Why London is the world's greatest city.

[tuapekastar]

We actually like London and it is so close time wise to Europe by train or plane.

So close you could be forgiven for thinking it actually is part of Europe.

I was born in London but left as an infant. My trips back to the UK have only ever included 3 to 6 days in London, and i really like it. 'Best in world' is way too subjective, and I'm sure I could argue a case for many cities to be BIW, but unless something dramatic happens I'll always find time to include London in my trips to the region. NYC is pretty damn good too. As is Melbourne. And Singapore. And Tok... you get the drift.

 

[kelvedon]

So close you could be forgiven for thinking it actually is part of Europe.

It has always amused me when Australians talk about visiting "Britain and Europe", as if the former is a continent on its own. (Though some of its inhabitants might well think that!)

 

[Jmrocky]

London is a bit like the English football team. Had some fun in the 60's, but quite overhyped from then on in.

 

[medhead]

Gday

If you like cough food, warm beer, awful weather and ugly women then London is definitely the greatest city in the world for you.

Pele.

Well if you don't drink the beer of course the women will be ugly.

We get regular email offerings from London hotels and restaurants and I can tell you the food is really good if you look in the right places. Even the high teas are pretty good.
Gone is the 1970's glug many moons ago.

I was surprised to see Whimpy burger in South Africa recently. Only knew that place from 1970s UK. Nostalgia was not enough to temptation to actually try one.

 

[Warks]

Well if you don't drink the beer of course the women will be ugly.



I was surprised to see Whimpy burger in South Africa recently. Only knew that place from 1970s UK. Nostalgia was not enough to temptation to actually try one.

When I lived in England Wimpy was just another McDonalds or Burger King type store except I think they had a "spicy bean burger" for vegos. But soon after when I was in South Africa and Zimbabwe I found Wimpy was a table service type restaurant - selling the same sort of stuff with a bit more of a range but on ceramic plates. My father said Wimpy used to be in Australia - perhaps in Perth a way back when. Probably the old style restaurant though, not the fast food set up.

As I recall the Wimpy at Victoria Falls (Zim) was about the only place we could afford to eat back in 1991.

 

[get me outta here]

I was just thinking about the Wimpy Bar today as I walked past another great smelling burger place (5 Napkins Burgers), in NYC.

 

[kelvedon]

The last Wimpy I had was at Connaught Circus in Delhi circa 1990. They only served "Lamburgers" in deference to the Hindus

 

[Renato1]

Gday

If you like cough food, warm beer, awful weather and ugly women then London is definitely the greatest city in the world for you.

Pele.

Are you sure that you were in London?
I haven't been there for 11 years, but when I was there I just kept walking past stunners on the street.
Walk into pubs - whole big groups of absolute stunners.
I've never seen so many gorgeous women in one city. It left Paris and Rome for dead in those stakes.
Regards,
Renato

 

[BAM1748]

Are you sure that you were in London?
I haven't been there for 11 years, but when I was there I just kept walking past stunners on the street.
Walk into pubs - whole big groups of absolute stunners.
I've never seen so many gorgeous women in one city. It left Paris and Rome for dead in those stakes.
Regards,
Renato

Yes, no sun damage makes a difference. :mrgreen:

 

[drron]

Sorry but London just doesn't cut it for me.I am of a certain age and at school sang Rule Britannia,There'll Always be an England and I love their band music.But then I went to London.Sure the history and museums are excellent but you then have to put up with the brits.We stayed at the Domus of the Royal Society of Medicine-one of the few places we could then afford.Although having my specialty fellowship we were looked down upon by the English docs as colonials.After discovering that their restaurant was the only place to get decent food at an affordable price we ate there every day.After our first visit every time we sat down the wait staff would come over to our table to talk about our day whilst the English docs were clicking their fingers and shouting "boy".

Yes public transport is good but we have never been as frightened as when soccer fans boarded our tube carriage.We got off at the next station.

On the other hand just love NYC.So easy to walk.Even past midnight walking back from Tudor City to the Hilton Midtown we never felt threatened.Much more affordable decent food including Michelin starred restaurants-and with much better service.And that from a fellow who never wanted to visit the USA.
Mrsdrron talked me into a trip.Landed in San Francisco and ever since have loved it having visited all 50 states most of them numerous times.Yes they are loud and sometimes overbearing,many places are gaudy or tacky but it all just comes together so well.The people are very friendly and polite in general and we have made many friends.

We also love Bangkok and Tokyo visiting both many times.Whereas if we land at LHR it is only in transit or hire a car and drive away from London.Just horses for courses.

 

[Borisdog]

The buzzing London Workplace social life phenomenal is something that I dearly miss, in Australia it's something we haven't quite figured out how to muster IMHO.

We used to do it really well in the 70's and 80's but RBT and piss poor public transport put paid to that. I grew up in Perth and it was phenomenal fun in the late 70s early 80s, bands everywhere and great parties and pubs and you went everywhere with your workmates and normal mates. All gone now.

FWIW I've just done a few weeks in London for the first time ever and really loved the place.

 

[OATEK]

<SNIP>

Yes public transport is good but we have never been as frightened as when soccer fans boarded our tube carriage.We got off at the next station.

On the other hand just love NYC.So easy to walk.Even past midnight walking back from Tudor City to the Hilton Midtown we never felt threatened.Much more affordable decent food including Michelin starred restaurants-and with much better service.And that from a fellow who never wanted to visit the USA.
Mrsdrron talked me into a trip.Landed in San Francisco and ever since have loved it having visited all 50 states most of them numerous times.Yes they are loud and sometimes overbearing,many places are gaudy or tacky but it all just comes together so well.The people are very friendly and polite in general and we have made many friends.

We also love Bangkok and Tokyo visiting both many times.Whereas if we land at LHR it is only in transit or hire a car and drive away from London.Just horses for courses.

People often talk about the football hooligans, and anyone who has seen the Green Street Hooligans movie will have a picture of how bad it was in some places. But I have walked the other way against the Leeds Utd fans exiting Highbury in the old days, enjoyed their singing as the mounted police guided them to Highbury & Islington Station. No worries. I remember getting on a train at Waterloo South going to see Charlton v Everton (the latter boasting Tim Cahill), full of Everton fans. Lots of songs, including the occasional riubald one, but no trouble. I have walked down Green Street 3 or 4 times to see West Ham play, been to The Emirates 8 or 9 times, to Craven Cottage at night for an FA cup replay, and to The City Ground (Nottingham) and never had a worried moment as regards the football crowds. Will really miss my annual trip to see coughnal this year as we are going out of season.

On the other hand, close friends of ours were about to exit their NYC hotel and saw the couple ahead of them mugged on the steps outside. That was about 15 years ago now, perhaps more recent than your football story drron?

Don't like Bangkok, always like to transit in Hong Kong.

And of course all this proves is that we all have different likes, experiences, needs, wants etc - and doesn't it make for an interesting world.

 

[drron]

Yes our visit was in 1995 and believe me these were not happy football fans.
As for NYC we first visited in 2002.That was after Rudi Guiliani's terms as mayor.He and Ed Koch had really reformed NYC.
We only went to NYC as our son had just moved to the USA-Philly but we met him for a weekend in NYC.Previously I had vowed never to go there as a colleague was murdered there in the early 70s-shot as he opened his hotel room door to see what all the noise was about.Not trying to say no bad things happen there but certainly not as bad as it used to be.
As always it is what we personally experience that forms our views.

But as to work social events Sydney in the 1970s was brilliant for me.Trained at RPAH and every month a ward dinner attended by virtually all who were rostered off.
Then as a senior registrar one of my bosses would take me to lunch at the Paternoster Club on the last Friday of every month.
Didn't need to be in London.

 

[casanovawa]

I find a lot of these articles on best city in the world quite unedifying... Just fillers for publications annd web sites...

A bit like Melbourne and Sydney competing for which is the better city in Oz when a lot of the rest of Oz just thinks of it as ego massaging w@nk...

I don't have a favourite destination or city... There's heaps with good and bad points...

Didn't read the article so not sure if they are referring to living or visiting...

There are lots of cities i have enjoyed visiting, but wouldn't consider living there, especially as i don't like freezing temps, so my choices would be probably somewhere in Spain in Europe, or San Diego in the US and quick hops to enjoy the other places... But that's just me...

If picking random events over the last 30 years to make a case that London isn't safe (poll tax, London bombings, riots) you could hardly go past 9/11 (and first trade centre bombing in NYC)

Both London and NYC have some great things about them, not going to worry about splitting which one is the best, in some ways quite different cities for quite different reasons, like the countries theyr'e situated in.

 

[cove]

We have found London to be an exciting place to use as a base.

 

[whatmeworry]

Are you sure that you were in London?
I haven't been there for 11 years, but when I was there I just kept walking past stunners on the street.
Walk into pubs - whole big groups of absolute stunners.
I've never seen so many gorgeous women in one city. It left Paris and Rome for dead in those stakes.
Regards,
Renato

Probably all the ladies that immigrated from Poland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Holland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia etc...

 

[casanovawa]

Ok, perhaps we should leave the beautiful women and men out of it, all depends on personal taste, where you go, who you bump into...

Probably lots of humorous ripostes but doubt it adds that much...

 

[DaveB]

Always enjoy my visits to London with two reciprocal golf club memberships handy. Worlds best city though a tall ask as you will never get me there a full year to experience a complete winter.
Two weeks last year during the World Cup was great and the short period able to forget was handing over pounds instead of dollars.
Youngest daughter was living in Raynes Park last year and despite getting a number of full time teaching jobs for 2017 would not put herself through another winter.
Parts of London definitely a no go not even after dark and much worse than Sydney with my business based at Bankstown.
In saying London isn't the worlds best city, have to put my neck out and give an alternative so would pick either Lisbon or one of the southern Spanish cities though possible getting too hot for me during summer. Have now had two weeks in Alaska, Victoria,Seattle and Vancouver with hardly a drop of rain so these would also get my vote for worlds best cities.

 

[Groundhog]

I am a London fan too, but like any big city, it's nice to visit but i wouldnt want to live there.

I had a look around the net and the 2011 census figures for that area lists religious make-up as........... 3 people were Jedi Knights.

I hope they are still there. I will be with my little boy in London over Christmas and he will be over the moon that he can meet a real Jedi.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I am a London fan too, but like any big city, it's nice to visit but i wouldnt want to live there.

Even if I wanted to live there I certainly couldn't afford it!