London Through a Local's Eyes: An Interview with a 15-Year Resident
James Hartley moved from Manchester to London at 23 for a job in publishing. Fifteen years later, he lives in Peckham with his partner, runs a bookshop in Bermondsey, and has strong opinions about pub etiquette. We met at The George Inn in Southwark — London's last surviving galleried coaching inn, owned by the National Trust and serving proper pints since 1677.
You've lived in London for 15 years. What do tourists consistently get wrong?
They stay in the West End and think that's London. The West End is to London what Times Square is to — it's the obvious bit, and it's the worst bit for actually experiencing the city. Real London is in the neighborhoods: Bermondsey on a Saturday morning at the Maltby Street Market, Peckham for a Nigerian suya and a pint of craft beer at Brick Brewery, Dalston on a Friday night. The moment you step off the tourist trail, prices halve and the quality doubles.
Sunday morning at Columbia Road Flower Market in Shoreditch. Victorian street, packed with flowers, free entry. The smell hits you from a block away. I go almost every weekend. Arrive before 9AM for the full selection, or after 2PM when they're practically giving flowers away. Then walk to Brick Lane for a bagel — beigels, they call them here — at Beigel Bake. Salt beef beigel, £5. Open 24/7. The queue is part of the experience.
What about the classic tourist attractions — are any actually worth it?
The British Museum is extraordinary and free. I go three or four times a year. Most tourists speed through the Egyptian galleries and miss the Enlightenment Gallery — Room 1, on the ground floor. It looks like the library from a movie about time travel. Also, the Assyrian reliefs from Nineveh on the ground floor are criminally undervisited.
The Tower of London is worth it too, especially the Yeoman Warder tours. Those Beefeaters are genuinely funny and know their history cold. Book online for £29.90 instead of £33 at the door.
I'd skip Madame Tussauds (£35 to look at wax), the London Dungeon (a haunted house at theme park prices), and the Shard (£32 when Sky Garden is free).
Best pubs in London?
(Immediately animated) Right. The Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden for history — it's been a pub since 1623. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese off Fleet Street for atmosphere — Samuel Johnson and Charles Dickens drank here, and the cellar bar feels unchanged since the 1600s. The French House in Soho for character — De Gaulle planned the Free French resistance from upstairs.
For beer quality: The Harp near Charing Cross (small, standing room, excellent cask ales). The Kernel Brewery taproom in Bermondsey on a Saturday — they brew some of London's best beer and the taproom is under railway arches.
Pub etiquette for visitors: order at the bar, pay immediately, don't tip for drinks. If there's no obvious queue, catch the bartender's eye and they'll remember your turn. Pint of proper cask ale: £5-7. Avoid anything described as a "gastropub" near tourist areas — you're paying for the word, not the food.
Where do you eat?
Borough Market for a food crawl — I've been going for years and still discover new stalls. Maltby Street Market on Saturdays in Bermondsey is smaller, less crowded, and arguably better. The waffle at Waffle On is obscene.
For sit-down: Padella near Borough Market makes the best fresh pasta in London for £7-12 a dish. The queue can be an hour, but the cacio e pepe is worth every minute. Dishoom in King's Cross for a Bombay-inspired breakfast — the bacon naan roll changed my life and I'm not exaggerating.
Budget eating: any Tesco Express meal deal (sandwich, drink, snack for £3.50) gets me through a work lunch. I'm not above it. Nobody here is.
What neighborhood should visitors explore that most skip?
Peckham. Specifically Rye Lane — it's the most diverse street in London. Nigerian restaurants, Vietnamese bakeries, Indian grocery shops, Caribbean takeaways, and independent art galleries. It's chaotic and real and nothing like what tourists imagine London to be.
Also Bermondsey. The stretch from London Bridge to Bermondsey has Maltby Street Market, The White Cube Gallery (free, world-class contemporary art), Fashion and Textile Museum, and some brilliant pubs. On a Saturday you can spend an entire day there.
Most overrated London experience?
Afternoon tea at one of the big hotels. £65-80 for sandwiches with the crusts cut off and scones that aren't as good as my mum makes. If you really want tea, go to The Orangery at Kensington Palace (cheaper, beautiful setting) or Sketch in Mayfair (absurd pink interior, worth it for the Instagram alone).
Oh, and riding the London Eye. £35 for a 30-minute rotation in a glass pod. The views from Sky Garden are free and you can have a cocktail. Or just walk across Waterloo Bridge at sunset — best free view in London, full stop.
What's one thing you'd tell every visitor?
Walk the South Bank from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge on a clear evening. It's 3 km, it's free, and you'll pass Parliament, the London Eye, the National Theatre, Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, Borough Market, and Tower Bridge — all lit up. Bring a takeaway beer from a pub and drink it on a bench by the Thames.
That walk is London at its absolute best. And it costs nothing.
Final question: after 15 years, does London still surprise you?
Every week. I found a 17th-century plague pit under a wine bar in Clerkenwell last month. There's a Roman amphitheatre under the Guildhall Art Gallery. A Japanese garden hidden inside Holland Park. A church in the City of London with a chunk of medieval wall built into it.
