London, England

This city has it all: history, royalty, tradition, art, theater, museums, culture, booming business, cutting-edge fashion, superlative nightclubs, and thrilling tennis, soccer, and rugby games.

But touring Harrods, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, the London Eye, Camden and Portobello Road Markets, and the River Thames (phew ... and that's just naming a fraction of the city's popular destinations) is far different from living in this sprawling city of 7,465,100 people. Let's face it, London can be a little overwhelming for a new resident.

After all, when a city has been through the Black Death, the Great Fire, and the Blitz, and is still standing, its not going to follow a manageable grid-like structure (and have a mere five boroughs) like New York. To better digest this mammoth city, it's easier to look at the sum of its parts, going from micro to macro. London has 33 boroughs (some may sound familiar, such as Camden and Greenwich) and is split into five distinct areas – Central, South, North, East, and West, and each area is like its own city.

Central London, in the middle of the five areas, forms a circular core and serves as the main financial district. West London is the popular tourist area that consists of Trafalgar Square, Soho, Leceister Square, Piccadilly Circus, and the theatre district. Known for its cockney slang, East London is a quickly gentrifying area that is home to the revamped Canary Wharf and the relatively new Docklands Light Railway. North and South London are essentially divided by the River Thames. North London is a less citified area and includes Hampstead, Highgate, Regent's Park, and the London Zoo. South London, with neighborhoods such as Brixton (the approximate equivalent to the Bronx in New York), used to be thought of as a rough area, but South Bank and Southwark have been getting a facelift over the last few years and are now attracting new businesses, hotels, shops, and restaurants.

London is also split into Inner and Outer London, or referred to as Greater London, when viewed as whole. And thanks to an extensive transit system, it's easy (though not always fast) to get around town by bus, subway, or train. And, just in Central London, there are more than 19,000 black cabs (taxis). Every day, more than a million people commute into (and out of) Central London from nearby suburban counties such as Surrey, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Essex, and Kent.

But in case all you're picturing is a mass of buildings, keep in mind that 30% of the London area is made up of green space and the city contains 143 registered parks and gardens. And a mere 40-minute drive will put you smack-dab in the middle of the countryside.

What else should you know about London? Well, though England has long had a well-earned reputation for bad, bland food, that's no longer the case. (Just say no to the mushy peas when you indulge in the excellent fish and chips.) Not only does London have some wonderful, high-end restaurants and famous chefs (Jamie Oliver, anyone?), it is also a multicultural hub with everything from Indian to Japanese cuisine on offer.

One unavoidable issue about London is the cost of living. But while you may have to skip your morning latte at Starbucks (which costs twice as much as it does in North America), you don't have to forgo sightseeing. Many of the permanent collections in museums and galleries, such as the British Museum, The National Gallery, and The Tate, for instance, are free (though a donation is recommended). And a bonus of living in London is fast and cheap travel to the rest of the UK and to Europe.

If you're looking for an experience of a lifetime in one of the most incredible cities in the world, London is a good bet.

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