London Trip

[Huntergreed]

Hi folks

Hope everyone is keeping well. I have been looking to plan a solo trip to London for a week later in the year when this all dies down (I'm hoping late summer/early autumn) and I was looking for recommendations for railway (or non railway) places that you could recommend going to see? I've never really been before and it all looks rather confusing looking at it when compared to the rural area I'm currently in so I thought I could seek some advice on hear and get some recommendations.

Also would this be feasible for Autumn or would widespread travel likely be off for some time beyond then? Unsure of how the current situation will affect this.

Many thanks!

 

[Peter Sarf]

Might as well plan on Autumn being when things get back to normal.

Clapham Junction for half a day will bag you a lot of EMUs both Southern and SouthWestern.

London Bridge for half a day used to be good but I am not sure on visibility nowadays.

Blackfriars for three hours giving you the maximum number of 700s only missing those that go to Kings Cross.

Euston/StPancras/Kings-Cross with visits to the subterranean Thameslink Platforms as and when possible.

Ealing Broadway for Western Region action - including freight.

Hornsey if you want 707s but will get you all of Kings Cross as well plus some 700s.

Some of the museums are nice - Science Museum, Natural History Museum( in Kensington). I once did the Imperial War Museum.

 

[bspahh]

If you arrive in Euston, I would start with a wander around the hole in the ground for the HS2 station. Then walk along the Euston Road to the British Library for the free "Treasures of the British Library" exhibition https://www.bl.uk/events/treasures-of-the-british-library
Then carry on along the Euston Road, and go in the main entrance of St Pancras you can walk past the Eurostar trains

Kings Cross station is also worth looking around. If you need to eat, www.pizzaunion.com is 200m further along Pentonville Road. £3.95 for a fresh 12" Margherita is a bargain.

From St Pancras, you can either take 6 minute HS1 train to Stratford International. Its not covered by a travelcard, but a single is £6.80.
From there, you can take the Docklands Light Railway, Jubilee line or go into Liverpool Street.

You can also go to the Thameslink platforms below ground and to go across the Thames at Blackfriars.

There is the London Transport Museum https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/ in Covent Garden, but if you can pick a date, then try to arrange your visit for a weekend when they have an open day at the depot in Acton https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/visit/museum-depot
At an open weekend there are talks and stalls with books, posters etc. I got a coaster made from Bournemouth Blue moquette, as on the seats on the DMUs when I was a kid.

 

[Hadders]

Depends on your budget and what you want but my 'standard' recommendation for family and friends is:

Go to St Pancras and take a HS1 Javelin train to Stratford International
(Have a wander round the Olympic Park)
Take the DLR from Stratford International to Royal Victoria (starts from Stratford International so a good chance of getting the front seats if that's your thing)
Cable Car from Royal Docks to Greenwich Peninsula
Thames Clipper from North Greenwich to Waterloo (you get a different perspective of London from the River)
Trip on the London Eye (alternatively alight from the Clipper at London Bridge and do the Shard, or the Garden at 120 Fenchurch Street (which is free)
Underground or Bus back to your starting point (I used to recommend the 15H Routemaster at this point but alas it now only operates on summer weekends and Bank Holidays)

 

[davetheguard]

I'd second a lot of what Hadders says above really:

Ride high on the elevated driverless Docklands Light Railway (DLR) via the Isle of Dogs (Canary Wharf) to Greenwich - get off at Cutty Sark station. Greenwich has riverside walks, a covered market, lots of pubs & restaurants. Try and get the prized front seat (or back one) on the DLR for the view along the line in front;

You could return to central London on the Thames Clipper from Greenwich pier - great views of the river, sail past the Tower of London and under Tower Bridge;

Explore the Covent Garden area on foot - lots of tourists around, the streets are partly gas lit at night time. Restaurants & bars everywhere;

Enjoy the restored and refurbished stations at Kings Cross & St. Pancras - right next to one another. Both are now destinations in themselves. Perhaps have a beer at the Parcel Yard at Kings Cross station looking down over the trainshed and departing trains - but beware, the beer there is famously expensive;

Catch a southbound train (every couple of minutes) from the below ground Thameslink platforms at St. Pancras to Blackfriars station (views along the river in both directions as the station platforms are built across the river). Leave the station by the exit on the south bank of the Thames, for a walk east along the riverside by the well signposted "Thames Path" to Borough Market (food stalls, pubs & restaurants) and on to the completely rebuilt London Bridge station beside the Shard skyscrapper;

Have a ride on the top deck of a red London bus!

All of these (apart from the Thames Clipper boat) are included on a "One Day Travelcard" paper ticket which gives unlimited travel on trains, buses, Docklands Light Railway, trams, and Underground. If you travel on the Thames Clipper, show your One Day Travelcard as it will give you a reduction on the boat fare. This is a better ticket to get than an "Oyster" pay-as-you-go stored value card if you intend to spend time at stations watching trains; the "Oyster" card gets confused if you take too long making journeys......

 

[NorthWestRover]

If you're going to do lots of trips in and out of different termini and cross London (not necessarily spending too long in any one place), is a one day travelcard better than Oyster?

 

[davetheguard]

As you probably know, London is divided into fare zones with Zone 1 being central London (roughly the traditional Circle Line & within) and then concentric zones outwards with Zone 6 being roughly the outer edge of Greater London.

A paper off peak (after 09.30 Monday to Friday any time at weekends) "One Day Travelcard" for Zones 1 to 6 is £13.50. The peak anytime version is quite a bit more at £19.10.
If you get an Oyster Card, the pay-as-you-go price cap is £13.20, in addition you've got to buy the Oyster card (refundable afterwards) in the first place.

So based on these examples, off peak there's very little difference, and you might want the One Day Travelcard in case you want to hang around at any stations; but obviously if you want to travel before 09.30 then Oyster is cheaper.

Don't forget too that if you want to use the Thames Clipper boat, a Travelcard will give you one-third off; you can pay by Oyster but it won't give you that one-third discount. You pays your money and takes your choice.

The only other thing to consider is, if you use Oyster, you've got to "touch in" and "touch out" at barriers. So, if say, you went by train from London Paddington (Zone 1) to West Drayton (Zone 6 boundary) for the ride, and were coming straight back, with a paper ticket, you could get straight back on the next train. With an Oyster, you've got to "touch out" at the barrier to complete the first journey before "touching in" to start the next journey - you could have missed the next train in the time taken to do that! Oyster is a great system, but not always the most convenient for railway enthusiasts.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Emirates cable car definitely. I personally wouldn’t bother with the emirates experience though, just a small but quite expensive museum. Could have changed last time I went there, though.

As Hadders said, the 15H would have also been on my list of recommendations but it’s sadly somewhat restricted these days. If you are after an interesting bus route, however, the number 11 on the top deck passes by a lot of the usual tourist spots.

The museums down in Kensington are always nice.

Camden market, if that’s your kind of thing.

A first-class travelcard used to be a good day out for me, even more-so in my child-rate fare days. One of those bad boys gained you legitimate access into the lounges at a Liverpool St and Paddington as well as a good number of trains within the Zones 1-6. Nowadays, I’m not sure in terms of value if its worth it as it has been a good few years since I last used one.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Thanks Dave. I'd probably do the Travelcard so I don't have to worry about anything. I'm probably going to do an overnight, so second day I'd just go for a walk along the river/in a park after breakfast to get me to 9.30. Also have to decide if I do Avanti Advance to get there sooner, or go via the Chiltern route for loco haulage. Will definitely do Avanti Advance back.

 

[Peter Sarf]

As you probably know, London is divided into fare zones with Zone 1 being central London (roughly the traditional Circle Line & within) and then concentric zones outwards with Zone 6 being roughly the outer edge of Greater London.

A paper off peak (after 09.30 Monday to Friday any time at weekends) "One Day Travelcard" for Zones 1 to 6 is £13.50. The peak anytime version is quite a bit more at £19.10.
If you get an Oyster Card, the pay-as-you-go price cap is £13.20, in addition you've got to buy the Oyster card (refundable afterwards) in the first place.

So based on these examples, off peak there's very little difference, and you might want the One Day Travelcard in case you want to hang around at any stations; but obviously if you want to travel before 09.30 then Oyster is cheaper.

Don't forget too that if you want to use the Thames Clipper boat, a Travelcard will give you one-third off; you can pay by Oyster but it won't give you that one-third discount. You pays your money and takes your choice.

The only other thing to consider is, if you use Oyster, you've got to "touch in" and "touch out" at barriers. So, if say, you went by train from London Paddington (Zone 1) to West Drayton (Zone 6 boundary) for the ride, and were coming straight back, with a paper ticket, you could get straight back on the next train. With an Oyster, you've got to "touch out" at the barrier to complete the first journey before "touching in" to start the next journey - you could have missed the next train in the time taken to do that! Oyster is a great system, but not always the most convenient for railway enthusiasts.

I use my Oyster card to get by bus to East Croydon and then buy a paper travelcard ticket. So I lose an extra £1.50 by switching to a paper ticket. But most times I go to London I do that. it saves a lot of worry and hassle if it does go wrong.

I have mucked up Oyster if the journey involves a change of train. It used to screw up at Wembley Central regularly. It would happen there as I would be changing off a Southern service to go further North to Harrow and Wealdstone or maybe to Willesden Junction. I think it is because, to change trains, you had to go right upstairs and right outside the station. If I recall correctly there was not an obvious barrier as I exited. So when I entered in through the barriers leading to the DC lines I instantly flagged up an incomplete journey from East Croydon !. Its an awful lot of hassle and worry. I noticed how bad it was when I first started using paper tickets again - a lot less to tink abut. Far far better.

Another pitfall is if entering/leaving from a station with no barrier but just a single reader at the top/bottom of the steps. If you touch your card and someone else does simultaneously you have no ides if your Oyster card registered. If you touch again you risk overdoing it. Are you now in or are you in and then back out ?. Happened to me at Syon Lane after mega delays and ruined the whole of the rest of the day. Really not worth the bother - stick with a paper travelcard.

If you are visiting from outside London you really do not want to waste time and energy becoming an expert in avoiding the pitfalls of Oyster and also how to remedy them.