London Transportation Tips by bzh

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Heathrow is the biggest of London airports and is probably where you will arrive if your are flying with a scheduled airline. It is localted in West London, in tube zone 6.

Be aware that Heathrow has 4 terminals (and soon 5) so make sure you know which one you are flying to/from.

To go from Heathrow to the town centre, you have the following options:
1. Take the tube. The Picadilly line runs to central London and has convenient interchange with all the other lines as well as main train stations. It will cost you £3.70 to get to the centre, i.e., the price of a tube ticket from zone 6 to zone 1. It might take you a good hour though.
2. If you are more in a hurry and don't mind spending £12, you can take the Heathrow Express that will take you to Paddington train station in 15 minutes. If you buy your ticket from an agent, it can also be combined with a tube ticket to continue your journey by underground. You can also buy the ticket on the train for an extra £2.
3. The Airbus goes from Heathrow to central London. Ideal if your destination is around Baker Street.
4. Black cabs are always available but are very expensive. Only consider this option if your destination is actually in West London and not on the Piccadilly line.

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Website: http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/heathrow/

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Gatwick airport is the second airport for scheduled flights in London, after Heathrow. It is located South of the town. Is has two terminals, North and South so make sure you know which one you are flying to/from.

The options to get from Gatwick to central London are:
1. The Gatwick Express takes you directly to the Victoria mainline station in 30 minutes. The ticket costs £11 one way and you can buy it on the train using cash or credit card.
2. Connex trains take you to Victoria as well, for a few pound less but for twice the lemgth of time. However, if you are going somewher in South London, such as Clapham, they are a good option.
3. Taxis are always available but, as ever, expensive. They are a good option if your destination is South London or in the direction of Brighton, not too close to a train line.

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Website: http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/gatwick/

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Stansted is the main airport for charter and cheap airline flights. It is located quite far from the centre in the North East of London, on the M11. Stansted has only one terminal so no problem in knowing which one to go to.

To go to the town centre, the options are:
1. The Stansted Express train. It will take you to Liverpool Street station where you have good connection with the tube and other trains. It will cost you £13 one way and take 45 minutes. The last train in the evening is at 00:30.
2. The Airbus will take you to London Victoria and stop in a few places in North London on the way, such as Finchley Road. It will cost you £10 and take 1:30 hour.

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Website: http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/stansted/

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Luton is the second aiport for charter and cheap airline flights. It is located rather far form the centre in the North of London on the M1 motorway. Luton is a small airport so no risk of getting lost there.

To go to the town centre, the options are:
1. Thameslink provides a fast train service that takes you to King's Cross Thameslink station in just under 30 minutes. There is a bit of walking to do to reach the main lines and tube lines but all very well indicated. The same line also has a slow service that stops at all stations and takes 45 minutes to reach King's Cross. This can be good if you want to stop somewhere in North London or if you want to change for the Silverlink service at West Hampstead. Either will cost you £10.20 one way from Luton Airport Parkway station to London.
2. The Green Line operates a bus service that will take you to Victoria station in just above one hour, barring any traffic problems.

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Website: http://www.london-luton.co.uk/

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: London City is the smallest of all London airports. Located East of the city, it is mainly used by private jets and some scheduled flights meant for business people because of its easy access to the Docklands and the City.

To reach the town centre from LCY, there is a bus service that takes you to Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street stations. It will cost you £3 for Canary Wharf, one way and £6 for Liverpool Street, one way.

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Website: http://www.londoncityairport.com/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Red buses and black cabs are the hallmark of Britain. But black cabs are not handy just because they are very recognisable and you can hail them in the street. What is important when you get in a black cab is that the driver has passed the Knowledge. The Knowledge is an examination that verifies how well the driver knows London. It takes years of study to pass it. Not only do they have to know where all the small streets nobody else knows are, such are Dukes Place or Ely Place, but they have to know how to get there via the shortest route, the fastest route or any other alternative route that could help them avoid traffic or roadwork congestion. Black cabs might be expensive, even for London, but they will take you where you want in the shortes time possible. The higher fare is the price of the Knowledge.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: When you arrive in London via Paddington station, during the morning rush hour on a week day, if your destination is somewhere in the town centre and you are not rushed by time, don't hesitate to sample the cab share scheme. The principle is that, rather than paying the full fare for the taxi, you can share with 3 or 4 other people and pay a fixed price, which is a fraction of the price you'd pay if you were on your own, such as 5 pounds instead of 20. To do this, find the attendant who distributes colour coded vouchers before you get to the taxi line, tell her where you're going, take the voucher and join the cab share queue. Once you get to the front of the queue, you will be grouped with other people who go in the same direction than you and you will share a cab. The driver will then stop at the requested stop for each person and you will each pay a fixed price. It comes out much cheaper than the normal full price but it takes slightly more time because the taxi has to drop everybody. One small glitch is that, in theory, the driver should take 4 or 5 people in the cab. In practice, they always wait for 5 to maximise the price they get and, even though a black cab is spacious, it usually ends up being very cosy in the cab, at least for the first two stops.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: If you come to London for a week-end, a full week or more and intend to visit the place, you will save yourself quite a lot of money by buying a London Transport (LT) travel card. You can buy them at all underground stations. You will have to mention what zones you want them for, considering London is divided in 6 tube zones, from zone 1 in the centre to zone 6 out in the sticks, and the price changes depending on the number of zones you travel through. But, once you've got your travel card, you will be able to use it on any transport: underground, buses, night buses, trams (Wimbledon, Croydon), DLR, some train lines such as Silverlink, Thameslink and other commuter trains, etc. The only exception are river boat services. So, once you have your travel card, you don't need to pay anything for transport anymore and it actually saves you money as soon as you do two tube journeys a day.

Note that for travel cards of a week or more, you will need a passport photo so that they can issue you with a photo card. Also note that daily travel cards do exist but there are two types of daily cards, the reduced fare one that you can only use outside of rush hour and the full fare one that you can use at any time but which only save you money if you do three tube journeys during the day or more.

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Website: http://www.ticket-on-line.co.uk/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Transport for London, being realisitc about the performance of the tube, offers a real time tube map detailing what lines suffer from delays or cancellations. The use of the map is extremely simple. If a line or station is coloured, it has a problem. You can then click on it to get more information on the problem.

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Website: http://map.tfl.gov.uk/realtime.asp

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: London is a big city that has grown organically over the centuries. It is extremely easy to get lost here if you don't really know the street layout. A map is useful but the ultimate to help you navigate the city is an A-Z. This is a book you will find in all bookshops around the town. It comes in a variety of sizes from the small pocket size to the big A4 version. It provides higly detailed maps of the town, as well as various indices to help you easily find any street, tube station, major landmark, etc. and a tube map on the back cover.

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