Introduction
London is somewhat of a bete noire on the forum, but it’s a place I have loved living in for a bunch of different reasons. One of these is the wonderful variety of women, another is the layout in central London which makes it an ideal place for daygame (shopping streets, squares, parks and universities, all within easy walking distance).
My background : Irish guy who spent about a decade working in London; did ok from social and night game, but had best results from daygame and most of this post is focused on that.
I’ll give a quick overview of the city, my view on the infamous London “Market”, then move on to the best spots I found for daygame, both outdoors and indoors (the latter is important in a city where it rains often, and where it’s dark by 4pm in winter). I’ve added a bit on nightgame, which isn’t really my forte any more, and then a few points at the end on food, gym, and weekend destinations which some people might find helpful.
Overview
Expensive. Famous for having expensive...everything, especially accommodation (more on this later)
Infrastructure. This is excellent (particularly the underground/tube) but not cheap to use : pay about £3 for a one way tube ride between Zone 1 (central) and Zone 2 (bit further out; most visitors will stay within Z1&2). Price goes up as you go through more zones. Paying with contactless (i.e. just tap your credit card against the “Oyster” reader) is the best value as it applies weekly caps on pricing. Black cabs are very expensive, with Uber being a fraction of the price (except for peak pricing, so try to extract before it starts raining![[Image: smile.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/smile.gif)
). The Uber saga is ongoing at the time of writing and I’d expect that to drag out for months to come, so for now Black cabs can be avoided. Trains out of the city for weekend breaks are usually expensive, but for buses some good deals can be found on occasion.
Parks A great summer city, partly because there is a large number of quality parks.
Museums & Galleries. London has a huge number of excellent museums and galleries and nearly all the major ones are free.
Society/Culture. Like most big cities, (inner) London is a place people come to work, and this is reflected in the longs hours people work, the subsequent binge drinking that kicks off on Friday afternoons, the anxious body language/fast walking you’ll see on the streets, and the corporate/conformist/blue-pill mindset that is common. I believe these factors contribute to some girls not being open to daygame at times, and preferring to be approached in bars/through friends etc.
London Girls, Demographics & The “Market”
The London Market. In my view the market here tends to favour women, and men often seem to date down (forum members seem to mostly have the same view). I’ve also sometimes encountered entitled attitudes or got rude responses to daytime approaches, mainly from long-term locals. I’ve had my fair share of English girls through social channels so this issue didn’t bother me (and if nothing else it makes London a good training ground). However on the flip-side, the sheer variety and quality of the girls in London still makes it hard to beat, in my opinion. There are plenty of friendly, open-minded and attractive women in London, and it’s a fine place to game; if you are willing to work on your game, get your appearance and style sorted, and can deal with the occasional tough rejection, then you’ll do just fine.
Nationalities & Approaches All nationalities are here to varying degrees (either staying long term or at least passing through). Of the approx 8Mn people in greater London, 3Mn were born in a different country, and there are almost 1Mn EU workers. I personally recorded some 65 nationalities in my >600 daytime approaches of the last couple of years. The nationalities I approached the most (after English) were, in order: Spanish, Russian, French, American, Italian, Romanian and Polish. Probably the only nationalities without strong representation in London are South American. That said, they are here, and can be found.
Demographics & Migration My approach stats align reasonably well with London census and nationwide immigration data (differences probably being tourists and my personal taste). Polish form the largest foreign contingent in the country, and almost 2% of the London population. It’s interesting that eastern European immigration has flattened out in recent years, aside from Bulgaria and Romania which have increased a lot (driven by a more recent EU joining date compared to other countries). However there are tons already here (for example London is the number one Lithuanian city by population outside Lithuania). Immigration from Italy and Spain seems to have increased a lot in recent years also. What the Brexit effect will be, and when it when take place, remains to be seen, of course. For now London’s population continues to grow (Data sources are here, here, and here)
English. Most I approached were upper middle class with strong social circles and decent access to quality men; a tough nut to crack. Teasing can work very well with these girls, as does demonstration of social status/proof if you can.
Eastern Europeans & Russians. Mostly in London for the long term rather than tourists. Response/attitude is often dependant on how long they’ve been in London. Get them when they’re fresh off the boat for an easier time and best results.
Spanish/Italian/other southern European. Can be in London for a summer, or for longer term work. Some real sweethearts can be found (especially if they are from outside the big cities, and/or were still living with their family before they left).
Other. Au pairs from all over the world are in London – can be a real find, if sometimes flaky/timid (often they don’t have much free time and are eager to meet new people). Balkan girls can be top notch, if sometimes a bit blunt in conversation. Americans on holiday or new in town were among the easiest for me. Found the French hard work.
Daygame : Outdoors
Fitzrovia. By this I really mean the triangle formed by Euston station, Tottenham Court Road and the British museum. Encompasses UCL. More relaxed pace than Oxford St and a good mix of students, tourists, and locals. One of my favourites.
Universities. There are a couple right in the middle of London with no official campus entrance or barriers (other than the buildings) so access is easy. If you are worried about standing out you can stay around the fringes/streets and still get lots of student foot-traffic. Aside from UCL, there is LSE, in between Holborn and the Strand. Walk that route between 3pm and 6pm on a weekday for maximum student traffic.
Southbank. A mile long promenade that goes past theatres, museums, bars and restaurants, with people walking at a relaxed pace and are often easier to open here than on shopping streets (though quality can be lower). 5pm onwards for weekdays for the most traffic, all day at weekends.
Trafalgar Square / Covent Garden / Seven Dials. Good for tourists, any time.
Leicester Square / Piccadily Circus. Bit more hectic/intense and not places I focused on much but there’s great traffic. The Whole Foods shop near Piccadily Circus and the pedestrianised street next to it can provide top end talent.
Oxford St. Had to mention it. Lots of hot women, but also lots of daygamers, not all of them socially calibrated. Have known girls who work in the area who’ve been approached a huge number of times, which isn’t ideal for trying to create a spontaneous/romantic vibe. However the great quality and traffic just can’t be ignored. Lunchtime and after 5pm on weekdays and after noon on weekends is when it picks up. A high variance location - expect your harshest blowouts to happen around here, (I found commute times to be quite tough) but also some of your best results.
Regent St. Bit more relaxed, I’ve personally had easier approaches here than on Oxford St.
Soho. Can be hit and miss but again, I prefer to Oxford St.
Borough Market. More relaxed pace but less traffic of single girls in my experience.
Off the beaten track. If you prefer an area where your approach is more likely to be a first for the girl, then go further afield than central – Camden Town has a great pace to it (slow); you’ll find more alternative types here who are often more open to a daytime approach; the High St, Market, the Lock areas are all good. Some very high quality talent can be found in Chelsea, Kensington, and King’s Rd areas (near Sloane Square was a personal favourite of mine). The parks can be great in summer; Hyde Park being the largest and with most traffic, probably. Clapham can have great traffic and good quality but I found the girls tougher due to a higher proportion of resident anglosphere girls and a more conformist vibe (compared to Camden for example).
Daygame : Indoors
Coffee Shops. London has a ton of casual coffee/sandwich shops, such as Pret a Manger. What I like about these places is the seating layout which is conducive to starting conversation / elderly openers (Pret is particularly suitable for this). They also have usually have good seats for street viewing.
Museums & Galleries. The National Gallery was my regular haunt. As mentioned already, it’s free, so you can walk in and leave for no cost if no girls are around. Like any gallery, you can use tons of situational openers based on the artwork – just get alongside a girl looking at a painting and comment on it. Has tourists of course but also people who have moved to London recently, and art students. Same comments apply to the British Museum. The Tate Modern has a higher proportion of art students...with some blue hair-types included unfortunately. Saatchi Gallery off King’s Road is another good one. This list could go on for pages so I’ll leave it there.
Shopping malls & department stores. UK doesn’t have the mall culture of the Americas, but there are several worth mentioning. In central, Selfridges on Oxford St is a very large store with significant talent; Liberty of Regent St is smaller but also has talent (the smaller, quieter rooms will mean an audience is more likely). The Westfield shopping centres in Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush are easy to get to by tube and can have a large number of people. I’ve found the quality varied, and patience may be required.
Nightgame & date venues.
Nightgame wasn’t a focus for me for the last few years, so most of this is on date venues and a few specific mentions. In addition there’s a nightgame datasheet here which I rate as solid based on my experience.
Southbank. I took dates here because it’s close to Waterloo train station (good extraction point for me). If it’s summer go to the rooftop garden beside the Royal Festival Hall (not expensive from memory). You can also go to the outdoor bar in front of the Hall, or the bar in front of the BFI cinema, again not expensive. To go up a notch (and a price range) go to either the bar at the back of the BFI cinema or the Skylon bar inside the Hall, both of which have good cocktails and sofas.
Central - Soho. Kingly Street is a pedestrianised street off Regent St which has lots of bars and a relaxed vibe : Two Floors is a chilled bar with relatively inexpensive drinks; it’s good for dates or approaching. I found the bar at Jinjuu (also on Kingly) handy as part of a date crawl. Cahoots (Kingly Court) is an underground themed cocktail bar in the style of a 1940s tube station; not cheap but a cool spot (dates only). Streets in this area (and further into Soho) are good for bars and restaurants which are less pretentious than Mayfair. Aqua on Argyll St has a good layout for bar approaches and a decent terrace, and talent and ratio can be fairly good. Zoo bar has a language exchange on Sundays and Wednesdays which I went to a few times when I was learning Spanish and there was a friendly vibe, easy enough to get numbers.
Central – Mayfair. Not an area I hungout in much, places like the MayFair and Novikov had decent talent when I was there though I suspect a lot of them are pros. Higher end places like Libertines typically have quality talent and a good ratio but can be hard to get into to unless you have a table, are with a member or promoter or have an Innerplace card or similar.
Central – City. Avoid. Ratio is usually horrible and other areas are simply better. Monday to Friday is almost entirely a work crowd (hence the ratios) which can transition into an Essex crowd as the night wears on (but still not good). Effectively closed at the weekends.
Shoreditch. More relaxed vibe than central in general, and is now more mainstream than the hipster den it used to be. A lot of Spanish (and foreigners general) hang out in this area. You can stroll around and find tons of bars easily, but I will mention Floripa and Cargo, as they were decent bets for pulling. Hoxton hotel and McQueens can be good also (more upmarket). For dates, the Boundary has a great rooftop bar, Bar Kick can be fun also (Brazilian theme/ table football).
Kensington/Chelsea. I’ll mention two places in these areas – Kensington Roof Gardens which is great in summer, and Jak’s on King’s Road – very large basement restaurant and separate bar area; good layout, lots of young hot posh girls.
Camden. Tons of places on the High St, some can be fairly grimy though. The Underworld being an example – I found it friendly enough but the girls were a little rough.
Clapham. You get more British, Irish, Aussie, Kiwi, Saffa here, and less Euros. Old Town : Number 32 has decent quality and friendly girls and was my favourite spot for nightgame; bar layout excellent for approaching. Jam Tree also decent. Venn St Records small but usually has decent talent and layout good (also has live music – rare for SW London). Clapham High St : full of bars and is incredibly busy at the weekends. Some of it can be grim but you get a lot of decent student age girls also. Stroll between Clapham Common and Clapham North tube stations and check out any bar that looks decent on the night. Clapham Junction : Northcote Records (same chain as Venn St), B@1, Babel all decent places to pull, but the area tends to empty out by midnight/1am.
Museum “Lates”. Many of the museums have “Lates” : usually on a specific day of the last week of each month. Museum stays open late, has bars, DJs, special exhibitions etc. The V&A late (art/design/fashion museum) can be very good in summer, the Science museum has a ton of cool exhibitions but talent not as good as V&A. All are free, and you will often get a better quality girl than the bars and clubs.
Activities. If you want to do something fun on your date, then check out Bounce in Farringdon – table tennis tables, bar, very lively, or All Star Lanes for bowling in Shoreditch or Holborn (again, has a bar and a good atmosphere).
Logistics & where to stay
Rental prices. Where to live is usually a tough question for anyone who moves to London; the answer is never obvious. This link gives hard numbers on rental costs by postcode at a decent resolution and should be useful for those thinking of moving to London. It probably aligns with AirBnB short term prices, in terms of relativity. Some areas are of course nicer than others, but every area is quite mixed, partly due to social housing being everywhere in London.
Areas to stay. As a long term resident who lived in one area only, I may not be the best person to offer advice on where to stay. Anywhere central will be painfully expensive as everyone knows, but it’s not like the prices drop sharply when you go out to the inner boroughs. When anyone is thinking about a move/visit to London and asks me where they should try, I suggest Angel/Camden/Islington or maybe Shoreditch, or else the Docklands area – somewhere like Limehouse, where I think it’s a little cheaper, but is still close to the action. If money isn’t a problem at all then obviously you can live in central if you want. If you are willing to live in outer London (or your budget forces you to) then there are places that are quite aways out but actually have a quick train service to central, e.g. Croydon : had a chequered reputation in the past but has improved a lot over the years as more professionals moved out there (when I saw it had a Boxpark and a Waitrose I knew times had changed)
Date logistics. For dates, logistics can be a killer if you don’t live centrally but start the date there, or if you are trying to extract for a ONS from central (like any big city). I didn’t live centrally and focused on daygame, so would either have the first date locally and try to bar hop into my flat or have the first date centrally with no intention of an extraction, but tee things up for a second date closer to home.
Other
Food. Have seen negative posts on the forum about this. The reality is that expense plays a part here – if you have a strong budget then you can go to the better restaurants where the food is excellent. Some mentions based on personal experience (most are central):
Asian. Sushi Samba (central) is expensive but quality food. Has a nice but small bar, and great views. Yauatcha does great dim sum (You can get cheaper but still good stuff in Chinatown if you find one of the better places)
Indian. Dishoom (central, chain) is a decent Indian restaurant(s), although if you want something cheaper but still good then Brick Lane in Shoreditch is the obvious choice (and I would recommend Standard Balti there).
Steak. Goodmans or Hawksmoor are both top end places.
English. Sunday roast is an English traditional meal of roasted meat, potato and veg, and Yorkshire pudding, all with gravy. Recommended. You can go to the better known places like Roast in Borough market or Hawksmoor, but I’d suggest finding a decent pub further out, near wherever you’re staying; most will do a good roast for much cheaper. If you want to try something a bit more adventurous, go to Simpsons Tavern off Cornhill in the City for lunch on a weekday and have some old school English fare : steak and kidney pie followed by a dessert of stewed cheese, all washed down with a pint of Chop House ale.
Gyms. There is a huge variety in price and standard. I’ve been a member of a few different gyms, and would recommend Pure Gym - much cheaper than anywhere else (GBP20 per month with no contract/joining fee), but solid equipment and lots of power racks (in my local one, at least). Decent number and footprint across London.
Trips away. If you’re staying here for the long term, weekends away options include:
Cornwall/Devon Has the best (only, really) spots for surfing - e.g. Newquay, Bude, Croyde. At 6 hours drive it’s a schlep, and the train is similar, and not cheap (I paid ~£84 return last time I went)
Peak District. Great spots for rock climbing, and hiking/other outdoor stuff also. 3 hours drive from London (train to Sheffield also an option).
Brighton. Nice coastal town with small population but some decent nightlife and a university. Easy to get to from London (~1 hour 15 on train from London Victoria)
Cotswolds. Beautiful countryside towns to drive through and spend time in. 2 hours drive from London. Not a bad place to bring a girl for a weekend.
New Forest. 2 hour drive from London. Picturesque area with decent hiking. Again, good to take a girl there.
Lake District. Beautiful area for hiking in Northern England, bit of a distance from London though, at ~6 hours drive.
Europe. Low fares to Euro destinations from budget airlines (Ryanair/Easyjet) make London a great base for exploring all of Europe. While I’ve put this near the end, this point is a huge plus, although widely understood.
Meetup.com. If you’re here for an extended period, and want to meet people, then use this website. It’s hugely popular in London and you are almost guaranteed to find a group on it for any interest/hobby you have.
If there’s anything more I can add here just let me know and I'll my best to answer.
Cheers
London is somewhat of a bete noire on the forum, but it’s a place I have loved living in for a bunch of different reasons. One of these is the wonderful variety of women, another is the layout in central London which makes it an ideal place for daygame (shopping streets, squares, parks and universities, all within easy walking distance).
My background : Irish guy who spent about a decade working in London; did ok from social and night game, but had best results from daygame and most of this post is focused on that.
I’ll give a quick overview of the city, my view on the infamous London “Market”, then move on to the best spots I found for daygame, both outdoors and indoors (the latter is important in a city where it rains often, and where it’s dark by 4pm in winter). I’ve added a bit on nightgame, which isn’t really my forte any more, and then a few points at the end on food, gym, and weekend destinations which some people might find helpful.
Overview
Expensive. Famous for having expensive...everything, especially accommodation (more on this later)
Infrastructure. This is excellent (particularly the underground/tube) but not cheap to use : pay about £3 for a one way tube ride between Zone 1 (central) and Zone 2 (bit further out; most visitors will stay within Z1&2). Price goes up as you go through more zones. Paying with contactless (i.e. just tap your credit card against the “Oyster” reader) is the best value as it applies weekly caps on pricing. Black cabs are very expensive, with Uber being a fraction of the price (except for peak pricing, so try to extract before it starts raining
). The Uber saga is ongoing at the time of writing and I’d expect that to drag out for months to come, so for now Black cabs can be avoided. Trains out of the city for weekend breaks are usually expensive, but for buses some good deals can be found on occasion.Parks A great summer city, partly because there is a large number of quality parks.
Museums & Galleries. London has a huge number of excellent museums and galleries and nearly all the major ones are free.
Society/Culture. Like most big cities, (inner) London is a place people come to work, and this is reflected in the longs hours people work, the subsequent binge drinking that kicks off on Friday afternoons, the anxious body language/fast walking you’ll see on the streets, and the corporate/conformist/blue-pill mindset that is common. I believe these factors contribute to some girls not being open to daygame at times, and preferring to be approached in bars/through friends etc.
London Girls, Demographics & The “Market”
The London Market. In my view the market here tends to favour women, and men often seem to date down (forum members seem to mostly have the same view). I’ve also sometimes encountered entitled attitudes or got rude responses to daytime approaches, mainly from long-term locals. I’ve had my fair share of English girls through social channels so this issue didn’t bother me (and if nothing else it makes London a good training ground). However on the flip-side, the sheer variety and quality of the girls in London still makes it hard to beat, in my opinion. There are plenty of friendly, open-minded and attractive women in London, and it’s a fine place to game; if you are willing to work on your game, get your appearance and style sorted, and can deal with the occasional tough rejection, then you’ll do just fine.
Nationalities & Approaches All nationalities are here to varying degrees (either staying long term or at least passing through). Of the approx 8Mn people in greater London, 3Mn were born in a different country, and there are almost 1Mn EU workers. I personally recorded some 65 nationalities in my >600 daytime approaches of the last couple of years. The nationalities I approached the most (after English) were, in order: Spanish, Russian, French, American, Italian, Romanian and Polish. Probably the only nationalities without strong representation in London are South American. That said, they are here, and can be found.
Demographics & Migration My approach stats align reasonably well with London census and nationwide immigration data (differences probably being tourists and my personal taste). Polish form the largest foreign contingent in the country, and almost 2% of the London population. It’s interesting that eastern European immigration has flattened out in recent years, aside from Bulgaria and Romania which have increased a lot (driven by a more recent EU joining date compared to other countries). However there are tons already here (for example London is the number one Lithuanian city by population outside Lithuania). Immigration from Italy and Spain seems to have increased a lot in recent years also. What the Brexit effect will be, and when it when take place, remains to be seen, of course. For now London’s population continues to grow (Data sources are here, here, and here)
English. Most I approached were upper middle class with strong social circles and decent access to quality men; a tough nut to crack. Teasing can work very well with these girls, as does demonstration of social status/proof if you can.
Eastern Europeans & Russians. Mostly in London for the long term rather than tourists. Response/attitude is often dependant on how long they’ve been in London. Get them when they’re fresh off the boat for an easier time and best results.
Spanish/Italian/other southern European. Can be in London for a summer, or for longer term work. Some real sweethearts can be found (especially if they are from outside the big cities, and/or were still living with their family before they left).
Other. Au pairs from all over the world are in London – can be a real find, if sometimes flaky/timid (often they don’t have much free time and are eager to meet new people). Balkan girls can be top notch, if sometimes a bit blunt in conversation. Americans on holiday or new in town were among the easiest for me. Found the French hard work.
Daygame : Outdoors
Fitzrovia. By this I really mean the triangle formed by Euston station, Tottenham Court Road and the British museum. Encompasses UCL. More relaxed pace than Oxford St and a good mix of students, tourists, and locals. One of my favourites.
Universities. There are a couple right in the middle of London with no official campus entrance or barriers (other than the buildings) so access is easy. If you are worried about standing out you can stay around the fringes/streets and still get lots of student foot-traffic. Aside from UCL, there is LSE, in between Holborn and the Strand. Walk that route between 3pm and 6pm on a weekday for maximum student traffic.
Southbank. A mile long promenade that goes past theatres, museums, bars and restaurants, with people walking at a relaxed pace and are often easier to open here than on shopping streets (though quality can be lower). 5pm onwards for weekdays for the most traffic, all day at weekends.
Trafalgar Square / Covent Garden / Seven Dials. Good for tourists, any time.
Leicester Square / Piccadily Circus. Bit more hectic/intense and not places I focused on much but there’s great traffic. The Whole Foods shop near Piccadily Circus and the pedestrianised street next to it can provide top end talent.
Oxford St. Had to mention it. Lots of hot women, but also lots of daygamers, not all of them socially calibrated. Have known girls who work in the area who’ve been approached a huge number of times, which isn’t ideal for trying to create a spontaneous/romantic vibe. However the great quality and traffic just can’t be ignored. Lunchtime and after 5pm on weekdays and after noon on weekends is when it picks up. A high variance location - expect your harshest blowouts to happen around here, (I found commute times to be quite tough) but also some of your best results.
Regent St. Bit more relaxed, I’ve personally had easier approaches here than on Oxford St.
Soho. Can be hit and miss but again, I prefer to Oxford St.
Borough Market. More relaxed pace but less traffic of single girls in my experience.
Off the beaten track. If you prefer an area where your approach is more likely to be a first for the girl, then go further afield than central – Camden Town has a great pace to it (slow); you’ll find more alternative types here who are often more open to a daytime approach; the High St, Market, the Lock areas are all good. Some very high quality talent can be found in Chelsea, Kensington, and King’s Rd areas (near Sloane Square was a personal favourite of mine). The parks can be great in summer; Hyde Park being the largest and with most traffic, probably. Clapham can have great traffic and good quality but I found the girls tougher due to a higher proportion of resident anglosphere girls and a more conformist vibe (compared to Camden for example).
Daygame : Indoors
Coffee Shops. London has a ton of casual coffee/sandwich shops, such as Pret a Manger. What I like about these places is the seating layout which is conducive to starting conversation / elderly openers (Pret is particularly suitable for this). They also have usually have good seats for street viewing.
Museums & Galleries. The National Gallery was my regular haunt. As mentioned already, it’s free, so you can walk in and leave for no cost if no girls are around. Like any gallery, you can use tons of situational openers based on the artwork – just get alongside a girl looking at a painting and comment on it. Has tourists of course but also people who have moved to London recently, and art students. Same comments apply to the British Museum. The Tate Modern has a higher proportion of art students...with some blue hair-types included unfortunately. Saatchi Gallery off King’s Road is another good one. This list could go on for pages so I’ll leave it there.
Shopping malls & department stores. UK doesn’t have the mall culture of the Americas, but there are several worth mentioning. In central, Selfridges on Oxford St is a very large store with significant talent; Liberty of Regent St is smaller but also has talent (the smaller, quieter rooms will mean an audience is more likely). The Westfield shopping centres in Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush are easy to get to by tube and can have a large number of people. I’ve found the quality varied, and patience may be required.
Nightgame & date venues.
Nightgame wasn’t a focus for me for the last few years, so most of this is on date venues and a few specific mentions. In addition there’s a nightgame datasheet here which I rate as solid based on my experience.
Southbank. I took dates here because it’s close to Waterloo train station (good extraction point for me). If it’s summer go to the rooftop garden beside the Royal Festival Hall (not expensive from memory). You can also go to the outdoor bar in front of the Hall, or the bar in front of the BFI cinema, again not expensive. To go up a notch (and a price range) go to either the bar at the back of the BFI cinema or the Skylon bar inside the Hall, both of which have good cocktails and sofas.
Central - Soho. Kingly Street is a pedestrianised street off Regent St which has lots of bars and a relaxed vibe : Two Floors is a chilled bar with relatively inexpensive drinks; it’s good for dates or approaching. I found the bar at Jinjuu (also on Kingly) handy as part of a date crawl. Cahoots (Kingly Court) is an underground themed cocktail bar in the style of a 1940s tube station; not cheap but a cool spot (dates only). Streets in this area (and further into Soho) are good for bars and restaurants which are less pretentious than Mayfair. Aqua on Argyll St has a good layout for bar approaches and a decent terrace, and talent and ratio can be fairly good. Zoo bar has a language exchange on Sundays and Wednesdays which I went to a few times when I was learning Spanish and there was a friendly vibe, easy enough to get numbers.
Central – Mayfair. Not an area I hungout in much, places like the MayFair and Novikov had decent talent when I was there though I suspect a lot of them are pros. Higher end places like Libertines typically have quality talent and a good ratio but can be hard to get into to unless you have a table, are with a member or promoter or have an Innerplace card or similar.
Central – City. Avoid. Ratio is usually horrible and other areas are simply better. Monday to Friday is almost entirely a work crowd (hence the ratios) which can transition into an Essex crowd as the night wears on (but still not good). Effectively closed at the weekends.
Shoreditch. More relaxed vibe than central in general, and is now more mainstream than the hipster den it used to be. A lot of Spanish (and foreigners general) hang out in this area. You can stroll around and find tons of bars easily, but I will mention Floripa and Cargo, as they were decent bets for pulling. Hoxton hotel and McQueens can be good also (more upmarket). For dates, the Boundary has a great rooftop bar, Bar Kick can be fun also (Brazilian theme/ table football).
Kensington/Chelsea. I’ll mention two places in these areas – Kensington Roof Gardens which is great in summer, and Jak’s on King’s Road – very large basement restaurant and separate bar area; good layout, lots of young hot posh girls.
Camden. Tons of places on the High St, some can be fairly grimy though. The Underworld being an example – I found it friendly enough but the girls were a little rough.
Clapham. You get more British, Irish, Aussie, Kiwi, Saffa here, and less Euros. Old Town : Number 32 has decent quality and friendly girls and was my favourite spot for nightgame; bar layout excellent for approaching. Jam Tree also decent. Venn St Records small but usually has decent talent and layout good (also has live music – rare for SW London). Clapham High St : full of bars and is incredibly busy at the weekends. Some of it can be grim but you get a lot of decent student age girls also. Stroll between Clapham Common and Clapham North tube stations and check out any bar that looks decent on the night. Clapham Junction : Northcote Records (same chain as Venn St), B@1, Babel all decent places to pull, but the area tends to empty out by midnight/1am.
Museum “Lates”. Many of the museums have “Lates” : usually on a specific day of the last week of each month. Museum stays open late, has bars, DJs, special exhibitions etc. The V&A late (art/design/fashion museum) can be very good in summer, the Science museum has a ton of cool exhibitions but talent not as good as V&A. All are free, and you will often get a better quality girl than the bars and clubs.
Activities. If you want to do something fun on your date, then check out Bounce in Farringdon – table tennis tables, bar, very lively, or All Star Lanes for bowling in Shoreditch or Holborn (again, has a bar and a good atmosphere).
Logistics & where to stay
Rental prices. Where to live is usually a tough question for anyone who moves to London; the answer is never obvious. This link gives hard numbers on rental costs by postcode at a decent resolution and should be useful for those thinking of moving to London. It probably aligns with AirBnB short term prices, in terms of relativity. Some areas are of course nicer than others, but every area is quite mixed, partly due to social housing being everywhere in London.
Areas to stay. As a long term resident who lived in one area only, I may not be the best person to offer advice on where to stay. Anywhere central will be painfully expensive as everyone knows, but it’s not like the prices drop sharply when you go out to the inner boroughs. When anyone is thinking about a move/visit to London and asks me where they should try, I suggest Angel/Camden/Islington or maybe Shoreditch, or else the Docklands area – somewhere like Limehouse, where I think it’s a little cheaper, but is still close to the action. If money isn’t a problem at all then obviously you can live in central if you want. If you are willing to live in outer London (or your budget forces you to) then there are places that are quite aways out but actually have a quick train service to central, e.g. Croydon : had a chequered reputation in the past but has improved a lot over the years as more professionals moved out there (when I saw it had a Boxpark and a Waitrose I knew times had changed
)Date logistics. For dates, logistics can be a killer if you don’t live centrally but start the date there, or if you are trying to extract for a ONS from central (like any big city). I didn’t live centrally and focused on daygame, so would either have the first date locally and try to bar hop into my flat or have the first date centrally with no intention of an extraction, but tee things up for a second date closer to home.
Other
Food. Have seen negative posts on the forum about this. The reality is that expense plays a part here – if you have a strong budget then you can go to the better restaurants where the food is excellent. Some mentions based on personal experience (most are central):
Asian. Sushi Samba (central) is expensive but quality food. Has a nice but small bar, and great views. Yauatcha does great dim sum (You can get cheaper but still good stuff in Chinatown if you find one of the better places)
Indian. Dishoom (central, chain) is a decent Indian restaurant(s), although if you want something cheaper but still good then Brick Lane in Shoreditch is the obvious choice (and I would recommend Standard Balti there).
Steak. Goodmans or Hawksmoor are both top end places.
English. Sunday roast is an English traditional meal of roasted meat, potato and veg, and Yorkshire pudding, all with gravy. Recommended. You can go to the better known places like Roast in Borough market or Hawksmoor, but I’d suggest finding a decent pub further out, near wherever you’re staying; most will do a good roast for much cheaper. If you want to try something a bit more adventurous, go to Simpsons Tavern off Cornhill in the City for lunch on a weekday and have some old school English fare : steak and kidney pie followed by a dessert of stewed cheese, all washed down with a pint of Chop House ale.
Gyms. There is a huge variety in price and standard. I’ve been a member of a few different gyms, and would recommend Pure Gym - much cheaper than anywhere else (GBP20 per month with no contract/joining fee), but solid equipment and lots of power racks (in my local one, at least). Decent number and footprint across London.
Trips away. If you’re staying here for the long term, weekends away options include:
Cornwall/Devon Has the best (only, really) spots for surfing - e.g. Newquay, Bude, Croyde. At 6 hours drive it’s a schlep, and the train is similar, and not cheap (I paid ~£84 return last time I went)
Peak District. Great spots for rock climbing, and hiking/other outdoor stuff also. 3 hours drive from London (train to Sheffield also an option).
Brighton. Nice coastal town with small population but some decent nightlife and a university. Easy to get to from London (~1 hour 15 on train from London Victoria)
Cotswolds. Beautiful countryside towns to drive through and spend time in. 2 hours drive from London. Not a bad place to bring a girl for a weekend.
New Forest. 2 hour drive from London. Picturesque area with decent hiking. Again, good to take a girl there.
Lake District. Beautiful area for hiking in Northern England, bit of a distance from London though, at ~6 hours drive.
Europe. Low fares to Euro destinations from budget airlines (Ryanair/Easyjet) make London a great base for exploring all of Europe. While I’ve put this near the end, this point is a huge plus, although widely understood.
Meetup.com. If you’re here for an extended period, and want to meet people, then use this website. It’s hugely popular in London and you are almost guaranteed to find a group on it for any interest/hobby you have.
If there’s anything more I can add here just let me know and I'll my best to answer.
Cheers