TRANSPORT
For our guide to the rest of the UK, including details
of how to tour the UK by train for under £60 per
person see our 'Rest of UK'
page
If there's one
topic that unites Londoners it's the transport
system. The former Mayor of greater London, Ken
Livingstone, was elected solely on the basis of his
prior record in handling this huge creaking system.
Large parts of it close every weekend for
maintenance - see the TfL website for details.
"If you think this is bad, wait until the Olympics"
lift operator at Russell Square Feb 2012
We've been criticised for our negative attitude to
public transport in London. True, we wish it were
much better, but in general the average visitor
won't be too much troubled unless on a tight
schedule.
Travel in London is 2 -3 times the price it is in
other capital cities and is often dirty, unreliable
and congested. According to the latest Government
report 25% of main roads are jammed for an hour a
day, the fuel tax is the highest in Europe, rail
fares the third highest in Europe. The average
British family spends 15% of its income on transport
- but only 12% of journeys are made on public
transport - Britons also walk and cycle less than
other Europeans.
To cap it all, public transport is often full of
rowdy travelers after 11pm, especially at weekends.
Little effort has gone into providing safe cycling
lanes or pedestrianisation, and rollerblading is all
but banned from the areas it flourished. The good
news is that travelling by river has got cheaper and
easier - the excellent Thames Clipper will take you
from Tate Britain to Canary wharf, and back with
unlimited stop-offs for £7.50 or £16 for
a whole family - there are discounts if you have a
travelcard. Well worth spending a day on the
river...
The Oystercard has heralded the biggest change in
London transport since the war. it's valid on buses,
trains and tubes and on the river it gets you
discounts. It's a good idea to buy one before you
arrive so you can just breeze onto the transport
system - bus, train (not private airport services)
tube etc without having to queue at your arrival
point. Use the image below to buy an oystercard in
advance and get it delivered to your door:
For how to get out of London for a daytrip or
longer, and a guide to some of the many places worth
visiting in the area, see our Trips
page.
Also, new on the web is an interactive map with
photos, well worth taking a look, it's HERE
If you want to get from anywhere in the UK (or
Europe) to any other place, by car, use the free RAC
route planner.
For everything about trains (not only in the UK) see
the excellent Seat61 website, truly a
labour of love. Do verify prices at the national rail website though.
We've also got very very cheap fares from Megatrains
which also has a sister bus site. The same fares on
the same trains booked the normal way have been 8
times the price...
An independent users' guide to the underground,
written by fans/enemies of London Transport goes
under the name of Going Underground
If you want to know the best way to get from one
point in London to another by public transport , 24
hours a day, ring the Transport for London
Guideline 0207 222 1234 or use our travel
widget:
All the airports have good rail links into the
centre - Heathrow is on the tube, it takes about an
hour and costs about £4. High speed rail links
have been built to Heathrow and Gatwick and
Stanstead, and as they are run by private companies
they're very reliable and clean. However they are
expensive and often not much quicker than normal
trains - which are rarely advertised, but run in
parallel - often on the same tracks.
You can buy an Oystercard (valid on trains, tubes,
buses but not private rail links like Heathrow
Express) in advance HERE which will save you
time on arrival.
Below is a picture of the queues to buy a tube ticket at Victoria station. Saunter past with a pre-booked Oyster card...

Our advice is unless you're arriving at Heathrow to
buy a 'Network Railcard' on
arrival (from the train station at the airport) -
you then get cheap rail travel (as long as your
outward journey is after 10:00, see below) for a
year - for four people. This could pay for itself on
one journey, but it'll also save you money if you
use the rail to travel out to Hampton Court, Oxford,
Cambridge, Brighton etc. Remember ONE card covers
FOUR people traveling together. You don't need a
photograph. If you arrive by boat then all the ports
have stations where you can use a Network Southeast
Card. HOWEVER there is a £10 minimum fare
mondays to Fridays. So it you're merely going to
tube it in from Heathrow and spend your time in the
centre it's not worth it. However it still pays for
itself in one trip by a family of four to Oxford.
Also if your destination journey only costs
£9, buy a ticket to the next station and get
off where you intended to, if that's over £10
- the saving will make up for it! (or buy a return,
which with the discount could cost less than a
single...)
Normal scheduled rail services run into town,
Stanstead - Liverpool Street, Gatwick - Charing
Cross/London Bridge, Luton - King's cross or to to
Brighton via Gatwick, they run up until about 2330,
after which you'll have to use the more expensive
Private trains. The tube from Heathrow is the
Piccadilly Line which runs straight to the centre of
London, via the South West Hotel Corridor.
To get between airports can be difficult and time
consuming - try National Express.
Luton: direct by train to Gatwick, train to
King's Cross then tube to Heathrow, bus to
Stanstead.
Gatwick: direct to Luton by train, to
Heathrow via coach shuttle or train to London
Bridge, Jubilee line to Green Park and then
Piccadilly line, to Stanstead, train to London
Bridge then tube to Liverpool Street, then train to
Stanstead.
Heathrow: bus to Stanstead, tube/train to
central London for interconnects to
Luton/Stanstead/Gatwick, there's also a shuttle
coach to Gatwick.
Stanstead: has a coach station with good
interconnectivity.
If you're arriving in rush hour and taking a commuter train/tube be aware that after a few stops the train will get very crowded and your presence with 5 heavy suitcases will not be particularly helpful. Getting a taxi to Heathrow in particular in rush hour can be a slow and expensive business and getting a fixed-price service can be better. Also some tube stations served by lifts (eg Russell Square) get overcrowded and claustrophobic when it's busy - often Bank tube station and London Bridge can suffer temporary shot-downe due to overcrowding on platforms and the dangers that poses. Rush hour is 0815-0951 and 1730-1830. On a Friday afternoon and evening most routes out of London get very very congested.
From Luton and Stanstead options are more limited, but flights are usually cheaper by compensation.
Underground Website.
Train Timetables and booking Coach timetables
There are also good bus, minibus and taxi services,
but these start to get expensive. Some minibuses will
drop you at or near your hotel. 
Slow and sometimes unreliable (sometimes not their
fault, they share the roads), London's buses are
part of the landscape - you will often see more than
20 of them nose-to-tail down Oxford Street, with
pedestrians passing them at twice the speed.. but
they will get you anywhere you want to go, if a bit
slower than the tube, but you do get a chance to see
the scenery on the way.
The best way to travel by bus is to buy an OYSTERCARD which is a
rechargable ticket - just load it with money at a
tube station or other outlet. Tickets bought with an
oystercard are half the price of those bought with
cash. After you reach the 'travelcard' rate the
system stops charging you for all journeys made on
that day. Two bus journeys will save you more than
the £3 deposit for the card. As a tourist
you're unlikely to get your deposit back quickly as
a cheque is posted about three weeks after you hand
it in... still it will definitely save you a LOT of
money. You can also elect to donate the deposit to a
charity. If you don't want an oystercard the next
best deal is a Travelcard if
you intend to make more than a couple of journeys by
bus or tube (or commuter train) a day. Night buses
run from Trafalgar Square - a Day Travelcard (and
Oyster equivalents) is valid on the night bus
system.
It's generally a safe way to travel after midnight,
less raucous than trains. Remember many of the
passengers will be going home from pubs and clubs
and will be suffering from their revelries...
Since 2003 you have to pay for a ticket
BEFORE you board most buses - there are usually
machines at bus stops, but it can be a trauma
finding the right change. Our experience has been
that these machines work less than 50% of the time.
A day bus pass is easier and can work out cheaper.
Bus conductors on the much-loved Routemaster buses
(traditional, open-decked) are a mine of
information, but are being phased out now they no
longer collect fares. Bus Information - Coaches
The London Underground (affectionately known as
the tube) was the first, and is the most expensive
in the world (250% more expensive than even Tokyo).
Escalators are often out of service (some of the
lines run very deep below the streets) but that's no
consolation for those with bags or wheels. Most
weekends there are huge service outages for upgrades
or repairs for the Olympics (or whatever excuse is
fashionable, passenger safety and comfort, being
less honest excuses), sometimes half the grid is
closed down, and bus replacement services are
usually inadequate.
Buy an Oystercard if you are making
frequent journeys, Zone 1 & 2 should cover all
your needs, but ask if in doubt. You can buy day,
weekend and weekly travelcards. They also cover
buses and trains. But you're still better off buying
an Oystercard (see above, buses). But be careful:
the system was designed for a unitary ticket system,
with one price only. Its default is to charge you
the maximum possible fare: so if the reader at your
exit station breaks down, or you don't touch it to
the reader properly you will pay the maximum fare
even if you do a short journey. Check the readout on
the exit gates that you have been charged the right
amount, if not see one of the attendants.
The tube map is an icon of clarity:
Most lines have been straightened out in the centre,
but it is topological - it bears no relation to the
distance between stations or their exact location. A
famous trap is Queensway and Bayswater stations
which are actually right next door to each other,
but way apart on the tube map. Fares £2 a
journey in the centre ( roughly within the circle
line), £3 to cross London, with Oyster card,
much more without!
Some of the stations are rather beautiful for
example the Art Deco St John's Wood Station, for the
more recent 'Alien' inspired design try changing
between the Jubilee and Circle lines at Westminster,
or visit any of the stations on the Jubilee Line
south of the river. They won the coveted
architecture design award for 2000, beating
buildings all over the UK. However older stations
can be really grubby. Watch out for mice which have
colonised the platforms, and also the mosquitoes
which live in the damp, warm conditions.
London black cabs are justifiably famous. 'The
Knowledge - the exam to become a cabby - takes years
of study and has been actually shown on scans to
increase brain size, such is the amount of
geographical information needed. That said, many
cabbies dislike going south of the river and their
knowledge seems to become a little hazy south of the
Elephant & Castle.
Fares are more economical if you share. To go from
one end of London to the other should cost about
£50, shorter rides are about £15. We
have found that on a good day, inside London a black
cab can be cheaper than minicab companies, which
price by postcode.
London taxi fares are the most expensive in the
world, and go up after 20:00hrs. Some taxi drivers
make £70k/$100k a year at least, so don't tip
them unless you earn significantly more then they
do. Some, especially in outer London will make
£30k.
That said, for all the 'honourable rules of the
trade' there are some complaints. We've watched
black people ignored by taxis who pull up opposite
the next white person who hails them. Taxis HAVE to
stop if they see you hail them (however they can
claim they didn't see you if they don't like the
look of you). Once stopped, they can't refuse to
take you within 6 miles of the centre - if they do,
take their number and report them. Generally for every 'bad' cabby there will be ten who will be polite and helpful.
This includes all 'taxis' that are not official
licenced taxicabs. Most have a 'Minicab' licence
which means they're complying with the Council's
code. They are not allowed to solicit on the street
and have to be booked by phone or by going to their
office. See the tfl minicab guide for numbers
and howtos. The Mayor's site is also very
useful with a safe taxi textback system for
minicabs. A commercial equivalent is here . Or try Taxi Reservations who
specialise in airport transfers - bookable online
and in advance.
However you are likely to be pestered around the
major tube and train stations late at night by
unregistered drivers - there is no way of knowing if
they're safe or reliable. Agree a price first -
there are no meters. Although there are many
reputable firms, there are more dodgy ones, no fixed
prices and their knowledge of London is often
scanty. They may be cheaper than official black
Taxicabs but they're more risky.
If in doubt use the Yellow Pages or the tfl website
(vide supra) to find a large company. Here's a few
of the firms used by large companies like the BBC,
City banks, and big hotels:
Minicabs: Lancaster: 020 7727 3113 , Nivens:
020 8963 3101, Premier: 0207 657 7777, Wyndhams: 020
8752 8040. We've personally used all of these and
can recommend them.
Chauffeur driven cars: Centurion: 0208 848
7000, Europcar: 0207 834 6701, Heritage: 0207 538
4444. 
 Not really up to the volume of commuters, but ok
for tourists. Buy your ticket before you board the
train in most cases, as you will either be fined or
made to pay the full fare (if you have a NSE Card).
However within the London travel zones you can use
an oystercard (not to Gatwick...).
It's worth remembering that the train system (which
is cheaper than the tubes, especially if you have a
NSE card) serves a large part of London, especially
the Southeast where there are no tubes.
For longer, intercity journeys, and daytrips book at
least 3 days in advance (7 days is cheaper) or the
fares will be high (higher than flying), you can do
this on the internet (much cheaper as ticket
machines don;t offer best value fares and there are
queues for ticket offices) here (booking fee).
Timetables here (no booking fee) -
remember to press the 'check fares' button and look
out for the 'cheapest fare' box which will calculate
the cheapest ticketing - and check later/earlier
trains too. We have got a ticket down from
£120 to £30 by buying judiciously, and
once went first class for cheaper than second class.
In April 2010 we got to Chichester and back for
£6 on Southern Railways (normal price
£26), who offer online booking discounts...
There's a whole website on how to
do this and it's a must if you're planning
getting round the UK by rail. Remember that
sometimes buying two singles may be cheaper, and
once the allocation of cheap second class tickets
has run out, there may still be discount first class
available. If the cost is astronomical try splitting
the journey, notionally changing at an unpopular
station (eg Nuneaton...) You don't have to get off
the train as long as it stops at your intermediate
station. London-anywhere tends to sell out of cheap
seats quickly. Once you've found out the cheapest
fares it this site redirects you to an operator who
can sell you the tickets - keep note of the train
times as you'll have to fill them in all over again.
A good site for planning journeys in the
UK is here
Not really the safest means to get round London,
where the pavements and roads are uneven,
have large potholes and cycle lanes are scant. That
said, biking is the quickest way to get around the
city. Some road intersections can be really
dangerous, but on the whole drivers are considerate
- watch out for the motorcycle couriers though.
Unlike European cities, where bicycle lanes are
separated from the roads, London councils think that
painting a picture of a cycle on the road will lend
a protective magic to cyclists journeys. This
fantasy was shattered when, in March 2010, a medical
student was killed right on one of these talismans,
on a 'safe bike route', ploughed into by a by a
juggernaught - on the Mayor's Bicycle safety day. We
have three friends who've been knocked off their
bikes, one crippled, one literally run over but who
escaped with sprains, and one who lost all their
teeth and parts of their jaw (due to poor road
maintenance). So ride defensively.
'Boris Bikes' - a copy of Paris' velib system is now
in operation. The idea is to use them for short (ie
less than 30 mins) trips. The bikes are heavy and
solid but if well maintained, ride well. Check the
bike before taking it out of its stand as if it's
faulty you'll have to wait 5 minutes before getting
another one out. Check brakes (some too tight)
lights and tyres. See HERE for details.
Paradoxically London councils have over reacted to
an accident involving rollerblades and the activity
is banned from most of the parks except in small
designated areas. For everything there is to know
about blading/skating in London, including the
Friday Night Cavalcades, lessons and hire see Cityskate's
excellent website
Bikes can be hired from shops at London Bridge or
Victoria Stations or in Gabriel's Wharf on the South
Bank See our Active page
for details. Rollers can be hired from shops on
Queensway and Kensington Gore, both near the
stations, for skating in Kensington Gardens. For a
list of hire shops see our Activities
Page
We don't like driving round London - there's heavy
congestion in the centre and tempers can often get
overheated. Traffic regulations are designed to
swell the coffers of local councils, not ease
congestion.
The old 1980s system of making the centre impossible
to navigate, with one way streets (this was a
serious policy - the annoyance factor) has just been
judged a failure and is slowly to be rectified.
Parking is often impossible - it's calculated that
20% of all cars in London at any one time are
looking for somewhere to park.
Parking regulations differ from borough to borough
and many get towed or clamped unwittingly around the
borough boundaries. At night (the definition varies
across London) parking is free except on double
yellow lines, and there's no need to feed the
meters, though YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHECK THE
REGULATIONS BEFORE LEAVING YOUR CAR - even Londoners
regularly get caught out. You can't stop, even for a
second on areas designated as 'red routes' or urban
clearways, and there are always traffic wardens or
licenced clamping units on the prowl.
A recent investigation highlighted many abuses by
the parking control attendants - whose real job is
earning money: sometimes they just jot down random
numbers of cars as they go past on the street and
issue tickets.
If you're abroad there's little you can do about it
in the way of appealing later when the car hire firm
charges the ticket to your credit card.
That said, about 80% of appeals are upheld (and
we've won plenty) - but the process is slow and
cumbersome; most people end up caving in to avoid
the bother. That's what they're banking on.
Parking in the centre of London is about 5 times as
expensive as Rodeo Drive, Beverley Hills.... allow
£12 an hour.
Car hire is OK for trips outside of London, though
there is very poor signposting in the suburbs - we
suggest tubing out to a car hire firm well away from
the centre. Don't even think of driving between
15:30 and 21:00 on a Friday, we've often got so
stuck we've abandoned the car and come back after
2000, it's deadly.
The congestion charge has reduced the traffic in
the centre a lot (but buses still move along Oxford
Street at slower than walking pace) and made cycling
a bit less hazardous. It costs £8 a day to
drive in London weekdays from 0700 - 0600. One wrong
turning can result in the charge being levied as
your number plate is picked up by cameras. There is
a 'safe route' through the centre, via Victoria,
Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch, but pay strict
attention to the signposting!
You can pay at many newsagents (where the red C sign
is displayed) and unless you do by 2200 the same day
the price goes up. There are lots of mistakes
(people getting fined £80 when they've paid
their charge already) and it's likely to affect the
tourist who won't stick around to sort them out.
The central zone is roughly the circle line -
there's plenty of information on the transport for
London website. If hiring a car make sure the charge
is included if you collect it from within the zone,
or hire from a base outside the zone. If/when the
money raised starts improving the public transport
that could raise the public's support for the
scheme. It has resulted in higher prices inside the
zone and the closure of many smaller businesses
faced with higher rents - eg in Soho. All the usual
car hire companies operate here and are listed on
our A-Z page. If you're new
to driving on the left then take the time to get a
little practice in a sidestreet first - tempers can
get frayed very easily. Also invest in an A-Z map of
the city, as finding your way around can be very
difficult, with strange one-way systems, and
deliberately unlabeled routes. Or hire a satnav...


This used to be the main form of transport East-West in London as the streets were crowded and filthy. In the 21st century it's becoming increasingly possible with clipper services
running up and down all day, most giving a reduction
if you have a travelcard or such. They can actually
be much faster than the tube, especially the new
THAMES CLIPPER catamarans, based on the Dover-Calais
ferries... see HERE.
There are full details, as always at the TFL
website. You can download a River services
map HERE. The fastest
trip is to be had by taking a RIB
tour - rather costly, though. Main services go from Westminster Pier, Blackfriars (south side, near the Globe), London and Tower Bridges. You can go as far as Greenwich and beyond, though it's better to stay on the boat past Greenwich and see the O2 and Thames Barrier from the water.
Our favourite method of transport in London.
Follow one or more of our walks
or simply wander. Cars HAVE to stop if you step onto
a crossing and most will stop even if you jump out
into the road. Jaywalking is not an offence, but
natural selection can operate if you get too
foolhardy. Walking down the south side of the Thames will take a couple of hours from Westminster to Tower Bridge, depending on how often you stop, and give you access to most ofthe best attractions: Shakespeare's Globe, Tower Bridge, St Pauls (via the 'wobbly' bridge) Parliament, the South Bank, etc.
It's worth remembering that London is built on a
curve in the river (actually it's shaped like a
banana) and simply walking in what looks like a
straight line is often not the best route!
Not as good as it should be, it is possible to get
around with a wheelchair or frame - however you'll
need to get help with many lifts, where they exist,
especially in tube stations, and even then there are
lots of stairs between platforms. The tube seems to
be very bad at lifts and help, and more focused on
collecting fares. Many taxis have wheelchair ramps,
and an increasing number of buses. The bus and tube
websites mentioned above have good disablilty
information and the Interactive London Travel map
has a station-by-station access guide. The new TFL
Access site is HERE and there's
another good site HERE
Travelcard:
Buy one from a Tube or Train station or
participating newsagents, check the zones on the
maps in tube stations. Heathrow Airport is in Zone
6. You cannot buy travelcards, or reduced tickets
(with a Railcard) once you are on the train or bus.
A £6.50 travelcard gives you unlimited travel
in zones 1 + 2, which is all you'll probably ever
need. Alternatively just get an oystercard - you
can;t be charged more than a day's travelcard when
using it. remember that when you change modes of
transport (train to underground, bus to tram) you
pay again....
Top trips outside of
London
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