Has anyone had any hesitation traveling to London after the tube bombings? Have you been there recently?
 

Hello! I was wondering if you've been hesitant to go to London the past few months after the bombings and if you've been there recently, have you used the tube pretty regularly during your travels? We will be headed there next month and will probably use the tube as our primary mode of transportation although initially after the bombing I was thinking only taxis! Thanks

Going next month. Had the plans prior to the bombings, didn't change them. Plan to use the tube.

Thanks, we're in similar situations then!

"I was wondering if you've been hesitant to go to London the past few months after the bombings and if you've been there recently, have you used the tube pretty regularly during your travels?"

Don't forget the millions of people that live in London, a great many of which use the Tube on a daily basis to get to/from work or whatever.

There was certain hesitation by people immediately after the attacks (despite all the reports of the Brits' defiance etc), but even people that altered their route/travel method or the times they would travel on the Tube aren't really doing that anymore.

I was surprised how nervy some of my colleagues were using trains/Tubes after July 7 and so I am not surprised visitors share the same anxiety. It's not a feeling I share but there are a number of threads on here addressing the same question you have raised which you may find it helpful to read.

I was there in August and pretty much it is back to normal; lots of police around and I felt perfectly safe.

thank you! i feel better already. i tried doing a search but nothing much came out of it. what were the key words you used in the search? thanks!

I was just there two weeks ago -- we arrived Friday the 16th, and spent the weekend there. Everything is back to normal, except for an occasional sweep of subway systems by the police, which sometimes holds things up. We didn't even experience that -- only heard about it.

We have a friend we visited in London, and she talked about it some. She lives near one of the stations that was hit, and told us about what happened, but other than that, no one we met was dwelling on it or worried about it. British resolve is made of steel, and they liken it to the IRA bombings -- something they've lived through, and they'll do it again as necessary, and trust that heightened security measures will do their best to lessen the risk, just as they do here and everywhere.

Please don't hesitate to go. We used the Tube extensively and had no problems, no fears, and in fact -- I was surprised afterwards to realize I hadn't really thought about it at all while I was there until after I left.

Jules

We've hardly used the Tube since we discovered the bus network several years ago. Consider the facts that:

o The Underground is only practical if you're going several miles. For short distances (which is what most tourists usually travel), it's often less trouble to just jump on a bus than go down into the tunnel, often walk up and down for several minutes to change lines, and climb back out at the destination.

o Riding a bus is more interesting, because you get to see various neighborhoods, and you can jump off any time if you see something that interests you.

o Bus lines traverse what seems to be every square inch of the city. Tube stations are relatively scarce, but bus stops are ubiquitous.

o You can often change from line to line by simply getting off one bus and getting on another at the same stop.

o The Greater London weekly bus pass costs £11, and is valid from Heathrow to Greenwich and everything in between. A daily card is £3.

Here's a simplified tourist map to get you started (note the #15 and RV1 routes cover many of the sights):

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/tourist.pdf
</b>

And here's the whole city on a page:

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

ttt

We used the tube frequently last month. I can't say I was completely unafraid, but the fact is I wanted to get from Point A to Point B cheaply and efficiently! The buses aren't bad either, but the tube was very convenient for us, given our location. And of course both modes of transport are vulnerable to terrorism. I did think there were fewer people on board, but I've never been to London in late August before.

I'm pretty worried about it, so I decided to go to New Orleans instead.

It may not have been the best choice I ever made:)

We were there just last week and had no trouble with the tube. We only used it for 2 days but still did not encounter one snag.
Happy travels

We were there August 24-28. Used the tube once or twice, but did use the buses a lot - having realized from reading here how much more sense that made from a sight-seeing standpoint. We even made up our own hop on-hop off tour. Maps at every bus stop make it quite easy to figure out how to get where you are going.

Thank you so much for everyone's feedback! I'm glad everyone has used the public transportation efficiently with no snags. The BUS! I will definitely look into bus routes. I think there's one right in front of our hotel. Thanks again! You've all made me feel WAY better.

The buses are great and as noted with just a little bit of homework you can do the same exact route as the hop on hop off buses (no commentary of course) at a fraction of the cost (As noted the #15 bus goes to a lot of places as does the #11) and they can be faster...example we're going to Victoria from the Bayswater area....circle line at Bayswater tube station? A slow torturous ride (any ride on the circle line is that) or district line to Earls Court and up and down transfer, also a pain in the petuna...but walk down to Bayswater Rd. and hope on the 148 bus....ah within minutes we're at Victoria then at Westminster and even to the Imperial War Museum or hop the 390 to the British Museum....but and it's a big but

It depends on the time of day. Sometimes, despite the congestion charge, the buses can be caught in a heap of traffic. At night, it's great and the bus is almost as fast as the tube but during mid day, well there are good days and there are bad days.

But if time is not a factor and you're just interested in seeing, there's nothing better than sitting in the front seat on the top deck of a double decker bus. Have lots of great pictures of the sites taken from that seat.

We were in London for the second bomb threat, though actually on a bus tour to Stonehenge that particular day. I have to admit the first couple of rides we took upon arrival in London I was nervous but the Tube was packed with people and running somewhat normally with the exception of a few closed stations. We did take the taxi a few times but I didn't really have the money for a lot of that in my budget. As the week went on we got more comfortable then the second bomb threat occurred on our last day. We took a taxi to the train station thought it would have been just a convenient by Tube. You just have to go with what your comfort level is.

You can click on my name for my trip report. We (Mom, two friends, me) went to London two days after the first bombing and spent a week there before heading to other parts of England.

We chose to do mostly taxis and buses, but that was mainly because long walks and stairs are tough for my Mom (knees).

The two friends rode the Tube several times, and I would have not hesitated to ride it.

The buses were OK, but we had some trouble figuring out where to pick up various ones - even when we asked (employees at Victoria Station, locals elsewhere).

Also, sometimes there were fairly long waits for buses.

But, our overall &quot;complaint&quot; (not that London could help this!) was that it was just too darn hot. And the buses not only aren't air conditioned, but the windows that open are only about 4 inches tall, at the very top of the bus. Extremely steamy, sticky, icky on the buses in July!

Since we were there immediately after the bombings, there was a LOT of police presence. Groups of uniformed people going &quot;purposefully&quot; from one place to another. And all carrying real weapons.

We didn't feel unsafe at any time - realizing, of course, that &quot;something&quot; could happen almost anywhere at almost any time.

We're going back in May - flying to London, probably a day or two there, then driving north (a stop in the Lakes and a couple of weeks in Scotland - I think that's the rough itinerary). This time my husband and I will travel with my Mom and Dad; so our London transport will be taxis and buses again.

My personal opinion is that you should be concerned enough to be aware of your surroundings, but relaxed enough to travel where you want to go.

Gayle

LOL Sheila...

Life is a risky proposition, in any event.

You're more at risk in the van/taxi driving you to the airport than you are in the Tube.

You can stay at home, or you can go to Baghdad. Everything else is a judgment call.

We arrived in London 3 days after the second round of bombings and really did not plan on using the tube. We never reconsidered going to London, though. We ended up using the tube once after we got really tired trying to get home one evening on the bus. The buses are fine to some extent; however, changes get tiresome and just forget about being on a main road during evening rush hour - you're not going anywhere.

We ended up on some long pilgrimage while trying to visit Abbey Road - too many bus transfers on the way there, and then on the way home, whenever we could finally get on the bus, it would stop at an intermediate stop and say, &quot;end of the line - everybody has to get out&quot;! This happened to us twice on the same route back to our hotel!That's when we ran down into the tube station for a much appreciated ride back to our hotel. We had spent about 3 hours of our day on a simple trip that would have taken minutes on the tube. We tried taxis also, but it was hard on the budget to try to do that on a daily basis (and hard to flag down a taxi, they were all full!)

Although I'm glad that we walked more than usual, and the bus can be a novel way to get around - you can certainly see more - I really missed the tube. I think I felt just as nervous on the bus, anyways.

Time in London is precious, and I really missed feeling like I had the option to get from one place to another quickly.

Hi sfbayarea; I'm from the bayarea too.

I arrived in Paris the day of the July 7 bombings and the next day took the Chunnel to London, then the Tube to Edgeware Road, north side of London during the late p.m. commute hour. First time I've ridden it during the commute with plenty of seats. I was sitting by the exit with my carry on rolling bag, and it was a tense ride the whole way, as was the Chunnel train. But typical British resolve all around; I was glad I went and would go again. Life is risk; I try to calculate those I take; this one is acceptable.

Spent two weeks earlier this month, stayed with private, nobody ever said a word about the &quot;incidents&quot;, and I never saw or heard anything while travelling around either. Might as well not have heppened. Rode the tube all the time. Go for it.

WK

I am living in central london (pretty much in the middle of all the bombing site). I am on a working holiday.

I have definately felt nervous on the tubes. The amazing thing about London and Londoners is that they just got up the next morning and kept going. Brilliant.

But then London has survived the Romans, Saxons, Vikings, Danes, Normans, the plague, great fire, jack the ripper, the killer fog, WW2 bombings, ira bombings and margaret thatcher.

I had to get on the tube the next day but remind myself that I am far more likely to be hit by a car.

However, some tips for not feeling worried
- don't travel on the tube in rush hour (it is not nice anyway - hot and cramped)
- use the bus to get around zone 1 - cheaper and often quicker too!! Some of those tube stops are very close together. Just remember to buy your ticket before you get on the bus.
- get on the end of the train not the front. stand near the doors

And remember if you get on a tube /train with a backpack people are going to watch you. So this is the one occasion it pays to look like a tourist - so you don't worry the people around you.

I was in London from Sept. 7 - 20 and used the Tube extensively with no problems whatsoever. I didn't even think twice about using it, I knew it was the best way to get around town from previous trips and I wasn't going to spend a small fortune on cabs (even though that's what my mom wanted me to do *g*). It was perfectly safe and other than some construction delays, everything was fine. Oh and some flooding. Apparently one of the days I was there had one of the strongest rainstorms they've had in a while - flash floods all over London, shut down quite a few Tube stops.

I wouldn't worry a second about using the Tube.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but a bus was also bombed during the London attacks.

I live in London and use the tube every day for work. I have no choice. There are many reasons I don't like the tube (overcrowded, delays, too expensive etc) but terrorism isn't one of them.

If you are worried then there are a few obvious things you can do.

Don't use it during rush hour. In any case it's not a lot of fun at that time (also as Americans you will drive the natives barmy - you'll stand on the left, open maps at the entrances and all the other things that tourists do to annoy us.)

Use the bus network - or more radically still, walk. The tube map which is most people's idea of the geography of london is hugley distorted and bears no resembance to the surface world. Places that look far apart on the tube map can be quite close together in the real world - get an A-Z. London is worth wandering around.

Taxis are great - but pricey. Also cabbies won't be over the moon if you use them for very short journeys. If money isn't a worry this is a solution, but expect to pay at least &pound;5 a trip.

Also actually assess the risk. 8 Million people live in london and more than that use the tube each day (people travel in). The chances of you being a victim are infintessimally small.

In short - don't fret it. London is safer now than it was in the 70s and 80s, and we never had these discussions then.

I was there for 3 weeks immediately before the bombings &amp; decided that next year I'd go check out retirement areas. Then the awful bombings happend &amp; screw it, I'm going back to London next June. Besides loving London, it's the principle of the thing.

I watched a news program yesterday that had a feature on the Crash of TransPeru Flight 204. A young Australian woman, who was in London this summer at the time of the bombings, flew to Peru to get away from it all. She perished on the flight. I am with my father on this one; you don't go earlier nor later, you go when is your time to go. In the meantime, enjoy life to the fullest in the best measure available to you.

we were in london 2 weeks ago, and used both the tube and bus systems without much giving thought at all to the bombings. we were too busy having a good time (and making sure we were actually going where we wanted to go) to worry about it.

and as a friend in greenwich said, you're much more likely to be hit by a bus than to be bombed on one!

What A Friend We Have In Greenwich -

I would tell him/her that the raw statistics can be misleading. You have (some measure of) control over whether you are hit by a bus, but not whether you get bombed.

Just back from a few days in London.
Used the tube to get into town from Heathrow &amp; on a daily basis. While I hesitated to use this mode of transportation - it proved cost effective &amp; efficient.
More time to sightsee &amp; less time stuck in traffic. (Which can happen when you take the bus) Don't miss the British Museum &amp; The War Rooms with the Churchill Museum.

&quot;You have (some measure of) control over whether you are hit by a bus, but not whether you get bombed.&quot;

considering that my wife never got the hang of &quot;look RIGHT,&quot; the whole time we were there, i'd say that for her the chances of being hit by a bus were pretty high. still, i understood what my friends were saying, which was that the world can be a dangerous place, but you've just got to move through it. (and look out for busses. &lt;g&gt;)

Robespierre - as for bus travel being preferable to Tube, have you been on a bus during rush hour on Oxford Street? It wouldn't be exaggerating to say it travels an inch an hour! :S-

Excellent point.

I plan my days in London <i>around</i> rush hour - I just don't try to move at all!

I've just returned from a ten day trip to London. I used the tube and felt no danger at all. I used taxis at first and realized I'd have to rob a bank if I wanted to continue doing that.

The best way (I found) to avoid being hit by a bus or anything else in London coming the &quot;wrong way&quot; is to treat each street like a one-way street, and you're not sure which way it's going. That is to say -- look BOTH ways before crossing, before putting your toe out, or letting any other extremity cross the plane between traffic and sidewalk.

I also find that I reduce my chances of being personally harmed by terrorists if I keep moving, i.e. <i>travel</i>.

Jules

We live with possibilities of terrorism every day. It is modern life. I called my daughter this evening and she answered her cell-- OH said I, I guess you got home quickly -- the news reports say there's a threat against the NYC subway system and that the evening commute is horrible.

Well, no, she said -- I just got ON the train and we're getting ready to go through a tunnel so I'll lose my connection, but I'll talk to you later.

I felt creepy, having perhaps scared her on her usual trip home (she teaches in the So Bronx, lives downtown in Manhattan). Am I chicken little? Is the sky falling?

She called back 20 min later saying she made it downtown w/o a problem, and we went on talking about our everyday lives and family stuff.

SO. If this plucky little 20-something has no problems commuting on the NYC subway system everyday, AS DO the people of London on the tube-- the level of &quot;risk&quot; is up to you. In fact, in thinking that it's lightening strikes, there is probably less of a safety issue in London than there is in the US.

We have to make our own decisions every day. Why should it be any different on vacation?

This thread caught my eye because I am just this moment getting ready to go to work.

I am listening to the news reports about the threats to to subway in NYC, and in an hour I will be on it getting to my office just above Penn Station, considered to be the prime target area. Last night on the way home, there were 4 police and 2 Red Berets in my subway car plus an extra high number of soldiers in the station.

i admit to being a bit nervous, but will go anyway, because that's how I have to get to work. I will be taking my portable &quot;survival&quot; kit as usual (water, money, power bars, whistle, flashlight, small first aid kit, Red Cross CPR card), and will try to be extra nice to everyone else on the crowded train, an generate an atmospere of calm.

This is exactly how my London friends behaved at the time of the bombings, and it seems to be the thing to do. At the moment though, wish I were off to London to visit them!

It's natural to be nervous. Often the things we fear don't come to pass, instead other unexpected things happen! It has taken me many years to realize that it's an illusion to think you're safer in your home town...As long as you are well-informed and as careful as humanly possible, you might as well get out there and live your life, as hubby always says, it's dangerous walking out of the house and crossing the street!

While we need to be informed, when you are getting ready to travel and are nervous, DON'T LOOK AT THE NEWS EVERY DAY! It doesn't change anything and will just terrify you. When I'm about to travel I assign a trusted relative or friend to watch the news for me and let me know if anything has changed or come up that I really need to know about. Then I can be calmer.

I used to avoid flying for 2 years after 9/11. Then I noticed I was afraid of trains, freeway driving, and even public places like shopping malls! So I decided enough was enough. I flew to Vermont for a great wedding, and I decided I wasn't going to let those terrorists stop me from living. Once I started flying again, all the other fears fell away as well.

One to think about is be logical. What is the perentage of people being killed from the tube bombings compared to, say, the percentage of people killed in traffic accidents? Risks need to be compared. Logic can fight fears.

And meanwhile my sympathy and prayers, always, go out for those who have been victims and their families everywhere...And I am ashamed of the cowardice of terrorists.

Another fact that may be relevant here is that the greatest number of British people killed in any terrorist attack died in america. 300 on 9/11.