A Guide to London

London has been a center of Western civilization for the last two millennia. It is a very old, vibrant, stylish and historical city. It is also intense, noisy, polluted and crowded. Considering its size and the gap between the rich and the poor, it is a relatively safe city (although not crime or violence free - use common sense, especially at night.) The average citizen may not legally own a handgun and has to go through all kinds of hurdles and background checks to even buy a weapon for hunting (and may be denied if there is mental illness in the applicant's family.)

London is a big city. Although the borough of the City of London (referred to from hereon as the City) is barely one mile square, the rest of London's boroughs comprise 610 square miles. London's population of 7 million makes it Europe's third largest city (behind Moscow and Paris).

With all of London's sights, theater, history, nightlife, culture and a relatively friendly population for a city its size, there are far worse places to do business or visit as a tourist than London. Despite the traffic, crowds and expense (bring money, an ATM card and credit cards that aren't maxed out), it is my favorite city.

Before You Go

Plan a budget. Plan on bringing money or have money socked away in an ATM-accessible account (a better ploy to beat the currency changers' gouging). Although there is a great range in prices, accommodations and restaurants are roughly double the prices in San Francisco, which isn't cheap by American standards. Just about everything else (with occasional exceptions such as postcards, newspapers, a takeaway sandwich at lunchtime) costs more than the US. Erin, my girlfriend, experienced thermonuclear sticker-shock while taking a trip through the woman's apparel department at Harrod's (admittedly not a place for the budget conscious).

Make reservations at a hotel, hostel, B & B, whatever, a good idea any time of year, but a must from May through September. While receiving visitors (business and tourists) year-round these days, London is especially popular in the summer months, with kids out of school and college students/graduates travelling. London has dubious honor of being most visited city in Europe. London has no shortage of hotels; an on-line search should produce some candidate hotels for any budget. Starting points on-line include Excite's city.net, Microsoft's Expedia and Virtual London. London Hotel Reservations at 44.494.441.760 can also reserve a room for you.

Buy a ticket. Lots of airlines fly to London from the States and London is one of the closest air destinations to the continental US. These two factors make London the least expensive European city to fly to from the US (to compensate for the hammering your wallet's going to take once you arrive?) I have had good experiences in coach, premium economy and business class on Virgin Air. I've done alright in business class on British Airways (BA), but I have yet to meet a satisfied coach customer (myself included) on BA. Quite a number of other airlines fly to London as well. Virgin's Premium Economy gives you a business class sized seat and is considerably less expensive than business class on United Air, American and BA.

Upon Arrival

Flying from the States, you will arrive at either Heathrow Airport (15 miles west) or Gatwick (25 miles south) airports. Taxis are expensive, but a nice luxury after a long flight. Figure on £35-45 to central London from Heathrow and £70-85 from Gatwick (or more from either airport in heavy traffic, i.e. rush hour). From Heathrow, a London Underground (Tube) ticket will cost £3.50 (as of July of '00) and the trip will take roughly 45 minutes to an hour to central London. There is also the Heathrow Express run by BritRail, which runs every 15 minutes and makes the trip from Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, and 3 to Paddington Station in 15 minutes (5 additional minutes from Terminal 4). Cost in August of '00 was £12 one-way (single in UK). Effective June of '00, there is a £2 surcharge for tickets purchased on the train. To prevent this gouge, buy tickets either from sales desk at Heathrow or from the machine on the platform at Paddington. From Gatwick, there is the Gatwick Express train, which runs from Gatwick to Victoria Station every 15 minutes for most of the day and night, £10.20 one-way in Sept of '00 (and you're instructed to buy the tix on the train). Why Gatwick Express costs less than the Heathrow Express when the train ride is twice as long is a mystery, must be the TV's and the BBC newscasts played in the newer Heathrow trains.

Four reporters for theThe Evening Standard (the London evening newspaper) raced to Heathrow from Central London using either 1) taxi; 2) the Tube; 3) The Heathrow Express or 4) private auto. They placed as follows: 1) taxi; 2) Tube; 3) Heathrow Express (which was slower than the Tube due to connection at Paddington) and 4) private auto. The reporter travelling by private auto was also the most frazzled due to fighting traffic and trying to find parking.

Of the 2 airports, I much prefer Gatwick - the civilized British ways do not apply at Heathrow Airport, which is a perfectly awful place. (Hate to say it, but the Brits could learn from the French here; I will take Paris's Aeroport Charles deGaulle over Heathrow any day, although CDG is not exactly a tranquil spot either.) Terminal 4, at Heathrow, separate from the other three terminals and used primarily by BA for longhaul flights, isn't quite as hectic as the other Heathrow terminals. In fairness to Heathrow, it is the world's busiest airport. If you're flying from the West Coast of the US, Heathrow will be your likely destination. From the East Coast, there are many flights to Gatwick.

Immigration & Customs

If you are a US national, a passport, an onward ticket and proof of sufficient funds should be enough to get you in (although unless you have dreadlocks, lip piercings or look to be of questionable character, it is unlikely you will be asked for the last two).

The following is restricted from import: fresh (non-processed) vegetables, dairy products and meat products; and drugs. Drugs: duh, you say. What is an illegal drug? In the UK, it might be something as innocuous as melatonin, illegal in the UK. Also, codeine/acetaminophen is prohibited from import into many countries, not sure if the UK is one of them. If in doubt, bring a copy of your prescription, and declare it, better safe than sorry.

Duty free allowances are as follows. Tobacco products: an individual may bring in 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars or 250 grams of loose tobacco. Alcohol: an individual may bring in 2 liters of still wine plus the following, one liter of alcoholic beverages that has greater than 22% alcohol or two liters of alcoholic beverages with alcohol lesser than or equal to 22%. If you wish to bring in fragrances, 2 fluid ounces (60 cc) of perfume and 9 fluid ounces (250 cc) of eau de toilette are the maximums allowable. Lastly, no one under 18 may bring in tobacco or alcohol products.

The maximum monetary value of goods that may be brought in duty-free is £175 (all items imported including above.) Sealed meat cannot exceed 1 kg. If you have nothing to declare, follow the green signs (to the left at Heathrow Terminals 3 and 4.) If you have items to declare follow the red signs (to the right at Heathrow Terminal 3.) For customs guide, posted by British Tourist Authority, click here.

What to Pack & A Word on the Weather

In business situations, the British tend to dress a little more formally than Americans. Although my firm's London office has a casual dress policy (called 'dress down' in UK), a number of people still wear professional dress (ties for men, jacket and skirts for women). Dress codes do still exist in some restaurants and hotels. For example, the Ritz, where I have stayed on a couple of trips, requires a jacket and tie in their dining room after 11 AM, and no collarless shirts, blue jeans or sneakers in their lobby at any time.

When the English aren't in the office, dress is fairly casual. I was impressed by the amount of brightly colored Nike sneakers (which they call trainers) worn by the locals, especially when one considers they cost twice as much in the UK.

If you wear contact lenses, bring solutions and cleaners with you as Boots, the local chain of chemists (pharmacists), does not have much selection and prices will be expensive. This is also true for other items such as cosmetics, sunscreen, toothpaste, aspirin, etc. Shaving cream was freakin' $5.75! (March '98)

London can be chilly in the winter months with snow not unheard of (although not common). The summer can be anything from muggy to frigid. I have encountered sunny humid weather in the upper 80's in spring and summer, quite a contrast from San Francisco's normally horrible summer weather (read windy, cloudy and cold). In winter, bring a parka or a coat. In summer, bring a light jacket and/or a sweater. Be prepared for rain at any time. Being a maritime climate, the weather can change quickly. Expect the unpredictable.

In the el niño year of 1998, London had sunnier and warmer weather than San Francisco. Although London gets its share of overcast skies and rain, the residents may paint an unfairly bleak picture of the weather. After 7 trips to London (as of 7/00), I have seen an equal mixture of sunny and gloomy weather. This said, It's still a good idea to carry the umbrella with you even if rain does not appear imminent. For the latest London weather, click here.

If doing business in the UK, although not expected, it wouldn't hurt to bring a gift that is unique to wherever you're coming from. The Sonoma Valley Chardonnay, the Boonville beer and the dictionary of American slang were all appreciated when I went over. (They found the word "bummer" particularly amusing.)

© 1999 by headwall (revised 9/00)
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