Transportation in London

Now that I have discussed all of my favorite places to go in London, you're going to need to know how to get there. The only way to go is The Tube. There are 5 main tube lines in London that you are going to need to know to travel around London in the most efficient and timely manner.

The Bakerloo Line is the line I used most throughout my time in London. This is where Warwick Avenue (my flat) and Little Italy is located. From this line, you can transfer at Paddington and take the District or Circle Lines to High Street Kensington (where my university was located), Baker Street (many different restaurants located here), Notting Hill, King's Cross St. Pancreas, and Sloane Square (where Harrods is located).  From these two lines, you can go to these famous locations:

Circle or District Line ~ get off at Monument = Tower Bridge, Tower of London

Circle or District Line ~ get off at Westminster = Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye

On both of these lines, you can get off at Victoria to see Buckingham Palace.

The Victoria Line stops at Green Park, which you can exit to also see Buckingham Palace. The Oxford Circus station is where all the shopping is in London. This line has the King's Cross St. Pancreas station, which is popular for those wanting to travel outside of London and for those wanting to take the train to Paris.

The last stop I want to discuss is the Jubilee Line. This line has many stops that are popular among tourists. For example, this line stops at Westminster, St. John's Wood (a 10 minute walk to my flat), Baker Street, Green Park, London Bridge, and Canary Wharf. KPMG, where I interned during my semester in London, is located in Canary Wharf. This location is similiar to the Wall Street of New York, and has a waterfront view. As you can see, from this line, you can get to many locations such as Buckingham Palace and the London Bridge.

I will show an example of how to get from my flat on Warwick Avenue to Canary Wharf, then from Canary Wharf to High Street Kensington.

Bakerloo Line to Baker Street Station

Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf Station 

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Jubilee Line to Westminster Station

Circle Line to High Street Kensington Station 

Once you spend a few weeks in London, transportation within the city is very simple to navigate. Each line has a certain color, so when you are in the Underground Stations, you will remember that brown is the Bakerloo Line or yellow is the Circle Line. Additionally, there is an app for the iPhone called CityMapper that is extremely useful for tourists. This app allows you to type in the Current Location and Destination and it will tell you which lines to take. Happy traveling! 

Pros and Cons to London

The idea of “studying abroad” stood out to me from the moment I took my first college tour and my tour guide discussed her experiences when she went abroad. She, too, packed her bags and shipped off to London for a semester and had a fabulous time in the city. I was so moved by the way she spoke about London that I knew I wanted to have the same experience that she did. When I decided to attend Fordham, one of the reasons I was attracted to the school was the study abroad program in London. Fordham University has a campus in the middle of the city (High Street Kensington, shown below) and students have the opportunity to apply for an internship at one of the Big 4 Accounting Firms, KPMG. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to embark on both of those adventures.

After my stay in London, I am biased on which city a student should choose when deciding where to study abroad. However, there are pros and cons to the city. London is the perfect location for travelling to other cities. There are numerous airports near the city that allow for inexpensive travel to any European city of your choice. The three airports are Heathrow, Stansted, and Gatwick. If you truly want to immerse yourself in British culture, you can travel to the outskirts of England, such as the landmark Highclere Castle (for any Downton Abbey fans) and The Warner Brothers Studios where Harry Potter is filmed. I wish I had the chance to see Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, and Liverpool, but there is only so much you can do in 4 months! Another amazing aspect of the city is the subway system, called “The Tube”. The Tube is incredibly simple to navigate and is a great resource to utilize when getting to know the city. On every Tube stop, there is a voiceover that states what famous landmarks are in the area where the tube is stopping. In this way, there is never anyway to get lost, you can never fall asleep on the tube, or miss your stop (very different from New York). There are beautiful and engaging museums, such as The National Gallery and the Imperial War Museum that truly bring history to life. That is one of my favorite parts of London: how all of the museums and galleries give history a meaning and show visitors the aftermath of events such as World War II or Princess Diana’s death. My entire semester abroad, I was learning something new with every area of London that I visited. For example, when I visited the Churchill War Rooms, I didn’t realize how much those working for the government had to sacrifice during that time until visiting the bunkers. That experience made me grateful for everything I have and all of the experiences I have had the chance to encounter. I wouldn’t have had that had I not gone to London.

If I’m being completely honest, there are a few downsides to studying abroad in London. To start off, London is incredibly expensive. This is coming from a girl who attends college in New York City. If you thought a grande vanilla latte at Starbucks was expensive in America, just wait until you get to London. For anyone interested in living in London, save up as many pennies as you can. With my internship at KPMG, I was paid in pounds, which was a lifesaver towards the end of my trip! Additionally, London’s public transportation train, called the “Tube”, shuts down at 12:00am. If you are out late at a show or are spending some time with friends at the pub, beware that you may have to wait for a bus or take a black cab instead of the Tube.

As you can see, there are many positive aspects of London that completely outweigh the negatives. Once you get to the city, you will realize just how lucky you are to be visiting one of the greatest cities in the world.