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).
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).
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/
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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.
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