London tube safe at night?
 

I will be traveling to London for a conference in mid-September. I am going to arrive in London early Sat. morning and the first conference event isn't scheduled until Sun. dinner. The conference ends on Wed. at noon and I am going to stay on until early Friday morning. Thus, I have a couple of days to myself to explore. I have never been to London before and am in the process of trying to put together a loose itinerary. Once I figure that I out I will post again to get some feedback on my plans.

However, in order to plan my itinerary I would like to know how safe it is to ride the tube at night. I am a female in my late 30s and will be traveling solo. Will I be okay taking the tube back to my hotel (in the West End - currently considering the Strand and the Darlington Hyde Park) at night? I would like to work some nightime pub (bar/club?) visits into my plans but need to know if I can take the tube back or if I need to budget for a taxi.

I appreciate any insight anyone can provide. Thanks!

Nothing is totally safe, but taking the London tube at night in general is safe esp for the areas a tourist will be visiting. Clubs/bars can finish much later than the last tube so would pre-order a taxi for that if you want to go back to the hotel at 1-2am for example. The last tube service is generally crowded too esp in the west end.

We lived as expats for a few years in London and never felt unsafe on the tube. It stops around midnight and starts again around 5.30am. It sounds like you will only be travelling around the very central parts of London which are the most crowded on the tube, which should make it safer. If I was travelling to the far reaches of the underground in an almost empty carriage I would have more concerns but would still do it. The tube in London is used by everyone - workers, tourists, people going to weddings, kids on daily trips to school etc etc. No need to worry at all.

I know you didn't ask for tourist info but you might enjoy a guided walk with www.walks.com We did quite a few and always recommend them to people. They also do day trips outside London, like Oxford, Bath etc but it doesn't sound like you'd have time for that. Enjoy your trip.

One other thought, if you are crammed into a busy carriage, just make sure your valuables are close to your body and out of reach of anyone who may pickpocket. I don't think this is particularly common in London, we never heard of it while we were there, but it's a sensible precaution.

Kay

There's always a risk you might come across some over-boisterous or over-morose drunks, but your travelling companions are also likely to include dogtired shift workers and - well, just ordinary people.

If you're planning to stay out late, there are night buses, most of which run to and from the Trafalgar Square area.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaro...?borough=night

But if you do stay on the Strand, you could probably walk back from most of the places you're likely to be.

Definitely have always felt safe on the tube and I am a woman in my 30's. I travel all the time alone (I live here) and never have any problems. Like others say - be aware of your belongings, and you may be 'lucky' enough to get on a carriage where some people have overindulged in alcohol, but just ignore them. You will likely only be travelling in central London and so will be surrounded by people at all times.

Enjoy your time in London!

travel.state.gov UK/London

for a heads up on current issues if you do not

know about them like civil unrest in some areas...

insuremytrip.com always wise for me.

Assuming things settle down have no problem with

all the tube stations in major tourist areas

Always am careful with my stuff and hop off if

gangs board in some of the dodgier areas.

Feel safe personally for the most part in tourist areas.

I would agree (from my experience as a tourist, not a resident) that the short answer to your question is yes.

Do of course be aware of your surroundings and belongings--and public transport protocol (stand on the right, dogs must be carried--ok, that's a silly joke--see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqXTzZVTs5o for a view of the Tube and a British giggle)

On a more practical note, I'd suggest getting familiar with the Transport for London (TfL) website; it's good to check for disruptions and problems, planned and not, which are updated there.

Also on a related subject, have you used walkit.com ? It is like googlemaps only better for plotting out walking itineraries in some cities, London being one. Gives good info concerning distances and times and such.

Thanks for all of your replies. Now I am just trying to figure out what I want to squeeze in during the short time I am there! I plan on taking KayFs and texasbookworm's advice and utilizing the walking tour websites for sightseeing.

Um - you can't ride the tube late at night - it doesn't run then. If you mean early evening, then yes it's safe as long as you aren;t staying in a dicey area (which seems very unlikely).

We always had to take cabs late at night - since unlike NYC's 24/7/365 - the tube simply stops at night.

"the tube simply stops at night."

The Tube stops between about midnight and 6:00am. Apparently they found that if they ran the trains through the night then too many maintenance workers died.

There is however an extensive network of night buses.

Our maintenance is don eon the weekends - mostly Sundays - on a rotating schedule of lines. Typically they will do maintenance on the local tracks while keeping the express running and vice versa. Sometimes, at the far ends of lines, when there is only one line they put in shuttle buses to cover the specific section of track that is being worked on.

So the only time any of the trains stop is

1) the outdoor lines (a few in the more suburban areas) if there is a very heavy snowfall - more than a foot

2) when the notorious Mike Quill, long-time head of the transit workers union, would pull workers off the line at 12:01 am on Jan 1 - so everyone out celebrating New Year's Eve had no way to get home. This worked brilliantly in getting the city government to the bargaining table, until one year the city managed to get a judicial order delaying the strike for 90 days - putting in into April. The union lost much of it's pull - and a lot of New Yorkers started walking or car pooling to work. Large companies hired fleets of buses and informed employees of the routes they would take. My brother (who lived in the suburbs, slept on my sofa for more than a week, since the bus run by his company ran a block from my apartment. My office was only a little more than a mile - so I just walked.

But other than that the subway doesn't stop. Nor the Staten Island ferry. Nor the host of 24 hour delis, coffee shops, cafes, greengrocers, ethnic restaurants or movies.