Our guest blogger for this week, Taani Lin, tells us about her perfect day in London. Taani, a New Zealand native with a serious passion for travel, has been living in London for 6 months. She says, “I am in love with this city even more than any other. I make it my constant aim to discover unique things about London and I haven’t been disappointed yet.”

My perfect day in London would start out in a stroll down Brick Lane. Brick Lane is one of my favourite places, not only because of the bustling markets held on Sundays but also because the area hosts amazing street art. London is known as an expensive city but for art, it is not. Museums and galleries are free of charge, but if you want to get away from the classics and indulge in some local talent, I find wandering down Brick Lane and Shoreditch to be a real treat. Parts of the area can appear to be a bit run down but this just creates an atmosphere of authenticity. I mean, street art and graffiti just doesn’t seem genuine unless it’s randomly yet strategically placed on the side of slightly rotting building.

Seeing I was already in the Brick Lane area and it would be a beautiful sunny Sunday, I would be tempted to join the crowds at the Brick Lane Market. You can buy anything here for a reasonable price. It can actually be quite a dangerous place to be because the bargains seem too good to be true and I have a weakness for coats of all varieties and end up buying at least one every time I visit

simply because it’s cheap and pretty. The Sunday Up Market in the Old Truman Brewery is always worth a visit, not for the pretty arts and crafts which are usually too expensive for my budget, but for the most delicious chocolate brownies in the world.

Somewhere within this market is a vendor that sells unique combinations of muffins, such as pistachio and ginger but if you ever find him, just beeline for the brownies. It’s worth the calories. All that shopping and absorbing of art would then make me incredibly hungry for proper food and nothing seems more London to me than the Rootmasters Bustaurant. Where else but in London could you find a vegan restaurant inside a double decker bus! At first I was hesitant of the food as it is vegan food only and I am a huge fan of dairy and meat products, but the falafel plate looked amazing and I wasn’t disappointed.

London is just too big to describe in a short blog and well worth just wandering around yourself, however, many people find they get more out of a visit with a guided tour. There are many local tours and really unique ones that run in London, but at Get Your Guide, you can find many of the local listings in London. There’s something like 200 tours available so knock yourself out.