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Moving to London
Mattie
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I've been transferred at work to lovely old England in about 3 weeks.
What do I do?
Any tips or essentials I need to know about? Do they use the same SIM cards in cell phones so I can keep using my iPhone? What can I expect in terms of cost of living?
What do I do?
Any tips or essentials I need to know about? Do they use the same SIM cards in cell phones so I can keep using my iPhone? What can I expect in terms of cost of living?
3DS Code 0001-3323-2884
Xbox Live Gamertag: Suplex86
Xbox Live Gamertag: Suplex86
Mattie on
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Public transport is the way to go - get an Oyster card. You add money to it in advance, and then you just swipe it on buses and the London Underground to pay for trips.
London is quite expensive compared to the rest of the country. Have you had your accommodation sorted out for you?
Flat sharing is cheaper, unless you can afford your own place to rent. It depends on what you'll be earning.
If you live in the city centre it'll be a lot more expensive than the outer edges of the city, but still costly.
The public transport system is great, but again, it costs.
The most important thing I've heard is to budget carefully. I've been thinking of moving to London, but you'll get more from a native.
I was thinking of getting a place farther away from the city and just commuting. There is also an option to work at our offices in Tamworth, as long as public transportation is available there. I'd rather not buy a vehicle.
Xbox Live Gamertag: Suplex86
So far as basing yourself - well, that is a big decision. Public transport is pretty good in London, or at least good enough. You should look for accommodation that is near a tube or overground stop, or if further out of town a National Rail stop. If you can do that then your commute shouldn't be too bad and you won't need a car. Buses are also pretty good as well, but generally that is a local rather than commute option.
To give you an example - I live in inner west London but live near an overland/National Rail station, which goes pretty much directly to my out of town work. So the commute is about 30 minutes each way and costs about 80 pounds a month
Public transport works flawlessly during the week but usually sections of the tube are closed for repair at the weekend. This means every so often at the weekends it becomes a nightmare to get into/out of the city centre from the outskirts. There are always free rail replacement busses but they usually take at least twice as long.
It's a pleasantly residential area and there was decent local nightlife and tons of Aussie, Kiwi, and South African ex-pat youths. I'm sure there were some Canadians there somewhere but the accents probably got drowned out.
When I was there I lived in a town called Woking, in Surrey. It was 30 minutes from London Waterloo by train if you catch the express one, and a lot of the times coming back from London, Woking was the first stop. While I wouldn't sing Woking's praises, a town LIKE Woking (ie- 30 minute train/tube ride into downtown London) would probably give you more bang for your buck.
It'd be much cheaper rent-wise, and still give you access to London. You can get a Travelcard which will get you into the city and a tube pass, so you'll be able to get pretty well anywhere you want in London.
All depends on how you feel about big cities, I suppose. Since you live in Toronto you may want to live in the bustle of London. Me personally I like to have access to the bustle, but have my place of residence a bit removed from it.
In finding a flat, wherever you choose, look for letting agencies, as it seems to be the practice there for listing flats/apartments. They can be a pain, but if you find a good one, you'll be assured of a good, clean flat.
You need a different sim card. You can buy these in phone stores as pay as you go. I don't know how contracts would work. Your phone has to be unlocked before you can get a new sim card. There are a lot of questionable little kiosks that will do this for £10 or so. I'm not sure I'd trust them with an I-phone.
You also need a step down converter for the charger.
You can just take off the plug bit and fit a UK one.
Best bet for a SIM is the O2 Simplicity plan, though I think you will need your phone unlocked first.
As for places to live: I'd recommend west or north london. Try to avoid east london entirely, and bits of south london are really rough. You probably can't afford central london but look anyway.
I really don't think so. A step down converter will definitely work. They're £10.
Almost anything with a transformer between the socket and the device will accept 110-230V. I don't have an iPhone, but this has been the case for every phone charger and laptop I've ever owned. It should also say right there on the brick what voltages they'll take. (edit: actually ben's a Mac guy, he almost certainly has one and could check)
Also relying on cheap step-down transformers is generally a bad idea. You have to pay very close attention to the maximum permissible current draw.
You definitely can. You just need the plastic bit that goes in the wall with a figure-8 ending.
edit: I'm not saying a step-down won't work. It's just unnecessary. The adaptor block is doing all the work anyway.