London is a big city with a rich history, containing a population of more than 13 million people. I fell in love with it when I worked there as a motorcycle dispatch rider for more than 15 years, and it's a love affair that continues today.
Even though I haven’t lived in London since the late '90s, I still know where to go on a big night out. But so do a lot of other people who don’t have the same understanding of the city — all it takes is a smartphone with the right apps.
See also: The 20 Best Apps for a Big Night Out
This seems a betrayal of the city it took me years to learn, but one has to move with the times. While these apps won’t necessarily find a word-of-mouth backstreet bar that is perfect to hit before a gig, they will give you a great experience when going out in London.
If you want an enjoyable afternoon before you go for a night out on the town, a handy tool is Gems of London, a $1 app that turns your mobile phone into a history lesson. Deliberately steering away from tourist regulars such as Buckingham Palace or Big Ben, this app burrows down back-alleys and even has a feature that depicts certain locations as they appeared centuries ago.
One of the best things about London is just walking around and letting things find you, so London’s Best Coffee is a great $3 app if you find your energy fading. Comprehensive and continually updated, it features more than 150 independent coffee shops around the city.
After culture and coffee comes the preparation for the night out, and the first port of call is a restaurant. London used to be an awful place to eat out, but when Terence Conran opened the seminal Quaglino’s restaurant in 1991, cuisine in the capital changed forever.
In the past 20 years, the city’s food choices have been transformed, and keeping up with the latest restaurant opening is a challenge. One very popular local app is toptable, a UK guide to restaurants with a heavy slant on London. Toptable features the best restaurants, discounted prices and, most importantly, new places to eat.

Image: Howl
Then there are personal social networks that operate from the phone itself, and are best accessed after eating (when you're ready to party). One popular and free app is Howl, which you can access from the contacts on your phone. It works on the wolf pack mentality — a "pack leader" checks into a bar then lets other members of the pack know where they are. A simple slide of the screen lets the leader know whether people are coming or not.
So, the crew is beginning to assemble and it’s much too early to call a taxi — that comes later — so what about public transportation? One of the best things about London enjoying the sights from the top of a London bus.
One fabulous free app for this is Citymapper, which combines the city’s extensive bus network with London’s underground Tube system. Originally set up in London, it now covers Berlin and New York, and allows people to compare fare prices by travel option — but I recommend using the bus in London every time.
Then, it’s the night out itself. A simple Google search of "London nightlife" will throw up umpteen suggestions for the visitor, but pay particular attention to the emerging app Lamppost. It's a nightlife and entertainment guide based on a user’s location, which covers gigs, events and DJ nights.
Another more established app is London Nightlife, which compiles the best bars and clubs in the city. Songkick is a great London app that lists all gigs on a given night, and even helps you find where to buy tickets.
But the night is soon over and in this particular instance I have no regrets about the march of technology: I love taxi apps.
Apart from the obvious app suspects, the most popular London taxi app is by Addison Lee, a minicab service that I remember from my dispatch-riding days when its business was delivering only parcels, not people. If you’re of the mind to follow your route home on your phone, the app does that as well.
If all else fails, just start your night off at Bradley's, a small Spanish bar just off the main concourse of Oxford Street in the West End. It has the best jukebox in London, and everyone and every night is different and beautiful.
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