Top Things to Avoid While in London

London – a great city and differs markedly from other European capitals, and therefore making a lot of mistakes is very simple here. And even if you speak English like a true Briton, this does not mean that language will save you from falling into another tourist trap.

1. Do not call London the capital of the European

And do not even think that it is so. First, the best way to offend Englishman is to label his native city “capital of Europe”. In their understanding, the prefix “European” is almost synonymous with the word “bad”. In Europe, for some reason, they eat frogs and even consider pizza to be a normal dish, in fact, a cake of bread and remnants of the evil food accumulated in the refrigerator, generously flavored with cheese. And even in Europe not everyone can speak English and, moreover can speak proper English. And except all of this they live, based on principles completely alien to the British.

And simply because in the UK everything is always different: electrical outlets will not just be of another form, but with a different number of holes. Hot and cold water will be available from different taps, mixing exclusively in the sink. Windows can not be open, but only be raised, similar to how it is done on the trains. Vehicles will travel “in reverse” direction and sellers in the market will always weigh your goods in ounces.

2. Do not try “real English cuisine”

Maybe it exists, but only in very limited number of restaurants. In ordinary cafes they are serving something hard to swallow, which is also quite capable of causing at least heartburn, or even indigestion. The coffee in the country, in principle tastes somewhat different due to the way they cook coffee. Actually, in England one must be careful with any food. For instance, vegetables are grown with so many chemicals that have them just not worth it, unless they were bought for huge money in the store under the guise of “Organic”. Tap water, even if purified is not always good in terms of usage. So the approach of choosing the places for having lunch needs to be done with great care.

3. Do not walk on the right side

The fact that in England they drive on the left, known to everyone. To avoid being a tourist hit by a car near every traffic light, and in general, wherever possible, get fixed from LOOKING LEFT to LOOKING RIGHT. But the fact is that here they entirely live in the opposite direction. The crowd on the sidewalk to go on the left side, an escalator in a supermarket, leading up, too, will be on the left and even trains in the London subway stop on the wrong platform. Statistics are not reported about the amount of left-handers in Britain, but the percentage of tourists who had a car accident because of the wrong movement, are above the average.

4. Do not ride bicycle around the town

If in other European capitals you can rent bikes and go on a sightseeing tour, and that’s quite a routine, and the number of firms providing these services are often counted in tens, then in London, these things are something rather rare. And it was not so much due to the unusual movement direction. Just cars, especially in the center, are so many that you will crush and type in conjunction with the bike into the wall and not even notice it. And the fumes of the atmosphere are such that it is better not even worth of trying to breathe “full chest» while on the bicycle.

5. Do not confuse the Tower Bridge and London Bridge

One of the popular London symbols, which the tourists for some reason love to call “London”, or London Bridge, is actually called the Tower Bridge, since it is located near the Tower of London. If you absolutely want to admire the real London Bridge, go upstream. However, the latter looks like a normal bridge, and nothing special stands out.  The bridge makes it possible to admire the preserved remains of the old London Bridge, built in 1729 and destroyed in 1831.

6. Do not go to Buckingham Palace, hoping to see the Queen

And do not even think that she will see you, sipping tea and looking out of the window. Rather, she might not even be there at the time of your “surprise visit”. Even if the British flag is raised, it does not mean that the entire royal family is inside of the Palace, and certainly no need to indication that the British Queen is on the spot. So try to avoid joining the crowd of tourists, gazing at the windows of the palace, hoping to see something meaningless. Relatively reliable sign that the Queen is on residence, are the guards, dressed in red jackets and royal flags raised over the building. However, this does not happen very often.

7. Do not pay for entrance for the museums

Many museums in London are working for free. And these are really big and good museums worth of visiting. And even the locals are always happy to spend their time here. Let’s look through just a small list of places you can go without paying a sterling: Tate Modern, British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, National Portrait Gallery, National Maritime Museum, Imperial War Museum. So think ten times before handing 16, 5 pounds for access to the Tower, or 7 pounds for the pleasure of climbing on Tower Bridge as there are always more attractive places for a visit.

8. Do not go for shopping at Oxford Street and Regent Street

The only decent place on Regent Street is a huge Apple store with free and high-speed Wi-Fi Internet access. All the other stores are similar to any large mega-malls in every single modernized country, where crowds of people are wandering around, looking on almost everything, but buying nothing. If you still have a desire to buy something, marked by the label of world-famous network of brands, then there’s a better option for you. It’s much nicer to slowly walk along Kensington High Street and Kings Road which are much better in terms of souvenir offers. And by the way, do not walk in the city with a bought as a souvenir T-shirts with the British flag; it might increase the risk of becoming a victim of pickpockets. This, of course, makes it easier to recognize the tourists, but why should you shine from afar.