London, a city that left an impression on me 🇬🇧

I spent last weekend in London, a city that made a very good impression on me. If you are considering a trip there, perhaps my experience will help you decide to go.

An identity card is enough to travel to the UK, but if you have a passport, definitely bring it. After landing at Gatwick, I tried to pass passport control with my identity card and was unsuccessful. It could not be “read” even on the second attempt. Fortunately, I had a passport that still had about a week of validity left.

The first thing that surprises you in London is how many things the British do the other way round—or at least differently. Every other European city I had visited felt similar in some way, but London was different.

Everybody knows that cars drive on the left, but I did not expect separate taps for hot and cold water.

One peculiarity of British pubs is the fixed cutoff time for alcohol sales. Once the bell rings, they genuinely will not sell you another Guinness.

I had encountered this in Amsterdam, but a bell at 10:30 pm really surprised me, although perhaps that was because it was Sunday. It made me wonder how such a measure would work back home: whether there would be fewer drunk people in the evening or whether they would simply get drunk earlier.

If you visit London as a tourist for its landmarks, make sure you stay close to the centre. Important sights such as Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey will then all be within easy reach.

We stayed near Victoria Station, which proved an excellent choice because many places were within walking distance. We also happened to visit on the weekend after Remembrance Day, so on our very first evening we saw fireworks over the Thames.

London’s landmarks were a little larger than I expected. In fact, all its historic buildings exceeded my expectations, particularly the truly enormous Houses of Parliament.

I really liked the British Museum, both as an example of interesting architecture and for the exhibits themselves. It is notable that the British Museum and the National Gallery, which I also visited, have free admission and even contain cafés or restaurants.

You can travel around London on the famous double-decker buses or by Underground. The buses have been modernized, although on some routes you may still manage to board a classic old double-decker.

The London Underground is the oldest in the world, and it shows most clearly on the Central line, where the tunnels are extremely narrow and the trains are smaller and different from those on newer lines. Changing between lines is an experience in itself.

I changed at Bank, which is also connected to Monument and serves four Underground lines plus the DLR. It is nothing like changing from Line C to Line B in Prague: in London you have no idea which line is deeper because the direction in which you walk keeps changing.

I definitely recommend an Oyster card. It is much better value and, above all, more convenient than buying individual tickets.

One thing you cannot miss in London is the emphasis on security—or perhaps paranoia. CCTV cameras are everywhere and all police officers routinely wear body armour. Add the reputation of English cities for not being particularly safe, and a quiet alley after dark does not feel very reassuring.

Hyde Park is another very interesting place. It contains the famous Speakers’ Corner and many squirrels. Speakers’ Corner itself was a major disappointment because nobody was there. I do not know anyone who has actually seen something happening there, so the squirrels became the main attraction for me. They are quite large, pale and unafraid of people. Hold out some food and one will climb up your leg, take a bite, calmly return to the ground, stand beside you and start eating.

If you want to try traditional British food, you have to order fish and chips. Do not be disappointed when you discover that it is simply battered fish with chips. The chips are, of course, covered in vinegar and served with practically everything: pizza, lasagne, spaghetti and more.

London made a lasting impression on me. It is definitely a city worth visiting.