London Info
What you need to know!
Isabelle Kemp
We had a great day out with Nikky. She clearly knows London inside out. We went to so many places and Nikky knew exactly what she was doing. We crisscrossed the city using bus, tube and even Thames boat. We also went into places which we never knew were open to the public like an old church , a rooftop garden and the oldest police station in London (now a lovely pub!)! We also had the BEST ice cream in London. We could not rate it any better – a fantastic day out with a great guide. You won’t regret booking this one.
Jay C
TripAdvisor
My family did the London half day tour with Nikky. She was like a walking encyclopedia of all things London! We got to see some amazing places, including iconic Piccadilly circus, where they shot some scenes for 28 days later (one of my all-time favorite movies). Having lunch at covent garden after the tour was also awesome. The pub we went to (great suggestion btw) had the best fish and chips I’ve ever had, but they even had vegan options for my MIL :-). We highly recommend this tour!
Sadie Callan
My 13 year old daughter and I did the 8 hour London day tour with Nikky. Highly recommended – a great way to see the city, and much more of an experience than just doing a bus tour. The itinerary has been exceptionally well planned – you get to see all the famous sites (Westminster, Buckingham Palace, St James palace, Piccadilly, Leicester Square, covent garden, St Paul’s, and many more). You get to use the underground tube, the bus, and even a boat in amongst walking. The walk was fairly easy, didn’t feel strenuous at all, and after lunch we were using public transport to get around. Nikky was a brilliant tour guide. It was a privilege to spend a day with someone so knowledgeable, helpful, and cultured. She really knew her stuff, explained everything well (and was really good at engaging with my daughter at just the right level), and was just an all-round class act. If you have a day to spend in London then I can’t recommend this tour highly enough.
Richard_L
Viator
Nikki, was one of the best tour guides we’ve ever had. She was personable and very knowledgeable. Nikki did a great job engaging us in the rich, sometimes dark and always interesting facets of history for each sight we visited. Nice features of this tour included a double-decker bus ride and a boat ride on the Thames to reach some of the sights. Although there’s a good amount of walking, it was interspersed with stops at the many sights, a stop for lunch and stops for coffee/drinks. Nikki also took some great photos of us and provided recommendations for places we were interested in going over the next few days. We give Nikki 5/5 stars!
Isabel D
TripAdvisor
I’ve never done a tour quite like this one, with a bus trip as well as using the Underground and taking an uber boat. We covered a lot of London, seeing covent garden, Saint Paul’s, tower of London and south bank. It was a cold day, but the guide N was amazing and kept us moving and made some unscheduled hot chocolate stops. Highly recommended.
Jeeva_R
Viator
We booked the London full-day tour and it turned out to be an exceptional experience. The tour started right on time and the meeting point was very easy to locate. Nikky is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about London’s history. She explained every place in great detail and shared tons and tons of historical facts that truly brought the city to life. What made this tour unique was that we visited so many “firsts of the world”—an unforgettable experience. Highly recommended for anyone visiting London and wanting to experience its rich history in the best possible way. A big thank you to Real London Experiences for an unforgettable day!
Edgar Wallace
I booked the London in a day tour for my family of 4 on a trip to London (husband and wife and 2 kids). So glad I did. It was a full day and we saw pretty much everything the family wanted to see- Buckingham Palace, westminster, tower of London, covent Garden and Piccadilly circus. Even better they took us on a bus, a Thames boat and on an underground train. The guide was so good and took tons of photos. An amazing day. Thanks!
How to Use London Public Transport
Who doesn't want to take the Tube, or a red double-decker bus, when they visit London. The city is justifiably famous for its public transport. The Tube map is an icon of design too, much like the famous red telephone box, and created the schematic map when it first appeared in 1931.
Nevertheless, navigating London's vast and somewhat complicated plethora of bus, boat, tram, tube and train networks can be daunting, to say the least. Fear not though, we've prepared this easy to use guide so you can use the best mode of transport in the capital like a local during your stay.
Transport for London operate the Tube, London Overground and the red buses. Rail services from the more distant suburbs and satellite towns are run by various different franchise operators, although they connect ticketing and scheduling-wise with Transport for London services.
Transport for London: the Elements
London's public transport network is divided into nine travel zones. Zone 1 is in central London, and the other zones ringing it, with Zones 6 to 9 on the outskirts of the city.
Within those nine zones there are five main threads to the London Public Transport web.
LONDON UNDERGROUND - THE TUBE
There are eleven London Underground lines, which provide transport from the outskirts and suburbs to the bustling city centre, with many central stations serving as busy interchange hubs.
The Tube is the oldest below ground metro system in the world, the first line opening in 1863, and some parts of the network do look old – in a nice way of course – but it has been upgraded a lot over the years.
It can get crowded, especially at rush hours, but it's one of the quickest ways to get around the capital.
LONDON BUSES
Taking one of the iconic red London buses is a great option for visitors. It’s main advantage over the Tube is that you can see the parts of the city through which you're traveling and enjoy a bit of natural light, rather than passing through deep underground.
The main drawback is that traffic can make journey times less predictable.
LONDON OVERGROUND, THE ELIZABETH LINE AND DLR
In addition to the London Underground Tube lines, there's also London Overground, the Elizabeth Line and DLR (Docklands Light Railway), which are above-ground lines and use slightly different infrastructure to their subterranean counterparts.
However, they are used in much the same way as the Tube and form part of the London Underground map that you’ll see on the walls of most platforms and inside the trains themselves.
NATIONAL RAIL
London's rail network crisscrosses the city and extends far beyond the Tube network. Local train lines, which include National Rail services, connect with the Tube at many different points and places, allowing for easy connections..
UBER BOATS
The most fun of all London transport options is probably taking a River Bus along the Thames. It may not be the most time or cost efficient way to get around, but it certainly makes the journey itself more of an event.
There are several routes operating, run by Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, stretching from Putney in the west to Greenwich and Canary Wharf in the east. Along the way, look out for iconic sights such as Big Ben, Shakespeare's Globe and Tower Bridge.
Getting To and From a London Airport
Now we’ve covered the main methods of travelling around London, it’s worth thinking about how you're arriving here in the first place. If you’re coming from within the UK, train is the most climate-friendly and popular option.
If you’re travelling from Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam or some other European city, then the Eurostar will take you straight to St Pancras International station, in the heart of London.
If you’re flying into the UK, however, you’ll likely find yourself arriving at an airport quite far from London itself. Don’t worry though, there’s an easy way into the city from each of London’s main airports.
To/From Gatwick, the quickest option is to take a train, with a journey time of roughly thirty-five minutes. Trains from Gatwick arrive at either London Bridge, Victoria or Blackfriars.
To/From Heathrow, the relatively new Elizabeth Line goes all the way from the airport to the city centre, and even out to the wilds of Essex. A faster but more expensive service is the Heathrow Express, which takes just twenty minutes.to reach Paddington Station, in Central London.
To/From Stansted, the train as always is the quickest option. The Stansted Express runs every fifteen minutes and gets passengers to Liverpool Street Station in just under fifty minutes. As with all the London airports, you can also get a coach, which is a cheaper but longer option than the train.
To/From Luton, trains operate every ten minutes at peak times, and take passengers to multiple London stations, including St Pancras International, Farringdon and London Bridge.
BEST WAY TO USE LONDON PUBLIC TRANSPORT
When it comes to paying for The Tube, the simplest way is to ‘tap in’ and ‘tap out’ at your start and end stations. Simply touch your contactless card or smartphone at the ticket barriers, and your fare will be automatically calculated
If you’re using one of the few stations that don’t have ticket barriers, make sure you find a tap in/out point so that the correct fare for your journey is calculated correctly – otherwise you may end up being overcharged. A standard adult off-peak fare within Zone 1 (city centre) is £2.70.
Journey costs depend on the time of day (peak or off-peak hours) and which zones you travel through. Various discounts are available for children, students and older travellers. For more details about London Tube prices, see the latest fares on the Transport for London website.
Check out this guide to cheap travel for more money-saving tips when travelling in London. If you plan on travelling around London to do some sightseeing and visit some of London's best attractions, a London Pass could save you money.
The Tube map is easy to read and remarkably intuitive. Each line is represented by a different colour, and stations are indicated with coloured circles, with icons to determine railway stations, wheelchair accessibility and other information of interest.
Paying for a bus is very similar to the Tube, you can use your contactless card, smartphone or Oyster card, but the main difference is that you do not need to tap out. All bus journeys have the same fare, so there’s no need for the system to know where you got off.
Just tap in when you board and you’re sorted! The bus is particularly good value too, with the Hopper fare meaning you can take unlimited bus journeys within an hour of first tapping in for £1.75. The daily cap on buses is £5.25, so you’ll never pay more than that for a day of exploring.
It’s important to note though that London buses no longer take cash payments.
HOW TO TAKE A BLACK CAB OR TAXI
It’s definitelyworth taking a ride in one of the city’s famous Black Cabs while you're in the city. The drivers, known as cabbies here, have passed "the Knowledge’, a mental feat of memorization that proves that they know all of London’s street names and shortest routes – so they never need GPS, Apple or Google Maps.
London black cab fares are metered, with the minimum charge set at £3.80. Additional charges apply when you take a black cab from Heathrow, book by phone, and travel on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. All black cabs accept payment by credit or debit card without a surcharge.
For a full list of prices, check out Transport for London's taxi fares. You can tip taxi drivers as much as you like, but most people round up to the nearest pound.
- Only black cabs can be hailed in the street. If the yellow taxi sign is on, the cab is available for hire
- Minicabs can be a cheaper alternative. Ask for the price beforehand, as minicabs don't use a meter. Far and away the best option is Addison Lee, which has been operating for years.
- Ride-share services such as Uber are of course available in London too.
LONDON UNDERGROUND ETIQUETTE
Here are some useful travel etiquette tips when using the Tube:
- Stand on the right when using escalators (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT).
- Wait for passengers to leave the train before boarding (otherwise you will get some glares and loud "tuts").
- Move down inside the Tube carriages while travelling, so you don't block the doorway for other passengers trying to enter the carriage.
- Stand behind the yellow line while waiting on the platform.
- Offer your seat to anyone who is unwell, elderly, pregnant or travelling with small children.
TAKE LONDON PUBLIC TRANSPORT WITH REAL LONON EXPERIENCES
We can take you down into the Tube, up onto the top deck of a London red bus AND out onto the Thames on a boat on a tour. We'll show you how the system works and tell you some fascinating history about the oldest metro network in the world. It's also a great way to see this amazing city.
Our London in a Day Tour and our Introduction to London Pt 2 Tour both include a journey on the three main types of transportation in London, the bus, the Tube and an Uber Boat.
We hope you found our guide to using London Public Transport helpful. We look forward to meeting you on one of our tours soon. All of them start and end at a Tube station or bus stop, so they're really easy to do using the London Underground.
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