Hi everyone! As the three USWIB abroad liaisons in London, we are so excited to share our experience in London so far with all of you. NYU London offers so many opportunities for you to explore, and we even have a cultural programming calendar that allows you to go on different trips and activities. For example, we had a trip to Brighton, a resort town just outside London, and also a trip to Battle and Bodiam Castle, both located in East Sussex. These day trips are not just a great way to explore the UK, but also to meet new people. As for food, London has many options, from the all-too-familiar Pret to a nice bakery called Gail's Kitchen. Grocery shopping is fairly easy as well, with affordable chains like Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose all over the city.
It’s super easy to travel from London, thanks to the amazing skyscanner.com. You can view flights listed by price, and it’s possible to take some crazy, spur-of-the-moment trips (like a one-day trip to a random village in Denmark). London can be expensive, so it’s sometimes cheaper to leave the country than to spend the weekend in London! Classes also only meet once a week, leaving lots of time to travel. Between the three liaisons alone, we’ve already visited France, Denmark, and Scotland, with plans to visit the Netherlands, Wales, Germany, Morocco, Ireland, Brussels, Portugal, and Italy all before the end of the semester.
In terms of traveling the UK, it’s extremely easy to do local trips by train. Trainline.com is the best place to find tickets from King’s Cross to places like Bath, Manchester, Liverpool, and the beautiful university towns of Cambridge and Oxford. It can be really helpful to do some overnight trips around England before making bigger trips to mainland Europe. Long train rides are actually really conducive to studying, so make sure to bring your laptop and a book or two if you want to be productive while traveling!
Easy travel is obviously a plus of living in London, but there’s a lot to explore right here too. Culturally, London has tons of libraries and museums - the Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert are especially gorgeous. Other must-see locations are Camden Market, Shoreditch, and SoHo. Some of us also attended the Notting Hill Carnival, which is a really fun annual event with live music, floats, and food. There’s always something to do right here in London if you can’t get away for the weekend!
Best,
Florence