Transport Information
I got to London via the rail-way service, which costs approximately £15 from Milton Keynes central. Essentially, if you'd like a cheaper deal, there are a variety of rail-card options that you can opt for here - if you see yourself taking the trains quite often.
Regarding transport payments, people in the UK like to go cashless. For the rail-stations, this is mainly done through the UK Trainline App.
As for within London itself, you can get an Oyster Card, which is the equivalent of an EZ-Link card back in Singapore. This can be used to pay for all buses and tube services running within London, with it's own additional perks as well.
Oyster Card
With the app and card, you can save a lot of time getting into and around London as there is no need to queue and buy tickets at any of the stations.
The tube in London is quite well connected. The tube map might look a little intimidating at first, but once you've figured it out, it's quite easy to follow. The challenge is actually finding the station that you're looking to go to in the map.
London Tube Map
Please do note that the points mentioned above are the more economical ways to travel into and around London. If you can afford it, taking a flight in and getting around the city by cab could be faster and a lot more comfortable.
Exploring the City
The very first place I headed to was the London Bridge (of course). When I arrived at the area, I literally thought that I was at the wrong place as the bridge was just a straight flat road across river thames, which was kinda underwhelming to say the least.
I was expecting it to be some kind of epic landscape as it has made it's way to become a super-famous nursery rhyme that everyone knew about. Guess I was wrong.
London Bridge Monument
London Bridge - Street View
London Bridge - Full View
I kinda feel like I'm missing some back-storing regarding the history of why this bridge is so well known. There was apparently some ticketed show nearby that would act it out for you, but I'm too poor atm to afford something like that :(
Proceeded on to walk along the perimeter of river thames to check out a better bridge - the Tower Bridge, which is undeniably a more eye-catching landmark to see.
Tower Bridge
*Thumbs up* for random passer-by's photography skill
I guess this is one of those landmarks that people automatically associate with London. It really is quite a majestic piece of architecture and is definitely one of the first places that I'd recommend people to visit if they're here.
The next 'famous' location has to be the Big Ben. If you're not familiar with it, think of a giant clock on top of a sharp tower that you see, hear and read about in English films, tv-shows, games and movies. Now you know.
Sadly though, the Big Ben was going through some kind of 'maintenance work' when I was there, as it had scaffolding around it that blocked the view from below. If I'm not mistaken, the reason for this was due to the bongs being recently (Aug 2017) 'switched-off' for major repair work.
Big Ben ('Under Construction')
Supposedly, every time the clock strikes 12, a large bell inside the tower chimes and people around are all able to hear it. It is also said that if you're standing in the belfry when it rings, you'd be able to feel the vibration from head to toe. Guess I simply did not come at the right time when it was fully operational.
The streets and surrounding areas of London was simply beautiful - almost akin to being in some kind of historical reel.
It's also impressive that such a modernized city was still able to keep her classical charms, despite all the developments that it has gone through over the years.
It's also impressive that such a modernized city was still able to keep her classical charms, despite all the developments that it has gone through over the years.
Street View
Westminster Building
St. James Park
Simply walking around was a very pleasant experience, more so as it is Autumn now, you have leaves falling from trees with families letting their kids and dogs play with all the stacks of scattered leaves lying around. Truly a sight that can never be seen back in Singapore.
Westminster Palace & Westminster Abbey were the next 2 places that I headed to. They were kind of beside each other, which made them slightly easier to find.
Westminster palace is essentially the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which are the 2 houses of parliament in the UK. You couldn't actually get in and the gate was tightly fenced up with armed guards patrolling behind.
Westminster Abbey on the other hand, is one of the world's great churches and was quite a sight to see.
Westminster Abbey
Trafalgar Square is also another iconic location in London. Apparently, there was a celebration that was going on there and the place was a big cluster !@#$. Hence, I left the area pretty quickly and was not able to get any decent photos. However, if your interested, this is what it looks like (from google images):
Trafalgar Square (Ripped from google images)
The last place I headed to was Buckingham Palace, which is the London residence and administrative headquarters for the reigning monarchs of the United Kingdom.
Buckingham Palace - Front Gate
Buckingham Palace - Inner Gate
There are also a few of the Queen's Guards (think english soldiers with red uniforms and large bearskin hats that look like giant afros) standing at attention in the interior compound of the palace.
That wraps up all the places that I managed to visit in London before calling it a day. Ciao.
Edit: I've added two additional posts on my visits to Camden and Borough Market. Check them out here:
Food conquest at Camden Market!
Tastes of the Borough Market
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