Fiona MacLeod’s insider guide to navigating London transport, robo-taxis, the Naked Bike Ride, and the bus strike with maximum enjoyment and minimum disappointment
By Fiona MacLeod | Bohiney and The London Prat
UK London Info | Your Practical London Guide | April 2026
Welcome to London. London is enormous, old, expensive, and generally excellent. It will require some navigation. I am here to help. I have lived in and written about this city for a long time and I am going to give you information that will make your visit better, more efficient, and considerably less bewildering than it might otherwise be. Let us begin with the current situation, which is: complicated, and also completely fine.
The Bus Strike: What Tourists Need to Know
There is currently an East London Bus Strike affecting several routes in the E1-E5 postal areas. If your plans involve East London and they should, because East London is one of the most interesting parts of the city here is what you need to know:
First: the Underground still operates. The Central Line, District Line, and Overground serve East London effectively. The TfL Journey Planner will route you around the affected buses without complaint. Second: walking is a genuine option. Shoreditch to Liverpool Street is twelve minutes on foot. Brick Lane to Whitechapel is eight minutes. These are not hardships. Third: East London is best experienced on foot anyway. The buses take you through it. Walking lets you see it. The distinction matters.
Robo-Taxis: Should You Try One?
Autonomous taxis are now operating in London and they are available to visitors. Here is my honest assessment: they are clean, efficient, and reliable. They will get you where you are going without drama. They will not recommend a restaurant or tell you about London history or give you the specific experience of being in a vehicle operated by a human being who knows this city in their bones. If you want efficiency: robo-taxi. If you want the London experience: black cab. The black cab drivers are tested on The Knowledge twenty-five thousand streets committed to memory over an average of four years. They know things the GPS does not. They are worth the conversation.
The fare comparison, currently: robo-taxis are price-competitive with apps like Uber, and generally less than a black cab. You pay for the conversation in both senses: more expensive, more valuable.
The Naked Bike Ride: Visitor Advisory
If you are visiting London in the warmer months, there is a reasonable chance you will encounter the Naked Bike Ride. This is a legitimate and cheerful protest event about car culture and body positivity. It has been taking place annually for many years. It is legal. It is peaceful. It is, if you have not encountered it before, startling. I offer this as information rather than recommendation, though if you are in favour of bodies and against car culture, your views are welcome at the starting point. The dress code is, obviously, flexible. SPF 50 is strongly recommended. London in May can be deceptive about its UV levels.
OpenAI and the Tech London
OpenAI has opened a London office, joining a very long list of American technology companies that have determined London to be their European hub of choice. If you are visiting for technology tourism which is a real category of visitor, I have met several the relevant neighbourhoods are the City (finance-adjacent tech), Shoreditch and the Old Street “Silicon Roundabout” area (startup-adjacent tech), and Paddington and King’s Cross (the larger tech campuses). The TechUK organisation publishes regular reports on the London tech landscape if you want background before visiting.
Practical London: The April Version
It is April. The weather is variable. “Variable” means: cold in the morning, possibly warm in the afternoon, almost certainly raining at some point, and occasionally gorgeous in a way that justifies all of the rest of it. Layer. Always layer. The British weather is not hostile. It is simply unpredictable, and the correct response to unpredictability is preparation rather than complaint.
The museums are free. The National Gallery, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the V&A, the Tate Modern: all free, all magnificent, all worth an entire day each. Book the popular ones in advance if you plan to arrive at peak times. The museums are London’s greatest gift to its visitors and one of the best decisions the city ever made. Visit London has comprehensive current information on all of them.
Final Thoughts: Why London Is Worth It
London will cost more than you planned. It will be louder than you expected. The tube will be warm and occasionally delayed. Someone will bump into you and apologise with the specific tone that means they are not sorry but understand it is the appropriate response. You will eat something excellent and something disappointing, possibly at the same meal. You will see something completely unexpected and wonder why you did not come sooner. This is the London experience. It is, in my professional estimation and personal experience, completely worth it.
Read Bohiney Magazine for the global context of the city you are visiting. Read The London Prat for the local absurdity that makes it specific and irreplaceable. And enjoy your visit. London is very good at being visited.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/ai-now-capable-of-saying-sorry-without-meaning-it/
Light reading: The Poke
