What about Transport in London ?

London's Transport System

London has a comprehensive transport system with buses, the Underground (or tube), British Rail train services, trams and even ferries connecting all parts of the city. With so many different modes of transport available, it is usually pretty easy to get anywhere. But remember, London does cover a very large area, so many Londoners can expect to travel for up to an hour or so to get from home to work.

The London Underground

The tube is organised into six zones, with zone one covering the entire city centre, and zones 2 to 6 radiating out around Zone One. Tickets for individual journeys, and weekly passes (travel cards) are sold depending on which Zone you want to travel through.

London's Bus System

London Transport's bus network is divided into two zones with 2 fares applying. Any single  journey which includes zone one will cost £1.00, and any other journey is 70 pence. You must have a ticket before boarding any bus other than a Route Master (the ones with Conductors) in Central London (ticket machines at all relevant bus stops requiring exact change).

British Rail

As well as the underground, British Rail (overland) trains also stop at many stations inside London. They generally travel to and from the larger stations in the city centre, heading to all parts of Great Britain (and even France!)

London Travel Costs

If you plan to be using London's public transport system on a daily basis, your cheapest option would be to buy a weekly or monthly travel card. Travel cards are valid on all forms of public transport in London, including the Underground, buses, and overland trains. The type of travel card you purchase depends on which zones you plan to travel through.  If you only plan to be travelling in Zone One (the dead centre of London), you should budget about £16 for a weekly travelcard.  If you will be travelling in zones 2 to 6 also, you should budget from £19-up to £37 a week.  The more zones you travel through the more expensive it becomes (e.g. zones 1-6 £36.90).  If your journey does not include travel through zone 1 it becomes considerably cheaper e.g. 2 adjacent zones £12. 

NB. Please ask your overseas contacts about up to date prices as these are meant for guidance only. The only thing you can be sure about is that the prices won’t fall. For accurate information on the transport system, and current London travel costs, you could visit the London Transport website.

Finding your way around

When you emerge from a tube station, your most useful tool will be an A-Z Guide.  This is a street directory, which can be bought from most newsagents and is invaluable for finding your way around (don’t buy the very smallest version as it only covers a small central area). Multimap and Streetmap are useful map sites for orienting yourself on London streets.