At the start of Lent term, I decided to take advantage of the countless opportunities in London for the remaining few months I am here and see or try something new every day. Now that part of the term is over, I realize that while this idea is great for exploring the city and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, it is not so easy to combine such daily adventures with studying. All the readings, lectures, and the paper I had due Friday were time and energy-consuming, so here’s a tip for anyone who’s feeling like trying something new every day: plan your week ahead instead of looking just one day ahead. That way you can do some more research about what is happening during the week and how to organize your outings in the most meaningful way. And it will also help you when you plan things with your friends.

If you are looking for some ideas, here are a few places I have visited lately:

Daunt Books

If you are a book lover, you need to visit this bookshop! There are several locations, but a few friends and I went to the one in Marylebone as it was the most highly recommended (though I’m sure I’ll eventually find my way to the other locations as well). The bookshop was lovely and full of people perusing the shelves. One of my friends was so invested in exploring the books in the art section that she didn’t even realize there were two more floors until 25 minutes into our visit. Daunt Books also has  divided some of its books by country, so if you are interested in a specific place, you can easily find travel books as well as fiction and nonfiction books about it.

Sky Gardens

While this is a popular recommendation for people exploring London, I feel like some students might need a reminder to visit it. I kept telling myself that I’d visit it ‘soon’ all of last term, and of course, it always got postponed. I’m glad I can finally put the checkmark next to it on my list. We went on a Friday afternoon at 4:15pm so that we could catch the sun setting over London and we were lucky that the sky was not entirely covered in clouds.

Bad Moon Cafe

Bad Moon Cafe is a board game cafe where you pay £5 (per person) and can play as many games as you want for as long as you want or until the cafe closes. It was a nice way to catch up with friends after the winter break and also get to know other people. The atmosphere was very relaxing, with people drinking coffee and casually playing a card game and others intensively measuring distances on the board with a meter. We couldn’t believe that we spent three and a half hours playing Codenames, Cards Against Humanity, and Catan. The cafe gave us the chance to take a break from studying and have some fun with friends without having to think very hard or move very much.