I drove in (very nearly) Central London once, going around Battersea/Tooting, and basically all the areas between Tooting and the M4.
Drove in at about 11am, was very quiet and relaxing, drove out about 5pm - forgot about rush hour!
Having said that, despite the fact it was rush hour, it genuinely did not feel as badly congested as certain areas of Essex can get. I think it helped that it was Easter half term, but I digress.
As I drove around, I found the best attitude for dealing with the traffic is to not be aggressive, but certainly be assertive. Basically, don't force your way through traffic - but make your positioning just so that people naturally will secede to you without thinking you're forcing them to do things. Turning out of minor roads to bigger roads, the trick is to make sure you're behind a suitably large vehicle, and follow them out tightly. Otherwise, just select a gap about 3 car lengths long, and just take it. Changing lanes is done by NOT indicating, but simply performing the manoeuvre while maintaining a look out for anyone else trying to move into the same gap, but as soon as you do the manoeuvre, flash your hazards to thank the driver behind you for 'letting you in'. This means you basically get to jump through queues etc without pissing anyone off because they think they've helped you correct a mistake, rather than acting like an obnoxious arsehole.
Another trick is to ensure you're driving either a f*ck off massive vehicle which would intimidate anyone daring to challenge you, or drive a tiny little cheap car which nobody can get angry at because it doesn't look like a "arsehole's car".
In other words, if you have an Audi or BMW of any sort, stay away from London
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
EDIT: Oh, and make sure that whatever you do, LOOK OUT FOR THE GODDAMN MOPEDS! I've never seen so many mopeds pulling wheelies before!