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Shopping
Sainsbury’s local and Tesco Express (next to each other on Waterloo Road and opposite the station entrance) and Costcuter (on the SouthBank side of the Waterloo station) are the closest shops. If you don’t mind cycling, the East Street Market is 20 minutes by bike. The market is popular with its diversity of fruit and vegetables, material and household goods, most of which are quite cheap (more info on it here). You can find many cheap shops in the area of Elephant and Castle shopping center – a big Tesco (Tesco Metro), Iceland, 99p. The shopping centre is is just next to Elephant and Castle tube station which is one stop away from Waterloo on the Bakerloo line. There are a number of shops inside Waterloo station (such as WHSmiths, Foyles, Lush) however due to their location the prices will likely be higher than normal.
Banks and ATMs
Note that only the closest banks are located on the map.
If your bank branch is not located, please check on the bank website for a branch locator.
Here and here you can find global ATM locators with information about the availability of the ATMs.
If you are an international student and want to open a bank account you can find more information about the procedures here on this page (after you arrive-> opening a bank account) or you can compare information of the different available banks here.
Hospital & Pharmacy
The nearest hospital is St Thomas’ Hospital (just 10 minutes walking).
The hospital has an Accident and Emergency department.
There are several Boots Pharmacies in the area, the closest ones being at the Waterloo train station and Waterloo road (check the map for more information).
Cinemas and Theaters
The BFI IMAX is just around the corner. You can enjoy watching 2D and 3D movies on the biggest screen in UK.
The National Theatre is something that shouldn’t be missed either. They have a computer room where you can chose to watch from diverse collection of movies. There are also free projections sometimes so just keep an eye on it. On the other side of the river there are many theaters offering some of the best musicals, plays and performances in the UK. Many places offer returned tickets for same day performances or student tickets at low prices which can sometimes go as little as 10 pounds per ticket.
Cycling facilities
There is a cycling facilities at Waterloo which are located outside the entrance in the centre of the main concourse (next to Costa Coffee ). In addition, there are cycle parking facilities on the platforms. CCTV cameras and floodlights are installed to provide better safety and security. However, please consider tagging your bike if you plan to use open cycling parking. You can read more about tagging here.
Gyms
Imperial students get cheap access to the Imperial fitness center (ETHOS), probably the best and cheapest option if you are a gym lover. If you want to register for a gym nearby, the closes ones are the King’s College gym – Kinetic gym, and The Gym.
Kinetic Gym is on the backstreet of Xenia and its membership access is from 14 to 35 pounds per month, but it might be worth to ask for special freshers or student offers. The Gym is situated on Waterloo Road, has 24/7 access and its monthly membership is 20 pounds. A PureGym opened in December 2018 which is a short 2 minutes walk from Xenia. They offer a monthly membership at around £30 or a student membership which is paid yearly at around £250.
Please take all these prices as guidance, they may have changed since publishing of this page.