Your comparison using Monsey and NYC is not that great, since Gateshead is next to some fantastic tourist areas. It might not be the big city, but bear in mind that some people don’t like the big city, and to be fairly honest, there is more tourist stuff in London than NYC. I didn’t much care for Manhattan when I was there – I just found it to be the big city, only bigger, and far too many people who are rude and brash and push everyone out of the way (I am talking from personal experience, I actually got sworn at for trying to push my stroller through a crowd by a person who refused to move out of the way). London at least has the houses of parliament and the palace to visit, plus plenty of museums, parks and other places of interest. Manhattan is just noisy, crowded and full of shops.
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