abp

Is it cheaper for 4 people to take a taxi short distances instead of the tube?? I read that someplace??? and questioned it, but I have never been to London.

Grasshopper

Well it would depend on where you're going. It would be a heck of a lot more pleasant! I think every taxi ride in London is like a mini tour (and the cabbies are always willing to impart interesting stories). I know I'm not in the majority here but I HATE the tube.

crefloors

If you are actually splitting the fare 4 ways it probably would not end up being horrendously expensive. I love those cabs. I was with my brother and SIL when last in London and my SIL has very severe arthritis...she tried the tube but the stairs were just a killer for her so we ended up taking cabs quite a lot. We split two ways and it actually wasn't too bad...but then the exchange was only 1.40. A 4 way split would still make most rides quite reasonable I think.

Marilyn

My only concern would be traffic. If you are in central London with heavy traffic, it might take a lot longer to get where you are going by taxi than by tube.

highledge

yes and no.
If each person buys a travel card and uses it more than once probably the tube is less expensive.
If you were all to take a taxi from Tower Bridge to a hotel in South Ken, tube is PROBABLY sill better.

A quick taxi ride to a show when youhaven't a tube ticket? Then it's a better deal. You'll need to factor in multiple rides to fugure out the cost.
Don;t forget that the bus fares are only £1 or included in a travel card.

nytraveler

This is true only for a reasonably short ride - if you're going a longer distance (ie in from the ariport) - it doesn;t work. Have not been to London for more than 2 years - so don;t have the exact cost - but it's the same as NYC: four people on the subway is $8 - and a lot of short cab rides are less than that.

LAwoman

Agree with Marilyn - London is like NYC, depending on where and when you are going, can get hung up in traffic.

Patrick

This summer when we came into London by train from Cardiff and out to Stansted to get the plane to Italy, we decided it would be easier to take a taxi from Paddington to Liverpool Station instead of the tube. We were rather shocked when it cost us nearly 30 pounds -- can you say over $50 for that taxi ride? But there was a tremendous amount of traffic and it was slow going as well.

rj007

I have never taken a taxi in London and Patrick's example is exactly why I take the tube.

PalQ

Just read in Newsweek that Heathrow-London cab ride costs $100. Don't know if that's right but that's what writer said he paid.

bob_brown

With the decline of the dollar, taxi rides are expensive.

But it depends on how much luggage you have to wrestel. Four people might have more than one cab can hold.
However, on the tube, it might be unwieldy and stressful

I think it depends on your age, strength, and willingness to lug the stuff.

At 23, I could do it. At 72 with a surgically repaired hip, I cannot manage it. It is a physical problem of getting up and down the stairs with it.
At regular train stations I can do it.
But some of those tube stations are way down there. Yes, there are escalators, but not everywhere.

crefloors

I wasn't under the impression from the post that they were talking about to and from the airport. They were inquiring about shorter distances. I thought the cabs were great but probably would NOT have used them as much were it not for my SIL's disability. As has been noted by other posters, certain times of the day, in heavy traffic, the fare might be considerable depending on where you are going. In a lot of cases though, spliting 4 ways still would not be all that expensive if not going too long a distance. As others have suggested, the buses would be good: cheap and you are above ground to see the city. I use the tube but am not crazy about it but for price and convenience it's great and if my SIL hadn't been traveling with me I would have used more tube and less cab. But the cabs are terrific and you really should just take a ride in one at some point.

Marilyn

After Bob Brown's post, I felt it should be mentioned that escalators in the tube are not always working. You never know when you will need to walk up several flights of stairs (or search for an elevator alternative). If any of your party has a problem with stairs, that might influence your decision.

abp

Thanks for the information. I was only considering the taxi for short rides. I will be traveling with 2 kids. I thought it might be easier than dealing with the stairs at times and be more exciting than the tube.

JudyC

For visiting different sites in London, if you are not in a hurry,it would be easier/cheaper/more fun to take bus around, as bus routes are extensive, easy to get on/off.

With a bus daypass/day travel card, and a Central London Buses map, it is quite easy to get around. Except traveling from/to Heathrow, I hardly ever ride a tube,or take a taxi in London.

m_kingdom2

Tube is much cheaper, taxis are expensive, however, if taking a taxi doesn't mean having to have a lesser evening meal, or seats in the circle, then take a taxi.

Of course a taxi is far more pleasant, the tube will get you to where you want to go, but never pleasantly.

flanneruk

abp:

If travelling with children, it's virtually NEVER cheaper to use a taxi than to use a Family Travelcard on the tube, since the children are more or less free on these cards. I'd say never, ever, but someone's bound to think of some extraordinary circumstance.

As JudyC says, buses are almost certainly the cheapest way of travelling if you really have such limited need for public transport that a travel pass doesn't make sense. They now have maps that are as easy to follow as the metro maps in most other cities, and have well-flagged stops.

Those of us who aren't nimble enough for the tube these days (and there is hardly a single tube journey that completely avoids stairs, and none that can guarantee the down escalator will be working) will find the explosion in the number of street-level, single-deckers the easiest way of getting round. And a search of the tfl website throws up dozens of suggestions for using the movement-impaired facilities tfl provides.

bob_brown

You know, what this forum needs is fewer critics of what other people have to say and more answers.

I guess I took personally Crapfloors blast at my comments. How do you know the short distance on the tube/or taxi would not involve going from a hotel to Victoria for the train to Gatwick or to a station for a train to Luton?
Or the bus to Heathrow?
Or even a change of hotels for some reason?
Like last year, we were forced to change hotels because of a major plumbing problem and we had a transportation choice: walk, bus,
taxi or tube. It was highly unplanned but after having ridden the tube several places, I knew I could not handle my luggage on the tube. A more agile man could have managed just fine. Not knowing the conditions reasons, age, or sex of those involved, I was offering my experience in hopes something useful might be included.

If not fully appropriate, then don't read it. But I am not going to used as a spitoon by some verbal tobacco chewer who can't control his drool and feels compelled to leak on others.

janis

Whoa, Bob, buddy. Calm down.

What about Creloors' "I wasn't under the impression from the post that they were talking about to and from the airport. They were inquiring about shorter distances." warrants a response like "I am not going to used as a spitoon by some verbal tobacco chewer who can't control his drool and feels compelled to leak on others."

What's up with that??????

Tallulah

Bob - Wow! You're even more hormonal than me!

Anyway, abp, if you're not planning on travelling on the tube a lot and don't therefore need a weekly(?) travelcard, then you may well be better off getting cabs. Not least because it's a hell of a lot more pleasant and you will get to see parts of London off the tourist trail that could inspire you to jump out and have a look, or come back another time.

Oh, and it leaves more room for us poor sods who live here and have no choice other than to use the tube!!