Ritzy

 

What to think of before you go!
Something I didn't know about; the electric outlets looks different depending on where you go. Our swedish ones look totally different compared to the ones in England. So if you're bringing a computer or your phone and need to charge it, you need to get yourself an electric plug converter.
I bought mine at Arlanda airport, Swedish - English they look something like this and cost about 200SEK

 

If you're like me and rely on your phone and use it for practically everything. Alarm clock, maps, calculator, notes & internet you're fucked without one of these!

Getting around in London using public transportation
If you stay at a hotel that's pretty central, use the busses. I'm not kidding you, the undergrounds are terrifying during rush hours. There's so much people I swear you're going to lose your friends or family. It felt like this scene from Harry Potter, you really had to stand against the wall to let the people pass you.

 

 

I live in Stockholm so I know about rush hours, but this is ridiculous and terrifying at the same time.

A tip is to download a .pdf to your phone with the underground map. I have this app called iBooks and I've got both swedish and english underground maps in it. I like it, it makes you feel less like tourist since you're not walking around with that typical paper map ;)

 

 

Get yourself a oyster card! It works just like our SL-cards! If you've been to Stockholm and traveled by subways, it works just the same way. You put the card on this electric plate just like our Swedish ones.
I swear, if you're familiar with the trains in Stockholm, you'll feel right at home in London, looks the same, works the same.

There's one thing to keep in mind though, when you're leaving the station, make sure to have your oyster card ready! You need to put it on this electrical plate to get out too. It works the same way, it's just that you have to use the card as some sort of key to get in AND out! 

 

What's the price of this so called oyster card? It depends on how long you'll be staying and in which zones you'll be traveling within.
I never went and didn't plan to travel outside zone 2 and I wanted the oyster card to last a week (since that's how long we stayed), so for me it cost about £34 , that's about 374SEK, totally worth it. We managed to see pretty much everything we ever wanted to see because of this card. We went EVERYWHERE.
And trust me, I loved being on the bus, it was so much fun. And the busses come like every five minutes or less, unlike our busses. Sweden you have something to learn from English traffic.

 

My recommendations:
Primark!
If you want cheap and modern clothes go to Primark, I'm not kidding.
It's cheaper and way more interesting than H&M's clothes. And I'm totally going back there this spring just to buy me a new wardrobe!
I'll show you my loot in another post!

I'll be making another post just about the Harry Potter exhibition so stay tuned!