London Bus and Tube maps (January, 2006)
Jan 19th, 2006, 06:56 AM
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London Bus and Tube maps (January, 2006)
I've seen numerous posts lately bemoaning the paucity of practical advice for getting from A to B in London. If the Journey Planner at thetube.com doesn't tell you what you want to know, I hope the following will be helpful:
<b>Tourist bus map</b> - the best map I know of for getting an idea of where the sights are and what buses serve them is
<font color="blue">http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/tourist.pdf
</font>
If your hotel happens to be on any of these bus routes, you might not need another map during your entire stay. You can download and print this map on a single 8½"x11" letter (or A4) sheet.
<b>Finding the right bus stop</b> - there are "Spider Maps" in every bus shelter that show which bus goes to what destination and where to board it, and you can learn to use these maps on line. Go to
<font color="blue">http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/</font>
and click on the first letter of the name of the stop where you want to begin or end your trip (or both) from the alphabetical list at the bottom of the page. When the map displays, note that there are lettered red discs on the street plan. Find the bus number you want, locate it in the "Route Finder" along the edge of the map, and you will see the letter corresponding to your stop. That letter will also be displayed prominently on the sign in the street.
<b>What Tube line goes where</b> - It has been frequently mentioned that the schematic maps of the Underground are often misleading because they bear no relation to geography. True. A much better representation can be found on (oddly enough) the <u>bus</u> map titled "Central London." You can study it on line at
<font color="blue">http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/pdfdocs/centlond.pdf</font>
Not only does it represent each bus line by numbers at every place it stops, but it also shows the Tube stops and lines in their actual locations. <i>This map is available in printed form free of charge at any Tube station ticket office.</i>
<b>Neighborhood pathfinding</b> - Once you get off the bus or train, you will want to orient yourself in the neighborhood. This is where the Interactive Map comes in. Go to
<font color="blue">http://www.journeyplanner.org/im/SI-T.html</font>
and you will find the classic schematic Tube map - but that's not what we're after. The neat feature of this map appears when you click on the name of a station. A menu will appear offering several pages of descriptive information, but by far the most useful one for visitors is "Local Area Map." Clicking this item will download a detailed street plan of the area immediately around the station showing places to eat, sleep, and shop, ATMs, Bureaux de Change, public toilets, theaters - in short, just about everything you might need when you get off your wheels and onto your feet.
These maps are all presented in .pdf format, so you will need Acrobat Reader (free) from adobe.com to download them. I keep several dozen of them in my iPAQ so I can view them in any required scale wherever I go.
<b>Tourist bus map</b> - the best map I know of for getting an idea of where the sights are and what buses serve them is
<font color="blue">http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/tourist.pdf
</font>
If your hotel happens to be on any of these bus routes, you might not need another map during your entire stay. You can download and print this map on a single 8½"x11" letter (or A4) sheet.
<b>Finding the right bus stop</b> - there are "Spider Maps" in every bus shelter that show which bus goes to what destination and where to board it, and you can learn to use these maps on line. Go to
<font color="blue">http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/</font>
and click on the first letter of the name of the stop where you want to begin or end your trip (or both) from the alphabetical list at the bottom of the page. When the map displays, note that there are lettered red discs on the street plan. Find the bus number you want, locate it in the "Route Finder" along the edge of the map, and you will see the letter corresponding to your stop. That letter will also be displayed prominently on the sign in the street.
<b>What Tube line goes where</b> - It has been frequently mentioned that the schematic maps of the Underground are often misleading because they bear no relation to geography. True. A much better representation can be found on (oddly enough) the <u>bus</u> map titled "Central London." You can study it on line at
<font color="blue">http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/pdfdocs/centlond.pdf</font>
Not only does it represent each bus line by numbers at every place it stops, but it also shows the Tube stops and lines in their actual locations. <i>This map is available in printed form free of charge at any Tube station ticket office.</i>
<b>Neighborhood pathfinding</b> - Once you get off the bus or train, you will want to orient yourself in the neighborhood. This is where the Interactive Map comes in. Go to
<font color="blue">http://www.journeyplanner.org/im/SI-T.html</font>
and you will find the classic schematic Tube map - but that's not what we're after. The neat feature of this map appears when you click on the name of a station. A menu will appear offering several pages of descriptive information, but by far the most useful one for visitors is "Local Area Map." Clicking this item will download a detailed street plan of the area immediately around the station showing places to eat, sleep, and shop, ATMs, Bureaux de Change, public toilets, theaters - in short, just about everything you might need when you get off your wheels and onto your feet.
These maps are all presented in .pdf format, so you will need Acrobat Reader (free) from adobe.com to download them. I keep several dozen of them in my iPAQ so I can view them in any required scale wherever I go.
Jan 19th, 2006, 08:26 AM
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Having visited London just 2 weeks ago, I'll add that free bus and tube maps are available at tube stations, and definitely at the Heathrow tube station.
Taking the bus is easy and provide sightseeing opportunity. I was in London for 2 days and I bought two one-day bus pass. The 1-day bus pass is only £3.50, compared to 1-day off-peak Travelcard which is £4.90 (or the peak Travelcard at a whopping £6.20).
Taking the bus is easy and provide sightseeing opportunity. I was in London for 2 days and I bought two one-day bus pass. The 1-day bus pass is only £3.50, compared to 1-day off-peak Travelcard which is £4.90 (or the peak Travelcard at a whopping £6.20).
Jan 19th, 2006, 08:38 AM
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It might be added that the bus pass is valid for all of Greater London (you could get all the way from Heathrow to the Thames Barrier if you had the stamina), whereas the Travelcards mentioned are only for the inner zones.
Feb 16th, 2006, 09:35 AM
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Sounds like a bus pass it is for me. I did find the journey planner helpful. Thanks! It gave me directions to get to my hotel. That's a load off my mind. On the journey planner for Paris, the French is throwing me off there. But I think my hotel is pretty close to where it stops. So I'll figure that out.
Feb 16th, 2006, 10:16 AM
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Just a qualification on what Robespierre said about the zones for the travelcards. They are also valid for bus travel everywhere, just like a bus pass, so you're not limited to only zone 1-2, you would just have to take a bus past that (or pay a supplement). If, for whatever reason, you need to travel a lot in other zones, you can also get travelcards including them, for a higher price.
May 6th, 2006, 10:13 PM
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There's such a lot of useful info here from Robespierre, but can I catch the bus from Heathrow (and would I want to at 7am in the morning)? Presumably the bus pass is also valid in peak times, so it's go anywhere at any time for very little. If I put a bus day pass on an Oyster card does that qualify me for 1/3 off boat trips on the Thames (Commuter services rather than leisure)?
May 11th, 2006, 08:08 PM
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Sure, you can catch a bus at Heathrow at oh-seven hundred AM in the morning. Whether you'd <i>want</i> to isn't up to anyone else to decide.
You can't put a bus day pass on an Oyster card, so your second question is moot. You can only load an Oyster for PAYG on a daily basis, or with a 7-day "Bus Pass season ticket" (which qualifies for the boat discount).
You can't put a bus day pass on an Oyster card, so your second question is moot. You can only load an Oyster for PAYG on a daily basis, or with a 7-day "Bus Pass season ticket" (which qualifies for the boat discount).
