RSS
Home
Notes From the Underground (Metro System in London)
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Transportation Around the City
Walking 5 miles from Clapham North to St. Paul’s cathedral to meet my friend, I look at all the people on Kennington Road and wonder: how many of these people can afford to ride the tube everyday? None of the people I’ve met have cars. Neither do they live close enough to their jobs to walk to work. Taking the tube everyday both out-and-back amounts to about 170 pounds a month. Many students and other qualified citizens buy an Oyster card which allows them to ride the tube at a discounted rate.
If your just traveling or in London for a short time, getting around in London will be inevitably expensive. If you are taking more than 1 tube trip in a day, you should buy a day pass as a single ticket is 3-something pounds and a day pass is 5.60 pounds. A single ticket for the bus is 2 pounds and a day-pass for the bus is 3.80 pounds. Day-passes must be bought at ticket machines in the bus stations. You cannot buy them on the bus. London is a huge city. Walking can be nice, but, depending on where you’re going, it can take up to 3 hours to reach your destination.
Transportation to Stansted Airport
Public transportation from London to Stansted can take up to 2 or 3 hours. Getting from Stansted to London can become a little more difficult when you have an early morning flight (6am-8am). The cheapest option is to take the tube before 11:45 to Baker Street or Victoria to catch the EasyBus. You can purchase tickets for this bus online for only 2 pounds. The man will help you with your bags (putting the larger ones under the bus) and tell you to buckle your safety belt for safety.
Easybus doesn’t run between 1-3 am, but other Stansted buses run 24 hours and come every 30 minutes. Other Stansted buses cost 8-14 pounds and you can pay in cash when you board the bus. To have your trip planned for you, go to http://www.tfl-ticketlocator.co.uk/. Once you board the bus, the trip to Stansted is about an hour and therefore a good power-nap opportunity for those traveling at strange hours.
From 12-5 am, the floor of the Stansted airport itself is lined with sleeping travelers. It’s a fairly safe airport but every traveler should still strategically secure their bags in an effective way before dosing off in public. For example, duffel bags can make great beds, backpacks can be comfortable pillows, coats are good comforters, and purses are excellent teddy bears. Wrapping your arm in the shoulder strap is a good extra precaution. Sleeping on top of luggage is a lot better than the floor and it ensures that you won’t sleep through being robs. Of course there are security guards patrolling the airport anyway, and the cafes are open at all hours, so there will be watchful eyes to discourage thieves. Everyone else in the airport is also waiting to check in. There aren’t generally any stray people wandering around to steal. It’s a safe place to sleep, if you must, but remember to be like a dwarf and sleep with one eye open.
Or you can make sure to book an afternoon flight.
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
