10 Things to NEVER do in London when you are over 50

📖 Buy the book: "Before You Land in Britain" : 44 years at hotel desks across Britain, every question a first trip asks → https://audreypemberton.com Your second afternoon in London. Westminster Bridge, Big Ben glowing gold over the river, the picture you've promised yourself for thirty years. You step to the edge of the sidewalk, lift your phone, and hear a bicycle behind you. A hand comes past your shoulder, and your phone is gone, with the grandchildren's photos, the boarding passes and the map back to the hotel. It wasn't your age, and London is a safe city for a visitor. In London, it's never where you go that gets you into trouble, it's where you stop. I spent 44 years at hotel desks all over Britain, four of them in New York, and the guests I worried about most came down the next morning asking how you fly home when your boarding pass was on a phone that's gone. 🔟 Never choose your London hotel from the photographs 9️⃣ Never tap your wallet on the Tube gate 8️⃣ Never stand on the left 7️⃣ Never stop to watch (the little crowd on Westminster Bridge) 6️⃣ Never take the Tube for a short trip 5️⃣ Never get into a car that offers you a ride 4️⃣ Never be too polite to ask for a seat 3️⃣ Never take the cheap train from Heathrow with your suitcases 2️⃣ Never hang your purse on the back of a chair 1️⃣ Never stop at the edge of the sidewalk with your phone out, and what to do in the 10 seconds before every photo 🗒️ Audrey's London card • Choose the neighborhood before the hotel: is the nearest station step-free? Is there a bus stop by the door? • Tap one card only, never the whole wallet. Each of you needs your own card or phone • On escalators, stand on the right, hold the rail, bag on the step in front of you • Cups game, "free" bracelets, clipboards: "No, thank you," step back, keep walking • Agree the price before you sit in a bicycle rickshaw • Short trips: take the bus. Low floor, ramp to the curb, a free second bus within the hour • Only black cabs can pick you up from the street. App car? Check the plate first • Start sightseeing around 9:30 am: cheaper fares and a seat • From Heathrow with luggage: the Elizabeth line, step-free all the way • Purse across your body, never on the chair. Photo of your passport emailed to yourself • In an emergency dial 999, not 911. For a theft that's already happened, dial 101 • In the book: chapter 7 (where to stay in London), chapter 21 (the Tube and the buses), chapter 32 (when something goes wrong) 💬 Which of these ten would you have broken? I think I know the one. I read every single one. If you know someone planning their first trip to London, send them this before they go. #LondonTravel #TravelOver50 #UKTravel