Tube

London is a big city with 6 radial zones for public transport. The tube (sweet name to call the underground) is made up of 13 lines. Every line has a name (Central, Circle, Jubilee, Metropolitan…). The price of a single tube ticket is £3 (£1.50 with Oyster card - Oyster single fares to pay as you go are cheaper than cash single fares) for zone 1, and you have to keep your ticket all along your journey, as you will need it to exit. The penalty for a missing ticket is £20.

As soon as you plan to take the tube several times in the same day, it may be worth to order a one-day Travelcard (£4.90 zones 1-2). This card is usable after 9.30am. A Seven-Day Travelcard is also available. You can order a Monthly Travelcard (£160 approximately zones 1-6), or an Annual Season ticket (£888 zones 1-2) that you will have to pay in one shot. If you loose it, you can ask a duplicate Travelcard in the tube station where you purchased it originally (complete a form and attach £10). Your company might provide you a “Season Ticket loan” (that they will substrate the cost/12 from your salary).

Tube/Train: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/

Train

You have several train stations in London: London Bridge, Waterloo, Victoria, Charing Cross, Paddington, King’s Cross, Liverpool Street, Cannon Street…) and several train companies (privatised). You cannot purchase a ticket a long time in advance, as you don’t check out the ticket before board the train and the valid date is shown on the ticket. Prices vary if you take the train during peak hour or off peak.

Cabs

Taxis are called cabs (or black-cabs even if they are green or dark red). You will have also private taxi companies called mini-cabs (they are often private people, so there is no counter and we recommend you strongly to ask the price of the journey before to go).

• Dial a cab: http://www.dialacab.co.uk
• London black cab: http://www.londonblackcabs.co.uk
• Addison Lee: 020 7387 8888 [just one of the best and cheapest mini-cab company. Say that you pay by cash (overwise you are a company)]

Coach

For long distance journey, it is worth better to take the coach (if you go to Oxford, a day return ticket with the Oxford Tube is only £7.50). You find coaches in King’s Cross coach station and Victoria coach station.

Airports

You have 5 airports around London: Gatwick (trains from Victoria station for Gatwick Express or from :London Bridge), Luton (Thameslink trains from King’s Cross), Heathrow (Picadilly line or Heatrhow express – 15 minutes but £12 a single ticket), Stansted Airport (Stansted Expres through Liverpool Street station – about £12 and 45 minutes in the train) and London City Airport (buses from Liverpool Street, Canary Warf – really central).

For cheap flights, you can try Go (http://www.go-fly.com), Ryan Air (http://www.ryanair.com), EasyJet (http://www.easyjet.com).

Cars

With a car, you will notice obviously right at the beginning (except if you come from Hong-Kong or Australia) that you drive on the left side of the road! Saying that, you might want to hire a car:

- Hertz (http://www.hertz.co.uk)
- EasyRentacar (http://www.easyrentacar.com/)
- Alamo Rent A Car (http://www.alamo.co.uk/)

The Congestion Charge is a £8 daily charge for driving or parking a vehicle on public roads in central London. Unless you are exempt or registered for a discount (residents, motorbikes, cabs, disabled...), you must pay the charge . The congestion charge applies from 7am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. The boundary of the central London congestion charging zone is formed by the 'Inner Ring Road' (touristic centre and City). You can pay the congestion charge either in advance or on the day of travel before, during or after their journey (an additional £2 surcharge will apply if you pay from 10.00pm until midnight on the day of travel). Payment of the daily charge allows you to enter, drive around and leave the charging zone as many times as you wish in one day. You can pay online, by phone (0845 900 1234), by text, by post, at shops & petrol stations. Penalty is £50 if you failed to pay by midnight (to be payed within 2 weeks). More information on http://www.cclondon.com/

Parking

We can give you some advice about parking downtown. It’s forbidden to park nearby a double line (yellow or red). Parking is allowed except during daytime (after 6pm during workweek and after 1.30pm on Saturday) on a single line. Dotted areas are often indicate parking places for residents or free spaces according the signs.

For less than £100 per year (depending on the borough), you can get a resident parking permit, that allows you to park within your area. Rules are different according to the boroughs, but usually you will have to provide the followings:

a completed form (that you can find at your council)

a proof of residence (bill, tenancy agreement...)

driving licence

V5 logbook

Pound

If you need to go to the pound, the best thing is to ask a black cab. He knows the address, and if you ask for a receipt, you can claim for a refund (minus £1) to the car pound.

Insurance

It is compulsory to have car insurance. There are many companies, including banks which can provide car insurance. You can also look for through the Internet.

Map

As anyone, you will buy the AtoZ, book of all the streets in London to find your way (is it possible to live without it?). If you need a specific map, you can find your way in UK with http://www.multimap.com.

City Map: http://www.multimap.com/ Road Map: http://www.viamichelin.com/

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