London Non-Usual Explorations

London is one of my favorite city where I’ve been. It’s such a multicultural city that you can see so many different people all over the world. In London, there is so much to do and so much to see that one day is not enough for visiting this wonderful city.

If it’s possible for you then I would recommend exploring London on foot. The most popular and mainstream places to visit are the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and Madam Tussauds. There is also the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey that are quite popular attractions in London. These are all wonderful places to visit but often have long queues. PS! You can see a beautiful overview of the entire city on top of the London Eye and get some great photographs. Here are some non-touristy things to do in London.

Although, you might want to visit all these mainstream attraction in London, make sure you add some other interesting places on your list as well. You have seen all these popular places in books and magazines and now even with your own eyes. But what about making memories instead of just visiting the main attractions?

The London Dungeons

If you are not afraid of scary things and are eager to learn about London, I would suggest going to the London Dungeon. I am not a person who likes to watch scary movies but this experience was so great that I boldly suggest it to anyone who is not afraid of scary stuff and a bit tight rooms. In London Dungeon you first learn about the scary history of the city’s most famous serial killer. There are young actors who talk about the stories and include visitors as an example in some of their stories. For example, they chose me as one of their volunteers to hold dolls legs while it was being hanged. The actors were very witty and made everyone laugh while telling the scary stories about the city. After the learning time, they took us into some small and old elevator and we went downstairs. Then the real adventure started. We had to hold each other hands while we passed through scary rooms which were mostly dark. There were also some actors who were in disguise. There were about 20 people in the group and as I was the last one in “human chain” the woman who led us from the elevator to the dark rooms said to me: “Good luck being the last one!” It was quite scary but thrilling at the same time. I think this is one of my favorite non-touristy things to do in London.

A Boat Cruise

Thames River Boat Cruise is another great thing to try. Although there might be many tourists on the boat, a lot of locals also use boats (boat taxis) in London to get to work or anywhere else. So if you are in London for the first time, this is a great way to get to know this city a little different way. We had a great guide on the boat who told us about the history of the buildings by the river as we rode by them. He was also very funny to us even though it seemed like other people did not quite understand his jokes. Maybe British humor was too hard to understand for some people. I and my friend, though, laughed a lot on this short boat trip. We used the River Boat Cruise to get from Big Ben to The London Tower. The Thames river is about 330 km long and has 16 bridges in London. We saw many of these bridges when being on the River Boat Cruise. Every bridge was different than the last one and all of them had different names. Some had its name written on the bridge.

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not

It is an interesting place to visit for everyone. It has some crazy facts about things that are hard to believe they are true. For example, you can measure yourself next to the world’s tallest man or see how many of your friends it takes to get the weight of the heaviest man in the world (in his lifetime). There are also unbelievable works of art like a painting of Kate Middleton made entirely using lipstick on lips. Or a painting of Queen Elizabeth II made of pennies. It’s full of so many interesting and unbelievable things which makes the visit so worthy. I am so glad I went there.

M&M’s Store

As a chocoholic, I recommend visiting the M&M store in London. There are 5 M&M stores in the world, 3 of which are in the USA, one in Shanghai and one in the United Kingdom. The M&M store in London has many floors. There is so much candy that the store looks very colorful. You could choose the color of the candy you want. There are so many varieties that you could lose your mind. You could also buy red t-shirts with m&m logo and mascot on it or a soft m&m mascot. And of course, A LOT OF CANDY! I’d say this was the biggest candy store I had ever been.

About the Author

Mahy Medhat

A storyteller with a wanderlust desire, who loves exploring the world with a penchant for culture and food. Mahy has been writing for numerous high-profile magazines and currently working on publishing her own book.