Applying to an "alien" uni?

I'm having a gap year and hope to start uni next September, so am making progress with my UCAS application. I have had a look around a few RG unis and ones with good reputations for law, but I am finding it really hard to rule out ones or see others in a better light than the rest, they all seem similar to me. I have ruled out 1 or 2 that I looked around last year but I'm wondering, should I apply to all the best ones I can, even if I have not looked around them??

Most of my friends went to uni this time around and a fair few applied to unis without looking around them, and a lot ended up going to a uni they hadn't even looked around. This is obviously risky but I wonder if I should apply in advance and then potentially look around the uni at a later stage when I have time, or just not look and risk it? None of them seem to have problems at their unis which makes me wonder haha.