During my first visit to London in 2017 I fell in love with the city and it is still one of my favorites. I even got to spend 5 months living there in 2019-2020. I moved to London for my work placement and although it was not all sunshine and roses, I look back at my time there with great appreciation. And I would like to go back to live and work there after completing my studies. London is a great big city that can still feel quite cozy at times and still has lots of green because of many city parks. I adore the city because of how many internationals you meet and the offer of cultural activities that don’t always break the bank. In this article I compiled some tips if you’re thinking of going to London for an extended period of time based on my experience.

Some general advice

First of all: say YES! There were some opportunities I passed on during my time in London because I wasn’t feeling my best that day and I thought I could always do that some other time… But for most things that other time never came. I think this is something for anywhere you live, but it’s definitely easy to get into this mindset in a big city where there is always something happening. Therefore, I recommend saying yes to as many experiences as you can.

I also recommend joining Facebook groups. There are many groups on Facebook in which you can find support before moving to London or while living there. There are groups of foreigners (likely also specifically from your home country) living in the UK or London, (international) student groups, etc. You can ask for advice, read other people’s experiences, and sometimes they organize meetups.

As a final general tip: when you have a lot of bags/luggage use UBER instead of the public transport! It will most likely be more expensive, but the comfort and less stress will definitely be worth it.

Housing

Which brings me to housing. My living situation in London was completely different from what I have experienced in the Netherlands. I paid £450 a month, which usually equated to €510-525, for a small room without a window to the outside. I lived in a one floor apartment with 5 flatmates, one small bathroom, a washer and dryer (quite a luxury), and a tiny kitchen. We also had a cute roof fox who we called Jemima and some mice… I definitely wouldn’t say the living conditions were ideal, but I am grateful for my time there. I made some great friends and definitely learned a lot by living with that many people in a small space.

For finding a room I would recommend using the website Spareroom or Facebook groups. I found my room through Spareroom about a month before moving in. When it gets close to a moving date you can switch over to premium, which allows you to message “new” ads. I definitely recommend doing this, because when I was finding replacement for my room I got almost a 100 responses in one day and I had to close the responses after 3 days just due to the overwhelming response. Also finding a room is easier when you’re actually in London but you have to be fast (and can’t be too picky). If you don’t have a room yet when you have to move, maybe you can stay with people you know in the city!

Finances

London is expensive, you can’t really get around it. When living in London your biggest expense will most likely be your room. But next to needing a place to live, you of course also need to eat. Your food bill in London can quickly add up, especially if you eat out a lot. One of my big tips therefore is to cook from home most of the time and limit eating elsewhere and ordering in. However, doing groceries can still get expensive in London, so try shopping at the cheaper supermarkets. I did mine at Morrisons because it was close to my house, but ALDI is also a great option.

Another expense that can quickly add up is transport. I recommend that you travel within the cheapest hours as possible (outside rush hours) and stay within set zones as there are caps on the fees. This also means it’s best to find a place in the same zone as your work to safe some money. For more information you can visit the tfl website.

When you are looking for things to do in your free time but not spend buckets of money London definitely has enough to offer. There are many free museums, you can walk around in one of the many beautiful parks, or a good site to check out is “timeout.com”. The site allows you to look at what free events are happening in London for the week(end). When it comes to drinking, I would not recommend touristy areas if you’re trying to save money.

Lastly, getting a bank account is not the simplest when you’ve just arrived and you’re only around for a short time. Of course, you can use your own bank card/account, but this comes with conversion fees due to the currency difference. I decided to get a UK bank account, and ended up using Monzo after some googling, consulting my roommates, and recommendations from a Facebook group for Dutch girls in London. Monzo is quite easy as you can set everything up through your phone and you quickly get the card send to you.

If you get the opportunity to go abroad for your studies and to London I definitely recommend taking the chance! Living in London was a great time and I do miss it. It allowed me to grow as a person and meet wonderful people, and I wouldn't want to have done my work placement anywhere else.