There are so many reasons to want to live in London. It is a great experience to even get to be a student in London and enjoy your student life here!
London is for everyone as there is so much to do. There are lots of day and night activities just one train away. Kingston is a great location as you can enjoy the outskirts of London where you can go on nice walks, trips to cafes and restaurants, and do some shopping that isn’t as hectic as shopping in central! If you did however want to feel the buzz of central London, then you can get the train to Waterloo from Kingston or Surbiton station in just up to 30 mins. Once you get to Waterloo you can use the tube to get to wherever you want or walk. You might want to start in Camden to see the shops and stop off at the food stands. They have a huge variety of street food stands for mains or desserts. You could also head over to Oxford Street where you are within walking distance of all the shops you could ever want and all the restaurants! One of my favourite restaurants in London is Flat Iron which is a reasonably priced steak restaurant perfect for students. You can order your steak however you like it and can get one of their tasty sides (my favourite is the mash). They also give you free popcorn and free ice cream! Another place worth the visit is Seven Dials and Kingly Court where they have loads of food stands to choose from. Clubs in London at night are great and easy to get to on the train. You can get either an Uber or night bus home from the clubs. I tend to get an Uber which is quite cheap if split between a group of you (I got an Uber back from Vauxhall for £5 each!!). There are also lots of events to go to in London through the Uni. I have been to a boat party in Vauxhall, run by the graphic design students at Kingston who Dj’d to raise funds for their project.
London is a safe city with a huge variety to do. I like to search for activities to do in London on TikTok. I find that there are loads of videos that people post on reviewing places which I had never heard of before but are great.
I would definitely recommend going to a University in London and especially Kingston for the contrast of London life that you could have in the centre and outskirts.
Let me know in the replies if you have any questions or want to share other reasons to live in London!
Yasmin (BA Design Marketing)