As someone who has always lived in parts of the world where living without a car would make life absolutely unbearable, I am always impressed by cities that have great public transportation. London is no exception and possibly has the best public transportation system I have yet to encounter during my travels. I myself did not use rideshares or taxis at all during my first time in London this past winter. The bustling metropolitan city really does make getting around very affordable and convenient. Let’s breakdown all you need to know about getting around in London.
Table of Contents
The London Underground
The London Underground, more commonly known as the Tube, is ingenious city planning. As long as you book a hotel within ten minutes of an Underground station, you can get everywhere you need to go in the heart of London far faster than you would by car.
How Does the Tube Work?
Sometimes it can be tricky figuring out how to get from point A to point B in a new city, but the Tube is fairly straight-forward. Still luckily for me, I was with local friends my first time using the Tube, since I would have tried to buy a weekly or daily pass, when it’s completely unnecessary.
All you need to ride the Tube in London is to tap your contactless credit card or debit card at the turnstile before entering the Underground, and when you are exiting the Underground you tap it again to leave. It’s that simple. Fares vary based on which zones you travel to and from as well as peak and off-peak hours. When checking my credit card statement which grouped all the charges into a single amount at the end of each day, I never exceeded $11 per day.
Navigating the Underground
Thanks to apps like Google Maps, it was fairly easy to figure out the Tube and I never got lost not even once. There are apps specifically for the London Underground I downloaded before visiting London, but I ended up not using them. Google Maps was sufficient enough, but be warned that you may lose signal sometimes in the Underground so be sure to look up directions before you enter.
Cleanliness & Safety
Now the Tube is not as clean as say the metro in Japan or Singapore, but it’s a hell of a lot cleaner than the subway in New York. There were never instances where it was smelly or that I felt unsafe, etc. I found the experience of taking the Tube to be quiet enjoyable for the most part.
During rush hour though, getting off the Tube and into the street when it’s a slow crawl in the heard humans making their way to the exit, can be a little claustrophobic, but I only encountered that at a few of the stations like Piccadilly Circus and Camden. Just watch out for your belongings and accept the fact that London is a major metropolitan city with a very large population as inch your way with the crowd to the surface.
Getting to and from the Airport
My friends picked me up from the airport when I first arrived at Heathrow, but I’d have to make my own way back to the airport at the end of my London adventure. Fortunately, getting to and from the London Heathrow is a piece of cake. You can always take an Uber or Taxi, but if you want to save some extra bucks (or pounds) you have three affordable options—the Piccadilly line or the Elizabethan Line on the Underground, or the Heathrow Express from Paddington Station.
Cost
The Piccadilly Line is the most affordable of the three and therefore the option I chose to take at only £6.70. The Elizabethan Line, which has nicer cars and less stops, would have been roughly double that amount at £13, but still would have taken the same amount of time (1 hour from the Embankment station). The Heathrow Express is £25 and gets you to the airport in just 15 minutes from Paddington Station, but requires you to take the Underground to get elsewhere in London, which I didn’t think was worth the extra cost.
Luggage in the London Underground
The only problem I encountered while taking the Underground in London was the fact that several stations do not have escalators or elevators. I traveling alone with a fully stuffed, 50lbs check-in luggage and another 30lbs carry-on discovered this the hard way.
As I struggled to drag both my suitcases up the stairs during rush hour, several strangers offered to help, but I was too embarrassed to accept their aid. I was better prepared mentally the second time I encountered a stairs-only station and asked an Underground worker if there was an elevator and he kindly offered to help me with one of my suitcases down the stairs.
If you have any mobility or physical issues, the lack of elevators can be a major problem. If you’re in good shape though, it’s worth putting up with a few stairs since everything else in London adds up pretty quickly and it’s nice to save money where you can.
Double-Decker Buses
I wasn’t going to leave London without riding on one of their iconic red double-decker buses. Just like the Underground, the buses take you everywhere in London. There are bus stops everywhere which can get confusing though (more on that in a minute).
The first time I rode the bus was from Camden to Piccadilly Circus with my friends and they probably never seen anyone so excited to ride a bus in their lives. Climbing up those stairs to the top fulfilled a long held childhood fantasy of mine. Taking the bus works the exact same way as the Tube as far as payment. You just tap your contactless credit card at the entrance. The only difference is that you don’t have to tap it again to get out.
The second time I took the bus I did so by myself on a rainy night and apparently got on the wrong bus. With so many bus stops right across from each other and my general inexperience with taking buses, I ended up going the opposite direction of which I intended to go. This may have been a “me” issue, but despite the pure joy riding a double-decker bus brings, I think the Underground is easier to navigate. Also, it may just be my experience, but it seemed like the buses tend to be more crowded than the Tube, possibly because they are more accessible if you have mobility issues.
The Railway System
Though my trip was fairly short, I got to spend some time in my friends’ hometown of Swindon just an hour and a half outside of London. Traveling from Swindon back to London was my first introduction to the railway system in the UK known as the Great Western Railway. Oh how life would be so much better if we had a decent railway system back in the states like the Great Western Railway. Many people even live in the smaller towns surrounding London and use the railway system to commute daily into the capital for work.
Buying Ticket
Fares vary based on route as well as peak hours, off-peak hours, and super off-peak hours. You can reserve a specific time or purchase a general ticket for any off-peak hour train for example. Either way, booking online in advance is the best option to secure a spot.
I lucked out by traveling on New Year’s day which is a state holiday and therefore the entire day was the super off-peak fare rate. Specific times are always cheapest, but for a few pounds more I wanted the flexibility of catching another train in case my New Year hangover would prove too brutal. I paid only £33.50 for my super off-peak ticket from Swindon to Paddington station, whereas a set time could have been as low at £26.50.
I was surprised that no one checked my ticket to get on the train. I did have to scan my ticket at the turnstile to get out at Paddington though. Once at Paddington, it’s very easy to transfer to the Underground to get elsewhere in London. There are shops and restaurants everywhere, and most importantly, there are elevators!
Whether you need to get around London to check out all of the iconic sites and word-of-mouth places, or want to venture further outside of town, the public transportation system can get you pretty much everywhere you want to go without breaking the bank. Thanks to technology like apps and contactless credit cards, taking public transportation in London got even easier.
