London Life Hacks: Guy’s Campus Hey there guys, my name is Charlie Beales and I work as a Study Abroad Peer Advisor at

King’s College London. I’ve created this little guide to Guy’s Campus for anyone studying

in the shadow of the Shard. Check it out for some recommendations on where to eat,

where to study and some hidden gems in the area.

New Hunt’s House

The Hodgkin Building

Guy’s Colonnade

Getting to Guy’s:

Guy’s Campus is found on the edge of Zone 1, just a few minutes from London Bridge station. This station is one

of the key transport hubs in London, and can be reached via the Jubilee Line (the grey one) and the Bank branch

of the Northern Line (the black one). The station also has many bus routes that will stop there, so you’ll never find

yourself without options.

After arriving at London Bridge station, follow the signs for the Shard viewing platform exit. Once you’re here

you’re just a hop, skip and a jump from the campus. Take care as you cross the road, and follow the signs pointing

the way to King’s College London down Joiner Street. You should be there in under a minute! If you need a guide

on using the Tube network to get there, check out the TFL Route Planner.

If you fancy walking to campus, find The Shard on the London skyline and head in that direction. Let that shining

pointy beacon guide you home!

Nearby Residences:

If you’ll be doing most of your studying at Guy’s Campus, there are several King’s accommodations nearby, perfect

for anyone who’ll be rubbing shoulders with GKT. I’ll break them down for you below:

Wolfson House: Almost literally on the campus, Wolfson House is built on top of the Greenwood Lecture

theatre (perfect for any late risers). Found just on the other side of Guy’s Hospital, the quad is less than 5

minutes away . Wolfson is one of the cheapest of the King’s Residences, and has a lively social scene.

Great Dover Street (GDS): GDS is found just 10 minutes walk from the campus, a bit closer to Borough

tube station than London Bridge. This is one of the larger accommodations near Guy’s, and is a favourite

among GKT students. There are great facilities, transport links and it’s around the corner from Borough High

Street.

Julian Markham: Julian Markham is found in Elephant and Castle, which is around a 15 minutes walk from

campus. The area is extremely well connected, and you could take the Northern Line to London Bridge or

any one of the multitude of buses if you so wished. The location is fairly central to most King’s campuses, if

you ever need access to the rest.

Full details about all the residences available can be found here.

Key Buildings:

New Hunt’s House:

New Hunt’s House is the most modern building on

the main quad, with the large glass windows and

lighter brickwork. This is probably where you’ll

spend most of your time, as the building contains

classrooms, labs, a café, the library and lots of space

to chill out. The ground floor is generally where the

classrooms are, small spaces for about 30 people.

There are also two large lecture theatres, which are

some of the nicest on the campus. The café is at the

far left end of the building for coffee and snacks. The

library on the 2nd floor is more of a large study space

crammed with medical students, so get there early for

a good spot!

Hodgkin Building:

The “old” building nestled in the corner of the cam-

pus is the Hodgkin Building and this is the home of

the medical school. This building looks beautiful in

the summer with the red brick and the vines creeping

up the walls. In the building are some smaller class-

rooms, as well as a few older lecture theatres. Upstairs

are practical classrooms where you might have histol-

ogy or dissection classes. One of the best things about

the building is the Gordon Museum, a huge selection

of anatomical specimens from hundreds of diseases,

some of which are hundreds of years old. Take a

(quiet) look around, marvel at the exhibits, but please

NO PHOTOS!

Henrietta Raphael Building:

This one is the smaller cousin of the Hodgkin build-

ing and sort of blends into it on the right hand side.

You likely won’t spend much time in here but this is

where the Academic Centre and the majority of the

academic staff’s offices are. The Academic Centre is

where you’ll submit and have coursework returned to

you, while the office’s are where you’ll need to meet

your tutors or lecturers if you ever have the need.

There’s also a lovely café on the ground floor with a

wider selection of food than that offered in New

Hunt’s House.

Where to Study

If you’re looking to sit down and get some coursework

done, write up some notes or just read over a lecture

there are a few places around campus to do it. First of

all, New Hunt’s House library is full of people like you

all doing the same thing, so is a good studious environ-

ment. Best spot’s are facing the window about half

way down the upper section of the library for optimum

window gazing and lack of noise. There’s also a small-

er, more old-fashioned Wills Library in the Hodgkin

Building which has a more Harry Potter vibe to it. Sit-

ting in the Gordon Museum is also an option, as it has

a library feel to it. This is for the more “hardcore”

studiers amongst us. Aside from the libraries, on a nice

day the Quad itself is a really nice place to sit and read,

as are the courtyards of Guy’s Colonnade. You can

also try the Shed which is a pretty comfy space with a

café, just be aware it get’s quite noisy at lunchtime

The Gordon Museum. Not the Hall of Faces.

Where to Eat

THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTION IN THE ENTIRE GUIDE. You know what can rescue even the worst

of days? Some good food. I’ll throw out loads of places to eat around Guy’s Campus from the cheap and conven-

ient all the way to the bad and boujee.

Sainsbury’s / Saino’s / Meal Deal Heaven

For those times when the long trek home just isn’t for

you, when the rain is pouring down or you just really

need some sustenance to carry you through a mara-

thon library session. Sainsbury’s is there for you.

Practically on the campus, around the corner from

New Hunt’s House, there is a small Sainsbury’s Lo-

cal. Perfect for all your snacking and meal deal needs.

The Shed and Guy’s Bar

A fairly recent addition to the campus, the Shed is

the new KCLSU social space just off of Guy’s Col-

onnade. It’s a comfy space buzzing with students, has

offers basic café and coffee shop food at reasonable

prices. The downstairs Guy’s Bar offers what you

might call pub food and is actually massively under-

rated as a place to eat on campus during the day

time. It’s pretty cheap, you can pick up a full cooked

meal for about £5, and it all tastes pretty good.

The Farmers Market

Every Tuesday in the middle of the quad, a selection of

the vendors from the nearby Borough Market come

down onto the campus to liven the air with sizzling

sounds and scintillating scents. This is a great way to

change up your daily routine and try something new,

even if it is a little more pricey than a meal deal.

There’s a wide selection on offer from artisan pastas

and pizzas, to paellas and curries, hog roasts and even

cakes. All the food is really good, and it’s nice to sit out

on the quad for a few minutes with your lunch watch-

ing the world go by.

Café Nawaz and Canela

Canela is a great spot just off campus, across the road

from the new Guy’s Cancer Centre. It’s a one stop shop

for all your breakfast and lunch needs, with paninis,

coffees and full cooked breakfasts. It’s not often used by

the students so you can usually find a seat pretty easily.

Next door is the infamous Café Nawaz. This is more of

a night eating spot, and something of a GKT tradition.

Serving delicious Indian food at very low prices, this

place is best enjoyed with a large group or your sports

team. It’s BYOB so expect things to get rowdy if a team

turns up.

Padella

For something a little fancier and maybe a little calmer,

head down to Borough High Street for Padella. This

place serves delicious pasta dishes at reasonable prices

and is a great place to treat yourself once a week. Be

aware though, this is one of those places that exists on

reputation and doesn’t take reservations. It gets very

busy after business hours, so plan on getting there pret-

ty soon after 5pm if you can’t make it for lunch hours.

Franco Manca

Quite similar to Padella, but this place focusses on fan-

tastic pizza at low low prices. You can get a really good

and sizeable margerita for about £4.50, very worth it.

This place is down on Bermondsey Street about 10

minutes from campus. Like Padella there are no reser-

vations so try to get there before peak times. They also

do takeaway if you need to scoot!

Borough Market

Of course, if we’re going to talk about food around

Guy’s campus, we can’t forget to mention Borough

Market, which is literally around the corner from cam-

pus. You probably already know, but there’s a huge

selection of food vendors down there with all kinds of

cuisine. It can be a little pricey if you get a bit overex-

cited but it’s well worth giving it a try. If you’re espe-

cially boujee, you can even do your grocery shopping

there. Battle your way through the tourists and grab a

bite.

Borough High Street

Of course, Borough High Street itself has loads and

loads of different places to grab lunch, too many to list.

If you need a Pret sandwich, fancy sushi or really just

need a burrito in your life, it’s all there. In can be quite

busy on the street around lunch times, so try and get in

and out before 1pm.

River Restaurants

If you’re at Guy’s you’re only 10 minutes walk from

the river, which of course is absolutely loaded with nice

restaurants if you fancy a nice sit down meal with your

friends, or if you just need some pics for your Insta. A

personal favourite of mine is Dim T, a pan-Asian place

down by City Hall with a spectacular view of Tower

Bridge. This is Instagram and taste heaven, and is rela-

tively inexpensive!

F***offee

You might be of the opinion that if you want a coffee,

staying on campus might be the best option. I’m here

to tell you that opinion is wrong. Get down to Ber-

mondsey Street to F***offee for a fantastic cup of

coffee in whimsical surroundings. STRONG TOL-

ERANCE FOR PROFANITY REQUIRED.

Nightlife and Watering Holes

ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE GUIDE. There’s plenty of places to hang out with your ma-

tes on and around the campus. I’ll be honest. Some of them can be trashy, but all of them can be fun.

Guy’s Bar

Guy’s Bar. GB. The true spiritual home of any lucky

soul that plies their trade on Guy’s Campus. This

place really has seen it all. Guy’s Bar runs two main

nights a week, Wednesdays and Fridays. Wednesday

is the infamous GKT Sports Night, which is about as

raucous and debauched as you can imagine with a

horde of hard working medics and biomeds letting off

steam. Drinks are relatively cheap, the playlists are

always fun and the dance moves always terrible.

Wednesday nights are generally exceptionally busy,

so it’s best to get in as early as possible before the one

in, one out policy comes into effect. Try it. At least

once.

The Thomas Guy Club

The TGC is not very well known at all by the stu-

dents, and is therefore criminally underused. This

bar is primarily for the staff of the College and Guy’s

Hospital, but a KCL ID should be good enough.

The bar is usually pretty quiet, and therefore a really

nice space to just chill out. The food is good too. Go

grab a drink from the lovely bartender and park

yourself on one of the sofa’s in the library room with

a few friends to let off some steam. Overall, this is

not a “night out,” but a great place to have a few qui-

et drinks.

Dover Castle

Dover Castle is the go-to when Guy’s Bar is full up

or not full up enough. The bar is a small space below

a student’s hostel so generally has a very lively

crowd. Like all student-orientated bars, the drinks

are cheap and the playlists are just the right brand of

cheesy. Expect a cheap and cheerful night here with

the overflow of GKT. Busiest nights are generally

Wednesday and Friday. Protip: Park yourself near

the bar and take the time to observe the VK Chal-

lengers in their natural habitat. 7 seconds is the ap-

proximate record right now...

Katzenjammers

Situated just off of Borough High Street, Katzen-

jammers offers a unique experience of German

beer hall culture. Thursday and Friday nights, an

Oompah band plays all your favourite hits (I’m a

big fan of Angels—Robbie Williams). Cheap Ger-

man beer flows by the stein, and the smell of brat-

wurst fills the hall as you sing your heart out with

your new lederhosen laden friends. Give it a try,

it’s super fun.

The Doodle Bar

A little more expensive than the other options, and

more of an “adult” crowd than a student one, but

if you want a more sophisticated but still fun

drink, try this one out. In a re-purposed railway

tunnel on Druid Street, this place offers street

food, a great atmosphere but most importantly

PING PONG TABLES. Oh and of course the

small fact that most of the walls are chalkboards

for you to deface with your wildest artistic

dreams. Disclaimer: If you see my name on the

wall next to something that looks like a mobile

number, please disregard it.

Blue Eyed Maid

I’m not quite sure what to say about Blue Eyed

Maid (BEM for the indoctrinated). This is the

place you will inevitably end up when everything

else is closed down and you’re looking for one last

place to round off the night. BEM is a karaoke bar

of sorts, filled with people just like you, looking to

scream their heart out to the cheesiest songs they

know and generally embarrass themselves in front

of a large crowd of people. Treat this place as the

slightly odd cherry on the cake, rounding off a

good night. Bonus points because it’s pretty close

to Café Rossi and the best kebab you’ll find this

side of the Mediterranean.

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