This article is part of a series covering the different types of housing at the various study away sites in the Global Network.Most of you probably know by now that everyone studying away in London gets to live in Buckingham Palace with the Queen. Her official title is “Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary,” but here at NYU London we just call her Lizzie, or Liz if we’re feeling cheeky. (Cheeky is an exceptionally British word that you’re only allowed to use once the Queen has knighted you in a special ceremony involving tea and crumpets.)In spite of this tradition, this year, however, we ran into some difficulties with regards to living in the Palace -- something about “get these peasants out of my house,” but I don’t pretend to know the goings-on of the Royal Household. So instead all NYU students have been relegated to living in one of three dorms while the Palace situation is worked out. The three dorms are Byron Court, Guilford House, and Urbanest, and each has its own unique perks and drawbacks.Guilford is closest to the school, but at Urbanest you get a single and the facilities are beautiful and modern. Byron has more communal space, even featuring a pool table and a foosball table, which I’m told is a big deal. Byron is also the only dorm that freshmen can live in, so if you’re looking to get down with the youth, that is the place for you.Byron and Guilford are within five minutes’ walk from each other, and starting from these buildings it only takes about fifteen to twenty minutes to walk to campus. Urbanest is farther, and it takes a little over forty minutes to walk to campus from there. Luckily, London has really good public transportation, so it’s not hard to take a bus to and from campus. Unluckily, you have to pay for said public transportation, which may cut into your “buy the crown jewels with an offer Queen Liz just can’t refuse” budget.Coming from Shanghai, where living in Pudong and adventuring in Puxi requires a constant use of the metro, I was prepared to face a similar situation in London. However, London has turned out to be a surprisingly small city, with many cool neighborhoods and famous attractions within walking distance of each other. Walking from the NYU campus to Trafalgar Square, then stopping by Big Ben before visiting the London Eye is a reasonable itinerary for one night. Although personally, I would stop by Buckingham Palace first to say hi to Liz.

This article was written by Dana Meyers. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Dana Meyers