Packing and Arrival in London
Before Leaving:
Banking:
Before departing for the U.K., be sure to notify your bank of your plans for international travel. If you fail to do so, fraud prevention services will detect unusual foreign transactions and disable your credit/debit card.
To help better calculate a budget, it is important to have a general idea of the U.K.—U.S. exchange rate. This fluctuates daily, but expect 1 Pound Sterling to be equivalent to 1.25-1.33 American Dollars. While using your credit/debit card within the U.K., your U.S. bank may also charge a foreign transaction or withdrawal fee (however, this is generally only 1-2%).
For emergencies and for general spending, we advise that students keep some amount of cash on hand throughout their travels. However, beware of the currency exchange machines and vendors in the airport. These establishments often charge a steep exchange rate and take a good portion of your hard earned cash. Instead, exchange your dollars for pounds at your local bank. The fees here are lower, if any.
Communication:
Unless you use T-Mobile or pay extra for international service, you may lose cell service upon leaving the United States. Most of the major carriers provide international service but often charge a costly fee. While you may be able to get by on free Wi-Fi provided by coffee shops and stores, we often recommend purchasing a U.K. SIM card. Be advised, this does require unlocking your phone before leaving the U.S., and older phones, especially those on Verizon and Sprint networks, may not work in the U.K. at all. The service provider, Three, offers the cheapest monthly SIM plans based in the U.K., starting at £10/month for 2GB of data. This is generally more cost effective than the international rates offered by U.S. cell providers. Below, we’ll list a few popular modes for communication.
WhatsApp provides text, voice, and video communication. It is the most widely used RCS service that operates over Wi-Fi and cellular data. In past years, this has been the main method of communication for both students and instructors on the program.
Facebook Messenger provides the same services offered by WhatsApp. We recommend that you download both apps in order to stay up to date with homework, class, and messages from instructors.
King’s College:
After applying through UNC Study Abroad, you will need to apply directly to King’s College London. Acceptance from both UNC Study Abroad and King’s College London is needed in order to attend this program.
After being accepted by King’s, you will receive confirmation of your Session 2 course selection, and you will gain access to the website KEATS. This is essentially the King’s version of SAKAI/Blackboard and will provide you with details about your course, required reading, meeting times, etc.
London Packing Checklist:
We know it’s tough to pack—is there space for one more book? Should you bring a suit jacket or just a button-up? Does the U.K. have different electrical plugs?—We’ve made a packing list to answer these questions and hopefully many more.
Download the PDF version of our list here
Moonraker Point
Living in KCL housing during this program is mandatory and is included in the cost of your tuition.
During the last two summers, students have been located at Moonraker Point in Southwark (only about a 10-minute walk to class). Moonraker is structured such that you will each have your own private room and bathroom (much like a hotel) but you will share a larger flat and kitchen with a few others. You will have maid and cleaning services several times per week, a facility for laundry, and a gym (made available through a small additional fee). In the opposing photo, note that Moonraker Point is the angular, modern building just beyond the arched overpass.
Via this link you can find more info about Moonraker as well as virtual tours of the kitchens and private rooms.
Arrival in London and Directions to Moonraker
London Heathrow Airport
Your best options into the city are the Heathrow Express and the London Underground. The London Underground is the cheaper and more flexible option, with tickets between £3 and £6 (we recommend you purchase an Oyster card before or upon arrival -- see Getting Around below). The Piccadilly Line will take you directly into Westminster, home of many of London’s tourist attractions, and eventually to King’s Cross St Pancras. If you would like to go directly to Moonraker Point, take the Piccadilly Line to the stop “Green Park” and change for the Jubilee Line (colored gray on the tube map). From here, take the tube 3 stops and get off at “Southwark.” You will then exit the Underground, cross the street and head straight on Union Street. Take a right onto Great Suffolk Street and then a left onto Pocock Street. After taking this turn, Moonraker will be the first building on your right. For future reference and navigation, it’s always nice to have a map of the tube saved on your phone. You can find a great version here!
The Heathrow Express is the significantly more expensive route (with tickets between £22 and £25). On the upside, it takes you directly to Paddington Station in around 15 minutes (compare this to nearly an hour on the Underground).
London Gatwick Airport
Unlike Heathrow, Gatwick is not served by the Underground. To get to London, you’ll need to take either the Gatwick Express or the Southern Rail. The Southern Rail will cost from £8.50 to £17, versus £20 for the Gatwick Express. The Gatwick Express is anywhere from 2 to 17 minutes faster.
Stansted Airport
From here, you can get to London by either train or bus. The Stansted Express train costs between £7 and £22 (advance booking will save you quite a bit here), versus bus tickets starting at £6. The train is significantly faster -- 45 minutes versus around 2 hours for the bus.
Finding your way around will be your first priority upon landing in London. Without the aid of maps or the internet, this can often be quite difficult. For this reason, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the London Underground, print out a map, or download a digital version via Google Maps or Apple Maps before you arrive. Third-party apps such as OsmAnd and maps.me both offer offline downloads of large areas of the U.K. and are a great resource for navigation if your cell service is dodgy or non-existent.
Oyster Card
!!!London Essential!!! the Oyster Card: The wise traveler should immediately purchase an Oyster Card. Upon purchasing, you will add a minimum of £10 for use on the London Underground, Overground, bus system, DLR, tram, etc. Using the Oyster Card allows contactless payment on public transit and offers a large discount compared to the price of paper tickets. The card will also cap your daily fares at the price of a discounted Day Travelcard. Above all, it costs only £5, which is refunded (along with up to £10 of credit) upon surrender of the card. The Oyster card is also more convenient, faster, and harder to lose than paper tickets. They can be purchased and reloaded at any Underground ticket station (including Heathrow Airport).
Alternative: Another option is to purchase a Visitor Oyster card before departing. This card also costs only £5 plus postage, and can be mailed to your home abroad before you depart, or purchased at the Gatwick Express ticket office. The Visitor Oyster is functionally identical to the Oyster, but there are a few key differences to keep in mind: The Visitor Oyster card offers discounts at entertainment, restaurant and shopping venues across the city. A full list is available here: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/visitor-oyster-special-offers.pdf
The Visitor Oyster card cannot be loaded with multi-day Travelcards.
The Visitor Oyster card is non-refundable.
The Visitor Oyster card cannot be loaded with a Railcard.