I will be visiting London for the first time and visiting my friend who just moved to the area around the Hampstead tube station. Does anyone have advice on the best way to get there? I read about the express train from the airport and also buses. Thanks in advance.

The buses are National Express (www.nationalexpress.com) and Terravision (www.terravision.it). I know you can take National Express to Victoria Coach Station, but there are other stops near tube stations as well, and one of these might be better suited for Hampsted.

You can also take the Stansted Express to Liverpool Street station, and then take the tube to Hampstead.

Click on the Journey Planner link at http://www.thetube.com to see possible routes. This will tell you at least some possibilities regarding trains and tubes. But disregard the price information, as that doesn't work for the train segment of the journey.

Bus plus tube will be a little cheaper than train plus tube.

I'd say that by far the quickest way would be to take the National Express Bus to Golders Green station (A6 which is heading towards Victoria) and then take the northern line one stop southbound to Hampstead. The bus will take about an hour and the tube about five minutes.

Make sure you tell the bus driver you are getting off at Golders Green otherwise they might not stop there - as well as being much quicker (because you don't go through central London) it is also considerably cheaper than any other way - for exactly the same reason!

Just

Thanks WillTravel and vnh, I will look into your suggestions!

Your best bet would be a bus. I know that there is another bus from central London to Stansted that runs along Finchley Road. The bus name ecapes me now. Anyone else??
Ask your friend if it would be better to take this (mystery) bus and get off near the Finchley Road tube station or to take the tube from Golders Green. Golders Green is a very large intersection and it might be a pain to get to the tube station from the bus stop. You'd be on the Northern Line with luggage- not so fun. Depending on where your friend lives a taxi might run you 5-6 pounds max from Finchley road (but more from Golders green).
What street does your friend live on?

I haven't been on that route but when Golders Green (i.e. the Northern Line) was first mentioned the initial thought that came into my mind was "NOT ME, not on a bet, not with more than a tiny bag anyway".

If you are traveling VERY light the bus/tube itinerary is great. But if you are carrying anything large or heavy, take a bus to either stop that works best for you (Finchley Rd or Golders Green per the other posts) and catch a cab from there.

Hi everyone. Thanks for the tips. I don't have her exact address yet. We will be there for just an overnight, so we will be traveling very light. Will I be able to pay for bus or train tickets with a credit card? Since we'll only be there about 24 hours, we don't want to change Euros to Pounds, if possible.

Since you are traveling so light the bus/tube will be easy as pie.

Yes, National Express takes credit cards -- but you can use a cash machine at Stansted to get a few £

thanks, highledge and janis.