London

Getting around by public transport

Buses and underground (tube) trains in London are run by private companies, but are organized into a single network with simple fare structure by the public body Transport For London. Full details of all services, including fares and an excellent journey planner are on their website.

Oystercard.

If you are staying in London for more than a day or two get an Oystercard. This is a smartcard which can be loaded with cash and used to pay bus and tube fares. The only cost is a three pound deposit, which you can get back by returning the Oystercard when you leave. Using an Oystercard can be as much as 50% cheaper than paying by cash. Get them at any tube station or London Travel Information Centre (see TfL website for locations). Each time you get on a bus, touch the card on the reader next to the driver. On the DLR and Croydon Tramlink the readers are located next to the ticket machines. When you use the tube touch the card on the reader whenever you enter or leave a station, whether the gate is open or not. The Oystercard will charge you the cheapest fare for your journey, and will never charge you more than the cost of the bus pass or travelcard you would need to make your journeys.

Travelling by tube.

A network of 12 underground lines covers the whole of central London, with stations as far out as Heathrow Airport and Watford. Where the alternative journey is along a congested road such as Oxford Street the tube is far and away the best way to get around, but it is more expensive than the bus and if you have to change trains or walk some distance from the nearest tube station it may well be slower. Peak journeys within Zone 1 (central London) are 1.50 with Oystercard and 3 pounds cash, with journeys out of town costing around 50% more. If you are going to make more than one tube journey in a day and you do not have an Oystercard you should buy a travelcard. On most lines trains run between around 5am and just past midnight. Outside these hours you will need to catch a nightbus. Frequencies vary from every 2 minutes on many lines at peak to every 15 minutes off-peak or outside central London.

Travelling by DLR.

Docklands Light Railway is an elevated train which runs to the Docklands business district east of central London, and also serves London City Airport. Fares work like the tube. You must buy a ticket or validate your Oystercard before you get on the train, and swipe your Oystercard on the way out. There are no gates however, and Oystercard points are next to the ticket machines.

Travelling by bus.

Buses are operated by various companies but they are all bright red and all run as part of the Transport for London network. The system is comprehensive and frequent. If you use Oystercard the fare for any bus journey a pound between 7 and 9.30am and 80p at all other times. If you pay by cash the fare is 1.50 at all times. Many bus routes run 24 hours, and in other areas an impressive network of night buses replaces the regular routes and the tube running at least hourly, and often every 20 minutes. Fares on night buses are the same as on regular routes, and travelcards are valid until 4am the following morning.

Travelling by train.

Various National Rail companies run local services in the London area, particularly south of the river where there are very few tube lines. Transport for London has some input into these services, though they are run completely separately and Oystercards cannot be used on them. Travelcards are valid on trains for travel in the relevant zones however, and the service is almost as impressive as the tube, with services every 10-15 minutes on most lines. Only one or two routes have trains between around midnight and 6am, so again you will have to catch a nightbus.

© Ben Stafford, 2006

Getting around by car

Central London is a nightmare for drivers. There is very little overnight parking to be found and daytime parking is extremely expensive. In addition the heart of London is covered by a congestion charge, so you will have to pay five pounds a day just to drive your car on a road. There are very few petrol stations near the centre, since almost all drivers come in from some distance away. Basically, unless you are staying a few miles out of town driving in London is a non-starter, and even if you are staying out of town it is probably an expensive waste of time. Get the bus - they are excellent. If you are going to hire a car to travel around the remainder of the UK, wait until you are leaving London and hire it then.