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London Tourism - Travel to London

        

Travel to London - London Tourism

London is the capital city of the United Kingdom. Located on the River Thames, in the south-east of England it has a population of around 9 million people, but swells to nearly double that with the influx of daily commuters.

"London" originally referred to the once-walled "Square Mile" of the original Roman (and later medieval) city. "London", however, has taken on a much larger meaning, to include all of the vast central part of the modern city, "London" having absorbed many of the surrounding villages over the centuries.

Reflecting the massive size of the metropolis, however, the term "Greater London" embraces central London together with all the outlying suburbs that lie in one continuous urban sprawl within the lower Thames River valley. Though densely populated by New World standards, London nonetheless retains large swathes of green parkland and open space, even in the city centre.

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Districts in London

Travel to London - London Tourism

Greater London consists of 32 local 'boroughs' which are the basis for London's local government. Some you may have heard of - like 'Camden' or 'Islington' - others you may not have, such as 'Hackney' or 'Tower Hamlets'. A traveler's London, however, is best defined by districts which don't necessarily correspond with boroughs, but rather with functional and cultural districts of varying types and sizes:

Understand London Tourism

There has been a city on the site since Roman times (if not earlier) and some Roman remains are still to be seen. It has a great history of theatre (home of the Rose and Shakespeare's Globe ) and plenty of other art & culture.

The Museum of London, located near the Barbican to the north of the City of London, makes an ideal destination (free admission!) for the traveller who wants to understand the history and ongoing legacy of this great city.

Like many big cities, London has a variety of social problems especially begging, drug abuse, theft (especially mobile phones), etc. London, however, manages to make do with a police force that doesn't need to carry guns (yet!), and is generally a safe place for the tourist to visit and walk around.

London is far and away the largest city in the country, eight times larger than England's 'second' city, Birmingham.

London dominates the economic, political and social life of the United Kingdom, much to the annoyance of people in the provinces (i.e. everywhere except London). It is full of excellent bars, theatres, museums, art galleries, and parks. It is also the most culturally and ethnically diverse part of the country, and for a visitor, a nice side-effect of this is the wide range of cuisines available. Samuel Johnson said "When one is tired of London, one is tired of life." Whether you are interested in ancient history or modern art, opera or underground raves, London has it all.

England's royal family have, over the centuries, added much to the London scene for today's traveler: the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, the Albert Memorial, the Royal Albert Hall, and Westminster Abbey spring immediately to mind.

London possesses one of the best collections of museums anywhere in the world. World cultures throughout history are well represented, for example, at the British Museum.

Londoners are a mixed bunch. On average, they are fairly private and quiet, even surly, but with no malice and a wicked sense of humour. Trying to get onto a packed bus will often involve quite a bit of cursing and pushing. Londoners don't take themselves or other people very seriously, as witnessed in the sport of "Blaine-baiting" which emerged briefly during the magician David Blaine's self-imposed incarceration at Tower Bridge during 2003.

London is easily the most expensive place to buy anything in Britain. Count on spending 30% more in London than in any place in Britain. The exception is much of the 'Home Counties,' the area immediately surrounding London, which are full of wealthy commuters on London salaries.

Get into London

Travel to London By Plane

London is served by five airports; getting to and from them is made relatively easy by the large number of public transport links that have been put in place over recent years. The details of the airports and links are:

Travel to London By Train

London is served by one international rail link, arriving at Waterloo International. These high-speed trains travel through the Channel Tunnel from Paris (2h40m) and Brussels (2h15m) and are run by Eurostar. Book well in advance to secure the best ticket deals. For onward travel Waterloo International is part of the Waterloo station complex (see below) and well served by tube lines, buses and taxis.

London is also well served by trains to/from other parts of the UK. There are no fewer than 12 main line terminal stations, forming a ring around Central London and each serving various parts of the country. Apart from Fenchurch Street, all are served by the tube network. All are served by buses and taxis.

For a detailed profile of each station, visit the Network Rail Stations website and select the appropriate station from the list at left.

In clockwise order the mainline stations are:

There is also one cross-London rail service called Thameslink, from Bedford to Brighton and calling in central London at London Kings Cross, London Thameslink and London Blackfriars.

Train times (to and from any location) can be found on the National Rail Planner or by calling 0845-748-4950 from anywhere in the UK.

Travel to London By Bus

Most international and domestic long distance bus services (UK English:coach services) arrive at and depart from a complex of coach stations off Buckingham Palace road close to London Victoria rail station. All services operated by National Express or Eurolines (see below) serve Victoria Coach Station, which actually has separate arrival and departure buildings. Services by other operators may use this station, or the Green Line Coach Station across Buckingham Palace Road. The following are amongst the main coach operators:

Get around in London

You can use Transport for London's nifty journey planner http://www.journeyplanner.org to help you plan your journeys around London on public transport.

TravelCard

A TravelCard is an all-in-one ticket that allows you travel on the Underground (the Tube), buses, trams and mainline rail services within set zones. Most travelers, for example would choose to buy a one day TravelCard that allows unlimited travel throughout zones 1-4 (all of central London, plus many outer suburbs like Richmond, Greenwich and Wimbledon) for £4.70 (Feb 2004). Other period travelcards such as a weekend, weekly, monthly and yearly are also available. The weekly, monthly and yearly tickets are issued in the new Smart/Swipe Card format (called an OysterCard) You can buy these tickets at Rail Stations, Tube Stations and selected newsagents. More info on the travelcard is available here http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/nftt_buying_london.shtml

Tube / Underground

The Tube, aka the London Underground, has trains that criss-cross London in the largest underground rail network anywhere in the world (it was also the first, starting in the 1860s). This mode of transport is usually the fastest way to get from one part of London to the another, the only problems being its relative expense (go for a Travelcard, if you can), and the fact that it can get quite crowded during the "rush hour". Take a bottle of water with you on warm days. Trains run from around 6am to about 1am at night. Tube maps are freely available from any station and most tourist offices.

Visitors should be aware that the Underground map is actually a diagram and not a map and can be misleading at indicating the relative distance between stations, as it makes central stations appear further apart. A Underground Map modified with walklines can be found at http://rodcorp.typepad.com/rodcorp/2003/10/london_tube_map.html

Bus

A one day bus pass can be purchased from local rail and tube stations, and also selected newsagents for the bargain price of £2.50, allowing you to make unlimited bus journeys for a whole day (and night - up till 4.30am (the next day) on the night bus network) across the whole of Greater London! Another good value-for-money option is to buy a book of Saver Tickets, which allow you to travel on any single bus journey for 70 pence (a book of 6 costs roughly £4.20)! This includes night buses. Another important factor on travelling by bus in the capital is that you must now buy your ticket in advance, i.e. you cannot buy a ticket when boarding the bus in central London.... you must either buy a Travelcard or bus pass or book of saver tickets, or else buy a single ticket fare (£1) from the ticket machines located at most bus stops (keep some change handy!) After about 12am the bus network changes to the Night Bus network, (the bus routes, numbers and timetable all change) with most of the buses radiating out from around the Trafalgar Square area to most outlying parts of Greater London. The 29 bus is most popular bus (day or night) in London and during the friday/saturday late nights between Central London & Wood Green, the N29 runs every 6 mins. The N25 holds the title of 'Longest bus route in London'. It goes a whopping 20 miles from Oxford Circus to Harold Hill... How fascinating(!)

Cycling

Thanks to the policies of Ken Livingstone (the current mayor of London), major improvements have been made for cyclists in the city, including many new cycle routes. Free cycle maps detailing these routes can be obtained from your local tube stations or ordered online here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/streets/cycling/cycling-londoncycleguides.shtml

Taxi / Cab

The famous black cabs of London (NB: not always black in these days of heavy advertising!) can be hailed from the kerb (their yellow light will be on if they are picking up passengers) or found at one of the many designated taxi ranks.

Black cabs charge by the minute, so pray you don't get stuck in a traffic jam! There is usually a minimum charge, though if the journey is relatively short, it can work out cheaper than getting a minicab (a small saloon car used as a taxi), as minicabs normally charge a set price for a journey. You are advised not to travel with unlicensed minicabs for safety reasons.

A new convenient taxi-based service is Zingo - call 08700 700 700 and you will be connected direct with the driver of the nearest available black cab anywhere in London to arrange pickup. Normal meter fares apply + £1.60 for booking. http://www.zingotaxi.co.uk/

Car

Motorists should be aware that driving into Central London now costs money! The recently introduced Congestion Charging legislation means travelling into Central London by car now incurs a charge of £5 during the following periods Monday - Friday, 7am - 6.30pm (excluding public holidays). Failure to pay the charge by 12 midnight the same day incurs a hefty fine of £80 (reduced to £40 for payment within two weeks). More information on this charge can be found at http://www.cclondon.com/

See London

Museums and Galleries

Do London

Eat - Travel to London

London is home to a vast spectrum of restaurants, cafés and food outlets serving cuisines from all the corners of the earth. For the desperate, London also has all the usual fast food options covered in the tourist areas and on every high street.

A convenient guide to eating around town can be found at London-Eating.co.uk.

Some nice areas to eat in London include:

Sleep - London Tourism

London has hundreds of options for accommodations-- from 4 star hotels, to apartment, to historic B&Bs to hostel beds. You can end up paying anything from 20-200 GBP per person. Your budget will have a lot to do with what part of London you will want to stay in. With the excellent tube around, where you stay won't limit what you see, but be sure to check where the closest tube station is to your hotel.

Some nice areas to stay in London include:

Get out

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