BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi All!

I'm new to the Bootsnall community, but it's already been a great source of both information and inspiration.

I was hoping to get a bit of advice on an upcoming move to London. What neighborhoods to stay away from as well as any other general pieces of advice anyone may have to offer.

I currently live in the states and am planning on going for 6m in the middle of May as part of my '07 travel experience. I'm pretty clueless about the neighborhoods and would appreciate any help you can provide. I can't afford much, but was looking for furnished rooms for not much more than 110 pounds/wk. Thoughts?

Anyone else make a similar move and want to provide some insight?

Thanks very much!!!

~keeley

You will love it! If you are only there for 6 months try to live as close to central london as possible (zone 1 or 2). It will be tough given the cost of accomodation in london but you will find somewhere. south of the river tends to be cheaper than north of the river, and east cheaper than west. If you want to live somewhere cool look around shoreditch, spitalfields, brick lane, bethnal green. best thing to do is get a copy of loot (there is an online version) and scan the accomodation available. it is published daily (apart from sunday)

Thanks SO much for your suggestions. They are very much appreciated!!

Am finding it a little more difficult than expected to find a place, but will persevere b/c I know the time there will be well worth it.

Thanks again for the hint on the neighborhoods.

You could also try somewhere like Stratford or Leyton...a little further out of town but from Stratford it's a maximum of 20 minutes into the Centre of Town by Underground...and you might find cheaper places to rent there...

Be careful if you're going East and stay away from Walthamstow and Leytonstone, they can be pretty rough area's at night...

Loads of things to see so go for it and have a blast!!

I loved my 6 months in London! I had a live in job (a lot of pub jobs are) which included my accommodation, but a lot of people I met found accommodation & jobs on the gumtree (www.gumtree.com).

You seem to be getting a lot of suggestions in East London so I thought I'd chime in with a few for the west. I've spent time living in Acton, Shepherd's Bush and Fulham and can suggest those areas if you're up for a good time and not necessarily hell bent on having a truly authentic English experience. Those areas are all packed with antipodeans (Aussies, Kiwis and Saffas) but as a result, nights out are always lively and potential housemates will usually be up for a good time. Hammersmith, Willesden, Kilburn, and Clapham all have their antipodean pockets as well. Clapham is south of the river, central, and most parts are really nice.

I've recently moved to East Dulwich which is SE London about 15 minutes train ride from London Bridge, if that. It's got a lot of trendy bars and great shops on Lordship Lane, a great park down the road (Dulwich Park) and pretty good connections to central London but no tube unfortuantely. I'm living with all British people for the first time in 5 years which is a change but good as well. Not quite the same party as living with the Aussies but I'm in savings mode at the moment so it suits me.

To give you an idea, my room in East Dulwich is £380/month plus about £40 bills in a huge house. I paid the same for a much smaller room in Acton in a smaller house. In North Acton I spent two years slumming it sharing a room with 2 others for £187/month. Yep, a MONTH, but it really was slumlord territory. Loads of fun though. In Fulham I was paying £315/month plus bills to share a room. Fulham is quite expensive and the tube (District Line) is crap and packed.

In a perfect world I'd live in Clapham.