How to get around London

Getting around London

London is a big city, one where what looks close on a map ends up being a 30 minute walk away, therefore trying to walk around it in its entirety and enjoy everything that it has to offer in a short period of time is pretty much an impossible task. It's for this reason that, in this blog post, I am going to tell you about the main options available to you for travelling around the English capital, having seen first-hand both the advantages and disadvantages of the main modes of transport in the city.

The main modes of transport that I am going to talk to you about are: the Underground (also known as the tube), the city buses (not the tourist ones), London taxis ("Black Cabs"), and hire bicycles, which are really popular on sunny days, but not so much the rest of the time.

The Underground: our main ally

We can say that the London Underground is truly one of the best mass transit systems in the world, not only for how clean and well cared for it is, but also for its enviable facilities. It also has a line that covers the whole of the central zone of the city, as well as taking you to less central points in short periods of time. The system connects some of the lines together very efficiently, so that the journey is more comfortable, quicker and simpler for commuters and travellers alike. The London Underground has a total of 11 lines (although some people say that there are actually 13), and you have to know where you want to go to before buying a ticket, as the city is divided into 9 radial zones, which, in turn, have a different price depending on where you are going to visit. The price of a single ticket is somewhat expensive, between £4. 50 and £8, depending on the zones that you want to travel through. To save some money, there are special "Travelcards" that you can buy, which I will talk to you about later.

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The main things that you will want to see in London are located in the city centre, so it will not be necessary to buy a Travelcard that includes zones that you are not going to travel to. To make longer distance journeys, the tube is the best option, as, in very little time, you can get from one side of the city to another and get to a station that puts you very close to what you want to see. The numerous tube stations are another favourable thing about the London Underground, which makes it easy to get to a variety of places. The tube is also a fantastic option for getting to the city centre from the airport, as you can get to your hotel or house easily from the station for a much lower price than that of a taxi, and faster than if you went by bus.

With regards to its hours of operation, the tube stations where no trains are operational in the early hours close at midnight, but, of course, there are some which have services that run for longer. With regards to waiting times, I have to say that when we arrived at the platform, the next train did too; therefore, I would say that waiting times are extremely short, and, from time to time, almost non-existent.

Buses: a great complement to the city's transport network

After having used the tube, I am totally convinced that you will not want to know anything about any other mode of transport in London, but the city buses also have their advantages. Unlike the tube, buses are slower, but they are also cheaper and have an advantage that the tube doesn't have - they travel along the city streets. A great option for getting to know the city better and enjoying the sights is catching one of the many buses that pass by the main streets of London's city centre without having to even take a single step. A single ticket costs £2, but if you catch the right bus routes, you can see the city centre in its entirety in just a few hours. It's another form of tourism (which I personally don't like at all), but if you don't want to walk any more, or it's raining and you don't want to get soaked, or you simply fancy sitting at the top of an English double decker, it can end up being a good option (but be careful when choosing the route... you don't want to end up lost in the suburbs). It's guaranteed that the tourist buses design their routes to show all the main monuments, squares and streets, but it's also guaranteed that for the price of one ticket on these buses, you could buy 10 tickets for the regular city buses. If you have thought about going out at night in London and you are staying in one of the several hotels in the suburbs, you will always be able to catch the night bus, which usually pass through the renowned nightlife spots in the city. With regards to wait times, they are obviously much longer than those of the tube... it's usually between 10 and 20 minutes (unlike 2 minutes on the Underground) depending on the route (as always, the buses travelling right through the city centre have shorter waiting times between services).

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(This link also includes a news article that might interest you)

When I was there, a group of us students caught a bus that travelled around the city centre, and we sat upstairs, from where we could see some of the most famous sights of the City of London.

London Taxis, or "Black Cabs"

The third mode of transport is London taxis, which are some of the most expensive in Europe (in reality, they could actually be the most expensive), with fares that will scare your hiccups away if you are not careful. "Black cabs" are not a particularly recommendable mode of transport for students, especially as it costs so much less on the bus or the tube, but for other people who don't mind almost breaking the banks, it can be a really useful way to get around the city. In some way, travelling in a London taxi has its own kind of charm, but it's an expensive price to pay for charm.... We, of course, didn't take any taxis, more for the fear of being ripped off than any other reason. Maybe for those who are going out at night and don't want to have to wait for (or suffer) the night bus drunk, it may be the best option; take into account that the tube will be closed, and, between three or four people, it's not really so much money. But, by day, taking a taxi in London seems like a totally unnecessary luxury to me.

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To give you an idea, a taxi journey from Heathrow Airport to the city centre can cost around £60, depending on the route that the driver takes, which is, if I am not mistaken, more than 75€ for a journey that you can do on the tube or by bus for a lot less money.

Public bicycle hire scheme

We are going to include these bicycles as part of the group of available modes of public transport in London, in spite of some of the possible "restrictions" that tourists may face, as the weather is going to be a big determining factor in their use, as well as the amount of time you are going to spend in the city, of course.

Hiring a bike in the public bike here scheme is not at all expensive, but it is thought out with those who have extended stays in London in mind. There are different tariffs for using the bicycles - 24 hours, 7 days, and 1 year. The latter is highly recommended for students that are going to spend a long period of time in London. The 24 hour rate may be the most appropriate for tourists, but if you are going to spend several days in the city, paying for a 7 day tariff would be the best thing to do. With regards to prices, the 24 hour rate costs £1, and the 7 day, £5. The one year tariff, however, I am not exactly sure how much it costs. As in many other cities, you also pay for the time that you use the bike for, although the first 30 minutes are completely free.

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For example, if you choose the 1 day access tariff and you use the bike for periods of less than 30 minutes, you are not going to pay any more than the £1 you originally paid to use it. If you do use the bike for longer than 30 minutes at a time, you are going to have to pay a supplementary usage rate per hour or per half hour that you are using it. And, of course, they are penalty fines if you take a long time to return the bike. If you don't return it to a docking station or you return it in poor condition, the fine can be even higher.

But, bear in mind that it's difficult to find a day when there's no rain in London, which means that you don't know to what extent you will be able to use this public bike sharing scheme. It may be simpler to use your own bike, as long as you take care when choosing where exactly to leave it.

Travelcards: a great option for tourists

As I already mentioned, it's important that you know that something called a "Travelcard" exists in London, with which you can save both time and money in travelling around the whole city. This aforementioned card will allow you to travel around the city on public transport, depending on the zones through which you want to travel. Just like a single ticket for the tube, with the "Travelcard" you are also able to travel on the tube, but, mind you, the zones system stays the same; the more zones you need/want to travel to, the more expensive the card will be. In addition to this, you can also use city buses with the Travelcard to get around London. You will be able to use the tube as much as you want without any type of restriction, provided that you are within the zone that you have paid for. With regards to the time frame of the cards, there are different options: the 24 hour cards, recommended for short stays in the city; and 7 day cards, in case you are going to be in London for a longer period of time. And then, aside from the latter two options, there is the monthly Travelcard, but this is obviously for prolonged stays in the city. Before we entered the tube, the bought a 24 hour Travelcard so we could get around zones 1 and 2 freely, which cost us something like £15 (some 20€). What's certain though is that, considering the amount of times we travelled on the tube, it was really worth us having bought it.

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To get one of these cards, the best thing to do is to go to a tube station and ask if they sell them there, because, if I remember correctly, we bought ours at one, but I don't remember specifically which one. I imagine though that they will sell them in the city centre and at key tourist hotspots.

To summarise in brief:

• The Underground is the most comfortable and fastest way to get around the city.
• The city's buses have their own charm and can help us better get to know London.
• You can rule out using tourist buses if your visit isn't necessarily an "express" one.
• The prices of taxis are prohibitive for students.
• It may be a good idea to use a bicycle, but it is very much determined by the climate.
• If you are spending a few days in London, buying a Travelcard is your best option.

Personally, after reading all of this, I would be wishing that I could catch the first flight possible to London and looking for a reasonably-priced hotel, so that I could see and get to know the English capital, which is definitely one of the most appealing cities in the world.

If you think it's appealing too- why don't you move here? Don't know how to move here? You're in luck, because we do! Take a read of our step-by-step guide on how to rent a flat in the bustling city of London.

And if you only have a couple of days to enjoy this cosmopolitan centre, our guide on what to see in 4 days in London, will help you to make sure that you haven't missed anything. Or, if YOU want to make sure you never miss anything again, why don't you rent a flat here? Read our definitive guide on renting in London to find out how.

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