London has lots of little parks, as well as the large ones mentioned here. London is so full of trees it’s technically a forest. United Nations definition states that a forest is somewhere with at least 20 percent trees. London has 21 percent. There are 8.4 million trees across the city- nearly one for each of 8.6million Londoners.
These parks are sometimes referred to as the lungs of the city and I feel sorry for those cities that have crowded such spaces out. Add to that, of course, the miles and miles of riverside (and not just the Thames) or canal side walks one can take in London. It's possible to walk from where I live to the West End, a distance of about 9 miles, avoiding roads for 90% of the way using such pathways and parks.
Always makes me laugh the British drone on about how friendly people are up North, West - never London. But most of my London colleagues are from all over the UK because of the opportunities, the vibe, history, culture of the city.
One of the important travel advantages of London is that you can get a Eurostar train to Paris, Lille, Brussels and Amsterdam, and connect to other railway services across Europe.
Greater London has 2 cities within it, the City of London and the City of Westminster. The City of London even has a separate police force to the rest of London.
Interestingly, London is sort-of two cities ecclesiastically too, though divided differently. Traditionally, a city in Britain is defined by it having an Anglican cathedral - no cathedral, not a city, at least until recently. London has two cathedrals, one each side of the Thames. St Paul's is the cathedral for the Diocese of London. Southwalk, on the South Bank, is the other, and its diocese covers almost all of London south of the River. So, two cities politically and two cities ecclesiastically, but divided differently.
@@t.a.k.palfrey3882 York has been a city for centuries but has never had a Cathedral, yes it has a Minster, a Cathedral in all but name as is the seat of the Bishop. A city is created by Royal Charter and has nothing to do with the Church other than the Monarch is the head of the Church of England. Having a Cathedral does not automatically make a town a city. (Southwalk ? Southwark).
@@tonys1636 York Minster's official name is, The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York. The title minster was given important churches in Anglo-Saxon England, this Westminster, for example, as well as York and Southwell. The latter is also a cathedral. The word Cathedral only came to England after 1066, and means a church with a cathedera or bishop's throne. As Westminster has no bishop, it is not a cathedral, while York and Southwell are.
I lived in London for a few years. It is staggering how around every corner is some amazing history. There is so much to do and see there. It is a city that rewards you for walking: you see so much.
Maybe not: I've been to NYC, walked over the Brooklyn bridge into Brooklyn and subwayed back to Manhattan. London is on another planet I'm afraid. You really should visit. :) @@travelandeats8518
@@travelandeats8518 "Sounds like you are talking about nyc" err... no. I've visited NYC, it was cool. But not like my London! NYC is a 24hr city, London is a city of history, culture & sport. Plus: you can take a train to Paris!
He's completely wrong about public transport in London. It's 24/7. It's just a reduced service after about 1am, until about 6am but there are still tube trains running and buses everywhere.
The historical City of London is also known as the 'square mile' - it was the original city and the traditional centre of the banking sector. It is a city within the larger city of London that we all refer to and think of. Even Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament are outside the old 'City of London' aka the square mile, the old financial centre. Hope that makes things clearer! The 'new' financial district is now centred around Canary Wharf (further east along the River Thames) with its characteristic skyscrapers and is situated in a part of London's old docklands area.
The City of London is still legally a city in it's own right and technically the smallest in England. This vid is filled with out of date data, Greater London's population is now estimated at 9.5 to over 10 million. Another thing to consider is 300 square miles is the total metropolitan area of NYC but the 607sq miles of Greater London doesn't cover the entire metropolitan area of London which stretches out into Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex etc but can't be easily defined, it's estimated population is 13.5-14.5 million people with an even lower population density than GL alone. When thinking about the rough dimensions of the metropolitan area it's probably easier to think of everywhere inside the M25, though in Berks and Essex Crossrail now (and in the case of Essex again) pushes it outside of the M25.
@@SCrEenNaMe-i9h I'm fairly sure it is, because I live in it. I mean yeah, it's a region too, but that's only because it's so big. It's one continuous city from the middle to the geographical edges of "greater London".
The tube has a number of 24/7 lines but only Friday and Saturday night. There are night buses that run to most towns in the outer reaches of Greater London. The reason for the non 24/7 transport is they do maintenance work on the oldest subway in the world during the 4/5 hours of closure each night.
The reason that the NYC Subway can have 24/7 service is mainly because there are local and express tracks along the major routes. This means that maintenence can be done on a local track by diverting service to the express track and vice versa, although sometimes there do need to be extended closures on sections where there are only two tracks. However, as is the case in London, there will be a replacement bus service for the duration.
As London is generally quieter than NY after 1 in the morning, the night buses are running on much emptier roads and therefore are generally almost as fast as taking the tube. Clubbers are used to this and either use the night bus or share a taxi home.
@@madaoisblooming705 New York City’s train system is 24 hours seven days a week that includes buses, trains, trains that go to the suburbs and ferries. Its a complete 24 hour system. Not a partial. That’s why no one associates Monday would be in a 24 hour city.
Love that you're surprised by the population of London and New York, but just casually throw in the population of Norway as a more relatable reference 😅
@@andywessel yes Moscow is huge. I went there a few times on business. The car traffic congestion was unbelievable in Moscow. It seems any massive city with a grid/block system have major traffic congestion. The Brits tend to have roundabouts or phased and timed traffic signals which seem much better keeping the traffic flowing.
The greater London area is not the same size as the greater New York area. There’s almost 20 million people in the greater New York area compared to the greater London area.
Black Cab taxi drivers in London have to pass a very strict test called 'The Knowledge' where they have to know all the streets, museums, embassies, hotels etc like the back of their hands before being issued a taxi driver's licence. I don't know how easy it is to become a cab driver in New York, but I'm guessing it's a lot easier there.
40 percent of London's area is comprised of green or open spaces and parks. In NYC that percentage is just 14 percent, or just a little over a third as much.
I live in London my whole life and love it so much. I've been to New York once and while it was ok, the buildings made it so you could hardly ever see the sky. Also, we went in November and it was freezing.
The area known as the city of London "Square Mile" was the original settlement of the Romans around 2000 years ago & the original wall can still be seen from street level. The wall that surrounds the city of London was the boundary for the original city
I feel like in London I was never more than a 10 minute walk away from a park. There were 3 parks (two quite big, with cafés) within 5 minutes walk from my house.
If you live in parts of SW London, you are within easy reach of Richmond Park, Putney Heath/Wimbledon Common, Bishop's Park, Putney Common, Barnes Common, all big areas, plus the Thames pathway.
Sadly, London is plagued with street crime (robberies, stabbings, motorcycle thefts are all too common). Look on TH-cam for videos showing thieves snatching people's mobile phones, brazenly stealing parked motorcycles, forcing delivery drivers off scooters to steal the scooter. Even Amir Khan (British Boxing Champion) had his Rolex watch stolen at gunpoint last year - the CCTV video shows it happening. I think the smaller towns, villages and more rural cities are much nicer.
@@nikossolomou9507don't believe the hype . If happens but it's not common as you think . Pick pockets are more common than muggings . Ive lived here 35 years and in areas such as harlseden and Wembley which are supposed to be bad but it's not that bad . ..
@@jaycobbina9529 The media whips up the fear of crime to ridiculous levels, in the late 90s and 00s crime rates fell through the floor but thanks to the media people thought it had gone through the roof. Still, I suppose folk won't blink now when crime explodes through poverty again just like it did in the 80s after Maggies Thatch had been in power and sent millions to the poor house, and the current lot have done the same but on an even larger scale. The UK currently has it's highest recorded poverty rates, at last count 22% were living in poverty and now I'm guessing it's up to one in four. For context that's higher than during the great depression, when they came into power poverty was relatively low. 13 years to create poverty, even food poverty, not seen since the year without summer.
In England we see London as large, that is until you go to Tokyo - when I went to Tokyo I found it hard to get my head around just how big the place was….over 30 million people in one city.
Hi from the U.K. must say that my family and I were so overwhelmed crossing the street in NYC - the line of people at the pavement side was massive! It was so strange to see! The extremely high rise buildings seemed to trap the air, making it feel thick and heavy. The lack of greenery was surprising too. We enjoyed the experience though as the folks were really friendly and welcoming towards us.
@@danhudson4614100% however the amount of people on drugs in New York is a huge downside to London. London has homelessness and junkies however in New York the fenthanol and people talking to them selves I’ve never seen in my life. It’s a great experience however I felt un safe at times when people are walking around talking to them selves
Although there's a lot to see and do in London, visitors can also use the Eurostar train service through the Channel Tunnel and be in Paris (France) in 2 and a half hours, Brussels (Belgium) in under 2 hours, Amsterdam (Netherlands) in less than 4 hours or Koeln (Germany) in 6 and a half hours.
Great video as usual. I’m a Brit and been to London and NYC many times. I love both cities. Americans love London for the architecture and Brits love NYC for the skyscrapers. New Yorkers are certainly a different breed, it’s true that they could come across as rude, if that is the correct phrase, but they are in a rush and it’s compact. I’ve been to many American cities and the people are different in NYC than in other American cities as well as London. As a Brit I’ve always said anyone has to visit NYC at least once in their life. Maybe that’s the same for London.
You can get a train from London to Paris and be there in a couple of hours. You can fly from London to the west of Ireland for about $30 and taking about 90 minutes. In that 90 minutes you can also get to Spain, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway etc.
London has an extensive network of night busses, so any clubber etc can get home no problem. I used them all the time, so transport is 24/7. The tube is clean, safe, and frequent, and busses go everywhere. The overground train network is very efficient, but it’s all quite expensive. But it is all clean, safe, frequent - easy to navigate - and extensive.
The reason why no one consider London to be a 24 hour city is because the entire system is not 24 hours that’s why they associate 24 hours with New York City because our entire system trains, ferries buses, even the trains that go out to the suburbs or 24 hours. Also, the New York City transit system is much larger and has many more stations 472 to be exact which all run 24 hours.
An interesting fact about Central Park, is that it was modelled on a park in a town in the north west of the U.K., the town is called Birkenhead (if you’re a native of Birkenhead or Liverpool, you pronounce it Bearkenead!) its not far from Liverpool, and John Lennon bought an apartment overlooking Central Park precisely because it reminded him of home.
One thing that always strikes me about London, compared to other European cities, is the amount of houses, as opposed to flats, within the city centres and the suburbs.
Having lived in both London transport is miles and miles better overall. Buses are actually really reliable too. We have Night buses and during the week they're fast and mostly empty. Actually doesn't add much to your journey time. Night tube runs all night on busiest evenings 24/7. Just trains getting in and out of London are amazing too. It's infrastructure is miles ahead.
According to a sustainablity organisation called 'Treehugger', as of July 2019, New York has about 1,700 green spaces available to the general public. These parks occupy an area of approximately 81sq m. London, on the other hand, for comparison, has around 3,000 green spaces for the general public, occupying a total surface area in excess of 183sq m!
When we visited NYC with my daughters three years ago, my eldest thought that Manhattan looked “derelict and deprived” and my youngest was really upset to see so many homeless people. We did like the people, though. Very friendly.
100% agree with you. The amount of people in the city centre on drugs walking around speaking to them selves is very sad and gives a bad image to tourists of the us
While I don't live in London, I visit the city centre most weeks for business. I live in the "friendlier" north of England, so I think I have a good perspective as a "foreigner" to London. Londoners are not that reserved, there's a lot in common with New Yorkers tbh. I would say Londoners on the whole are a little more polite and genuine, but the city is always going to be a bit more "rude" and boisterous because that's just how it keeps functioning. There are vibrant parts and communities in London that aren't as "reserved", and there's a very active/musical/sporting/creative culture in many parts of the city. Like any other major City in the world, the people you meet there depend on where you go, what you're doing, and who you choose to talk to.
@@darthwiizius, whilst not at all disputing your statement, the "on Earth" part gives it that obnoxious boastful tone for which Americans (assuming that you are not one) have a bit of a reputation.
@@_JohnDoe London also has the highest proportion of green spaces of any major city [on Earth], not sure about the galaxy as a whole I've never been outside of this solar system.
I’m a Londoner but moved out to the shires and I’ve been to NYC. I always remember a line from Crocodile Dundee, when Mick says, 8 million people all wanting to live together? Bewilderment as an Aussie from the bush where people are spread out over 1000s of miles 😊
I (🇸🇪) have been to both cities for different reasons ❤️, I’m truly grateful for my experiences in both of them. Not at all alike but so awesome in their own way. I’m more familiar with the UK in general so every trip to the US has felt slightly more exotic (it’s such a huge country with so many differences in itself).
New York is twice the density of London - not the other way around. NY has the same amount of people in half the amount of space so is twice as dense. I'm British and never been to NY but I would imagine this is mostly because people live in apartments in tall buildings so you can get more people living into a smaller footprint (sq.mile)?
🇬🇧 NYC is a nice city although the grid system I feel lacks character also (maybe it's just me) but compared to Europe its downtown district feels extremely claustrophobic but the express subway idea is DEFINITELY something LDN needs!!!!
@@IsaacSemple I live in Wales in the UK which is mostly green land, beautiful open spaces and castles! I don't really like London because it's so busy so NYC has never really appealed to me. However, I do fully appreciate it's appeal for others and I'm sure it's a great city in it's own right :)
To be a registered Black Cab (Hackney Carriage) driver in London you must pass a test known as “The Knowledge” to pass this you must be able to describe the route between any two points in Greater London. You can rely on a Black Cab driver to get you to your destination. As far as I know this skill is not required by a NYC Taxi Driver. Black Cab's in London have their charges regulated. P.S. these rules do not apply to UBER Taxis.
I think that what London has is a mix of everything. You can be right in the middle of hustle and bustle, or find a quiet place to chill. Sometimes within walking distance. New York just looks too crowded for me - I find London busy enough!
"I have seen the cities of the world and heard the salutations of their crowds, but London is incomparable. Its massiveness overwhelms me; it is a sea, a vast ocean of brick and stone." Hermann Göring in 1937.
Ye you can buy stuff from all over the world in London. I bought some Egyptian perfume from a market stall in London once, we plus there are German and French markets that pop up. There are Chinese and Indian stalls. You can literally but things from anywhere’s in the world if you know where to go.
London is pushing 10million residents, thanks to a greater number of hi-rise blocks in inner london (nine elms , from industry to residential as an example) and new developments in Docklands / Barking Riverside / Dagenham to come. However the City of London at weekends is much quieter, with lesser numbers of residents than I think you would find in NYC.
London/Greater London is huge . Each area ( North, south, east and west) are completely different and has a unique character. There are city area, town areas and even village /rural areas .
London has more Michelin starred restaurants than New York City and the 4th most of any city in the World! Only Tokyo, Paris and Osaka have more. As for fast food, or takeaway food, it's absolutely everywhere. I don't live in the centre of London, yet within a couple of minutes walk, from my front door, I have 3 Chinese restaurants, 1 Vietnamese restaurant, 1 Japanese restaurant, 3 Indian restaurants, 1 Thai restaurant,1 Caribbean restaurant, 1 Greek restaurant, 1 fried chicken/burger restaurant, 1 pizza restaurant, 1 fish and chips takeaway, 2 kebab takeaways, 1 KFC, 1 MacDonald's, I Greggs, 1 Sandwich shop and 2 local cafes. Not to mention all the pub food, or the food stalls in the local market. :)
What put me off is when an American chef legit thought pizza was invented in the US. After showing him a picture of the Italian flag, he doubled down and said "yeah they stole it from us, in fact I don't think that's a country"
I'm a Londoner and I'd say that outside of London is more polite, the cities are less friendly by far. Also we don't have burrows, we have boroughs (Burahs) 😂
@@trudytrew6337 I agree,just exactly what the definition of an English restaurant is,is open to debate. World war " ruined much of good British cooking.
I’ve lived in both New York and London. When I first went to New York to take a taxis I told the driver my destination. He drove the car round the block and brought me literally back to the same road I found him, but across the street. Not impressed! It’s a great city but I have to say London beats it’s. The transportation is better. Food is better and there are so many parks and greenery to see. More open spaces. Feels less occupied and open. Where as New York feels extremely built up. It’s not full of high buildings like New York. London shopping is better. It has a better array of shops. Easier access to anywhere across the UK as well as Europe. My husband is American and he prefers London. I do t find Londoners friendly )I’m from the north of England) where as I found the New Yorkers more welcoming and friendly.
The ancient City of London founded by the Romans and is itself its own borough. Then the Metropolitan area grew around it and became a County of London and Greater London County and is divided into another 32 boroughs.
lol I love how the narrator is giving both of the cities a pass for not being clean by saying it's difficult because of their respective size, yet Tokyo manages to be extremely clean even though it's much larger than both cities and is the most populous metropolitan area in the world.
Yes London is seen as one of the greenest cities. There are public parks for everyone and private parks/gardens where only locals can get into or only the houses that back onto it can get into. There are also several roof top gardens in London.
You mentioned shopping and the closeness of other countries, if you are in London and you fancy some shopping in Paris just hop on a train and you can be there in 2 hours.
Being a Londoner I like New York. The positives are the shopping, I found everyone either really friendly and helpful or totally insane 😂. The portion suze of food is huge and your bacon is cooked so crispy it's easy to break a tooth! The taxi drivers I found unfriendly to the point of being really rude. In London taxi drivers are friendly and will always have a conversation with you if you want. It's very easy to find your way around in NY because all the streets and avenues go North to South and East to West so you can't get lost. I hated crossing NY roads though because although a Green hand shows when safe to cross cars are still allowed to turn into the side streets when it's on Green. I found this confusing and dangerous.
The difference between London and New York? London: Age: About 1,976 years. Founded: 47 AD by the Romans. New York: formerly known as New Amsterdam. Founded in 1624 by the Dutch trading company WIC (West India Company), a fortified settlement in the province of New Netherland that would later develop into what is now the city of New York, remained in Dutch hands until November 1674, when it finally fell to the English. was ceded by the Peace of Westminster.
607 Square miles sounds legit, Greater London is huge. The 2 Square miles bit likely only refers to the original city, today's City of London corporation
TRANSPORT: There are indeed Night Busses in London, working from midnight to 6 in the morning. Also, on Fridays and Saturdays, certain main Tube Lines (Central, Northern and Victoria) work also throughout the night.
London can be really hard to find decent, affordable food. It’s not that it’s not there, it’s just one of those things where you have to know. A big touristy street will have big chained that are all booked up but a small hidden side street will have loads of hidden treats. It’s worth doing a bit of research on an area. In NY I found you could just wander and find loads of cheap, decent options.
I haven't been to NYC, but I have seen comments about the lower cost and possibly greater variety of food there. That said, I do wonder about the quality of the food in terms of healthiness and nutritional value, given that food standards in the USA are known or believed to be questionable. I also how that variety caters to those with dietary restrictions (for comparison, London is arguably the vegan capital of the world).
I believe London has the largest amount of parks of any city in the world, the largest being Richmond on the edge of south west London, it took me nearly a whole day to walk round it
London is over twice the size of NYC, London has history spread out over 20 miles, London is not as dense but imho it’s better. Cleaner, safer, transport, climate, cost of living, friendlier
Actually there are two cities in London. The City of London and the City of Westminster. The City of London actually has it's own Police Force, separate from the Metropolitan Police.
It's around 5 miles from Trafalgar Square which is in the area most people would associate with London to Canary Wharf which is in the area classed as the City of London.
Canary Wharf isn't in the City of London. The City is the central and ancient part of London, and the traditional financial centre for centuries. Canary wharf is a new financial centre created some time around the 1980s, taking over the area previously used by docks in the East of the city. The docks mostly closed down or massively reduced their operations because they didn't take massive container ships.
Personally I love both cities, they are very different. I was surprised by manhattan when visiting how small it was. The food was great. Shopping not so much, we have far better in my opinion over here. The architecture was not out of the ordinary, I can see why the New Yorker we met were proud of it. I would go back to visit anytime and would recommend it. As for London, we visit every year, spend 5 days in the city, sightseeing, just love it.
I love how you remind me of a Labrador pup putting it's head side to side when it's confused , but hey it's all part of the show, we know you're not stupid....keep up the good work bro 👊🏴😎
Greater London is a conurbation of former towns and districts. The City of London itself is approximately a mile square and is not actually a city but a corporation. Its jurisdiction is apart from the rest of England, it has its own mayor and police (the City of London police, not the Met.). The ruling monarch must seek permission to enter the City. It is also home to the Temple Bar legal establishment (not to be confused with law - oh no, they’re two entirely different things) having links dating back to the Knights Templar. Anyone wishing to study the true power structures of the world should consider the City of London, Washington DC and the Vatican. All are separate jurisdictions within their host nations, and having identical architectural symbolism. London is the finance centre, Washington DC is military, and the Vatican is controlled faith and banking. There you have it. Global control. And most people believe that sits with governments.
Sometimes people are impolite in London, as they are in many cities in the world. It depends on the day. I lived in London for three years back in 1984, and still adore it ☺. Every time I go back it feels like going home ♥. Sometimes Londoners are particularly kind. Two punk rockers in scary attire once gave me money when I lost my handbag. I was on my way to my best friend's wedding, in Central England, by train via the tube. My ticket was in my handbag, along with my purse, which slipped off my shoulder whilst I was on the tube. I left for the mainline station, the doors closed behind me, I realized my bag was gone and turned to see it on the seat I had just vacated 😔. Via monitors staff at the station tried to track my bag, but by the time we were able to observe what had happened two stations had passed and the bag was long gone. Still they were very kind, and I was allowed free travel to Victoria Station, where I hoped the bus company would help. On the way I spoke to the scary looking punk rockers. They listened to my story. We reached Victoria station and I hurried off the train. They ran after me and gave me the bus fare. It was an incredible act of kindness I will never forget. Loosing my bag was crap but the kindness of strangers, who would normally have scared me, made me realize how much goodness there is left in the world, and that I should never judge a book by its cover. Obviously, having said that, I'm not likely to trust someone with a demented expression, handcuffs and an axe, but you get my drift.
London and New York are chalk and cheese.Totally different, both completely as you expect them to be because of films and tv. New York taxis DO appear as soon as you raise an arm, and London black cab drivers DO know where everywhere is because of the exhaustive “ knowledge” exam they have to pass in order to get a licence. Tourist attractions ,again, are exactly as you expect. Both cities are brilliant !
On the few times I have been to NYC, I have always found a very similar vibe between London and New York. I'd argue they are the two most iconic cities in the world. Perhaps the pace is a littdifferences
The language used in the original video is a little odd. This is because it was produced using onlne data (travel guides, wikipedia, etc,.). The narration was obviously written by a non-native English speaker, who doesn't quite grasp the nuances and grammar of the language.
London has history everywhere. New York on the other hand is like a film set. Everywhere you look you can see a film. I've been to both and they are both amazing cities. (I live in the UK)
New York also has power, being the BIggest Child of the MOST POWERFUL NATION in the world. NYC also has $$ being that the GDP of the UNITED STATES is $26.854 Trillion, versus Britain $3.159 Trillion. NYC gdp is $2.1 Trillion, versus London's $496.4 billion.
having visited both, the report/comparison was very accurate i enjoyed both as described but found the hotel and restaurant as well as the general public more friendly polite and help full in London maybe New York businesses could take a leaf out of Florida's book on providing visitors with a better experience though i enjoyed visiting NY i am unlikely to return though have visited London on numerous occasions im from Aberdeen Scotland but have holidayed more in america than any other country in my 57 years to date and look forward to visiting again possible to take in both USA F1 races in and Mexico's gp over a 3 week break next time before traveling to a few more European capitals before my retirement. enjoy your light hearted videos provides a much needed break from the overly serious and worrying majority or podcasts that fill my viewing time. Thankyou.
Yeah I was going to add this too, the tube may stop but the night bus goes on all night every night. I mean they have to do maintenance on the tube so how can any run 24/7?
@Claire Willgress there is a night tube, but it only runs on Friday and Saturday nights on the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines
I go to London 1 or 2 a year. Love it. I wouldnt live there but its such a fascinating and fun city. I party in Camden alot at pubs and clubs and love going to Soho and China Town for delicious food. Thought its a expensive place thankfully I have friends I can stay with. Even costs money to visit Londons Highgate cemetery. I been to massive cemeteries in Europe and they dont charge a ticket to enter. I live in a small city Leipzig near Dresden and Berlin. Berlin is a big capital city too though I go there less than London despite being closer and easier to get there. Though I appreciate here in European cities the amount of green spaces and parks there are. It makes the air quality better and offers people a calm relaxing area to get in touch with nature. I have a friend in London in Blackheath a borough south of the Thames and it does not even feel like being in a city. It seems like a small town and surrounded by alot of green space. I definitely think if you ever want to visit London you should. I am American and have family near NYC but never yet been. Theres never been a whole lot about NYC that appeals to me. I lived close to LA a couple years and that was a fascinating place at least in terms of things to see and do. At least a little easier to get around the inner city by car though yes the freeway traffic can be absolutely horrendous at rush hr.
The actual city of London is the ancient boundary, when it was a walled city. That's the 2 square miles bit. But all the town and villages got absorbed into London. If you look at a map from 1000 years places like Wandsworth, Hanwell, Acton, Chiswick... they were all their own villages or hamlets but now are parts of greater London.
I have a Victorian map of the area. Near the village of Hounslow you can see a tiny row of houses alongside Hounslow Heath. It is called Heath Row. A wee bit different today.
@Joanna-il2ur it's crazy, I love looking at old maps of west London. Can't imagine Earl's Court where i grew up as farmland lol! Still amazes me how old some of the Borough names actually are
47% of Greater London is green belt land, there are many vast open spaces aside from the royal parks. It's designated as an urban forest. London is also statistically drier than Paris Rome New York and Sydney it's the western part of Great Britain that gets the majority of the UK's rainfall.
When I've been in NYC, the locals are always very proud of the 'electricity' - that it's such a place where things are always happening. London, to me, has always seemed very similar. It attracts similar types of people. Edit 6:00 - that's not London? That's Stall St in Bath, looking toward the entrance to the Roman Baths...
I noticed the clips of Bath too. Learning Canteen is a poor channel from what I've seen of it. Some of the "facts" need to be taken with a pinch of salt, some of them are downright bizarre.
Cleanliness in the UK is because we have lots of bins at bus stops ,outside public buildings ,in parks and recreation areas and we are encouraged to take our picnic waste home for disposal and in certain areas of the UK, waste is turned into pellets and burnt in a eco friendly power stations that supply electricity to the locals .
London does have 24/7 public transport but the video was correct to say that the Tube isn't 24/7. Majority of UK cities have day buses and night buses, day buses usually run from 5am to 0am with night buses running between 0am to 5am. night buses are usually less often and cost slightly more they also won't cover as many routes but will tend to cover close to majority of areas so you many need to walk slightly more between destinations. really handy for if you have to start work extremely early or when your coming home from a late night on the town. Even some couch (intercity buses) journeys between city run near 24/7 most usually to cities with airports. Majority of trains both above ground and below usually just run the 5am to 0am but some routes do have sleeper routes which run overnight however this isn't very common on most train routes.
One thing I wish it had compared was population mix. For example, about half of London is made up of other cultures than British, such as Indian, Arab, East European, Russian, West Indian, African etc. It all adds to the richness.
The same can be said about new york there’s a reason why they call it a melting pot. It’s one of the most racially and ethnically diverse cities in the world. Queens is the most diverse area in the world. That is a fact literally you can find almost anyone from any part of the world living in New York.
@@shalonsmith3653 Google has just informed me that over 300 languages are spoken, every day, on London streets. It seemed most of them were spoken where I used to live 2 miles from Central London before I moved to The Outer London Suburbs:)
@@Isleofskye the neighborhood of Jackson heights in Queens. Just that neighborhood alone speaks 160 languages. The greater NY area Theres over 600 languages spoken. Google will tell you that. NYC isn’t called a melting pot for no reason.
London has many unique things within it. So in Barnes there is the wetland centre with marshes, reeds. You can see bitterns, waders, a type of river bird. I have visited NYC many times, walked through Prospect Park in Brooklyn, through the Bronx and taken the train in Staten Island. I like NYC's HighLine which is a park on a high rise disused train line. Worth walking the entire length down to the meat packing disitrict, Half way along, you can descend and get a cider in a Irish pub.
Having taken the Eurostar twice before, London isn't a stone throws away, from Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam but there are direct rail routes which are comparable in duration to getting an internation flight to those same cities. Dunno how the original video can talk about shopping and not bring up Oxford Street, it is basically a huge shopping area and big enough to have 4 different underground stations, the busiest shopping street in all of Europe.
@@marino27m Maybe, but Amsterdam, which admittedly is the longest, is nearing 3.5 hours away. Plus you have to go through passport control, and you want to get into the station with some extra time left over, so overall you want to be at Kings Cross like an hour before the train departs.
Bond Street being the one with the expensive Haute Couture Designer shops along with Regent Street. Eurostar's a lot quicker and less hassle to Brussels and Paris than a flight even Amsterdam but not much of a time saving City centre to City centre to it from London City Airport.
@@DoomsdayR3sistance St Pancras not Kings Cross, yes next door to each other and the same tube station. 30 minutes is the official check in time (Border Force or the French ones not on strike).
@@tonys1636 30 minutes is great if you live 5 minutes walk away. But if you're commuting, you want to be there before half an hour, at least in planning, to ensure you get there at least half an hour in advance.
London Underground on a few lines has the Night Tube on Friday and Saturday nights that gives a 24 hour service thorough to Sunday morning. London has an extensive night bus service that runs all through the night too.
North of Harrow (in NW London) their is a viewpoint on the lip of the London basin - where on clear summer nights you can see the lights across the town
There are lots of places with grab and go food in London. From greggs to suchi to go to fresh sandwiches & freshly made food at markets. It’s just there’s even more choices of food to go in New York.
@Acewicz what’s beauty got to do with the amount of street food each city has? Also ye it’s the same with every city. The cost to maintain green spaces it a lot more nowadays.
@Acewicz well you can get food in NY without getting stabbed and both visitors and locals to London have still been injured (stabbed or robbed)- especially in busiest pkaces e.g. covent garden or Oxford street. The point of my post wasn't about safety it was saying you can still get plenty of food to go in london- there's just even more in NY.
I love London and New York from a distance. I like watching TH-cam videos and reading about them but there's just too many people and buildings. Great to look at on a screen but a massive panic attack in reality. My mum spent the first eight years of her life in London and part of her still thinks it's home. London has a larger population than the individual populations of Scotland, N Ireland and Wales. It's s crazy how big it is. It's a fascinating place though. You should read some of Helene hanff' s books - she was a lover of both cities and wrote about them.
@@clivenewman4810Oh that sounds lovely. I always fancy going in the winter and watching people skate in Central Park - basically I have an Hollywood image of New York!!!!🤣Honestly, I find Stirling (which is my local 'city'6 too big and bustling, so it may be a while before I can work my way up to the city centres of London or New York. I have been to London, but it was more than twenty years ago.I have a friend who pops down there regularly and laughs at my nervousness🤣
London! It has virtually everything anyone could want. The variety is staggering. From hi-tech, VR and immersive shows and dinning experiences to old skool historic buildings, 2 Opera Houses (+ 100s of theatres) and natural spaces. I love this city and couldn't imagine living anywhere else for too long. Luckily I have a home that looks over most of London from Westminster Palace and the London Rye to Tower Bridge and the Millennium O2 Dome in Greenwich. Also, people are friendlier. I was escorted out of The Metropolitan Museum in NY because someone complained about my fabulous fashion sense (the guard's words). That would never happen in a London Museum. London! The Land of the Free!
As mentioned in the video, in just a couple of hours you can travel to pretty much every country in europe. You can even jump on a train and spend the day in Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam.
Ive never been to London but Ive done NY a few times. I find people to be actually really friendly - they are just ALWAYS in a hurry. Do not even get in line unless you know what you want. Don't stand there and try to look at the menu because 10 ppl are behind you. New York has one ENORMOUS park in Manhattan but there is Prospect Park in Brooklyn and a few others.
I've seen people say that for Americans London is like New York, Washington DC and LA combined. I.e. it's simultaneously the centre of UK finance & business, government, and entertainment. In America those each have a separate city.
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LONDON - No contest. You can go through the city from park to park and feel like you're not even in a city. The architecture and history amazing.
Unless, of course, you aren't from a city. Then London looks like an utter shithole.
Ngl idk why you'd go to London if you want to feel like you're not in a city.
@@Luuuma7 - The point is you can enjoy both nature and city at the same time.
London has lots of little parks, as well as the large ones mentioned here. London is so full of trees it’s technically a forest. United Nations definition states that a forest is somewhere with at least 20 percent trees. London has 21 percent. There are 8.4 million trees across the city- nearly one for each of 8.6million Londoners.
That just proves how woefully wrong the UN can be about the definition of a forest...
3,000 Parks and Open Spaces which even surprised this 68 year old Londoner:)
Why did I read this as 'London has lots of little pricks' 😂😂
Other cities should copy our great capital
These parks are sometimes referred to as the lungs of the city and I feel sorry for those cities that have crowded such spaces out. Add to that, of course, the miles and miles of riverside (and not just the Thames) or canal side walks one can take in London. It's possible to walk from where I live to the West End, a distance of about 9 miles, avoiding roads for 90% of the way using such pathways and parks.
The politeness of Londoners is a new one to the rest of us in the UK!
Steady!
I am 88. Before the 1960’s everyone in London WAS polite….then things went downhill gradually!
Some of us londoners are still reasonably polite but that is in a minority now.
@@jimbo6059 their not impolite just dont talk to anyone
Always makes me laugh the British drone on about how friendly people are up North, West - never London. But most of my London colleagues are from all over the UK because of the opportunities, the vibe, history, culture of the city.
One of the important travel advantages of London is that you can get a Eurostar train to Paris, Lille, Brussels and Amsterdam, and connect to other railway services across Europe.
Or go by boat or plain for a short hop. It's al so 'close' people from the USA often do not realise.
Greater London has 2 cities within it, the City of London and the City of Westminster. The City of London even has a separate police force to the rest of London.
Interestingly, London is sort-of two cities ecclesiastically too, though divided differently. Traditionally, a city in Britain is defined by it having an Anglican cathedral - no cathedral, not a city, at least until recently. London has two cathedrals, one each side of the Thames. St Paul's is the cathedral for the Diocese of London. Southwalk, on the South Bank, is the other, and its diocese covers almost all of London south of the River. So, two cities politically and two cities ecclesiastically, but divided differently.
@@t.a.k.palfrey3882 York has been a city for centuries but has never had a Cathedral, yes it has a Minster, a Cathedral in all but name as is the seat of the Bishop. A city is created by Royal Charter and has nothing to do with the Church other than the Monarch is the head of the Church of England. Having a Cathedral does not automatically make a town a city. (Southwalk ? Southwark).
Well done. not alot of people know that. from 🇬🇧👍 an old cockney gal
@@nickyl8980 My birthplace and home for my first 29 years until 1983 when I moved 11 miles away:)
@@tonys1636 York Minster's official name is, The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York. The title minster was given important churches in Anglo-Saxon England, this Westminster, for example, as well as York and Southwell. The latter is also a cathedral. The word Cathedral only came to England after 1066, and means a church with a cathedera or bishop's throne. As Westminster has no bishop, it is not a cathedral, while York and Southwell are.
I lived in London for a few years. It is staggering how around every corner is some amazing history. There is so much to do and see there. It is a city that rewards you for walking: you see so much.
Sounds like you are talking about nyc…
@@travelandeats8518 Except London has about 1976 years of history vs New Yorks 399 years worth...
Maybe not: I've been to NYC, walked over the Brooklyn bridge into Brooklyn and subwayed back to Manhattan. London is on another planet I'm afraid. You really should visit. :) @@travelandeats8518
@@travelandeats8518 "Sounds like you are talking about nyc" err... no. I've visited NYC, it was cool. But not like my London! NYC is a 24hr city, London is a city of history, culture & sport. Plus: you can take a train to Paris!
@@TheClunkingFist why would you want to go to France?
He's completely wrong about public transport in London. It's 24/7. It's just a reduced service after about 1am, until about 6am but there are still tube trains running and buses everywhere.
The historical City of London is also known as the 'square mile' - it was the original city and the traditional centre of the banking sector. It is a city within the larger city of London that we all refer to and think of. Even Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament are outside the old 'City of London' aka the square mile, the old financial centre. Hope that makes things clearer! The 'new' financial district is now centred around Canary Wharf (further east along the River Thames) with its characteristic skyscrapers and is situated in a part of London's old docklands area.
The City of London is still legally a city in it's own right and technically the smallest in England. This vid is filled with out of date data, Greater London's population is now estimated at 9.5 to over 10 million. Another thing to consider is 300 square miles is the total metropolitan area of NYC but the 607sq miles of Greater London doesn't cover the entire metropolitan area of London which stretches out into Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex etc but can't be easily defined, it's estimated population is 13.5-14.5 million people with an even lower population density than GL alone. When thinking about the rough dimensions of the metropolitan area it's probably easier to think of everywhere inside the M25, though in Berks and Essex Crossrail now (and in the case of Essex again) pushes it outside of the M25.
Greater London isn’t a city
@@SCrEenNaMe-i9h I'm fairly sure it is, because I live in it. I mean yeah, it's a region too, but that's only because it's so big. It's one continuous city from the middle to the geographical edges of "greater London".
The tube has a number of 24/7 lines but only Friday and Saturday night. There are night buses that run to most towns in the outer reaches of Greater London. The reason for the non 24/7 transport is they do maintenance work on the oldest subway in the world during the 4/5 hours of closure each night.
If it's only on Fri & Sat then it's not 24/7 though?
The reason that the NYC Subway can have 24/7 service is mainly because there are local and express tracks along the major routes. This means that maintenence can be done on a local track by diverting service to the express track and vice versa, although sometimes there do need to be extended closures on sections where there are only two tracks. However, as is the case in London, there will be a replacement bus service for the duration.
As London is generally quieter than NY after 1 in the morning, the night buses are running on much emptier roads and therefore are generally almost as fast as taking the tube. Clubbers are used to this and either use the night bus or share a taxi home.
@@madaoisblooming705 New York City’s train system is 24 hours seven days a week that includes buses, trains, trains that go to the suburbs and ferries. Its a complete 24 hour system. Not a partial. That’s why no one associates Monday would be in a 24 hour city.
@@shalonsmith3653 OK? I wasn't talking about the NYC system. I was saying the Tube isn't 24/7.
Love that you're surprised by the population of London and New York, but just casually throw in the population of Norway as a more relatable reference 😅
And he calls himself a "typical" American. ;)
The size of Paris and Moscow might also surprice many Americans. You can put a few norway’s into these cities as well :-)
His other channel is on Norway videos. He also has a channel on Canada.
@@andywessel yes Moscow is huge. I went there a few times on business. The car traffic congestion was unbelievable in Moscow. It seems any massive city with a grid/block system have major traffic congestion. The Brits tend to have roundabouts or phased and timed traffic signals which seem much better keeping the traffic flowing.
The greater London area is not the same size as the greater New York area. There’s almost 20 million people in the greater New York area compared to the greater London area.
Black Cab taxi drivers in London have to pass a very strict test called 'The Knowledge' where they have to know all the streets, museums, embassies, hotels etc like the back of their hands before being issued a taxi driver's licence. I don't know how easy it is to become a cab driver in New York, but I'm guessing it's a lot easier there.
However, Google Maps is better.
I had to wait an hour and a half, to flag down an empty cab in Manhattan. That was next to Grand Central.
If they know your a tourist they deliberatelytake you longer routes . Never use black cabs . Down load Bolt in London .
Most cab drivers I’ve come across in NYC hardly speak English!
@@jaycobbina9529 I may be wrong but I have heard that if this is discovered a black cab driver would lose his hard gained license
40 percent of London's area is comprised of green or open spaces and parks. In NYC that percentage is just 14 percent, or just a little over a third as much.
Yh London has the green belt around it’s outskirts as well
20%, within the 32 boroughs, but that is till very large compared with most cities.
I live in London my whole life and love it so much. I've been to New York once and while it was ok, the buildings made it so you could hardly ever see the sky. Also, we went in November and it was freezing.
The area known as the city of London "Square Mile" was the original settlement of the Romans around 2000 years ago & the original wall can still be seen from street level. The wall that surrounds the city of London was the boundary for the original city
I feel like in London I was never more than a 10 minute walk away from a park. There were 3 parks (two quite big, with cafés) within 5 minutes walk from my house.
If you live in parts of SW London, you are within easy reach of Richmond Park, Putney Heath/Wimbledon Common, Bishop's Park, Putney Common, Barnes Common, all big areas, plus the Thames pathway.
London now, actually has more green space than built space. so much so that it is a 'urban national park' I think
Sadly, London is plagued with street crime (robberies, stabbings, motorcycle thefts are all too common). Look on TH-cam for videos showing thieves snatching people's mobile phones, brazenly stealing parked motorcycles, forcing delivery drivers off scooters to steal the scooter. Even Amir Khan (British Boxing Champion) had his Rolex watch stolen at gunpoint last year - the CCTV video shows it happening. I think the smaller towns, villages and more rural cities are much nicer.
@@nikossolomou9507don't believe the hype . If happens but it's not common as you think . Pick pockets are more common than muggings . Ive lived here 35 years and in areas such as harlseden and Wembley which are supposed to be bad but it's not that bad . ..
@@jaycobbina9529
The media whips up the fear of crime to ridiculous levels, in the late 90s and 00s crime rates fell through the floor but thanks to the media people thought it had gone through the roof. Still, I suppose folk won't blink now when crime explodes through poverty again just like it did in the 80s after Maggies Thatch had been in power and sent millions to the poor house, and the current lot have done the same but on an even larger scale. The UK currently has it's highest recorded poverty rates, at last count 22% were living in poverty and now I'm guessing it's up to one in four. For context that's higher than during the great depression, when they came into power poverty was relatively low. 13 years to create poverty, even food poverty, not seen since the year without summer.
In England we see London as large, that is until you go to Tokyo - when I went to Tokyo I found it hard to get my head around just how big the place was….over 30 million people in one city.
London has about 3,000 green space parks. Quite significant compared to New York. 😂
Hi from the U.K. must say that my family and I were so overwhelmed crossing the street in NYC - the line of people at the pavement side was massive! It was so strange to see! The extremely high rise buildings seemed to trap the air, making it feel thick and heavy. The lack of greenery was surprising too. We enjoyed the experience though as the folks were really friendly and welcoming towards us.
@@danhudson4614100% however the amount of people on drugs in New York is a huge downside to London. London has homelessness and junkies however in New York the fenthanol and people talking to them selves I’ve never seen in my life. It’s a great experience however I felt un safe at times when people are walking around talking to them selves
@@danhudson4614 “Jaywalking” or just crossing the road as the rest of the world calls it 😂
@@markhepworthillegal in America, oddly.
Although there's a lot to see and do in London, visitors can also use the Eurostar train service through the Channel Tunnel and be in Paris (France) in 2 and a half hours, Brussels (Belgium) in under 2 hours, Amsterdam (Netherlands) in less than 4 hours or Koeln (Germany) in 6 and a half hours.
Great video as usual. I’m a Brit and been to London and NYC many times. I love both cities. Americans love London for the architecture and Brits love NYC for the skyscrapers. New Yorkers are certainly a different breed, it’s true that they could come across as rude, if that is the correct phrase, but they are in a rush and it’s compact. I’ve been to many American cities and the people are different in NYC than in other American cities as well as London. As a Brit I’ve always said anyone has to visit NYC at least once in their life. Maybe that’s the same for London.
You can get a train from London to Paris and be there in a couple of hours. You can fly from London to the west of Ireland for about $30 and taking about 90 minutes. In that 90 minutes you can also get to Spain, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway etc.
London has an extensive network of night busses, so any clubber etc can get home no problem. I used them all the time, so transport is 24/7.
The tube is clean, safe, and frequent, and busses go everywhere. The overground train network is very efficient, but it’s all quite expensive.
But it is all clean, safe, frequent - easy to navigate - and extensive.
The reason why no one consider London to be a 24 hour city is because the entire system is not 24 hours that’s why they associate 24 hours with New York City because our entire system trains, ferries buses, even the trains that go out to the suburbs or 24 hours.
Also, the New York City transit system is much larger and has many more stations 472 to be exact which all run 24 hours.
An interesting fact about Central Park, is that it was modelled on a park in a town in the north west of the U.K., the town is called Birkenhead (if you’re a native of Birkenhead or Liverpool, you pronounce it Bearkenead!) its not far from Liverpool, and John Lennon bought an apartment overlooking Central Park precisely because it reminded him of home.
Never knew that. Thanks for sharing.
And Birkenhead Park has been nominated as a World Heritage Site recently.
@@Lily_The_Pink972 World Heroin Site more like.
That's not true. Central park was modeled after Forest Park in St. Louis.
@@thebabbler8867 “ The park influenced the design of Central Park in New York and Sefton Park in Liverpool “
One thing that always strikes me about London, compared to other European cities, is the amount of houses, as opposed to flats, within the city centres and the suburbs.
And the vast majority of those houses in London (Georgian Edwardian and Victorian) have been converted into either 4 Flats to a house or 6 bedsits.
Did you just said STRIKES?
Having lived in both London transport is miles and miles better overall. Buses are actually really reliable too. We have Night buses and during the week they're fast and mostly empty. Actually doesn't add much to your journey time. Night tube runs all night on busiest evenings 24/7. Just trains getting in and out of London are amazing too. It's infrastructure is miles ahead.
According to a sustainablity organisation called 'Treehugger', as of July 2019, New York has about 1,700 green spaces available to the general public. These parks occupy an area of approximately 81sq m. London, on the other hand, for comparison, has around 3,000 green spaces for the general public, occupying a total surface area in excess of 183sq m!
When we visited NYC with my daughters three years ago, my eldest thought that Manhattan looked “derelict and deprived” and my youngest was really upset to see so many homeless people. We did like the people, though. Very friendly.
100% agree with you. The amount of people in the city centre on drugs walking around speaking to them selves is very sad and gives a bad image to tourists of the us
I love how they illustrated London pubs with footage of an American hotel bar.
While I don't live in London, I visit the city centre most weeks for business. I live in the "friendlier" north of England, so I think I have a good perspective as a "foreigner" to London. Londoners are not that reserved, there's a lot in common with New Yorkers tbh. I would say Londoners on the whole are a little more polite and genuine, but the city is always going to be a bit more "rude" and boisterous because that's just how it keeps functioning. There are vibrant parts and communities in London that aren't as "reserved", and there's a very active/musical/sporting/creative culture in many parts of the city. Like any other major City in the world, the people you meet there depend on where you go, what you're doing, and who you choose to talk to.
London has the highest stadium capacity of any city on Earth and the largest theatre audience, those stats support your statement I think.
Accurate comment. Parts of London at different times can be every bit as crowded as Manhattan.
@@darthwiizius, whilst not at all disputing your statement, the "on Earth" part gives it that obnoxious boastful tone for which Americans (assuming that you are not one) have a bit of a reputation.
@@michaelwilson309
NYC is a lot more densely populated than London mate, it's a million less people in about half the space.
@@_JohnDoe
London also has the highest proportion of green spaces of any major city [on Earth], not sure about the galaxy as a whole I've never been outside of this solar system.
I’m a Londoner but moved out to the shires and I’ve been to NYC. I always remember a line from Crocodile Dundee, when Mick says, 8 million people all wanting to live together? Bewilderment as an Aussie from the bush where people are spread out over 1000s of miles 😊
I (🇸🇪) have been to both cities for different reasons ❤️, I’m truly grateful for my experiences in both of them. Not at all alike but so awesome in their own way. I’m more familiar with the UK in general so every trip to the US has felt slightly more exotic (it’s such a huge country with so many differences in itself).
You need to react to the Secret City of London - very interesting stuff which some Brits aren’t even aware of
New York is twice the density of London - not the other way around. NY has the same amount of people in half the amount of space so is twice as dense. I'm British and never been to NY but I would imagine this is mostly because people live in apartments in tall buildings so you can get more people living into a smaller footprint (sq.mile)?
🇬🇧 NYC is a nice city although the grid system I feel lacks character also (maybe it's just me) but compared to Europe its downtown district feels extremely claustrophobic but the express subway idea is DEFINITELY something LDN needs!!!!
@@IsaacSemple I live in Wales in the UK which is mostly green land, beautiful open spaces and castles! I don't really like London because it's so busy so NYC has never really appealed to me. However, I do fully appreciate it's appeal for others and I'm sure it's a great city in it's own right :)
Quoted: London population 2023: 9,648,000 million. New York city population 2023: 8.51 million (wikipedia .8,804,190 million).
@@Paul-hl8yg I think you've missed the point Paul - London is twice as big as NYC so the density is less even if it has slightly more people 👍
@@mikebrace895 I simply gave the population figures. 👍
To be a registered Black Cab (Hackney Carriage) driver in London you must pass a test known as “The Knowledge” to pass this you must be able to describe the route between any two points in Greater London. You can rely on a Black Cab driver to get you to your destination. As far as I know this skill is not required by a NYC Taxi Driver. Black Cab's in London have their charges regulated. P.S. these rules do not apply to UBER Taxis.
I think that what London has is a mix of everything. You can be right in the middle of hustle and bustle, or find a quiet place to chill. Sometimes within walking distance. New York just looks too crowded for me - I find London busy enough!
"I have seen the cities of the world and heard the salutations of their crowds, but London is incomparable. Its massiveness overwhelms me; it is a sea, a vast ocean of brick and stone." Hermann Göring in 1937.
So vast that for six weeks in 1940 he barely managed to hit anything critical.
@@RichWoods23 I think my Dad said that Goering had told Hitler exactly that. That they could bomb London for 100 years and still have no effect.
I swear he hit St Paul’s, but it still didn’t fall down
Ye you can buy stuff from all over the world in London. I bought some Egyptian perfume from a market stall in London once, we plus there are German and French markets that pop up. There are Chinese and Indian stalls. You can literally but things from anywhere’s in the world if you know where to go.
London is pushing 10million residents, thanks to a greater number of hi-rise blocks in inner london (nine elms , from industry to residential as an example) and new developments in Docklands / Barking Riverside / Dagenham to come. However the City of London at weekends is much quieter, with lesser numbers of residents than I think you would find in NYC.
London has been over 10 million for a year now.
London/Greater London is huge . Each area ( North, south, east and west) are completely different and has a unique character. There are city area, town areas and even village /rural areas .
London has more Michelin starred restaurants than New York City and the 4th most of any city in the World! Only Tokyo, Paris and Osaka have more.
As for fast food, or takeaway food, it's absolutely everywhere. I don't live in the centre of London, yet within a couple of minutes walk, from my front door, I have 3 Chinese restaurants, 1 Vietnamese restaurant, 1 Japanese restaurant, 3 Indian restaurants, 1 Thai restaurant,1 Caribbean restaurant, 1 Greek restaurant, 1 fried chicken/burger restaurant, 1 pizza restaurant, 1 fish and chips takeaway, 2 kebab takeaways, 1 KFC, 1 MacDonald's, I Greggs, 1 Sandwich shop and 2 local cafes. Not to mention all the pub food, or the food stalls in the local market. :)
What put me off is when an American chef legit thought pizza was invented in the US. After showing him a picture of the Italian flag, he doubled down and said "yeah they stole it from us, in fact I don't think that's a country"
I'm a Londoner and I'd say that outside of London is more polite, the cities are less friendly by far.
Also we don't have burrows, we have boroughs (Burahs) 😂
The City of London and the City of Westminster are areas bang in the centre of London where most of the tourist attractions are to be found.
The UN has stated that the UK (and mainly London) has the widest (and most) diversity of restaurants in the whole world!
No surprise there. London is a foreign country now. Awful place
No English restaurants though. Really,none.
@@trudytrew6337 I agree,just exactly what the definition of an English restaurant is,is open to debate.
World war " ruined much of good British cooking.
Do you have a source for that?
@@trudytrew6337fish and chips mate. The chippys are all British through and through
I’ve lived in both New York and London. When I first went to New York to take a taxis I told the driver my destination. He drove the car round the block and brought me literally back to the same road I found him, but across the street. Not impressed! It’s a great city but I have to say London beats it’s. The transportation is better. Food is better and there are so many parks and greenery to see. More open spaces. Feels less occupied and open. Where as New York feels extremely built up. It’s not full of high buildings like New York. London shopping is better. It has a better array of shops. Easier access to anywhere across the UK as well as Europe. My husband is American and he prefers London. I do t find Londoners friendly )I’m from the north of England) where as I found the New Yorkers more welcoming and friendly.
The ancient City of London founded by the Romans and is itself its own borough. Then the Metropolitan area grew around it and became a County of London and Greater London County and is divided into another 32 boroughs.
lol I love how the narrator is giving both of the cities a pass for not being clean by saying it's difficult because of their respective size, yet Tokyo manages to be extremely clean even though it's much larger than both cities and is the most populous metropolitan area in the world.
I think that was a fair and balanced comparison. Two great cities of the world.
Yes London is seen as one of the greenest cities. There are public parks for everyone and private parks/gardens where only locals can get into or only the houses that back onto it can get into. There are also several roof top gardens in London.
You mentioned shopping and the closeness of other countries, if you are in London and you fancy some shopping in Paris just hop on a train and you can be there in 2 hours.
Being a Londoner I like New York. The positives are the shopping, I found everyone either really friendly and helpful or totally insane 😂. The portion suze of food is huge and your bacon is cooked so crispy it's easy to break a tooth! The taxi drivers I found unfriendly to the point of being really rude. In London taxi drivers are friendly and will always have a conversation with you if you want. It's very easy to find your way around in NY because all the streets and avenues go North to South and East to West so you can't get lost. I hated crossing NY roads though because although a Green hand shows when safe to cross cars are still allowed to turn into the side streets when it's on Green. I found this confusing and dangerous.
The difference between London and New York?
London: Age: About 1,976 years. Founded: 47 AD by the Romans.
New York: formerly known as New Amsterdam. Founded in 1624 by the Dutch trading company WIC (West India Company), a fortified settlement in the province of New Netherland that would later develop into what is now the city of New York, remained in Dutch hands until November 1674, when it finally fell to the English. was ceded by the Peace of Westminster.
As a londoner, I can confirm some trains run through the night and night bus's are running all night just a much slower service
The picture with the column in the centre was Trafalgar Square, it was Nelson Column.
607 Square miles sounds legit, Greater London is huge. The 2 Square miles bit likely only refers to the original city, today's City of London corporation
TRANSPORT: There are indeed Night Busses in London, working from midnight to 6 in the morning. Also, on Fridays and Saturdays, certain main Tube Lines (Central, Northern and Victoria) work also throughout the night.
London can be really hard to find decent, affordable food. It’s not that it’s not there, it’s just one of those things where you have to know. A big touristy street will have big chained that are all booked up but a small hidden side street will have loads of hidden treats. It’s worth doing a bit of research on an area. In NY I found you could just wander and find loads of cheap, decent options.
I haven't been to NYC, but I have seen comments about the lower cost and possibly greater variety of food there. That said, I do wonder about the quality of the food in terms of healthiness and nutritional value, given that food standards in the USA are known or believed to be questionable. I also how that variety caters to those with dietary restrictions (for comparison, London is arguably the vegan capital of the world).
20:16 that nelson's column in Trafalgar spuare Lord Horatio Nelson was a very famous British admiral, that's his statue at the top of the column.
I believe London has the largest amount of parks of any city in the world, the largest being Richmond on the edge of south west London, it took me nearly a whole day to walk round it
3,000, my friend. I live 60 yards from a 185 Acre Park just 1/2 from the very periphery of South East London.
"1/2 mile"...
If you walk at 3mph it should take about 2.5 hours to walk around Richmond park.
@@barneylaurance1865 Much longer if you bump into Ben Shephard...:)
London is over twice the size of NYC, London has history spread out over 20 miles, London is not as dense but imho it’s better. Cleaner, safer, transport, climate, cost of living, friendlier
Actually there are two cities in London. The City of London and the City of Westminster. The City of London actually has it's own Police Force, separate from the Metropolitan Police.
It's around 5 miles from Trafalgar Square which is in the area most people would associate with London to Canary Wharf which is in the area classed as the City of London.
Canary Wharf isn't in the City of London. The City is the central and ancient part of London, and the traditional financial centre for centuries. Canary wharf is a new financial centre created some time around the 1980s, taking over the area previously used by docks in the East of the city. The docks mostly closed down or massively reduced their operations because they didn't take massive container ships.
Personally I love both cities, they are very different. I was surprised by manhattan when visiting how small it was. The food was great. Shopping not so much, we have far better in my opinion over here. The architecture was not out of the ordinary, I can see why the New Yorker we met were proud of it. I would go back to visit anytime and would recommend it. As for London, we visit every year, spend 5 days in the city, sightseeing, just love it.
Manhattan small? Try walking from Harlem to Wall Street!
Manhattan is the main borough on nyc it’s not the entirety of nyc
@@TheAmericanCatholic, where does the comment say that it is?
If the architecture is not out of the ordinary, why were the New Yorkers proud of it?
I love how you remind me of a Labrador pup putting it's head side to side when it's confused , but hey it's all part of the show, we know you're not stupid....keep up the good work bro 👊🏴😎
Greater London is a conurbation of former towns and districts. The City of London itself is approximately a mile square and is not actually a city but a corporation. Its jurisdiction is apart from the rest of England, it has its own mayor and police (the City of London police, not the Met.). The ruling monarch must seek permission to enter the City. It is also home to the Temple Bar legal establishment (not to be confused with law - oh no, they’re two entirely different things) having links dating back to the Knights Templar. Anyone wishing to study the true power structures of the world should consider the City of London, Washington DC and the Vatican. All are separate jurisdictions within their host nations, and having identical architectural symbolism. London is the finance centre, Washington DC is military, and the Vatican is controlled faith and banking. There you have it. Global control. And most people believe that sits with governments.
Sometimes people are impolite in London, as they are in many cities in the world. It depends on the day. I lived in London for three years back in 1984, and still adore it ☺. Every time I go back it feels like going home ♥. Sometimes Londoners are particularly kind. Two punk rockers in scary attire once gave me money when I lost my handbag. I was on my way to my best friend's wedding, in Central England, by train via the tube. My ticket was in my handbag, along with my purse, which slipped off my shoulder whilst I was on the tube. I left for the mainline station, the doors closed behind me, I realized my bag was gone and turned to see it on the seat I had just vacated 😔. Via monitors staff at the station tried to track my bag, but by the time we were able to observe what had happened two stations had passed and the bag was long gone. Still they were very kind, and I was allowed free travel to Victoria Station, where I hoped the bus company would help. On the way I spoke to the scary looking punk rockers. They listened to my story. We reached Victoria station and I hurried off the train. They ran after me and gave me the bus fare. It was an incredible act of kindness I will never forget. Loosing my bag was crap but the kindness of strangers, who would normally have scared me, made me realize how much goodness there is left in the world, and that I should never judge a book by its cover. Obviously, having said that, I'm not likely to trust someone with a demented expression, handcuffs and an axe, but you get my drift.
London and New York are chalk and cheese.Totally different, both completely as you expect them to be because of films and tv. New York taxis DO appear as soon as you raise an arm, and London black cab drivers DO know where everywhere is because of the exhaustive “ knowledge” exam they have to pass in order to get a licence. Tourist attractions ,again, are exactly as you expect.
Both cities are brilliant !
On the few times I have been to NYC, I have always found a very similar vibe between London and New York. I'd argue they are the two most iconic cities in the world. Perhaps the pace is a littdifferences
Your best phrase there was "part of the experience". Both big cities are a different culture and that is what makes them worth seeing.
The language used in the original video is a little odd. This is because it was produced using onlne data (travel guides, wikipedia, etc,.). The narration was obviously written by a non-native English speaker, who doesn't quite grasp the nuances and grammar of the language.
I am so glad that we had world class education in 🇿🇦 in the 1970s, before outcomes based education diluted it. We learnt so many facts.
Very polite with a pinch of sarcasm from the narrator 😁.
London has history everywhere. New York on the other hand is like a film set. Everywhere you look you can see a film. I've been to both and they are both amazing cities. (I live in the UK)
New York also has power, being the BIggest Child of the MOST POWERFUL NATION in the world. NYC also has $$ being that the GDP of the UNITED STATES is $26.854 Trillion, versus Britain $3.159 Trillion. NYC gdp is $2.1 Trillion, versus London's $496.4 billion.
having visited both, the report/comparison was very accurate i enjoyed both as described but found the hotel and restaurant as well as the general public more friendly polite and help full in London maybe New York businesses could take a leaf out of Florida's book on providing visitors with a better experience though i enjoyed visiting NY i am unlikely to return though have visited London on numerous occasions im from Aberdeen Scotland but have holidayed more in america than any other country in my 57 years to date and look forward to visiting again possible to take in both USA F1 races in and Mexico's gp over a 3 week break next time before traveling to a few more European capitals before my retirement. enjoy your light hearted videos provides a much needed break from the overly serious and worrying majority or podcasts that fill my viewing time. Thankyou.
London: there's less public transport at night, but it certainly doesn't stop at midnight! (related: the night bus in Harry Potter!)
Yeah I was going to add this too, the tube may stop but the night bus goes on all night every night. I mean they have to do maintenance on the tube so how can any run 24/7?
@Claire Willgress there is a night tube, but it only runs on Friday and Saturday nights on the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines
I go to London 1 or 2 a year. Love it. I wouldnt live there but its such a fascinating and fun city. I party in Camden alot at pubs and clubs and love going to Soho and China Town for delicious food. Thought its a expensive place thankfully I have friends I can stay with. Even costs money to visit Londons Highgate cemetery. I been to massive cemeteries in Europe and they dont charge a ticket to enter.
I live in a small city Leipzig near Dresden and Berlin. Berlin is a big capital city too though I go there less than London despite being closer and easier to get there. Though I appreciate here in European cities the amount of green spaces and parks there are. It makes the air quality better and offers people a calm relaxing area to get in touch with nature.
I have a friend in London in Blackheath a borough south of the Thames and it does not even feel like being in a city. It seems like a small town and surrounded by alot of green space. I definitely think if you ever want to visit London you should. I am American and have family near NYC but never yet been. Theres never been a whole lot about NYC that appeals to me. I lived close to LA a couple years and that was a fascinating place at least in terms of things to see and do. At least a little easier to get around the inner city by car though yes the freeway traffic can be absolutely horrendous at rush hr.
The actual city of London is the ancient boundary, when it was a walled city. That's the 2 square miles bit. But all the town and villages got absorbed into London. If you look at a map from 1000 years places like Wandsworth, Hanwell, Acton, Chiswick... they were all their own villages or hamlets but now are parts of greater London.
I have a Victorian map of the area. Near the village of Hounslow you can see a tiny row of houses alongside Hounslow Heath. It is called Heath Row. A wee bit different today.
@Joanna-il2ur it's crazy, I love looking at old maps of west London. Can't imagine Earl's Court where i grew up as farmland lol! Still amazes me how old some of the Borough names actually are
@Joanna-il2ur I wish it still was a little row still when I lived in Ealing under the flight path lol!
47% of Greater London is green belt land, there are many vast open spaces aside from the royal parks. It's designated as an urban forest.
London is also statistically drier than Paris Rome New York and Sydney it's the western part of Great Britain that gets the majority of the UK's rainfall.
When I've been in NYC, the locals are always very proud of the 'electricity' - that it's such a place where things are always happening. London, to me, has always seemed very similar. It attracts similar types of people.
Edit 6:00 - that's not London? That's Stall St in Bath, looking toward the entrance to the Roman Baths...
I noticed the clips of Bath too. Learning Canteen is a poor channel from what I've seen of it. Some of the "facts" need to be taken with a pinch of salt, some of them are downright bizarre.
London has nowhere near the energy of New York. In New York you feel like you're in the center of the universe.
@@thebabbler8867 Having tried both in my lifetime, I disagree. Try Soho, Covent Garden, Camden, even Brixton.
Cleanliness in the UK is because we have lots of bins at bus stops ,outside public buildings ,in parks and recreation areas and we are encouraged to take our picnic waste home for disposal and in certain areas of the UK, waste is turned into pellets and burnt in a eco friendly power stations that supply electricity to the locals .
This has major vibes of a non-english speaking video translated into english, definitely some strange choices.
Worth looking at the Jay Foreman / MapMen series on Unfinished London and How London Boroughs got named.
London does have 24/7 public transport but the video was correct to say that the Tube isn't 24/7. Majority of UK cities have day buses and night buses, day buses usually run from 5am to 0am with night buses running between 0am to 5am. night buses are usually less often and cost slightly more they also won't cover as many routes but will tend to cover close to majority of areas so you many need to walk slightly more between destinations. really handy for if you have to start work extremely early or when your coming home from a late night on the town. Even some couch (intercity buses) journeys between city run near 24/7 most usually to cities with airports. Majority of trains both above ground and below usually just run the 5am to 0am but some routes do have sleeper routes which run overnight however this isn't very common on most train routes.
I don't think most cities have night busses?
@@hanifleylabi8071 Brighton does.
It's weird they're talking about London yet at 6:20 show footage of Bath outside the Roman Baths.
That's like opposites sides of Britain lol.
One thing I wish it had compared was population mix. For example, about half of London is made up of other cultures than British, such as Indian, Arab, East European, Russian, West Indian, African etc. It all adds to the richness.
When I grew up near Brixton it was 98.5% White/British indigenous in the Late 1950s. A subtle difference,:)
The same can be said about new york there’s a reason why they call it a melting pot. It’s one of the most racially and ethnically diverse cities in the world. Queens is the most diverse area in the world. That is a fact literally you can find almost anyone from any part of the world living in New York.
@@shalonsmith3653 Google has just informed me that over 300 languages are spoken, every day, on London streets.
It seemed most of them were spoken where I used to live 2 miles from Central London before I moved to The Outer London Suburbs:)
@@Isleofskye the neighborhood of Jackson heights in Queens. Just that neighborhood alone speaks 160 languages. The greater NY area Theres over 600 languages spoken. Google will tell you that. NYC isn’t called a melting pot for no reason.
@@shalonsmith3653 They are both very diverse areas then:)
If it "goes without saying" then just don't say it!
London has many unique things within it. So in Barnes there is the wetland centre with marshes, reeds. You can see bitterns, waders, a type of river bird.
I have visited NYC many times, walked through Prospect Park in Brooklyn, through the Bronx and taken the train in Staten Island.
I like NYC's HighLine which is a park on a high rise disused train line. Worth walking the entire length down to the meat packing disitrict, Half way along, you can descend and get a cider in a Irish pub.
Having taken the Eurostar twice before, London isn't a stone throws away, from Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam but there are direct rail routes which are comparable in duration to getting an internation flight to those same cities. Dunno how the original video can talk about shopping and not bring up Oxford Street, it is basically a huge shopping area and big enough to have 4 different underground stations, the busiest shopping street in all of Europe.
Paris is 2 1/2 hours away while Brussels is 2 hours away from London by train. That is close enough.
@@marino27m Maybe, but Amsterdam, which admittedly is the longest, is nearing 3.5 hours away. Plus you have to go through passport control, and you want to get into the station with some extra time left over, so overall you want to be at Kings Cross like an hour before the train departs.
Bond Street being the one with the expensive Haute Couture Designer shops along with Regent Street. Eurostar's a lot quicker and less hassle to Brussels and Paris than a flight even Amsterdam but not much of a time saving City centre to City centre to it from London City Airport.
@@DoomsdayR3sistance St Pancras not Kings Cross, yes next door to each other and the same tube station. 30 minutes is the official check in time (Border Force or the French ones not on strike).
@@tonys1636 30 minutes is great if you live 5 minutes walk away. But if you're commuting, you want to be there before half an hour, at least in planning, to ensure you get there at least half an hour in advance.
within London itself there are approx 22 bridges across the Thames
London Underground on a few lines has the Night Tube on Friday and Saturday nights that gives a 24 hour service thorough to Sunday morning. London has an extensive night bus service that runs all through the night too.
North of Harrow (in NW London) their is a viewpoint on the lip of the London basin - where on clear summer nights you can see the lights across the town
You should react to more Jay foreman videos
There are lots of places with grab and go food in London. From greggs to suchi to go to fresh sandwiches & freshly made food at markets. It’s just there’s even more choices of food to go in New York.
@Acewicz what’s beauty got to do with the amount of street food each city has? Also ye it’s the same with every city. The cost to maintain green spaces it a lot more nowadays.
@Acewicz well you can get food in NY without getting stabbed and both visitors and locals to London have still been injured (stabbed or robbed)- especially in busiest pkaces e.g. covent garden or Oxford street. The point of my post wasn't about safety it was saying you can still get plenty of food to go in london- there's just even more in NY.
I love London and New York from a distance. I like watching TH-cam videos and reading about them but there's just too many people and buildings. Great to look at on a screen but a massive panic attack in reality. My mum spent the first eight years of her life in London and part of her still thinks it's home. London has a larger population than the individual populations of Scotland, N Ireland and Wales. It's s crazy how big it is. It's a fascinating place though. You should read some of Helene hanff' s books - she was a lover of both cities and wrote about them.
I am a Londoner who got married in New York.
@@clivenewman4810Oh that sounds lovely. I always fancy going in the winter and watching people skate in Central Park - basically I have an Hollywood image of New York!!!!🤣Honestly, I find Stirling (which is my local 'city'6 too big and bustling, so it may be a while before I can work my way up to the city centres of London or New York. I have been to London, but it was more than twenty years ago.I have a friend who pops down there regularly and laughs at my nervousness🤣
@@evelynwilson1566 If you don't go to NYC you will regret it for the rest of your life.
London! It has virtually everything anyone could want. The variety is staggering. From hi-tech, VR and immersive shows and dinning experiences to old skool historic buildings, 2 Opera Houses (+ 100s of theatres) and natural spaces. I love this city and couldn't imagine living anywhere else for too long. Luckily I have a home that looks over most of London from Westminster Palace and the London Rye to Tower Bridge and the Millennium O2 Dome in Greenwich. Also, people are friendlier. I was escorted out of The Metropolitan Museum in NY because someone complained about my fabulous fashion sense (the guard's words). That would never happen in a London Museum. London! The Land of the Free!
London....hands down...
As mentioned in the video, in just a couple of hours you can travel to pretty much every country in europe. You can even jump on a train and spend the day in Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam.
Best thing about London is the road to Yorkshire. ,
Problem is, it's a two way street ;-)
As a Yorkshireman, i have to agree utterly & completely 👍🏴🇬🇧
No it's a pretty rubbish road. M1 & A1 road works are bad. Oh, you were being metaphorical, yep. Not the bluntness I would expect 😊
As a Bristolian living now in deepest darkest Somerset' the best road out of London is the M4 Westbound
Ive never been to London but Ive done NY a few times. I find people to be actually really friendly - they are just ALWAYS in a hurry. Do not even get in line unless you know what you want. Don't stand there and try to look at the menu because 10 ppl are behind you. New York has one ENORMOUS park in Manhattan but there is Prospect Park in Brooklyn and a few others.
Bryant Park was pretty cool when I went there one December. Next to Radio City
They should do a comparison of the second cities. Birmingham v Los Angeles.
Both dumps.
I just did it though it did take nearly 20 seconds...
Birmingham came Second:)
I think Manchester has now taken over as the 2nd biggest city.
I've seen people say that for Americans London is like New York, Washington DC and LA combined. I.e. it's simultaneously the centre of UK finance & business, government, and entertainment. In America those each have a separate city.
@@Isleofskye LOL!!!!