Moving in London - The best ways to get to know London

You are new to the English capital? You are just about to move here for the first time and you are terrified by its sheer size and how fast life here seems? Well, have no fear. The best way to start feeling comfortable in London as soon as possible is to get to know the new city you will be living in. And we are here to help you. Let’s start with some basic information that you are going to need.

The administrative divisions

We are not going to bore you with the details and statistics about the territory, economy and population of London. They are not that relevant and anyway, you can easily find them online. One thing that you should know however is that London is a very big place. And it has quite a lot of faces. The capital is divided into 32 distinct areas that are called boroughs. This happened with a Government Act in 1965. Some of the most famous London boroughs are Camden, Kensington and Chelsea, Ealing, Bexley, Croydon etc. Those are basically towns and cities within the city and if you take the time to visit them, or at least look them up, you will find that they are quite different in character from one another. That is the beauty of London – you do not have to travel far and wide in order to see diversity. The capital has it all.

Knowing London – here’s where to start

If you are excited about going out and explore hold on a minute. As we have already had the chance to mention, London has quite a lot to offer to even the most experienced of urban explorers. That is why you need to have at least a vague idea about what you want to see first. If you are into traditional tourist attractions, it might be a good idea to first check out the things because of which well over 20 million people from around the world every year come to the city:

• Big Ben

• Buckingham Palace

• Hyde Park

• London Eye

• Tower of London

• British Museum

• Tower Bridge

• Westminster Abbey

There are of course, less touristy places that will reveal to you the character of the capital, along with some really great natural beauty. Think about going to Little Venice in Westminster if you want to see a different face of London – and one that is pitifully reserved in its full scale only for those of the highest of means. There are some pretty nice small museums if you want some culture without the usual crowds – Sir John Soane’s museum would be a good place to start.

Nightlife is also not to be missed

 

London is a place where the party never stops. After a hard day at work, especially in the first months while you are still adjusting, you will need to let some steam off, so going to some of the world famous entertainment districts in the capital might be a good idea. The district of Soho is historically the place for parties in London. Even though it had fallen out of grace in the past couple of decades, public campaigns and overall interest in what this place has to offer has revived interest in going for a weekend night out in Soho. Many new trendy clubs are opening doors here as well. There are many other great places too. Remember that partying is a great way to meet new and different people and this is probably the best way to quickly get an idea of what a city is like. After all, that’s our goal here, right?

Find where to shop

Of course, big chain supermarkets are great, but you will not be a true member of the global London community if you do not do at least a part of your shopping in some of the great street markets that are to be found all over the capital. Some of those establishments are centuries old, so by going to them you will actually diving headfirst into the history of the city itself. Here are a number of the biggest, oldest and most famous street markets in London as of today:

• Camden Lock Market

• Borough Market

• Brick Lane Market

• Portobello Road Market

• Greenwich Market

• Broadway Market

• Covent Garden Market

• Maltby Street Market

And the first step is the most important one too

If you want to experience London at its full from the get-go, then you should make sure that your actual relocation to the English capital goes smoothly. In order to do that, you will have to look for professional moving services that will help you with the transportation and unpacking of your goods, as well as the many other logistics that are involved in such a long and demanding process. Fortunately for your, quality removal services by movers London are not something impossible to come by these days. By checking out online reviews and comparing quotes you will get a pretty good impression about what is what and which firm is best suited to your needs and personal preferences. A good moving firm is a licensed one, one that gets good reviews from customers and that will in general, readily provide you with all the information and support before you actually hire them. By having good pro movers by your side you will spare yourself from the necessity of stressing yourself about every little detail of the job ahead of you and you will actually save enough time and energy that you will be able to focus on planning your first weeks in the capital. We think that this is something very important if you want to experience London at its best as quickly as possible.

 

Table: The biggest London boroughs today

Borough name	Population
Croydon	368 886
Barnet	363,956
Ealing	340,671
Enfield	317,287
Brent	314,660
Newham	314,084
Bromley	314,036
Lambeth	310,200
Wandsworth	308,312
Southwark	293,530

Summary:

London is a huge and seemingly scary place, but it will not be such if you get to know it. If you are new to the capital and want to see what it has to offer to you, there are three aspects that you might want to get started on first: the more tourist oriented side of London, presented by the big landmarks and historic attractions; the rich and varied nightlife that the capital has to offer to its residents; and of course the daily life here – administrative divisions, street markets etc.

Picture: Covent Garden Market is one of the oldest markets in London

Pictured: London is one of the biggest and most diverse cities in the world

Pictured: The map shows the boroughs of Inner and Outer London