London is not only the capital city of both England and the United Kingdom, it is a major international city with an extensive history and world-renowned arts and culture. With a number of famous landmarks and museums, London is a city that requires several days to experience fully. Finding somewhere to stay that offers the best value for your money in the city used to be a challenge for those entirely unfamiliar with the landscape, but fortunately a variety of innovations over the last several years have made this process easier than ever.
Apps
Apps are becoming an increasingly common way of navigating and making the most of big cities and there are several apps available specifically for London including apps that will guide you around the extensive public transport system and apps that will find you somewhere to stay. Airbnb has seen a dramatic rise in uptake in recent years and for big and busy cities like London, where finding somewhere to stay can be difficult or expensive, it has made finding accommodation easier than ever. Airbnb allows ordinary people to offer the use of a room or their entire home for a short-term stay. Rooms can be booked quickly and directly from a user’s phone. There are also a variety of apps designed to offer the digital equivalent of the traditional guidebook to help visitors find where to stay in London, but with the added advantages that come from running on a smartphone. GPS location services, for example, give the apps the ability to search the local area for available accommodation. At the same time, you can find something suitable based on what you want to do. Let’s say that you want to visit some London theme parks. Check to see accommodations close to them so you are closer to the fun.
Online
Finding a good London neighborhood guide online is easy, and a simple web search will bring back numerous results, including blogs. Personal blogs are a particularly effective way of finding good places to stay and things to do in big cities as they offer a more individual and personalized opinion than is likely to be found on an organization’s website. An organization, however, has the benefit of employing numerous individuals over a large area and so will offer knowledge on London neighborhoods that otherwise might not get much coverage. By combining these different types of resources, you will cover the best of both worlds and with many sites offering their own apps or a mobile version of their websites you can look up information on the go.
Guidebooks
Guidebooks are the traditional method of sniffing out the hidden corners of cities away from the usual tourist traps and obvious landmarks. While carrying such a book around might seem a little old-fashioned, it can completely transform your experience from one of aimless and unsatisfying wandering to focused and efficient sightseeing. For finding a place to stay, guidebooks also offer a different range of possibilities than either apps or the internet.
London is a truly modern and cosmopolitan city which is constantly evolving. Plan ahead for your trip and be sure to look around for the best deals before embarking. Get yourself a good guide to ensure that once you’re there you can make the most of what this rich and vibrant city has to offer.
