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[Navidson REC]

LondonGAF, I've got a question for you:

I'm going to spend the upcoming weekend (tomorrow through Tuesday) in London together with my sister. I'm currently trying to find out about the best (and cheapest) way to use the city's public transport.

Our hostel is located roughly 30 mins (via tube) from the city center, so we will probably rely on tube, bus, etc. most days.

Do you have any 3 day tickets or stuff like that? I just found out about this Oyster Card thingy... But I think that might be a bit too much for such a short trip. Any advice?

I hope you guys can help me out!

 

[Rubbish King]

LondonGAF, I've got a question for you:

I'm going to spend the upcoming weekend (tomorrow through Tuesday) in London together with my sister. I'm currently trying to find out about the best (and cheapest) way to use the city's public transport.

Our hostel is located roughly 30 mins (via tube) from the city center, so we will probably rely on tube, bus, etc. most days.

Do you have any 3 day tickets or stuff like that? I just found out about this Oyster Card thingy... But I think that might be a bit too much for such a short trip. Any advice?

I hope you guys can help me out!

Ask BritGAF man! They'll be happy to help! (BritGAF as in the community thread)

 

[Navidson REC]

Ask BritGAF man! They'll be happy to help! (BritGAF as in the community thread)

Oh, right. I never go to off-topic community, so I wasn't aware of their existence. Thanks, I'll ask there as well.

 

[Zaph]

You were right with your first guess...Oyster Card. They're pay-as-you-go and you can pick one up from any tube station.

If you don't use it before 9:30am, the card will 'cap' at £7.30 per day no matter how much you use the trains or buses. Before 9:30am the cap is £8.80.

Edit: also, depending on where you're staying, you'll probably never need to use the bus (and I wouldn't recommend it either). Another general tip (especially if you're around central London) is not to jump on the train just to go a couple stops. Some of these stations are literally seconds apart, but by the time you've gotten on the train you could have walked the same distance twice over.

 

[Gemüsestäbchen]

Edit: also, depending on where you're staying, you'll probably never need to use the bus (and I wouldn't recommend it either).

This is not true at all! Especially in Central London.
Buses are really convient and easy to take in London since you have clear signage at every stop where you can see where the bus goes and often maps so you can work out which stop and bus number to take.
Plus you can get your head around the city much better.

Also if you take any of the "Heritage" routes, you can pay for a normal bus and get a really "cheap" tour bus on the iconic Routemaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Buses_route_15_(Heritage)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Buses_route_9_(Heritage)

Any chance you know the area where you'll be in Central?

 

[Navidson REC]

Thanks for the advice so far!

Any chance you know the area where you'll be in Central?

We're staying at a hostel in Hendon. As for our trips to Central London: We're not yet 100 % sure what places we're gonna visit.

 

[Bleepey]

buses cap at about £4.50 a day.

 

[Gemüsestäbchen]

Thanks for the advice so far!



We're staying at a hostel in Hendon. As for our trips to Central London: We're not yet 100 % sure what places we're gonna visit.

Alright... That's a bit too far to bus... But please consider it a travel option!
Hendon is [un]fortunately near my parents So I'm familiar with the area - Hendon Central will be likely to be your tube stop.

You may or may not know, that the tube ends embarrassingly early in London... If you're not on the right tube by midnight, i.e. changed to the right line etc, you won't get home.

N5 will be your best friend.
It's the night bus that follows the Northern Line tube route when the tube stops, and starts from about 00:30 or 1:00AM if I remember correctly? And is hourly until the first tube, which is about 5AM? It only runs at night!

It starts at Trafalgar Square (so right in the centre of town, very convenient if you're out and about there)
Takes about 45 mins - 60 mins to get there.

 

[Addnan]

Tube can get quite pricey when going into zone 1 (Central London area).

Hendon is in Zone 3 I think, so at peak time to travel to zone 1 it costs £3.20, £2.70 off peak and when travelling from zone 1 to anywhere else after 4.30pm and not sure upto what time it also charges peak time cost. I think it caps it at something like £11.

 

[Navidson REC]

Alright... That's a bit too far to bus... But please consider it a travel option!
Hendon is [un]fortunately near my parents So I'm familiar with the area - Hendon Central will be likely to be your tube stop.

You may or may not know, that the tube ends embarrassingly early in London... If you're not on the right tube by midnight, i.e. changed to the right line etc, you won't get home.

N5 will be your best friend.
It's the night bus that follows the Northern Line tube route when the tube stops, and starts from about 00:30 or 1:00AM if I remember correctly? And is hourly until the first tube, which is about 5AM? It only runs at night!

It starts at Trafalgar Square (so right in the centre of town, very convenient if you're out and about there)
Takes about 45 mins - 60 mins to get there.

Oh, that's very good to know. And yes, Hendon Central is our tube stop.

 

[Gemüsestäbchen]

In the end, if you're only there for 3 days, don't waste time taking slower transport if you don't need to... But some places in Central is really nice on the bus if you want a view.

Definitely get an Oyster card, but you have to pay for one first, I think £5? But you can get the money back if you hand it back in - it is really the cheapest way to travel.

 

[Moral Panic]

tfl.gov.uk

Can also use google maps, to find where bus stop are etc.