Getting around in London generally

...and choose my means of getting there, and this is where boats come in. The obvious thing to do, now that I’m a “twirly”*, is to wait till 9.30 am and buy a Travelcard, affording use of all Underground, service buses and national rail services within the zones that I have paid for. * “Twirly” – as in “Am I twirly to buy a travel card?” Geddit? Note: a Travel card does not apply to “prestige” ...
...Thames Barrage will stop this getting any worse for several years to come. Even before the awareness of global warming and its effect on water levels, it was widely acknowledged that London is sinking under the weight of its buildings and as water is extracted from the aquafers beneath the clay. I have even seen it mooted that we start moving Parliament to Hampstead before it’s too late! And so much nearer for the luvvies to get to work, too! ...

BNibbles 31.08.2001 (29.09.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

...going to just talk about getting around London through public transport, so if any member is going to come down and visit, I hope you find the following advice helpful. >>So what public transport is there?>> Buses, trains, underground, and taxis are the main forms you are likely to encounter. The buses, well the fleet comprises of many private companies with a monopoly route system, some routes still have those good-old routemaster buses and some ...
...bus network is okay, expect to wait no more than 10 mins off peak, don’t rely on it too much during peak-times though. In theory the journey is really fast, the drivers are all budding Jenson Buttons, however, lack of bus lane respect and traffic delays your journeys. There is a flat (adult) fare of £1 (or 70p if your journey does not involve central London). The trains, I am talking about the suburban routes here, barring delays (and there ...

Katerina 15.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

...are so many ways of getting to London and loads of ways getting around in London. I’ve previously written about getting around via the tube but today I’ll write about the other forms of transport as well to give everyone a better idea of travelling in London. OK, as you may have heard there are a lot of ways travelling around in London from Trams to Trains. Yes, many ways. I personally love travelling via trains or the tube as it is ...
...** Ways of getting around in London ** ----------------------------------------------------- London Buses}}} This has to be the worst way of getting around and believe me it is. I hate travelling on buses in London especially in the city or places like Oxford Street and those busy places. There are many bus companies in London from Arriva to Stagecoach to others. Many buses are torn apart you see the old service buses are ugly, inside they are ...

fromthedarkside 19.08.2001 (21.08.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

The allure and free availability of foreign travel these days has tended to cloud the attractions of destinations closer to home. Turning our eyes away from the distant west for once we recently spent a delightful week in London on a City break holiday. Even though it was April, the weather was cold and windy but dry and we filled our time with a variety of activities. I had no problem finding accommodation in the heart of the city (we booked an ...
...from Embankment Station with a view of the London Eye from the front room!). We also braved the vagaries of rail travel and found quite exceptional value travelling Weekend First from the North East. Despite planning, reading guide books and asking friends and travel agents it is often a problem navigating the transport system and choosing from the list of sights to see and things to do – especially in an area the size of Greater London. I had some ...

Newfloridian 16.04.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

A couple of years ago, I had a boyfriend who lived in Bristol. He was from the midlands and had never lived in London (bear with me, I do have a point here). He used to tease me constantly, about being a London snob in general (I don't deny it) and about my obsession with the tube in particular. He thought it incredible that Londoners could spend hours discussing the relative merits and speeds of tube route options from A to B. Then he moved to ...
...ops elsewhere on the relative merits of tubes, buses and taxis. All I am proposing to write here, therefore, is a list of my top tips for travelling around London, as based on 25 years of experience gained the hard way. #1 Unless you really don't care how long it will take you to get somewhere, don't even consider buses. They take absolutely forever and have never, ever adhered to the timetables you find stuck on bus stops, so don't be fooled. If ...

ImogenW 27.04.2001 (28.04.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

I've been living a short way outside London for 3 years but am always impressed by the number of buses around in London. I suppose I'm still in tourist mode but I would recommend that if you have the time to spare you consider buying a Travelcard from newsagents underground stations or many other places and ask for a bus map at the same time. We have travelled all around Inner and Greater London and if the traffic is bad then we just hop off have ...

eostre 12.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

When travelling about London one of the easiest ways is to go by taxi, normally or perhaps I should say hopefully, your driver will know the quickest and therefore the cheapest route for you to take,. They normally seem experts at diving in and out of traffic, where the average driver would fear to go. Add to this ,the fact that most are excellant tour guides, if you are a vistor and will normally give you their opinion( hopefully unbiased )on most ...

Liberty1 02.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

Trams have made a comeback in London. There is a network in and around the bourugh of Croydon - Croydon Tramlink. It is a brilliant way to get around. You may think they will trundle around the roads in traffic, but once out of the Central Area they speed away at 50 m.p.h! Trams are exellent value - 90p single to nearly every stop. Frequenceys are high, on route 3, croydon - neew addington, there is one tram every 6-7 min. Ticket Machines are a bit ...

dec132 27.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

We've all experienced delays on the Tube, but you can get a refund for all delays over 15 minutes! London Underground don't publicise this very well (understandably - think how much money they stand to lose!) but it is really easy to claim your refund. Each tube station now has 'Customer Charters' outside the ticket booth - just keep your ticket, fill in the details and post it off (freepost of course!) I got my refund for my entire journey back ...

zorro 10.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

London taxies are the best in the world. They are large and spacious and vey frequent. All London black-cab drivers have an enormous knowledge of the area not just about roads, but offices, shops etc and can get you to virtually anywhere whether you have the slightest idea where it is or not. Cabbies themselves get a bum rap in my opinion. I have always found them affable and willing to talk about anything. perhaps this is what many Brits do not ...
...to them rather than be cold and aloof? Either way I think the black cab driver is excellent. A word of warning though. Mini cab drivers are generally poor and seem to charge whatever the hell they like to drive you from A to B. There is no niformity to the charges they give and they are often unlicneced and rather dirty smelly vehicles. Choose a black cab unless desperate. ...

wampyrii 29.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

We always use this way to get into the city. We drive to Lewisham train station and park in the station carpark which costs £1 for the day (last time we parked it did anyway. If we can't park there we go to New Cross and park by the police station just down the road from the train station. We then buy a travelcard and hop on the underground train. The train goes straight to the main tube stations and from there you can explore London to your hearts ...

fumo 10.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

What a great idea it was to have an easilr recognisable taxi cab for London. So why do we see cabs of different colours these days. By the time you recognise one they have disappeared down the road. The truly great thing about the London cab is that you meet such fun drivers and characters. Don't you? Sorry. OK They are always clean and tidy and very comfortable. Aren't they? Sorry OK They are in plentiful supply and you can always get one when ...

REG 17.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

This year I went to London on holiday. Having heard the chilling tales of taxi drivers leaning out of windows to shout at other drivers while taking sharp corners at high speed, I was a little apprehensive when I got into the taxi outside King's Cross Station. My fears were quickly neutralised when we arrived at our hotel without incident. I actually enjoyed the trip back to the station when it was time to leave. Our driver was a South African young ...

Chaotic1 29.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

So first of all lets put all those horror stories to rest , London taxi drivers are not ignorant money grabbing monsters , they like most other people have a job to do and generally do it very well , Of course they like the rest of us can get stressed , lets face it how would you like to be driving round London all day .I do not live in London , but frequency visit the city , I have always found taxi drivers to be polite , knowledgeable and helpful ...
...through those traffic holdups they can . If you are travelling in a group of 3/4 people you can also find it cheaper and quicker to take a short journey by cab , than on the underground . Tipping is not compulsory , if a fare comes to £4-30 you may think its worth giving the change from your £5 - note to the driver as a tip , but on times that for one reason or another I have not been able to tip , I have never encountered any abuse .Indeed once ...

welshgold 13.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally

As a Londoner, I use taxis and I also drive. I often spend about 7 hours a day driving in central London and thought I would share my observations on London black cabs with you. TAXIS DO - Cut you up at any opportunity, think they are the knights of the road, blantantly ignore your frantic gesticulations from the road side, have an opinion about every subject under the sun, all think they could win mastermind, prefer to hang around outside expensive ...
...lights when empty. TAXIS DONT - (with a passenger) drive over 30mph, speed up to get through an orange signal, have any idea what the little orange lights on the side of the cab do, ever go south of "the river" after dark, let another car get out in front of them or really know 500 different routes through the city. That said, they are quite reasonable over short distances when in a hurry, but in the center of London theres plenty of buses and ...

Jasonrow 10.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Getting around in London generally