London difference to the rest of UK

[marryme]

What are the key differences between London and the rest of the UK with respect to culture, lifestyle, scenary, clubs and events? Would it be fair to say that London is the best place to be in England from a foreign point of view - you see more and experience more?

[vehelpfulguy]

I was born in London and now live in Birmingham so can be fairly unbiased.

London is a major world city, along with Paris, Madrid, New York etc. It can compare with any of those cities for all the things you listed.

In my opinion the UK has no other "world" cities.

While Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol etc do have their merits, none of them can compete with London for its full range of facilities.

For example Birmingham has about 3 or 4 theatres in the centre, London has about 30.

EVERY major play that opens always opens in London, and the London cast are always the top actors. Once a play goes on tour round the UK you have the second or third string actors.

London is the centre for government (Parliament, Downing St), Royalty (Buckingham Palace etc), Shopping (Oxford St, Bond St, etc), the Arts (loads of major galleries).

It bet almost every chain store in the UK (particularly womens clothes shops) has its largest store in London.

It is also the centre for food (with thousands of places to eat), and the cente for media (Newspapers and other media) also the centre for music, comedy.

I think your last sentence sums it up - London is the best place to be from a foreign point of view (I bet it gets more foreign tourists than all the other UK cities put together).

[vehelpfulguy]

After my append above I do have to say there are some negatives about London.

Driving in central London is a waste of time, traffic moves at about 8mph, and you are queuing all the time.

While there are plenty of trains and buses they can be PACKED during the rush hour when you are treated like sardines and people are packed in.

Some people from outside london find it a bit "manic" with people everywhere, although there are plenty of quiet areas like Hyde Park or Hamstead Heath (London has more green spaces than most major cities).

There are also some very slummy areas in London so you do have to choose where you live very carefully.

So there are some negatives, but there are so many great things about London that they outweigh the negatives.

[marryme]

Any advice on areas to live in or that are very near to tube stations?

[carrotcarrot]

in relation to areas that are near tube stations, look north of the river, the south is very poorly supplied by the tube network! having lived in croydon for a while i liked it as its close to the city (15min train) and is serviced by good buses.

[spudqueen]

It all depends on what you are looking for. If you're looking for a cosmopolitan place then yes, London would be the place to be. If however you are looking for typical England, or Britain then you'd be better off out of London as it is not typical of Britain. When I was last in London earlier this year we couldn't even get a decent cup of tea in a cafe as non of the waiters/waitresses were British and they just kept bringing cups of hot water, and then if you were lucky, a couple of minutes later a tea bag!

[spudqueen]

Oops - I forgot a little reply to vehelpfulguy - not EVERY play that goes on tour round the UK has the second or third string actors, some go on tour before opening in the West End, as in Eurobeat - Nearly Eurovison, which I saw at the Lowry in Salford in May and has only opened in the West End in the last few weeks!

[vehelpfulguy]

spudqueen, I think you will find that many of the plays that "open" outside London are on try outs, to get the play "right" before opening in London.

Plays open out of the spotlight to iron out any problems before moving to London.

Note I also did say MAJOR plays.

I know some less well known plays might open outside London, and if they become popular will move to London, like many of Alan Ayckbourn's plays or things at the Edinburgh fringe.

But any major play (Lloyd Webber etc) will always "open" in London, even if it has played a few theatres outside London in preparation.