Travelling round London

[Black Spot]

To get round London, as a visitor wanting see lots of stuff, it’ll probably work out cheaper to get a weekly travel card. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx Please read the restrictions on whichever one you decide to get.

Pick up a pocket A-Z, you can get them practically anywhere in London. Some will even list all the sights. I carry one, even though I live in London – it’s a big place.

You’re never more than about 10 minutes away from a tube (underground/subway) station in the centre. If you want to go further afield there’s http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use...T2?language=en to work out a route.

Buses are pretty frequent and run all night unlike the tube. Most bus stops will have a map showing which stop to catch the bus you need. At Elephant & Castle, like elsewhere, there is a letter on top of the bus stop pole denoting the stop. There's also a map at most stops giving which letter stop yoi need . It can be confusing if there are a lot of stops like at Elephant & Castle – I’ve spent 20 minutes trying to find the right stop before now. A lot now tell you when the next 10 or so buses will arrive. Buses also tell you each and every stop – it’s a good idea to know which one you need to get off – see journey planner above. They’re done by landmarks or side roads.

It can take time getting around London, so leave yourself plenty of it.

[Alexjholt]

Depending on what you are doing an alternative to the Travel-card is getting an Oystercard which they also talk about on that site, it's a bit more conveniant than a physical card (swipe to get in to barriers) and I believe you can get the money it cost to get it (which I think is £2 / £3, plus an initial topup) back at the end of the week if you aren't going to use it again. They can also be used on the busses too which is potentially helpful.

Also remember that for a lot of the central London stuff, in a lot of cases the stops on the Tubes are a lot closer than you might think, so sometimes it might be worth walking the short distance if you are sure of the way to save a little money. Example: Euston and St Pancras are literally 5 minutes walk apart down one road, a tube journey for that would cost you £2 and take slightly longer once you factor in going down all the tunnels and wait a couple of minutes for the tube.

[Velocity Kendall]

if you have a smart phone and can read youll be fine.

[kingkostas]

This oyster card looks very practical. However what you think is the ideal card for these 4-5 days in london? I see they have different types [e.g 10, 15, 20 pounds etc.]. I am thinking of ordering one before visiting
Heheh Al thats true, maybe i should consider saving some money for one.

[Alexjholt]

It probably depends if you are going to be doing anything else in that time, if you think you might want to go around other stuff in London - in addition to the Galleries, the big museums - British, Victoria and Albert and Natural History inparticular are well worth your time. If you don't think you are going to have time for that, and will literally be going from hotel to the symposium most days, you probably don't need anything big and expensive.

[kingkostas]

True, well its my first time in such an event so i am not really sure. I guess the 20 pounds oyster card will be good, and refill if needed

[Craig D]

I was in London last Fall; money I had left on my Oyster card and the 5 pd deposit was refunded at the airport
transit place when I flew out. (Make sure you leave yourself extra time for that though )

It's way cheaper for transit , and much more conveniant, to have a pass of some sort.

[Alexjholt]

Oh also of note: not sure how it applies to people who aren't British, but if you have any railcards (such as the 16-25 one as one of the more likely ones) if you ask at a ticket office they can apply that to your Oyster card and that lowers the daily maximum fare if you are only travelling offpeak by 1/3. Individual journey prices are still the same but they "stop counting" at a lower point. Not sure if it's possible to get them as someone from another country, and if you do live in Britain it's not really worth it unless you are going to be doing more than 3x the cost of the card (which I think might be £35ish) worth of train travel in the next year.

[kingkostas]

thanks for all the info.
I ordered an visitors oyster card [i couldnt order the normal oyster card] and i will refill when necessary. It sounds very practical anyway.