My well-loved travelcard
The London Underground is quite a system compared to anything we are used to here in Dallas. We didn't rent a car, but were able to see everything we wanted with some walking. . .err. . .a LOT of walking. But, the traffic in the city looked really bad - lots of one-way, one-lane streets zooming around, traffic circles, VERY narrow lanes and other rat-maze like things. The tube allowed us to see everything and get close to most places quickly. In order to use the tube, you either need a ticket for your single trip or a Travelcard, which gives you unlimited use of the system. As a tourist from another country, we were able to buy Visitor Travelcards. These had to be purchased outside the UK and cost about $60, but give you unlimited use of the underground, bus, and local train systems for a week. You can buy Travelcards there, but locally bought week Travelcards require you to have a photo ID made and can not be used before 9:30 AM. The Underground is broken into six concentric zones, and the Guest Travelcard will let you go into them all. If you buy a Travelcard, you indicate in what zones you wish to travel. We never traveled outside of Zone 4.
My well-loved travelcard
For those of you who haven't experienced this type of transport before, I'll take you through the steps.
Ken at the Underground entrance in Picadilly Circus
You start by looking for an Underground sign. An important thing to notice for American travelers - look at the sign in the picture above. See how it says "Subway"? In the Underground, a Subway means an underground walkway...not the train system you get on. The train system is called the "tube" or the "underground", but not called a "subway". This comes to haunt us later on in Day 2.
You look at a map and determine the name of the stop closest to your destination and which line services it. You then go down into the Underground, and feed your ticket into a reader, which opens gates to let you in.
The ticket eating machine
If, for some reason, you go into a station and then turn around and go out of that station with a Travelcard, then go back in, it won't let you through and you've got to get a helpful Underground employee to let you through. Outside of some stations, there is no machine, and thus you can get into the Underground without an appropriate ticket. If you do this and someone catches you (or you try and leave through an exit with the machines), you'll be fined 10 pounds ($16) on the spot. This had recently happened to the prime minister's wife - she was traveling to work in a court and didn't buy a ticket. This was in all the papers throughout the week.
From here, you will either take an escalator(preferred) or elevator (known as a "lift" but became known to us as "sardine tin") down into the Underground.
Two ways up and down. The escalator is preferred; I'd rather take the
stairs than the lifts.
Signs along the way will send you to an appropriate platform, and digital signs at the platform will tell you which train is coming through next (as some platforms are used for several lines and destinations)
Decisions, decisions... If you stop and read this, you are a tourist.
From here, it's down long walkways (subways) and onto a platform, where you wait for a train. You are bombarded with advertising along the way, but much of it is humorous.
The small box by the frog says "Rivets"
Then, with a gust of wind and a roar, the train comes up to the platform. (Hint.. move to the far end of the platform. The train will probably be much less crowded there).
A
blurry shot of an incoming train
Then it's onto the train, where Sonya will tell you in a soft female British voice where the train is going. A friend called the voice Sonya because it "gets onya nerves" (say it out loud...you'll get it).
The inside of one of the cars.
A sign from one of the cars. How about smelly passengers?
When your stop comes, the door opens. If there is a space between the train and the platform, Sonya will tell you to "Mind the gap"
Yes, Gap, what should I do?
After that, it's off the train, on to another train if needed, and then up to the surface and through machines to an exit.
The Queensway station, near our hotel.
Also, with the Travelcard, you have access to the bus system. Yes, they really use the double-decker buses you've heard about.
The only buses that I saw there were these big ones.
There are also aboveground trains (British Rail) which will take you around town and to other destinations. Some of the train stations are linked to Underground stations for ease of transfer. We didn't take a train on this trip, but they seemed to go to many surrounding towns.
Two train stations in London. One of our local guides is standing on
the bridge in the first picture.
Another transport options are the taxis. They do have the big black ones that you've seen in the movies, but many of them have been painted gaudy colors by companies like Hewlitt-Packard and Hello magazine.
A herd of black taxis in front of the Victoria and Albert museum
A single older taxi we spotted one day
We never saw a pickup truck used for personal transportation, although there were a few of the smaller SUVs. The majority of the cars driven were compact or intermediate sized; we saw very few mid-size or full-size cars. However, with the lanes being noticeably smaller than they are here and petrol costing between 3 and 4 dollars a gallon, fuel efficiency and space are important. Parking was bad and sometimes unusual.
These cars are in parking spots in the middle of the road. There is a
lane of traffic on both sides.
So, there are many ways to get around London. We didn't feel we needed a car to see everything we wanted; the Underground and buses worked well for us. (Don't forget - you can see full and enlarged versions of the these pictures by clicking on them).
After this, we went to a British Pub for some good, hearty pub food. Learn all about our experiences with British Pubs.