more note about the tube – there is usually no phone service! So, make sure you download your route or take screenshots because you won’t be able to refresh and check in while you are in transit. And if it’s a long ride, download some articles for offline reading.

Also don’t over rely on the Tube! A lot of the stations are pretty close together so if you look at the route on Google Maps, you may find that you can easily walk between stops and that will save you money. And you can also take buses in London, which are cheaper and give you the added benefit of actually seeing more of the city.

Only Looking at AirBnBs

Unless you are traveling with a big group, an AirBnB is not the move! I was traveling with 3 people and it was significantly cheaper getting 2 separate rooms at a hotel than trying to find a decent AirBnB in a good, convenient neighborhood. I have actually never seen AirBnBs as expensive as I saw in London, and while you can occasionally find a hotel sale or get a discount code, there are never discounts or sales on AirBnB. To give you an idea, AirBnBs with 3 separate beds because I am too old for bunking up on girls trips, in centrally located areas were topping $3,000 for a 4 night stay! But we booked 2 rooms at the Bailey’s Hotel Kensington for only $1700. It was literally only half.

If you are planning a group trip of course the initial thought may be wanting to all stay together, but keep your options open to multiple hotel rooms or even a suite style or family style hotel room, because it may actually be cheaper.

Not Using your Coins

The British pound is a strong currency, and while your change can pile up and be annoying weighing down your pockets or making your wallet bulge, make sure you accumulate and then use those coins! In London, a pocketful of coins can actually be enough to get you somewhere or get you something. In the US a pocketful of change may at best buy you a cheap coffee, but in London it can actually buy you lunch, a drink or some souvenirs.

It’s also important to use up all your change while you’re in London, because you can’t exchange coins for other currency once you’re back home. So make sure you use them as you are on your trip, or at least at the airport before you board your flight home.

And you may find a coin donation box at the airport, so if you didn’t spend them consider donating. A lot of international flights will collect the coins and donate them to a charity, so if you didn’t get to spend them before getting to the airport, you can find a way to donate them, or keep them for a future trip to the UK!

Only Doing Touristy Stuff

London is full of some amazing attractions, like the museums, the London Eye and of course all of the Harry Potter tours a Hogwarts fan could think of!

But in my opinion one of the most appealing things about London is the simple neighborhood charm. London is full of busy bustling areas, but also has neighborhoods that are simply beautiful and are perfect for a casual walk through and of course photos!

Enjoy high tea, stroll through Notting Hill and admire the houses, if you are going in the Spring, check out the Wisteria that will be blooming everywhere, and just enjoy the beautiful scenery in all the quiet charming neighborhoods. Plus all of that is absolutely free, and London is not a cheap city!

If you do want a lot of touristy stuff, remember it will add up to be hella expensive! Consider getting a London Pass. It covers entry into 80 of the tourist attractions in London, like the Tower of London, The Shard, Saint Paul’s Cathedral and more.

A 3 day pass is around 109 pounds, but tickets to each site can be 20 to 30 pounds, so if you want to see a lot the London Pass is the best way to save.

They also have periodic price drops and sales, so check the website frequently in the lead up to your trip, but don’t buy it too early because the price may drop.

Not making reservations

In the weeks leading up to my trip I started seeing tons of articles and posts on Instagram about must try places in London, cutest cafes, speakeasies to die for and restaurants with the most scenic views. And in almost every case, reservations were required, and they started getting sold out closer to the trip! Be prepared to do some advanced planning and make those reservations!

You usually can do so online, so don’t worry about making international calls.

And be prepared to put down a credit card for your reservations! Every place I looked at required a credit card to hold the booking. No one actually charged in advance, but they all warn you that they will if you don’t cancel within a certain amount of time, and some will also charge a fee for changes to party size. Don’t let that deter you from going to the restaurants you want to go to though.

The ones I went to that required early reservations with a credit card hold were well worth it! Just remember to cancel a day in advance, and be sure to get a cancellation confirmation via email, just so you don’t have any issues.

Of course if you don’t care about going to particular restaurants or places that are Instagram friendly or with a great view, then it really doesn’t matter if you reserve in advance. There are thousands of restaurants in London to choose from, and you will surely be able to find places that take walk-ins.

And if you are someone that prefers spontaneity and hates advance planning, don’t bother making reservations at places that require a card, because you run the risk of getting hit with multiple cancellation fees.

But if you are someone that has particular restaurants you want to try, do your planning and make your bookings!

Going inside the red phone booths

The red phone booths all over London are so cute and they make for the perfect photo ops! I have to admit, I took photos and videos and reels with them damn near every time I saw one! But do not make the mistake of going inside one because they are absolutely disgusting!

I learned that on my first trip to London in my early 20s, and I still can’t get the smell out of my head, it was literally traumatizing.

Unfortunately those incredibly cute phone booth are often used as urinals, especially by people leaving the bars and clubs late at night. They are literal cesspools, like actual toilets. Definitely get your cute pics outside the booths at a safe distance, like don’t even think about touching one or leaning on it!

Bringing too much cash

This was hard for me because I live in Lebanon and it is almost 100% a cash economy, but in London a lot of restaurants and bars have moved to cashless systems, so they will only accept credit cards. We went to several places - usually the more trendy or bougie ones - that were credit cards only. Using cards can be convenient in so many different ways, but if you withdraw too much money from your travel budget that can really throw things off. It’s going to be tricky to find the balance, so try to think about your total travel budget for your trip and withdraw half in cash and plan to use cards for the rest.

Just be sure to use a credit card that doesn’t charge a fee for international transactions because that will add up, especially if you have a long trip.

Not Understanding British English

So obviously I’m American and English is my native language, but there are a lot of differences in American vs British English vocab and slang. So remember things like pounds and pence instead of dollars and cents, or quid instead of bucks.

If you’re looking for the bathroom, that’s the loo or the toilet, it’s a lift not an elevator, and a bin not a trash can. If you are waiting for something you want to get in the queue not the line, and if someone asks “you alright” they are just using a common greeting like the way we would say “what’s up” or “how are you” without really wanting an in-depth answer.

Also Subway or Metro is now only referred to as the Tube and shopping is a whole new set of vocabulary as well! Sweater = jumper, tank top = vest and so much more that I still have yet to master.

Watch a few YouTube videos for a quick and easy refresher on British slang and other intricacies of the language, especially if you plan on spending a few weeks in town and hanging out with locals. And definitely research the proper pronunciation of popular tourist sites that you will want to see because they are in many cases, not exactly phonetic!

Only Eating British food

Ok so if you are British please don’t be offended when I say that many travelers and myself included, do not exactly find local British food of any culinary interest. Yes fish and chips is good, and I could definitely go for some warm Shepard’s Pie on a cold rainy day, but in most cases British food will disappoint you.

However London has incredible restaurants and a ton of options from various ethnicities, especially the countries they were busy colonizing.

But the Indian, the Jamaican food and food from other parts of the Caribbean, even pan Asian and Filipino food will be top notch, so get ready to eat to your heart’s content!

And even though I just dissed British food, sorry not sorry, I do love a good afternoon tea. I’m usually team coffee, but I generally don’t drink it after around 1pm, and the hours of 2-4pm are absolutely perfect for tea. And even if you are like me and don’t love tea, the ritual and the experience is well worth it!

British afternoon tea is stylish and elegant, the china is beautiful and the canapes and sweets are delightful. They can be pretty expensive, especially if you go to one of the places that offer boozy tea with champagne or prosecco, but there are affordable options.

Look for places that offer a set menu instead of unlimited options, avoid anything that includes booze, or even look for restaurants that have a cream tea option, which is a smaller service than a traditional tea. So instead of getting the spread of sweets, canapes, tea sandwiches and all that jazz, you’ll get your tea and some pastries, like scones with fresh cream.

If you want the tea experience without going overboard, or just want a quick bite and some relaxation in between meals and activities, cream tea is the way to go.

Hope these tips help and let me know in the comments if you want to learn more about London! If you have a city you’d like to learn more about feel free to share some ideas for the next stop in this series on mistakes not to make in various places! And shop some of my London looks below!