GOING TO LONDON THIS SUMMER!

I will try to stay away from the obvious but that may be difficult
Spitalfields market on a Sunday,
any speakers' corner (most famously in Hyde Park)
walk along the Thames on a lovely day
Chelsea on a Saturday (market then)
Brighton (take a train from London) seaside town with a horrible beach (its rocks!) but fascinating little place- touristy but fun- must see the Royal Pavilion
Remember that Paris is two hours by train so you can weekend there
The Tate Modern
try to walk a lot instead of taking the underground- you will get a good lay of the land and it may even be faster for shorter distances
walking tour by night (jack the ripper, haunted london, tower bridge tour)

I have found the most interesting spots sometimes just by taking smaller side streets (I "discovered" interesting things such as a bubonic plague cemetery, city public gardens, old little churches, a little park dedicated to individuals who died while saving others (a lot of died while rescuing class mates from drowning or saving children from a fire)

and of course the usual tourist bits too!

Enjoy yourself!

If you can head into Oxford! I did an abroad course there and I loved it. London is amazing though, I wish I had more time there. All the big attractions are def worth it (tower of london, parliament, westminster abbey, buckingham palace) but there are so many other cool places to go too! such an awesome city and the tube can get you anywhere, it's not the quickest thing in the world but much more cost efficient/time efficient than a cab, walking is also a good option as well.
outside of england, paris and dublin are nice to do for a weekend, that is what i did. they're both really close, but many other european cities are as well!

I'm up in York, definitely visit there! But as for London, so much to do!

Off the beaten track -
Columbia Road flower market
Little Venice and Regent's canal
Primrose Hill
Japanese Gardens at Holland Park
Lord Leighton's House

A little more touristy-
The Cutty Sark and Royal Observatory
The Courtauld Gallery
Afternoon tea at Harrods/Fortnum and Mason/Berkley Hotel
The V&A Museum
Hyde Park

Hire out a 'Boris' bike on any street and go for a ride!
Take a stroll down the embankment at Jubilee promenade
Hit the pubs at Covent Garden.

Have a great summer! x

well, if you're into second hand books and little antiques and hand made jewelry definitely go see portobello road also, on your way from notting hill gate tube station toward portobello there is a small used comic book store on the right where i found one treasure or another

Camden market is great for shopping
The museums are really good and free to enter!
Loads of tourist stuff, St. Paul's, Big Ben, Tower of London etc.

Outside of London

Stratford upon Avon is a fantastic place to visit
Bath is very pretty
York is lovely
Edinburgh is train journey away and well worth a visit
Newquay in Cornwall during the summer months is awesome

Have a great time ????

I'll avoid the obvious stuff previously mentioned but off the top of my head:

Explore Shoreditch and walk down to the city from there so you can see the gherkin, the cheesgrater, the walkie scorchie and the shard. Go up to the viewing level of the shard, been meaning to do this for a while but from what I have seen it's awesome.

Eat at Chinatown. C&R cafe down Rupert Court is great. Tayyabs in the east end is better than any curry you can get down Brick Lane imo.

Late night drinking in Soho is more fun that Covent Garden. So many characters down there / around Old Compton Street. The Thai food at @Siam on Frith Street is great.

Cocktails at FREVD… seemingly impossible (basement level on Shaftesbury Avenue) to find but absolutely thumping at night.

Borough market, get coffee at Monmoth Coffee… nearly always have to queue but it's worth it.

Try an orientate yourself and walk a lot! It's more fun that taking the tube

<---- Londoner (well born in Liverpool by accident of birth from a family of Londoners :laugh: )

Depends where you are in London... London is huge. Get to know your local area, especially what pubs etc other students go to. Get a bus pass or travel card (or whatever the modern equivalent is, I've lived outside the UK for nearly 7 yrs now) and then you can travel all round the London area including tubes and buses (buses only if you just get a bus pass) then you can go pretty much where you like within London. Travelling outside of London is expensive whether by car or public transport, but it's worth doing if you have the opportunity and finances. But one thing about London is you really don't have to go far to find great places to hang out and visit, and great shops. Usually everything you need is just 1 or 2 bus rides away. Or you can walk. People tend to use public transport so much that they forget how close some tube stations are to each other and how easy it is to walk everywhere (and you still have the option of public transport when it's raining).

I don't recommend owning a car if you live in London unless you're way out in suburbia or something - you don't need one especially if you live on a night bus route (something to consider when renting accommodation, i.e. how far you are from major bus routes especially night buses) - London has the best public transport in the world. Parking in London is a very expensive nightmare and you have to pay 5 pounds a day to drive in central London (unless that's changed in the nearly 7 years I've been outside the UK). Buses get priority on London roads so it's usually quicker to take the bus than to drive, although sometimes you can wait a while at bus stops, but most bus routes have buses running every 7-10 minutes.

Pubs are the main places where people hang out and stuff but there are also loads of cafes and similar. If you're a student you won't find it hard to find places to hang out, just go where the other students are going. Most UK universities have "Fresher's week" where you get to find out where the best pubs are etc.

Get a London A-Z (map book) to help you find places (whether by walking or by public transport) or you can probably get some similar kind of phone app for that nowadays.

Head north and party with the Scots.

No one has mentioned Brixton market - South London always gets left out! Go on a Saturday when there's lots going on in the streets (usually steel band music, some kind of event in the square by the Ritzy, people shouting about hellfire and damnation from megaphones, and no doubt a fair few other weird and wonderful things) then wander up the hill in Brockwell Park for a thoroughly old-fashioned English lunch, including some kind of pud with custard, and a great view of the city.

In general though, try and hang out with people who live in the city, rather than stick with a gang of students on an exchange programme. That's how you'll really get to know the city, and people will then engage with you rather than treat you like a tourist who is just passing through.

And have fun!