London questions: transport, your favourites, clubs etc.

[relumine]

Hello lovelies ^_

Comments

[inverse_spiral]

Drinking age is 18, so no problems there!

With the oyster cards, you can top them up using debit cards or cash either at automated machines or at ticket windows. It really depends how much you'll use them! It might be worth putting a smaller amount on first. You may be better off putting weekly passes on the oyster cards.

Note that you're charged per total journey, but there is a maximum daily cap depending on which zones you travel through.

[relumine]

Thanks! I'd already read about the daily cap, it's pretty neat :) But you're right re: the smaller amount. It should be pretty simple to just top them up again.

[inverse_spiral]

Oh, and you can get a refund at the end for any unused credit on the cards :-)

[dbskyler]

Yes, this is the best part! You don't have to worry about misjudging the amount, because if you put too much on, you can just go to a ticket window and ask for the balance to be refunded to you.

Still, it's nice not to have your money tied up in your oyster card, so I agree that a good strategy is to start smaller (20 quid?) and see how long that lasts you. If that gets used up very quickly, then you'll know how much more to add next time you top it up. When you get to the point where you have a full week in London left, you can tally up how much you spent and decide if it's cheaper to buy a one-week Travelcard pass for the rest of your stay, or stick with the oyster card.

[relumine]

Haha, I was pretty confused at first when I read about the oyster card, but you're doing a good job of explaining it :) Thank you.

[lingrem]

Where in London are you staying? Do you expect you'll want to use the tube/buses a lot, or are you guys good with walking a lot? Just saying as it might be more worth it to get there and get yourself a weekly pass - if you're mostly just in zones 1-2 and plan to use the tube/buses a lot, it's worth it as you can just hop on and off as much as you want and not worry about topping it up until the week is over :)

Places to go: Go to Brick Lane for curry (it's near Liverpool St station). Go to Camden Market. Go see Portobello Road for the antiques. Also if you're fans of pubs, look up some historical ones - there's the Prospect of Whitby down in Wapping which is awesome, and Ye Olde Cheddar Cheese on Fleet Street are two of the really unique ones that I plan to go back to when I'm back this summer (I'll be visiting in July as well!)

[relumine]

We'll be staying in 4-5 different hostels and we want to see as much of the city as possible, so we'll do tons of walking around, I'm sure :) And we're not that big on buses anyway. I guess we'll be using the tube to get to Greenwich and the usual tourist hotspots while walking everywhere else, so I don't think a weekly pass is really neccessary.

Can't wait to get there <3

[lurkerm1e]

Hi,

I just came across your London trip question today. Even if you dislike buses try to grab a ride on either the No. 9. or 15 Heritage old style London double-deckers. They are worth a ride. You can find them near Parliament Square. As for neat places to visit. Google: The Shady Old Lady's London and Ian Visits. Both places give you lots of info on free lectures and visits to odd corners of the city. I loved 'The Ragged School Museum'; 'Dennis Severs House'; Pollocks Toy Museum; Geffrye Museum and take a day to visit 'Greenwich' which can be reached via the DLR or by Thames Clipper. Get a 'London Pass' if it wouldn't break your budget and visit everything. Try mapping your trip through plnnr.com or walkit.com (the London versio). Have fun. Visit churches and cemetaries and sit in the parks; many are free.

[silentseanymph]

I'm a history nut, so I love Westminster Abbey. The admission fee is expensive, but worth it, in my opinion. So many famous dead people! And if any of you are bookworms, there's an excellent book store called Foyles on Charing Cross Road (Tottenham Court Road is the closest tube station, if memory serves).

[elusive_shadow]

Yup, Tottenham Court Road is the closest tube, and Leicester Square's quite close too. I love Foyles! It might be worth checking their website before you come as they often have evening events too - often free, but you still need to book.

Stanfords, near-ish to Covent Garden, is also an amazing travel-themed bookstore if you like that sort of thing.

[legolulu]

I really love Covent garden early in the evenings or Trafalgar Square, in summer there are always lots of people and things to watch