A Tourist’s Guide To London
Interested in planning a trip to London or have already booked your airplane tickets?
Then the following information and tips will help you find your way around London, visit the most magnificent sites and monuments as well as use public transport and live for a few days as a Londoner.
The following article contains different paragaphs for the main information you need as a tourist in London.
From The Airport To The Centre Of London
One of the first things that you should be aware of is how to reach the city from the airports, which are usually at the suburbs. London has at least 6 airports (London City, Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Southend) which all connect with various rail services, such as the National Express, Thameslink, Southern, Heathrow Express, Gatwick Express, Stansted Express and the London Underground (Tube).
If you land on Gatwick, Heathrow or Stansted the fastest and most comfortable way to reach London is using the Express trains, which make no in between stops and go straight to the Victoria Station, London Paddington and Liverpool Street station, which all connect with the Tube. Standard adult tickets rate from £19.90 to £23.40. Be aware that you can always save a few pounds by purchasing them online. Of course if the airport connects straight with an Underground line, like Heathrow and London City Airport do, it is the best and cheaper way to choose and use it. If you are looking for a cheaper train choice simply purchase a ticket for National Express, Thameslink or Southern which can almost save you up to 10 pounds.
You can find more information on : http://www.visitlondon.com/#mqi7s86UmRF3XULF.97
Using The London Underground And Buses
Using the Tube or the traditional red buses to get around London are the easiest and best choices, although not the cheapest if you compare them to other countries' public transport. Still they are the cheapest in London as renting cars and calling taxis is rather expensive. The London Underground is consisted of 14 different lines (e.g. Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria, London Overground, DLR, etc..) and over 270 stations. It may sound as chaotic but there are maps and signs everywhere in the stations and outside of them to guide you through the system.
The best way to use both of them is by purchasing an Oyster card or Visitor Oyster Card and charging it with the amount of money you think is best and more suitable for your trip. While buying regular printed tickets would cost you around £4.70, acquiring an Oyster Card saves you almost up to 50% of the original price as it charges you, for the tube at about £2.20 to £2.90 (or even more depending on rush hours) and for the bus £1.50.
You can buy your Oyster Cards online, at certain offices at the airports, train stations and at certified stores around town and keep in mind that you will be charged a few more pounds (£3-5) which is the cost of the card itself. Also remember that the only difference between the Oyster Card and the Visitor Oyster Card is that the latter offers you a variety of discounts on several shops, theaters and restaurants; and can only be purchased online.
Another advantage of buying an Oyster Card is that you can use it again and again every time you visit London without having to buy a new one, but just by adding credit with your credit card. Even if you are not planning to travel again to London you can lend the card to a friend that is planning to visit, as your name is not printed on the card. You can also use it for several other national rail services (e.g. Gatwick Express).
You can purchase your card online on: https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk
Extra tips
*always press the top of the card on the yellow card reader
*be sure that you hear a beep sound when exiting the Tube to know that the right amount has been deducted from your card
*your not following the rules or failing to hear the beep when exiting might lead to your being fined with a large amount of money (around £80)
*when exiting the bus you don’t need to press the card again against the card reader like you need to when using the tube
Information on how to exactly use the Oyster cards are available in these videos:
Walking Around The City
Walking around the city of London is an amazing and very interesting experience, but may also seem difficult to tourists to find their way around it. Luckily not only are the locals very friendly, explaining to you over and over where you need to go and what you need to do to reach your destination; but also there are maps and signs in almost every street and Tube Station. That way it is almost impossible to get lost. The maps provided not only show you the area in which you stand at the moment, but also the direction in which you are looking at and a list of notable places, sites and monuments, which are close to where you are, with mentions on the map itself. Also in every station, as there are many exits, under each one, there is written the name of the monument to which this specific exit leads to, so that you are sure you are going the right way.
You also have the ability to buy maps around the city, but as technology has much evolved the best way is to acquire Internet packages in order to search for whatever you want online. You can specifically use certain phone applications (e.g. Citymapper, London Official City Guide App) that contain all the information you might need whether it concerns the means of transport, places to lunch in or the monuments of the city. If you have no access to Internet though, the mayor of London has made it easy for you with free Wi-Fi spots all over town which even if they might take some time to load they still work perfectly.
Money Exchange
If you are in need to exchange your currency, there are various exchange offices and authorized stores which carry out exchanges all around the city and especially in the most touristic and crowded places (e.g. Oxford Street). Beware of the fact that even if most of the offices claim that they do not charge an extra fee for the exchange (after they’ve asked you the amount of money you want to exchange) is not true. The best way to go is exchanging straight out from your bank account and credit card as the extra rates imposed on you are almost minimum. You can do that by using an ATM which you can find not just in every office but in bank stands too. Also remember that the currency exchange offices located at airports are usually the most expensive.
London: Sites And Monuments
London is consisted of 9 different zones with most services operating in zones 1-6, with Tube, London Overground and National Rail also operating in zones 7-9. Zones 1 and 2 besides being the most touristic, as they are located in the center of London, are also the safest, so it’s better if you, as a tourist, remain on those two.
Concerning the monuments and if you are interested in sightseeing the most notable and magnificent to visit are:
Go Inside: Explore from the outside:
-London Tower Exhibition -Big Ben
-The British Museum -Buckingham Palace
-Victoria and Albert Museum -St. Paul’s Cathedral
-The National Gallery -Westminster Abbey
There are also many other options and places to visit with either historical meaning or about modern culture, but that clearly depends on your tastes and interests. Some more of them are the London Eye, the London Aquarium, Tate Modern, The Wallace Collection, Madame Tussauds, Museum of London etc.
You can also stroll around the city of London and visit beautiful parks like Regent’s Park, Hyde Park and St. James Park or visit the street markets like Borough Market, Camden market, Portobello Road and Brick Lane Market, where you can not only buy various souvenirs for low prices but also try and taste food from all around the world.
Concerning the pricing and tickets most of the museums have free entrance for all ages, whereas for the rest you can always find cheaper tickets if you buy them online, to achieve great deals and combinations of the tourist attractions you wish to visit. If you don’t have the ability to make online purchases you can always find the same offers on spot. Keep in mind that most of these attractions open up for the public at around 9-10:00 a.m. and close from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. depending on the type of the site and the time of the year. Last but not least you should not be concerned about larges queues and overcrowded lines as everything moves in a quick pace and you never have to wait too long for anything.
TRAVEL GUIDE TO LONDON