[PaulRobinson]

The problem - and I can't understate this enough - is that these are all relatively close to each other (naturally), in one of the most miserable parts of London you could spend time in. More than 4 hours in that part of town and I start to feel more noticeably depressed.

I get why equidistant is attractive, but you'll have a much nicer time if somebody is going to have a longer journey. So do yourself a favour: go out to Greenwich, or Richmond, or Hampstead. Go somewhere that is greener. Somewhere that's not on/adjacent to Euston Road.

[t0mpr1c3]

See the Magna Carta at the British library. Pint at said pub. Curry on Drummond Street. Then catch a band at ULU.

[PaulRobinson]

I have a readers card for the BL, and agree its a marvellous thing - I regularly head over there despite my earlier comment about getting depressed on Euston Road.

My preferred way to deal with this part of town: slip out of Kings X and into BL as fast as possible, do what research I need to be do in BL, then walk at speed to the Waterstones on Gower Street (which is not like any other Waterstones in the country, I love it), then if you have time, maybe head down to the British Museum and check out one or two of the rooms. Then, get out of there. If you want a pint, the pubs nearer BL are not as depressing, and you're now on your way to Soho anyway...

To contextualise my earlier comment though: I grew up in the North of England, and for many years I hated London. Every time I visited it felt oppressive and horrible. In 2005 I ended up needing to spend a week doing some client visits, stayed in a place near Warren Street, but had a couple of days off to go exploring in between things. Went to Hyde Park. Went to Greenwich. Went to South Kensington.

I realised I didn't hate London, (how can you hate being lost in the middle of Hyde Park of Kensington Gardens on a warm sunlit day?), it's just that my experience of London until that point was getting a train into Euston and then getting a tube to somewhere like Covent Garden, or Bank, or staying near Euston on Euston Road.

Long story short: my partner and I moved to Barons Court in 2012, and then Twickenham in 2017. Couldn't be happier.

But I still feel sad when I'm on Euston Road.

[darreninthenet]

ULU is gone now, University of London scrapped it

[Theodores]

If you work in the West End and want to go to the pub with your workmates, you soon find that one lives in Greenwich, another in Twickenham, another in St Albans, another in Brighton and everyone 'blows you out' because of their fiendish travel requirements. So everyone goes home, no Friday night beer with the workmates, clients and locals.

This used to be a real problem before TfL put on night buses and late-night tube trains. The centre of town would be a deserted wasteland before a normal town centre would get started with nightlife. The city and Westminster are even worse, not helped by 'absentee landlords' that own luxury properties that are empty with no lights on.

I don't think London suburbs are much better, you need a regional town if you are to meet friends or do things with workmates, after work. However, in a regional town, there is the assumption that the grass is greener in London, with London the only place that gets top quality gigs and whatnot. This might be the case, but the inevitable geographic dispersion of people you know makes it unlikely that you ever enjoy much in the centre of London.

[mvc]

Hehe, grass is always greener on the other side.

[sevenzero]

The journey is often whats most fun to me. Just walking somewhere with friends without worries in our minds. The pub visit itself is usually short lived for us. Can't imagine having to walk in a non-green area though, really sounds depressing.

[specproc]

My favourite pub in this area, The Bree Louise, is sadly no more.

[PaulRobinson]

The only thing that annoyed me about HS2 more than "Oh, and it'll stop at Oak Common, and won't go to Manchester", was by that point they'd already flattened the Bree Louise.

[henryaj]

I enjoyed many a pint in that pub during my student days at UCL!

[traceroute66]

THIS THIS THIS !!

If I am going to subject myself to the horrors of London's over-crowded, over-priced, delay-ridden, filthy public transport then I sure as hell am not going to be doing that just to end up in the filthy confines of Euston Road.

Seriously.

Cool, fun blog post I will give that bit credit.

But the conclusion, "go to a pub on Euston Road" ? No. No. No. and NO !

[gjvc]

"overstate"