Tips for an American traveling to London?

Be very careful to look both ways when crossing the road.

Never get into a minicab that you haven't booked. You can hail black cabs on the street, but it is illegal for a minicab to tout for business. Places to avoid - same as back home really. Unlit streets, dark alleyways and parks after dark. As for staying out of trouble when drunk - don't get drunk on your own. You will be at more risk if you have no idea where you are and are more likely to be a target. Make sure you have your accommodation details written down so that if you get confused, you can show a taxi driver the address. If you are sick in the back of a cab, you have to pay a clean up charge (I believe it is somewhere around the £40 mark ($65), but could be more. Be careful when drinking, I believe the beer here is far stronger than in the USA. If you are young, you will probably be asked for ID. Nowadays if you look under 25, they will ask. As for making people like you more, in general, we like or dislike people not Nations, so if you are nice, you will be liked.

Don't try all the pubs in London there are far too many, ask some locals what the best watering holes are. London is a cosmopolitan city with people from all over the world coming and going all the time, the locals are used to tourists but if you just stop people in the street to talk to them you'll find the majority of them are not local. Your top tourist spots (must see) is big ben and the houses of parliament - if you want to sound cleverer than the average londoner point out that big ben is the name of the bell the clock tower is called St Stephen's tower. These are located along the Thames river. If you're going to Greenwich go in the daytime and spend a little time in Greenwich park look at the Greenwich observatory and stand on the Greenwich meridian. All lines of longitude are calculated from that spot. Madame Tousards and the Planetarium are decent stops too. You should probably visit Buckingham palace and the British Museum too. Be careful though if you're heading to the British Museum one wrong turn and you could end up in Soho which is a notorious red light district. You probably don't want to find yourself in Brixton late at night too. You can save yourself a lot of time by visiting London virtually using google earth, that way you'll recognise what you're looking for immediately when you see it.