In the famous movie "Casablanca", Humphrey Bogart tells Ingrid Bergman, "We’ll always have Paris" to look back on for their romance. At the time, he meant a lively city famous for romance and its social life. Not anymore. It seems that even Parisians are jealous of London nightlife, so making new friends in the English capital ought to be a walk in the park.

In fact, making new friends in London may very well start with a walk in the park!

London Parks

The city has several wide open spaces where you can take a stroll, walk your dog or sit and read a book. All of these provide opportunities for making new friends in London. All you have to do is strike up a conversation and if you hit it off, get their mobile phone number. You can call or text them later to arrange to meet for coffee later.

Battersea Park and Hyde Park are probably among the most famous green areas in London but if you live elsewhere in the capital, don’t forget Finsbury Park, Holland Park etc. Check out what is near you and start making new friends!

Just apply a few basic safety rules. Don’t give out your address. Meet in public places and don’t meet them alone until you get to know the other person.

London Pubs

After making new friends in a London park, a good second meeting would be one of the many pubs and bars in the City. They are vibrant, fun places where you can enjoy a nice alcoholic or soft drink and listen to good music. Many London pubs have live music nights. Going to a gig of a band you like is also a good way of making new friends who are mutual followers of the same kind of music you like.

You won’t find this so much in Paris where anti-noise legislation has cut down on the opportunities to hear live music or even visit a decent club open beyond 11pm.

London has a wide range of bars from spit-and-sawdust pubs to trendy clubs. The city never sleeps, which is one reason it has taken over from Paris as the social capital of the world. Even the pavements are good places for making new friends if you don’t mind a smoker, banished from internal social places. Smokers gathering outside London pubs, bars and restaurants are likely to be a cheery bunch, in contrast to their Gallic cousins who are more likely to complain about the imposition of having their civil liberties infringed!

Overseas Visitors

London has a global reputation. Therefore, the English capital city offers you opportunities of making new friends from all over the world. Even if they are just here on holiday, keeping in touch via email, IM and Skype is easy.

Just think of the holiday opportunities as you are invited back to their country! With a trusted travelling companion and proper travel arrangements the world could be your oyster, all from your efforts from making friends in London!

By day, London may be an industrious, Anglo-Saxon centre of commerce, but by night it is becoming increasingly well known as an all night party venue. The perception of London clubs as too expensive for all but celebrities, royals and footballers’ wives is changing too.

True, nightclubs like Chinawhite are still popular with the rich and famous. But London has become a cosmopolitan party city where international gatherings take place in most areas of the city, and not just at the weekends. Covent Garden is more than just a place for toffs. Its night-life is now legendary!

Typically these days, a night out meeting new people in London starts with friends gathering at their local pub for a draught beer or a few glasses of wine. Then it’s time to choose from the vast array of night clubs available to you in London. Whatever music you like, there is a London club that specialises in it. Once you’ve danced the night away you can hit the fast food joints to stave of the munchies before heading home.