[Closed] How many of you have been to London ?

Lived there for 17 years. Really enjoyed it. Live somewhere else now. Wouldn't be too sad if an awesome job was offered to me in London and I had to move back but wouldn't be too sad if I never lived there again.

worked there more than once... can't say anything about the place appeals.

I live on that leafy ridge in the middle distance.

Loads of times, not sure I could live there but love visiting (family live there)

unfitgeezer - by the looks of it you live not far from our kid. I used to spend a lot of time there. Theres no way on earth I'd ever want to actually live there though. Still love going to visit, but I have to say that over the years, its definitely become more of a [url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/london-****-drain-great-for-provinces-2014012882966 ]drain on the provinces[/url], and I find myself having less a tolerance for that. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Oh... heres the view from my house. You can't see the gherkin, but I reckon I can live with that 😉

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Went as a tourist for the first time a month ago, it was ace. Go, but take time to walk places instead of just getting the tube everywhere, really gave me an insight into the proportion and geography.

Edit: I'm 24.

Still did grown up things as well as a boris bike drift off in a very wet and greasy Hyde park.

Worked and lived there (mon-thurs) for nearly 3 years

Didn't like the noise, fumes, indifference etc.
Lots of things were OK but I won't be going back

I went once for the day 7 years ago.

Got there about 10 am left about 7 pm.

Went on a open top bus tour, into a London souvenir shop, walk past Buckingham palace, Trafalgar Square, mall, etc.

Got back to the car and had to get the bank card out as it cost £27 to park.

Got stuck for an hour on the M6 on the way home.

binners very apocalyptic with the mood smoke...

OH worked there for two years, so I spent every other weekend there for a while.

The cliché is true IMHO; it's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Feels very claustrophobic to me.

Lots.

Love it for about 48 hours, then I get an itch right in the middle of my head that goes away as soon as I leave.

I like the place.
Despite the lack of manners and ignorance displayed during everyday social interractions, which I firmly believe is caused by the gravy shortage.

I visit for work regularly (meant to be in Blackfriars today, but had to cancel) and find the commute a PITA. I really enjoy visiting as a tourist where I don't have to deal with rush hour or get anywhere by specific times etc. I'm a country bumpkin at heart and don't particularly like crowds so hate the tube at rush hour!

when you are young and childless its an amazing place to live sex, drugs and 24hr partying etc

now we are settled and my life revolves around peppa pig and cleaning porridge off the walls its time we moved on

(the trick to escaping the rush hour sardine tin experience is to cycle everywhere)

35, 20 odd times. Great place to visit wouldn't want to actually live there. Too crowded and too far from any mountains. Sydney has a similar feel.

Go as much as I can between August and May.

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...they are usually smash and grab, get in and get out, type trips though.

Rusty Spanner +1 not sure about the itch but 2 - 3 days and I have reached my threshold and its time to leave.

I did the "Monday-Friday in a hotel and back home at the weekend" bit for a few months. I didn't really like it, but I didn't expect to either in those circumstances, I'd have rather stayed on the weekends and discovered a bit more of the fun side of London. I've been as a tourist a few times and enjoyed it, but once you've seen the sights, what has it really got that most large cities haven't?

Best friend from school lives there now, and fair to say she visits me (Lyon and Paris for the last 3 years) a lot more than I visit her.

To try to answer the OP, I think people moan about visiting because it's so much bigger than other UK cities. Have you ever lived in Manchester or Birmingham? You can walk across them, drive around them outside rush hour, and if you do use public transport you don't have to go underground into a small steam room. The usefully close to each other parts of the city centre aren't taken up by things like whitehall and buckingham palace and trafalgar square, so you can actually walk from the shops to your favourite pub to nandos to the cinema.

I don't mean this to come off as another anti-London rant, but those of us from other UK cities generally don't see the extra hassle and expense of London as worth whatever it is that's supposed to be "better" about living/going there.

Day trip every summer with my son. Rest of the family can take it or leave it but Woz and I visit every August - no buses, tube or taxis - just hare around on foot seeing as much as we can in a day, few beers, love it 😀

Used to visit friends* regularly and did some work down there... there nothing in this world that could induce me to live there, I'm not even interested in visiting the place. That's not to say there isn't great place live and interesting stuff to do there, it just takes too long to get to any countryside from the centre for me. G/f used to live/work down there, and still has very fond memories but luckily now is very happy living in a small village

(*they moved to Wales, thank god)

Agree about walking. Sometimes quicker, although I know people that have got the tube from picadilly circus to leicester square (they probably don't realsise how far apart the platforms are).
Oxford Street turns yer bogeys black. The parks are eerily quiet.
Used to live in Putney (top of the hill), so one end of the street was Zone 2, and the other direction is cross the road directly in to Heath/Park/Common, or the A3 straight out of town in the direction of Surrey hills. Wouldn't want to live any further in. Was handy having bundled reserved off-street parking too.

I'm 38, been there as a kid and passed through as an adult a couple of times. So never really been there to see what it's really like. I think i'd have liked living there when i was younger but nowadays i prefer the countryside than the big city. Leeds is plenty big enough for me.

29, live in Yorkshire, been loads of times with work and for pleasure, reckon I could do a decent stint of time there, so long as there was an end date. Same as anywhere really.

Its a city,I dont like them. London is a big city that makes it worse. Partner used to live in Bethnal Green. Its shit, hot smelly and full if social awful, stark social inequalities. That pic of the Ally Pally view....do people think thats a nice view? I dont get it.

I was there this weekend for a wedding. Had a great time but like many others I'm not sure I could live there.

Born and bred in E London but my extended family, community and culture is no longer there. Lived in London on and off for 30 years but don't miss it and can't bring myself to visit even though my kids live there. As a place to loll about, I prefer Manhattan.

45, been there tourist visiting with family, worked there out at Beckton, Hampton, Houndslow and Edmonton. (lovely areas!)
OK, Hampton better than the others.
Even jacked a job to get away form working down there, as I don't really get on with the pace of life around London.
It's not for everyone in my opinion.

50, yes.... been on training courses, to nightclubs, gigs, museums, galleries.
Couldn't count the number of times I've been there.
Why do people moan? Cos it's too far for them? I dunno. Couldn't live there personally, but there's some good stuff going on.

51. Born here (Wandsworth), have worked here on and off over past 27 years and now live in the city for the first time having previously commuted.

One of the best cities int he world, possibly the world's most multi-cultural.

I worked for 6 months in Edmonton. Probably ond of the worst places I've been in the uk.
Edit: some parts of London are lovely mind.

unfitgeezer - Member

Mid 30s, I generally visit a couple of times a year. Never moaned about visiting, I love it. Not sure I'd be happy living there tbh but I love it in small doses

I'm 26, been once, when I was 10 or 11, primary school leaving trip, was a whistle stop tour of all the main sights at the time, downing street, Buckingham Palace, the mall, Horseguards, st pauls, big ben, think we went on a boat on the Thames, rode the tube, got train to Paddington.

I didn't enjoy it that much, and wouldn't be fussed if I never went back really.

But, I do like history and science and think I should visit some of the museums and exhibitions etc that unfortunately are only in London. I have a lot of friends/acquaintances who now live/work in London, and I have to say, on the whole, they come home much worse off for it. I do feel some peer pressure to go though, it's not very far away, and it's good to broaden your horizons. I also think I might appreciate it, or think differently about it at this age.

Like someone above said, after 2 days in a city, as much fun as is can be, I just can't wait to leave and have an overwhelming urge to just walk/run/cycle/drive as far as I can as fast as I can to get away from all the people/grime/traffic/rudeness.

Worked in the city and lived in croydon/sutton - I used to think you had to commit to the lifestyle of heavy drinking, partying and all those shenanigans to make it worthwhile but I realised there are loads of hidden gems and communities that you become part of, like little villages set in this urban sprawl.

I've still got family in South Croydon and Ealing - visit as much as I can. I miss the whole Stockwell thing though as my best mate has moved down to Lewis 🙁 It was ace there.

I was born in London although the place of my birth, the Princess Beatrice Maternity Hospital, is now a shelter for down-and-outs.

Lived and worked there in my twenties and enjoyed it but found it claustrophobic. Luckily, having a motorbike meant I could get around easily.

Now I visit a few times a year and am always amazed at the level or quality of everything in London; it's on a different plane to the rest of the country and is the most fascinating city in the world.

Lived in London twice - once for 3.5 years. And now for 4.5 years. Am leaving this weekend. It's been great but now with a kid I don't make use of what it has to offer and would rather be in the country.

Why do people moan about visiting? Because it's a big city and people get stressed out about it. I think it's all pretty funny and enjoy watching people rushing around with their serious faces on.

It is the closest thing to a World capital that there is and has events, food and things to do that you'll find no where else.

What am I really going to miss? My bike commute, full of dodging pedestrians and taxis, drafting double deckers, mini races from the lights, jumping up and down gutters, chats to fellow commuters and the occasional glorious view of the city.

London dwellers - can I ask you all: do you do much stuff that generally get put under the title 'touristy'?

I'm asking because when I go down to see our kid, I normally go armed with a hit list of things I want to see, mainly exhibitions at various galleries. Stuff you really wouldn't get to see anywhere elseAnd I'll drag her around London so I can pack as much as possible in.

At the end of the ay, we'll meet up with her mates for a few beers (people from all over the country originally, who've been living in London for 20 years). When I tell them what we've been up to, they all say exactly the same thing... "Oh... we never think about doing stuff like that. We really should do".

I do get the impression that a lot of people are so blasé about this. Almost aloof, thinking its beneath them. Always surprises me.

its a fantastic place. continues to surprise and impress.

I have the best of both worlds. i work away down here but live in the NW, so big city bachelor during the week - retire to my family and bikes and hills on the weekend! being on my own with no home to go to down here i do get to do all that stuff thats probably on binners list.

even just pottering about on a bike in summer is good, found some fantastic places.

Was cool living in Putney and commuting out to Surrey. Seat on the train both ways daily... when Jimmy Knapp let them run the trains that is. A3 going the wrong way was ace too once I bought a car.

Lived there about four years, if you have money time and health (to abuse is various ways) on your side, it's ok. Anything you have ever heard of that happens, happens. So make the most of it, then I'd get out if I were you.

(I did)

Lots of cool stuff, and I imagine if you live there you'd get more and more out of it.

Downsides: ridiculously, opressively hot in the summer, then you get on the underground and it gets worse! Black snot. Traffic, and some of the bizzare road junction layouts. The cost of everything (although I'd admit the quality's often beter too). The bizzare juxtoposition of having your face in someones armpit on the tube, yet no one talks or makes eye contact.

Grew up there, and was visiting just this weekend. Great place, but I'd need the guarantee of a very well paid job to get me to move back - but that's more the lack of mountains and the weather rather than the city itself, London's great.

Lived here for 20+ years, I get the itch to go back 'home' every once in a while but the casual racism, provincial attitudes, life revolving around propping up the bar and tedium start to grate after a few days and I can't wait to get back.
Best thing about it is how much it gets up people's noses when they don't 'get it'. Worst thing is the tourists and tourist areas. The public transport is better than most places,

I do find the attitudes the OP mentions interesting though, a real sense of resentment that reminds me of those feelings some people have for richer and more successful siblings, jealousy mixed with feined indifference and a bit of self loathing for not quite being on their level instead of not giving a toss and just getting on with life.

It's the second most visited city in the world (was 1st but they changed the ranking system to include spending so Bangkok is now 1st) so it must have something going for it.

Three years at uni back in 1980 to 1983. It was sort of fun then, the music scene was great and apart from inadvertently getting caught up in two riots, it was generally a bit of a laugh.

Once I had finished, I never wanted to return and apart from the odd trip for work (under great duress) I stay as far away as possible. Usual reasons for this, most of them listed above already.

I like to be able to see the sky without tilting my head back at 90 degrees!

London isn't just one place - it's 50+ different places all packed together. I'm sure everyone could find a place they could at least tolerate.
I've been here for 10+ years all together (two visits).
On average I'd say I like it. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not so good.
One telling emotion is that when I visit places outside of London I realise how much I like them, but I never think to myself 'I can't wait to get back to London'.

Binners said:

London dwellers - can I ask you all: do you do much stuff that generally get put under the title 'touristy'?

I do every now and then, especially since I've had a kid. It's not a matter of it being beneath people - I think it's a case of avoiding the tourists.

I lived there for two years. Didn't really like it to start with as I knew no one. Loved it eventually as I started to socialise more.

I used to enjoy visiting after that but soon grew bored with it. Too many self-important people rushing around and going nowhere, or "propping up the bar" and telling the world what a great place they live in without considering the alternatives. For all that, it has an undoubted appeal to many.

Binners - that attitude of ignoring what's on your doorstep isn't unique to London. Most Edinburgh locals barely tolerate the Festival, let alone participate in it. Lots of locals where I now live wouldn't consider going for a walk or ride in the surrounding countryside.