When in London if I want to go to the Royal Mews and the Cabinet War Rooms, my starting point will be the South Kensington Tube.My question is, "Atwhat station do I get off, and do I take a bus or another tube to get the rest of the way there?" I would prefer to do as little walking as possible.

The least walking will always be by bus, because a) you don't have to trudge down into the ground and back up, and b) the bus stops are a lot closer together than Tube stations, and c) to change bus lines you have to just stand there, while changing Tube lines involves substantial walking.

Your specific routing questions are answered here (UNcheck the Rail, DLR, and Tube buttons) and enter South Ken and Westminster:

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use...ptionsActive=1

Be sure the time of day and day of the week are appropriate, because bus services vary by both.

To get to Buckingham Palace/Royal Mews from South Kensington, take either the District Line or the Circle Line to Victoria and walk from there. To get to the Cabinet War Rooms, take either the District Line or the Circle Line to Westminster and walk from there. Go to www.tfl.gov.uk to download and print a tube map.

I just looked at the bus itinerary to Westminster, and I must say: "AUGH!" They want you to make at least one change and spend 50 minutes enroute.

This time, take the Tube. Straight shot, 8 minutes.

By bus from S Ken:

14 or 74 to Hyde Park Corner (depends on traffic, 15 - 20 minutes, could be quicker).

At Hyde Park Corner, you would have to walk through the underpasses to get to bus top F for any bus to Victoria, which would take you a bit round the side of the Palace (for the Royal Mews), if you don't feel like walking it yourself.

Royal Mews to Cabinet War Rooms: if you can;t face simply walking through St James's Park, take the 148 bus from the stop where you got off, and get off at Westminster underground. About 200 yards from there to the War Rooms.

Alternatively, District Line to Victoria and walk a few hundred yards to the Royal Mews. Again, I think the 148 bus from the Mews to Westminster makes more sense than going back to Victoria station for the tube to Westminster, if minimising walking is the priority.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/pdfdocs/centlond.pdf

Played around with the Journeyplanner. Real nice but you'd need a printer to be able to use it practically.

So buses have more coverage than the Tube, which doesn't seem to have as much coverage as the Paris Metro.

The trip times given by TFL seem to indicate the buses can travel overground just as efficiently as the underground trains. But is that even with traffic and what I assume are more stops than the Tube for a given distance?

For a portable Journey Planner (no printer needed) download http://nanika.net/metro to your Palm, Pocket PC, or SmartPhone.

Hmm, I had considered buying a Nokia E61, which is a Symbian smart phone.

<< which doesn't seem to have as much coverage as the Paris Metro. >>

Explain?

I suspect the "coverage" comment was made because of the notion that,

"It is said that from any location in downtown Paris there is a subway station not farther than 500 meters from you"

which we've heard for years.