What to see in London; Kingston Upon Thames

As I promised, I would write about London and what is worth seeing here. I then thought I’d start writing about Kingston. It is not exactly in central London, but it is adorable and perhaps very interesting for students, especially people who are thinking about studying in London, to see what hidden pearls are to be found here.

Kjell Steinar and I went yesterday, and it turned out to be the perfect day to explore Kingston. The sun was shining, but fall is definitely coming to London so it was kind of chilly. But we had our clothes, and I had my camera, and we were both ready to see what Kingston has to offer.

One of the first things I should mention is Oceana, one of London’s most exciting clubs. With several different rooms to party in where they play a wide range of music, this is a club where especially students like to party. On student nights it is not expensive, but you will not get in if you forget your student ID. Compared to Norway the prices are cheap, and in British standards it is not so bad either. I would recommend going to Oceana either you are a student or not, particularly if you’re a party person. It is located in Clarence Street, you can’t miss it.

Right next to Oceana you have Odeon, the cinema. In the same building you also have bowling, where students can play as much as they want and only pay for one round every week from Monday to Thursday.

It is easy to go to Kingston from Central. The easiest way I can think of is taking the District Line to Putney Bridge and bus number 85 directly to Kingston. One of the first things that you see when you get to Kingston is some stacked domino like red telephone boxes. I would almost say that they are a landmark for Kingston, as so many people seem to be fascinated about them.

 

What would London be without shopping? That is also a question you could ask about Kingston, and the answer would be the Bentall Centre. They have many different stores, such as New Look, La Senza, Aldo, Levis, Zara, HMV and so much more. Over the summer they opened one of my favourite stores there; Guess. It is not a big shopping centre, but you will without a doubt be able to find the perfect outfit or gift.

Kingston reminds me of a beautiful old European small town. They have cute little buildings that fit perfectly with the shops that are there, and what makes it even better is that it is a walking street. At the end of one such street we came across a fruit and vegetable market where you can buy yourself a healthy dinner.

A walk by the river was actually quite romantic. The restaurant Yuong’s looked very popular with lots of people having their lunch there. We didn’t go inside, but that is definitely a place I would like to eat in the future. As we were walking we came across several restaurants and bars where they sold cheap drinks, and also they were very full with people. I think that is a good sign.

After walking past all of these restaurants Kjell Steinar and I decided it was about time to actually try to eat something somewhere. At this point we came to find this lovely little patisserie, called Patisserie Valerie. Of course we could not see a free table, so we ordered a cream doughnut from their take away menu. It was so good, and very cheap. Next time I am going to Kingston I am having my lunch here.

It turned out that Kingston had more to offer than what I first thought, and we found some hidden pearls today that I did not know existed here. It is the perfect place to spend your day with many different choices of restaurants that you can find in one of the cute little alleys, but also some traditional London shopping.