London, EN

January 16 - 23, 2026

To kick off my exchange, I flew from Toronto to London, where I stayed with my aunt and her family for the week. London is an incredible city, but the brutal CAD exchange rate definitely made a dent in my bank account.

Having a bunch of friends who’ve moved there made the experience even better, I got a mix of local recs while still checking off the classic tourist spots.

Some of my highlights included seeing Big Ben in person, exploring the British Museum, eating at Borough Market, and a chaotic 3 AM drunk night bus ride where we ended up chatting with some hilarious British blokes.

London was a great place to start my exchange journey. It's somewhere that doesn't feel too different to home as it's an English-speaking country, but it so vast and you will really never run out of things to see/do. All of the museums are free as well, which is really nice with the rainy climate of the city. 

Overall, I would rate London about an 8/10. The going out scene is great, it's very easy to get around via Tube, and there's a ton of history in one of the world's most important cities. That said, everything is ridiculously expensive. Even something as simple as a Tube ride can cost around $7 CAD, which adds up fast.