Not So Basic London 3rd August 2020 London

London After Lockdown – Getting Back to A (New) Normal

Although we’re not out of the woods yet, we are very slowly getting back to our (new) normal after the Coronavirus Pandemic here in London.

Some of you are ready to get back out there and explore and travel (safely, of course). While others are still not comfortable with getting back to the life they knew before lockdown. There is no right or wrong choice out of these two and whatever your decision I completely respect that.

Questions I get asked a lot are ‘What is London like now?’, ‘When will it return to normal?’, ‘Will it ever return to normal?’. Unfortunately, I haven’t got the answer to those I’m afraid. I wish I had a crystal ball where I could tell you by October you’ll be packed into the tube like sardines as before and Coronavirus will have disappeared. What I can do, however, is tell you how London is feeling right now and what (in my opinion) will change the city in terms of business, travel and leisure for the foreseeable future.

It’s quieter. I mean, it’s not quiet for a regular place but for London it’s quiet. According to WECU, an business banking service, with social distancing measures it’s just not possible for a lot of places to open. This unfortunately encompasses all sorts of businesses including shops, restaurants, theatres, live entertainment, bars. Unfortunately, quite a few places have closed for good as they can’t adhere financially or architecturally. Very sad but a common theme not just in London by around the world. Hopefully, this won’t go on too much longer but who can say!

How will Coronavirus change London?

Restaurants will try and accommodate more alfresco dining. Potentially more outdoor eating concepts (Not so good for the winter!)
People will walk, run, cycle a lot more and think twice about hopping on public transport.
People will explore their local areas more rather than heading into the centre of the city.
More people will work from home which will impact on business and general footfall.
There will be less tourism. For now anyway. People may be looking to go to more rural, green parts of the UK.

Please remember that I am not authorised to give any official advice on travel, health, finances, guidelines etc – so for any official advice please see the UK Government website.

Yes, this is a London travel website but I want to serve everyone coming here right now whatever their choices might be. With this in mind, I have put together a bunch of blogs that I hope will be helpful to you whether you’re back to eating out or happy on the sofa.

Here you’ll find a bunch of content for…