London Transportation Tips by ZanieOR

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: There's probably not much to say about the tube as a great way to get around London that already hasn't been said. Though I live in a small town with no public transporation, give me a tube map and I feel like I could find my way anywhere in London.
Covent Garden station was closest to our hotel, so we used it every day, and I agree with those who say proximity to a tube station is one of the most important amenities of a London hotel.
They are easy to use, and usually -- though not always -- you can find a seat. As reported elsewhere, people are not interested in socializing on the tube -- newspaper or book reading, sleeping or just being lost in one's thoughts are all acceptable.
A couple of time when we were inspecting a tube map in a station looking confused, a tube worker came up and asked if we needed help. That never happened in the New York subway. The London underground also seemed cleaner and safer than NYC.

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Phone: 020-7222-1234
Website: www.tfl.gov.uk

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: My travel friend offered to pay to get us to our hotel in London, and she chose one of London's black taxis as the fastest, most direct way to get into the city at the end of a long continental flight.

It still took about an hour in the traffic in mid-afternoon, and we seemed to have circled Hyde Park at least twice because of some traffic snafu.
The cab driver was very nice and polite, and the taxi ride though long was fun because it offered my first chance to see London. I was fascinated just to see all the traffic with all the drivers on the right and the license plates with the huge numbers.

However, it was very expensive -- I think about 45 pounds plus tip. The convenience was nice, but on a budget trip the subway (express) would have been a better deal. Though when I think about navigating the luggage up those stairs ....

We had no trouble getting a cab outside the airport.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: We flew round trip from/to London from Portland, Oregon, aboard Lufthansa airlines, which flew non-stop to Frankfurt, German (I've been in Germany!!), and then we changed planes in Frankfurt for the relatively short trip to Heathrow.

It was my first international flight and a long one, but it was made immensely more enjoyable by the fact that at PDX airport in Portland we were upgraded unexpectedly and for no reason from coach to business class.
What a difference! Special menus, more space, little amenities that I'd never before experienced (a little travel bag with such things as eyeshades and stockings). I really enjoyed having my own little television set attached to my seat.
Coach cost was $831so I don't know what the business tickets would have cost.

I couldn't help but go back and take a photo of the poor peons in coach. Of course on the return trip, that was us and an entirely different story (see next tip).

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'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: On the way back to Portland, the flight was somewhat of a let-down as we not upgraded and traveled coach class, which of course is what we paid for.

I kept saying, "Where's my little TV set; I want my little TV set." When we were in business class I particularly liked when they showed images of where our flight was in relation to the countries as we approached Europe.
However, at least we had side seats instead of in the wide middle aisle.

Lufthansa also let us down in Frankfurt, and we almost missed our connecting flight to Portland.
Instead of taxi-ing to a terminal and unloading, we stopped a long way away with a bunch of other planes, and we waited and waited and waited and they wouldn't let us off. It turned out there was a computer problem affecting the shuttle bus that was supposed to take us to the terminal. They finally let us off, and then we waited some more, watching busses pass us by.

There were some pretty upset passengers!
A bus finally did come, then of course we had to go through security etc. Luckily they held our plane, as there were other passengers too.

Flying to London is more fun than flying home, for more reasons than one!

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: The Big Bus Tour is a great way to get an overview London, though not necessarily the best way to get from place to place.

We enjoyed the live tour guide on the bus, he had lots to say about history and odd facts as we were driving around; you had the option of open air or with a roof over your head. I was able to get some very good photos from the top open deck of the bus.

I think every guide memorizes the whole tour spiel, as we repeated a short segment and it was the same info. You can also get a tour with recorded guide info (live and audio tours were interchangable with one ticket). We were on one bus with the recorded tour, and liked the live guide better. The guides are entertaining and personable.

It costs 18 pounds for riding the tour bus (8 pounds for children 5-15) on three different routes around the parts of London most visited by tourists for 24 hours, with on-off privileges at lots of stops (if you bought your ticket at 2 p.m. on day you would be able to get on and off the tour buses until 2 p.m. the next day. The buses run every day except Christmas from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30-6 p.m. depending on time of the year.
There's a 2 pound discount if you get the tickets on-line. You can also buy them by telephone or on the buses/at bus stops.

Your ticket also includes a half-hour Thames cruise and your choice of several walking tours from Trafalgar Square.
Big Bus Tours won the "Sightseeing Tour of 2004" award from Visit London.

Were the tickets worth the price?
Yes, I think so, especially if you take full advantage of what they offer. We were only on the buses about 3 or 4 hours one afternoon, and didn't take the cruise or walking tours.
The next day we wanted to get to the London Eye early and knew the tube would be much faster.
However, I know we picked up interesting information about London and got a very good overview we wouldn't have riding around on a non-tour bus. (Which we also did one day.)

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Phone: 44 (0) 20 7233 9533
Website: www.bigbus.co.uk
Other Contact: 48 Buckingham Palace Rd. SW1