I've just made a comment about this on another post and thought I'd add it as a main post just in case anyone planning to visit London hadn't considered it. I'm sure that most you have so don't want to appear as though I'm insulting your intelligence!

When you're planning routes in and around London, don't just rely on a tube map or an A-Z/streetmap, use each in conjunction with the other. For example, it may be quicker to walk from one stop to another since the tube map is designed for clarity and doesn't equate with the geography above ground (although the original maps did). Some stops are simply a matter of 100-200 yards from each other but on the tube map may look quite some distance and also involve changing lines.

If you realise this, apologies for stating the obvious. If not, then I hope it helps. I've seen many people get on at Embankment to get the Northern Line to Charing Cross, clearly not realising that they are about 150 yards apart and they've taken 5-6 times longer to get there than if they'd walked.

On my first trip to London, I would guess which station was closest to where I wanted to go, then plot a route with changes to get to that station. By the second trip I would usually find the closest station to my destination that was on one of the direct routes and walk from there. It was generally fast and painless.

Keith

And sometimes a bus can be more convenient (make the most of it whilst we still have the routemasters..)

I'm not famliar with the A-Z map (yes, I know it's highly recommended). The map we loved using in London was a street map with the tube system, both stations and actual travel lines, superimposed on it. This did indeed give us a dose of reality when deciding routes and whether to walk or ride.

It also re-emphasized the usefulness of planning your itinerary for the day along one tube line, rather than by other geographic strategies, since transfers between lines eat up time.

Buried in the London underground web site is a hugely entertaining flash program that transforms the official stylized map into the form its lines would take if they reflected real Londn geography.

http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/content/tubem...derground.html

Was in London a couple of years ago to visit my neice and she used the A-Z map all the time. The difference was she was 19 and I'm..well..hmmm...anyway, I wear bifocals and the print was so darn small I couldn't read the that map. Needed a magnifying glass!!! LOL I found other maps more readable.

There are several different forms of the A to Z. Pocket sized, paperback book sized, large print, spiral bound desk sized, etc, etc. Most also include rail connections and the tube map on the back cover.

They are just terrific, but you need to get the one that best meets your needs.

Janis- Ah...NOW ya' tell me!!!! LOL

Also, you can pick up the central London bus map at any tube station. You should ask for that for central London, not for tourists, as the latter misses some routes.

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