August
22
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Seeing London With A Natural Flow
London is a city of around 8.4 million people. It’s divided into around 6 zones which vary in their purpose. If you have never been to London, you’re probably going to want to see the more picturesque locations that you see in movies. Hence, you’ll take like a duck to water in Zone 1 since it’s the heart of the city. Here you’ll find the retail district with world-famous shopping stores and of course the iconic red buses filtering in and out of traffic. Go a little further and you’ll be met by the financial district which on the face of it, may look like any other high-rise building zone but it’s the financial centre of not just Europe but of the world. The issue for many visitors is that although London is large, they didn’t expect to hardly see anything in their first day. It’s not because of the transport system as crowded and busy as it is. It’s because they lacked the organization to go to the places they wanted to experience. One way to overcome this is to work with the natural flow of the city.
Ride the tube
Going onto Google Maps to plan out your day might be futile. You can plan a route to and from destinations but you’re having to think on your feet with regards to how you get to the next one. The tube or rather the ‘metro’ is the underground and in part overground train system of London. Rather than looking on top, you need to look underneath the city to find it’s veins. The tube is a complex network but all you need to do is stick to your line. This can be done by noting the color of it and only paying that attention while ignoring the other lines. If you can plan your sightseeing from stop to stop on the line of your choosing, you don’t have to plan your travel. For example, if you take Waterloo Underground Station, you can go to Blackfriars. At Blackfriars you’re at Unilever house and surrounded by high-end cocktail bars. Blackfriars bridge is just a few seconds away also. Next stop, you can get off at St. Pauls which lands you in the heart of the City of London and right outside the London Stock Exchange. Each stop of each line has something you can experience, it’s a simpler way of exploring the city.
On foot is best
Not in the mood to stand and wait in the hot muggy tube stations? Their old charm is not for everyone, in which case on foot is the best way to travel. Using Cluego treasure hunts, your objective is simple. You go around the city looking for clues and piecing together a puzzle that ultimately leads to completing the treasure map. Pitting two teams against each other if you’re travelling in a group would be the perfect way to explore the city without wandering around looking like lost tourists. Since you have a visual list of things to collect, your route is naturally flowing through all parts of the city. There is no stop-starting and wondering what to do next.
London is one of the most iconic cities in the world, but it’s Victorian in nature. It’s packed full of people and if you don’t know you’re way around you can spend hours just seeing a couple of sights. Use the natural flow of the city and you’ll cover much more ground.