Studying Abroad in London. Advice? (apartments, how much, buying)

[PAKennedy]

Thanks all in advance for reading,

I'm an American university student from Indiana that will be studying abroad in London, England in Fall of 2008 studying History, Political Science and Economics. I'm someone that is well travelled, having been through most of the major metropolitan cities in western Europe (with the exception of London) and spent much time traveling in the US. I'll be staying in flats just North of Hyde Park (Leister Gardens Apartments, Bayswater) and am eager to see as much of London as possible in the four months (from august to december) that I'll be there, but because I'm only in classes 3 days per week, I plan on traveling England and much of main land Europe. Does anyone have any suggestions in regards to where I should go eat, what to see (major landmarks or little known ones), what other nearby countries would be good to take a trip on over my 3-4 day weekends, or just general advice about living in London and getting around?

Thanks again and God bless,
Patrick

[wastina]

Congratulations in deciding to study abroad! I spent 2 undergraduate years in London, and did my graduate degree there, too. You've researched well your situation: knowing that you'll only have classes three days a week in advance is a good move, and is something that most American students don't know. Yes, the British system of studying is different from the American. A point to note, however, is that while you will have considerably less in-class time, the burden will be on you to spend considerably more time out of class reading and preparing. You will be thrown large reading lists (if you're studying in a British program) and you'll need to digest a lot of material with relatively limited guidence. Discipline will be needed!

Living in Bayswater, you will be relatively centrally located. Although the Tube is hugely convenient, one of the best ways to get to know London is to walk it: there is so much to see above ground in London! You'll come to know the city much better if you simply walk it. Buy and A to Zed street guide to the city and vary your routes.

Something else to consider is to go over in June and to spend the summer there. There used to be a student work visa available for Americans. I spent the summer temping, which let me make money, and by the time classes started, I felt that I already knew London. I want to say that the program is called BUNAC, but I'm not sure. You should be able to find the program on the internet or at your college.

You can get some good travel deals as a student, especially when it comes to travelling on the continent. Rail travel is cheaper than plane travel, but I found that long weekends in Europe went very quickly and were taken up with travel time. Still, you can hit Amsterdam and Paris. You can buy a student card (STS?) to get discounted travel. I think there is an accepted student card, and your uni id won't do it.

Your time might be better spent simply exploring London. There is so much to see and do in London (The Globe theatre, Shakespeare in Regent's Park, British Museum, Camden Lock, Stonhenge, Windsor). You can shake it up a bit by going to Scotland, Cornwall, Brighton, Wales, Oxford, the New Forest and other trips out of the city. Given the value of the USD, you'll find that your money doesn't go far, and England is not a hugely great place to feel poor. Buy yourself a membership to the National Trust to get discounts to National Trust properties, and try to see as many as possible. Take along a lot of passport photos: you'll need them for IDs. Tube passes are cheaper if you buy a card for a set period of time, although if you plan to walk a lot, you may do best buying day cards until you know your schedule and routine. Look out for lectures and events in London: there's a lot going on. Covent Garden has a lot of flyers on international speakers on some of the ethnic shops. "Time Out" also lists a lot and is worth a buy (there's probably an internet version too now).

A book worth reading is Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island." There's another one about someone who walked all around England, written by a travel writer in the 1980s, that is really good, too. I'll repost if I can find the name of it (you should be able to find it in the travel lit section of a bookstore).

Wow! That was a lot! Thanks for the trip down memory lane, and have fun preparing for your time in London!

[ian6479]

Go on Ryanair and Easyjet's website's. These are 2 very cheap airlines that will take you from London to almost anywhere in Europe. They are not always cheap, but you can find flights for next to nothing. I flew from London to Stockholm one weekend for 12 pounds ($25) roundtrip!

London is an awesome city and you will love it there, especially being located where you are. It is very expensive but if you are only there for a few months, who cares right?

Good weekend trips within the UK are to York, Edinburgh, and Cornwall, and you must visit Windsor, and Stratford. Anywhere in the UK is within a days drive/train as England is about the size of Wisconsin.

[charolastra00]

Make sure you don't stay all in London. I'm studying there in Spring of next year and all of my friends there say that everyone they know who studies abroad or travels to London never leaves London. And London is not even the best part of England.

England has great public transportation so it's easy to get anywhere. There are buses which are cheaper and also trains that whip the socks off of Amtrak. Also, there is the chunnel and ferries off the Island to France, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Spain- which is great if you're like me and have a plane phobia!

[nativeDallasite]

Two words: OYSTER CARD!

[Anarchy]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

Make sure you don't stay all in London. I'm studying there in Spring of next year and all of my friends there say that everyone they know who studies abroad or travels to London never leaves London. And London is not even the best part of England.

England has great public transportation so it's easy to get anywhere. There are buses which are cheaper and also trains that whip the socks off of Amtrak. Also, there is the chunnel and ferries off the Island to France, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Spain- which is great if you're like me and have a plane phobia!

Public transport out of London is terrible the buses are terrible in most cases and the trains which apart from the Virgin train are out of date, diesel, slow and never turn up on time.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by Anarchy

Public transport out of London is terrible the buses are terrible in most cases and the trains which apart from the Virgin train are out of date, diesel, slow and never turn up on time.

Is it GNER that goes to Sheffield from London or First? I always had to take GNER to London from York and they were rubbish.

[Anarchy]

Originally Posted by nativeDallasite

Is it GNER that goes to Sheffield from London or First? I always had to take GNER to London from York and they were rubbish.

Yea its the GNER they take over 3hrs to get to London thats a hell of a long time it only takes half that in the car

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by Anarchy

Yea its the GNER they take over 3hrs to get to London thats a hell of a long time it only takes half that in the car

Bloody hell, it takes that long to get there from York and isn't York a good 60 miles north of Sheffield?

Getting back to the OP's question, do they still do those student passes on the rail? I think I remember you could get some pretty good discounts if you were under 26 with some "young person's rail card" or something like that. Do they still do that? I was too old to use one almost from the moment I moved to the UK so I didn't pay much attention.

[Anarchy]

Originally Posted by nativeDallasite

Bloody hell, it takes that long to get there from York and isn't York a good 60 miles north of Sheffield?

Getting back to the OP's question, do they still do those student passes on the rail? I think I remember you could get some pretty good discounts if you were under 26 with some "young person's rail card" or something like that. Do they still do that? I was too old to use one almost from the moment I moved to the UK so I didn't pay much attention.

York is about 55miles from sheffield the last time I took the train to london it took just under 3hrs, crazy.

Im not sure what the prices are like for students but yes they still do discounts for students but all train fares are going up early next year I think, so not sure how much student fares will go up.