• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
    • First Time Here?
    • Archive
    • London Blogs
  • Blog
  • Travel
    • London Theater Tickets
    • Shopping
    • Tips
    • Tours
    • Transport
    • Maps
    • Parks
    • Resources
    • Restaurants
    • Top 10 London
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Buildings
    • Food
    • London Books
    • Movies
    • Museums
    • Music
    • Pubs
  • Londonism
    • Reviews
    • Fun London
    • Iconic London
    • Life in London
    • London Realities
    • Moving to London
    • Politics
  • The Tube
  • London History
    • Great London Buildings
    • Great Londoners
  • Contact
  • Guidebooks
    • 101 London Travel Tips – Guidebook
    • 101 Free Things to do in London

Londontopia

The Website for People Who Love London

You are here: Home / Columns / Dispatches from London: My Favorite Online London Resources For Planning My Life in London

Dispatches from London: My Favorite Online London Resources For Planning My Life in London

Oct 30, 2014 By Samantha O'Brochta

stringlights

Living in London means that I have access to some of the most exciting things happening. With its city status and unlimited things to do on any given day, I never have to be bored in London. I feel entirely lucky to have so many events or locations within walking distance (or a quick bus or tube ride if I should so choose). And how I keep myself up to date on what’s happening has come from a few websites that have been my life savers. Now, my tastes might differ a lot from other people on what one might find interesting to do in London, but bear with me as I share some of the sites that keep be busy and entertained day to day. This post is not endorsed by these companies in any way; I just wanted to show my love for them, as they’ve been extremely helpful in my expat life in London.

Londonist

I have never found a website so entirely wonderful to help me find out what’s going on in this great city. Every night, I get an email telling me about things happening the next day, or over the weekend. I’ve attended so many random events because of this site. I came across a vintage fair, performances, opening days of new restaurants or stores, and more. It’s a well-compiled, aggregated list of things to do, mostly targeted towards the 20-50 age group, and I am happy to have clicked the subscribe button on the site, which has opened up a lot of opportunities I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

Time Out London

Time Out London is the older, more mature, sibling of the Londonist. With a bigger database and lots of offers, you can find last minute deals for plays, fancy dinners or group offers like workshops or massages. I’ve used this site less to find out things to do, and more to get a good price on theatre tickets or read reviews about restaurants, shows, movies and other things. Time Out also publishes a weekly magazine on Tuesdays that people can usually pick up at tube stations, which it’s nice to have a paper copy of sometimes. I really appreciate the area guides as well, because it gives good insight into what’s in a certain London neighborhood, worth going to.

MarkMeets

I love attending celebrity events. I am definitely a fan girl at heart, as well as hoping to become an entertainment publicist someday. Since I wont be working with celebs quite yet, in the meantime, I can try to be around that world as much as possible by going to premieres or book signings. Yes, it’s a bit superficial, and getting an autograph or selfie with an actor is sometimes seen as obsessive or weird, but if there’s anyone out there that likes to see their favorite star in person, this website will tell you when and where an event will be, tips for attending, and a rough timetable of the day.

Skyscanner

If you’re looking for a cheap flight, Skyscanner is so helpful. While it’s technically taking you “out of London,” it’s important to note that London is a major transportation center. It’s fairly cheap and easy to take a train, bus or flight from somewhere in London, and get to another country or continent in only a few hours. I’ve found great deals through this site and will continue to use it for all my excursion searches. Skyscanner is specifically a search engine for flights, and the nice part of it is that you can make your search broad and ask for flights out of any London airport (Heathrow isn’t the only one!), see indirect flights (which can take longer, but are often cheaper), and make price alerts to see if the rate will go down before you buy.

Tagboard

An obscure way of finding out what’s going on in a major city is by searching hashtags on Instagram or Twitter like #London, or even just the name of a celebrity or an event, and then seeing what results pop up. Tagboard is a site that aggregates all these hashtag searches into one, so you can go to a single place and see everything from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. I found out about quietly publicized events by using this method. It’s not to everyone’s taste to use this sort of search engine, but if you don’t mind sifting through the endless, annoying posts from people not talking about anything important, and then randomly finding a hidden gem, it can be terribly worth it.

Citymapper

Without Citymapper, I would have gotten lost and ended up outside of London somehow. This app has saved my life too many times to count. It is the best route master I have ever found, and works specifically to London (as well as a few other major cities around the world). You just type in where you want to go, and it shows you multiple different routes to get there, how long each takes, if the tube line is in good service or not, a rain-safe way to get there, and even how many calories you’d burn if you walked. It’s the best GPS-based app I’ve used, and is extremely helpful for getting around London, a city very large and confusing at times to navigate when you’re new here.

Are there any other websites or apps I should check out? Let me know in the comments!

Samantha O'Brochta
Author: Samantha O'Brochta

Samantha was formerly an expat in London in 2014/15 before moving to New York City, where she can be found blogging and taking photographs for her site Some Call Me Adventurous. Samantha has an affinity for traveling the world, watching BBC shows, making people laugh, dancing alone in her room, dressing fashionably, and attempting to make Pinterest crafts with disastrous end results.

close

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Share this:

  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Pocket

Filed Under: Columns, Dispatches from London

Subscribe to Our Free London Updates

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

About Samantha O'Brochta

Samantha was formerly an expat in London in 2014/15 before moving to New York City, where she can be found blogging and taking photographs for her site Some Call Me Adventurous. Samantha has an affinity for traveling the world, watching BBC shows, making people laugh, dancing alone in her room, dressing fashionably, and attempting to make Pinterest crafts with disastrous end results.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elizabeth West says

    Nov 4, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    Thanks for these! I’ll bookmark this for my next holiday. 🙂

  2. Charan says

    Nov 5, 2014 at 9:39 am

    Great post. Well be very helpful for me

  3. Jennifer says

    Nov 17, 2014 at 12:08 pm

    Citymapper is the best! Found out about it from this site, and it worked like a charm while there in March. It even got us exactly from our hotel to the airport check-in counter by the time I wanted to be there!

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Free London Updates

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Get the Anglotopia/Londontopia App

Our Advertisers

If you are a mobile gamer, you may want to take a look at UK’s new mobile casinos and slots reviewed by NewCasinoUK.

Join the London Forum

  • Mudlarking
  • MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN LONDON
  • What's Your Favorite Place in London?
  • Paddington Station

London Guide

  • Ten Cheap Things You Can Do in London on a Budget
  • Ten London Exhibitions to Look Forward to in 2023
  • London’s Non-Free Museums: Your Guide to London’s Museums That Charge Admission
  • Trip Planning: Top 10 Exhibitions To Plan Your 2018 Trips to London Around
  • London Guide: Our Favorite Restaurants in London – London Restaurant Recommendations for Americans – What’s Your Favorite?

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Support Londontopia

Search our Extensive Archive

Top 10 London

  • Ten Unusual Exhibits to See in London
  • London Pubs: Ten Thameside Pubs for a Pint and a View
  • Top 10 London: Ten More Things to Do Along the River Thames
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Shopping Centers in London
  • Museums of London: Ten Overlooked London Museums
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Haggerston
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Haringey
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Redbridge
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Hillingdon
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to Do in Canonbury

Recent Posts

  • More than 200 looks to feature in V&A exhibition on Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel
  • Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers: Black Artists from the American South at The Royal Academy
  • National Portrait Gallery to reopen with exhibition on pioneering color photographer
  • London Eye gets spring clean to mark start of the season
  • Natural History Museum named most visited indoor UK attraction again
  • The Ugly Duchess: Beauty and Satire in the Renaissance at the National Gallery
  • Gatwick returns to profit as air travel bounces back
  • Sir Mark Rylance brings role as Dr Semmelweis to West End
  • Shire horses prepare Tower of London moat for next wildflower display
  • In Video: Watch pianist Lang Lang perform at St Pancras station

Best Posts on Londontopia

  • 101 London Travel Tips
  • Top 100 London Attractions
  • How to Find the Cheapest Airfares to London
  • 10 Things NOT to do in London
  • Best London Guidebooks
  • 101 Free Things to do in London
  • London Lingo – A London Word Dictionary
  • Top 7 Tips for Doing London on the Cheap
  • Top 11 Myths American Believe about London
  • Guide to Eating in London
  • Best Times of Year to Travel to London
  • London Packing Tips
  • Top 11 Movies Set in London
  • Top Attractions off the Tourist Track
  • Top 5 Most Amazing London Hotels
  • Top 10 Hostels in London
  • Best Views in London Restuarants
  • London Taxi Ettiquette
  • Top 12 London Views
  • Great Fire of London
  • A Guide to Five of London’s Bridges
  • 10 Random Facts and Figures about Trafalgar Square
  • Top 100 British Slang Words

London Places to Explore

Bloomsbury Buckingham Palace Canary Wharf City of London Covent Garden Cutty Sark Greenwich Hampstead Hampton Court Palace Heathrow Houses of Parliament Hyde Park Imperial War Museum Islington Kensington Kensington Palace Leicester Square London London Eye London Transport Museum Museum of London National Gallery Notting Hill Piccadilly Circus Putney Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Regent's Street Royal Academy Selfridges Somerset House Southbank Southwark St Pancras St Paul's Cathedral Tate Britain Tate Modern The City Tower Bridge Tower of London Trafalgar Square V&A Wandsworth West End Westminster Westminster Abbey

SIGN-UP FOR FREE LONDON WEEKLY UPDATES!

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

Recent Videos

Walk Around London Virtually Right Now – Watched Walker is the YouTube Channel We All Need Right Now

Jason Hawkes Shares a Beautiful Video of London From Above That We All Need Right now

London Tube: You’ve Got to Watch This Amazing Mesmerizing Animation That Shows the Real Geography of the London Underground

Video: The Basics of Crossrail – London’s New Underground Line

London History: The Place Where Old London Double Decker Buses Went to Die

London Video: A Look at the Great Smog of London

10 Interesting Facts about the Hammersmith and City Line

Nearly half of Londoners have used Elizabeth line so far – survey

Tube and London bus fares to rise by nearly 6% from March

What is Crossrail 2 and What is Its Current Status?

London Alert: Strike by London Underground workers to go ahead after last-minute talks fail

London Mayor hails Elizabeth line as direct routes and Sunday services begin

Footer

About Londontopia

Londontopia is simply the website for people who love London. It was founded by Jonathan & Jackie Thomas from Anglotopia.net as a place to post articles solely focused on London and its environs. Keep up with all the latest London news at Londontopia! This site is geared towards people who love to visit London and our primary audience is North American but everyone is welcome!

When We’re in London Next

We don’t currently have any travel plans to London but hope to visit at some point in 2021.

  • SEO Backlinks
  • Travel Blog

SIGN-UP FOR FREE LONDON WEEKLY UPDATES!

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

Copyright © 2023 Anglotopia, LLC · Website Developed by Anglotopia, LLC · Log in