London wouldn’t be London without the Underground.
The world’s oldest underground railway network, the Tube dates all the way back to 1863.
It started with the Metropolitan Line, created in response to the congestion in London which had reached crisis point. Other lines followed suit, inspiring Metro systems across the globe and London would never be the same.
Fast forward to today and a Tube-less London doesn’t bear thinking about.
What I love most about it is that it’s for everyone.
From City bankers to supermarket bakers, elderly churchgoers, and East London ravers; it is, in many ways, the great equaliser. Take the Tube first thing in the morning and see people from all walks of life, from countries and cultures about as far apart as their respective salaries.
You don’t have to be poor to take public transport in London. It’s purely practical- that’s how utterly impractical it is to drive in central London.
Read on for your guide on how to use it, why to use it, and how much it’s going to set you back.
Understanding the Map and Lines
The Tube Map is a design icon. While new lines and extensions have been added along the way, the map, designed in the 1930’s by Harry Beck, has remained virtually unchanged for the past 90 years.
Using a rainbow palette, each line is represented by a different colour and its own proper name. It’s visually pleasing and extremely easy to read.
There are now 11 lines in total, but the Overground and Thameslink, Docklands Light Railway, Tramline, and newcomer Elizabeth Line (already known as the Lizzie Line) are also shown.
At first glance, the entirety of the map can be overwhelming. This is a big city, and I thank our lucky stars that it’s as well connected as it is.
If you’re visiting for a few days, chances are your visits will be centred in Zones 1 and 2.
How do I know which Zone I’m in?
Easy peasy. Lucky for you, the Tube map is well-designed and whenever you take the Tube, the Zone will be clearly indicated.
London has 9 Zones, starting with Zone 1 which is Central London, encased by a further 8 Zones like the shell of an onion until Zone 9. (Technically, Zone 9 isn’t even London anymore. We’re talking deep commuter territory here, so it’s unlikely you’ll be heading that way).
Why do I need to know which Zone I’m in?
Ticket prices depend on the Zone you travel in (as well as the time of day)- with Zone 1 being the most expensive.
(See below for more on fares and tickets).
The good news is there is a daily cap of £8.10 in Zones 1-2. This means you will never pay more than £8.10 regardless of how many Tube journeys (or bus rides) you make in a 24-hour period, as long as you always use the same contactless card or device (see below). It will cap automatically.
Does the Tube run all night?
From Sunday to Thursday, the Tube has something of a Cinderella complex with most lines running their last services around the midnight mark or shortly thereafter.
On Friday and Saturday nights, thankfully, we have the Night Tube but only on the Northern (black), Central (Red), Victoria (light blue), Piccadilly (dark blue) and Jubilee (grey) lines. For the rest of us, (I’m a Bakerloo babe myself), we make do with a tube and then a night bus of which there are millions so you’ll be covered either way.
How to Use the Underground
Lots of Tube stations in central London have this very smart oxblood coloured tiling. They were designed by an architect called Leslie Green in the early 1900s, and will often have distinctive tiling inside too. This is Russell Square in Bloomsbury.
You’ll find lots of hotels in this area as well as being a five minute walk away from the British Museum. The area straddles the areas of Kings Cross and the West End.
Once you’ve established whether you’re using your contactless card or an Oyster Card (see below), it couldn’t be easier.
All London Underground Stations are fitted with barriers and built-in card readers at the side allowing you in. When you tap your card to gain entry, this is called “touching in”.
On exit, you will be required to do the same thing; this is called “touching out”. You must ALWAYS touch out so that the correct fare price can be calculated. NOT touching out results in an incomplete journey and you may be charged a penalty fare. It’s practically impossible to faredodge on the Tube- they run a pretty tight ship!
Poster reminding you to always use the same card/device to tap in and out.
Ticket barriers and card reader above.
Example journey
Russell Square to Kilburn Park.
Russell Square is on the Piccadilly Line (dark blue). On this journey, I needed to go to Kilburn Park on the Bakerloo Line (brown). I had to take the Piccadilly Line for five stops until Piccadilly Circus. Here I changed for the Bakerloo Line.
[insert video ‘going thru barriers’]
Finding the correct platform.
Mostly it’s clearly indicated, but at stations like King’s Cross, you may well feel as though you have entered Dante’s seven rings of hell as you try to figure out which branch of the Northern Line is required (more on this below).
Tip- try and familiarise yourself with the train’s final destination as well as the name of the station you are getting off at.
Some lines like the Northern and Central, split off in two and will therefore have two different destinations. So always check the destination of the train to make sure you’re on the right branch of the line.
There will always be several boards like this (left) around the station helping you to find the right platform and showing you the interchanges at each station.
Tip: If you’re taking the Piccadilly Line back to Heathrow Airport, make sure your train’s final destination is Heathrow. It will be clearly marked on the arrivals board and on the front of the train.
[insert video “finding platform at Russell Square”]
Older stations in central London often have stairs to take you down to the platform rather than escalators. Notice the pretty tiles and vintage original “To The Trains” signage.
[insert “boarding the train” video]
I was travelling at lunchtime, which is generally considered to be off-peak. Often Tube journeys can get a lot more crowded than this. I dutifully “let passengers off the train first” (as we are instructed to do by the announcements) and then boarded the train.
Our trains are much smaller and dinkier than metro trains in other major cities. Some lines, like the Hammersmith and City, built in the latter half of the twentieth century, are a bit bigger and have air conditioning. The Piccadilly Line, alas, is no such line, so expect it to get pretty hot if you visit during a heat wave.
At Piccadilly Circus, I changed for the Bakerloo Line. This change is pretty straightforward. Just up two short flights of stairs. There are panels everywhere to reassure me that I am going in the right direction and I’m going to the right platform.
[insert video “changing lines”]
Finally, I emerge at Kilburn Park. Always have your card or phone to hand as you will need it again to “touch out” in order to exit.
As is the way of the world, ticket offices are now a thing of the past; replaced with ticket machines and on-the-ground staff to help and assist.
At Kilburn Park station however, apart from always playing classical music (originally an experiment to curb antisocial behaviour but now a permanent feature), they have converted the ticket offices into terrariums calling them Tiny Parks. Have a look, it’s adorable! I don’t know of any other Tube station that has them.
[insert “arriving at Kilburn Park” video]
Final destination: Kilburn Park. Another example of the Leslie Green designed oxblood Tube stations from the early 1900s.
Generally, the Tube Map and working out routes are very intuitive (thanks to the wonderful design). However, nothing is perfect, and to my mind, the main headscratchers are the Northern Line and the Hammersmith & City / Circle / Metropolitan Lines (the last three running together and sharing stations for most of central London).
Example 1, Northern Line:
Say you wanted to go to Waterloo from Camden Town. You need to head south. Southbound Northern Line trains terminate in Morden. However, at Euston, the Northern Line splits in two.
This means that you need to make sure you’re on the right branch of the line. There will be two options:
Morden via Bank
Morden via Charing Cross
For Waterloo, you need the branch that goes via Charing Cross.
Sometimes, there will be announcements advising passengers to change at Euston in order to change platforms if they want to go to central London.
Example 2, Hammersmith & City / Circle / Metropolitan:
Let’s say you went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street, and now you fancied a walk down Portobello Market.
You’ll need to take the Westbound Circle Line or the Hammersmith & City Line from Baker Street to Ladbroke Grove.
You need to make sure the train you are boarding terminates in Hammersmith. Check the board and the front of the train. You don’t want the Metropolitan Line as it shoots off into commuterville after Baker Street, taking you to places you don’t need to be.
Escalator etiquette/rules
In London, we stand on the right allowing people to walk up or down on the left. Please be mindful on the escalator and always stand in single file or you’ll get baulked at by stressy Londoners on the move. We take it very seriously.
Stand Clear of the Yellow Line
Those trains come in faster than you think!
Mind the Gap
For real. Sometimes the gap is really big. And it’s not an urban legend, sometimes people fall in the gap between the train and the platform. I’ve seen it happen! A lot of platforms are curved, rather than just a long straight line, so you get these awkward gaps, especially at Waterloo Station.
Fares and Tickets
The most common way to pay is via a contactless card or device.
Travelling within Zone 1 will set you back £2.80 in peak times with a measly 10p discount if you travel at off-peak times.
Travelling between Zones 1 and 2 will cost you £3.40 in peak times and £2.80 during off-peak times.
If you choose to pay this way, then it will be on a “pay-as-you-go” system, where the price is capped at £8.10 for unlimited journeys between Zones 1-2 (see below). It’s one card per person, and it isn’t possible to pay for anyone else using the same card.
If your card is subject to commission every time you use another currency, then it’s best to invest in a prepaid Oyster Card. (So called because “London is your Oyster ” when you have one as it’s valid on every kind of public transport.
Where to get one:
They are available at major London airports like Gatwick and Heathrow- just look for the TFL (Transport for London) helpdesk when you get to arrivals.
Alternatively, once you’ve arrived, go to your nearest Tube station and find a ticket machine:
Step 1: Select “buy Oyster card”.
Step 2: Choose how many you need (It’s one card per person aged 10 and over. Children under 11 travel free).
Step 3: Select “Top up pay as you go”.
If you’re only planning on staying in London for a couple of days, then Pay As You Go will do the trick.
While London Transport is generally excellent, it is also the priceiest in Europe. Balance it out with exploring as much as you can on foot and hopping on the occasional bus too. Start with a £20 top-up and see you how you go.
Step 4: Make your payment.
There is a £7 fee for the physical Oyster Card itself … but you’ll be able to use it again, and if not makes for a nice souvenir. Any unused credit stays on there so you can just leave it for next time. You can check your credit at any ticket machine at a Tube station.
Step 5: Collect your Oyster Card from the machine and explore!
London is your Oyster.
If you plan on spending more than 7 days in London:
Consider a travelcard in this case. You’ll probably be based in either Zone 1 or 2 but you can check this on the map. There are 9 zones in total, but once you go beyond Zone 4, you’re in deep commuter, suburban territory there (and zone 9 isn’t even really London anymore), so you probably won’t need to concern yourself with those. The further out you go, the more expensive it will be to travel back into the centre.
Buying a seven-day travelcard:
Follow the same steps as above but rather than ‘pay as you go’, select ‘buy travelcard’
Select your Zones. I selected Zones 1-2 as they are the most popular for visitors.
It’s a lot for seven days, I know. You will have unlimited use of London’s buses, Tube, and Overground networks, and with a city as big as London, that’s worth its weight in gold.
There will be more information about pricing displayed next to the ticket machines like this:
Accessible travel
TFL prides itself on “fast becoming one of the most accessible cities in the world”. While it’s true that great strides have been made, the reality is The Tube is also the world’s oldest underground network, and the stations were not built with differently-abled people in mind. This means long connecting tunnels, stairs taking you up or down to your required platform, and a limited number of stations with lifts.
This is worth bearing in mind not just if you have mobility issues, but also if you plan on using the Tube to get you to and from the airport. If you have heavy, bulky luggage, you might want to think twice (see videos above for a typical experience moving between platforms).
However, the TFL app, members of staff, and useful leaflets at the station all make it pretty easy to find out which stations have what’s known as “step-free” access.
On the app, you can select using the icon in the top right-hand corner, whether to view the map with step-free options on or off.
Here, step=free mode is ‘OFF’ so I just see the standard Tube map.
When you select Step-free mode on, the map only shows you stations that have step-free access.
This helps a bit when you want to plan ahead. I think it’s a great function for a public transport app to have.
For a full range of maps, from Tube maps designed for the colour blind, to audio-described guides, head to the TFL website: https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/download-accessibility-guides-and-maps?intcmp=69828
Left: Extra wide ticket barriers for buggies and wheelchairs. Stations are normally staffed in case you need any assistance.
Tips and Tricks and Can’t Misses
Art on the Tube
Alongside the iconic tube map, the London Underground is something of a design classic in general, inspiring artists for decades now to decorate platforms and stations with designs as diverse and eclectic as the city itself. There a dozens to choose from, but here are a couple that stand out to me:
I love these postmodern panels at Marble Arch on the Central line, designed in the 1980’s by Annabel Grey.
Mosaics at Maida Vale on the Bakerloo.
These eye-catching mosaics designed by Scottish-Italian artist Edoardo Paolozzi at Tottenham Court Road (pronounced Tott-nam) have been a crowd pleaser for years.
Don’t miss these William Morris inspired tiles at Walthamstow. Walthamstow is home to the William Morris Museum – well worth a visit if you are interested in textiles and a bit of social history
Russell Square has these gorgeous tiles dating back to over a hundred years ago. They are typical of Tube stations designed by an architect called Leslie Green. If you stop by Holloway Road Tube station (on your way to the Emirates Stadium), you’ll see more examples of this very charming early twentieth-century design).
Tips and Tricks
Download the TFL app for detailed routes, information about disruption on the lines and clearly displayed options.
Avoid travelling during peak times if you can help it. Travel after 10 am and it’s a much more chill experience.
Try using the newer lines Hammersmith & City, Circle, District and Elizabeth Lines as much as you can. They are bigger, well-ventilated and fitted with good A.C.
Let passengers off the train first. Otherwise, it’s just chaos and frankly, quite rude. It’s small and cramped enough as it is. No need for pushing and shoving as well.
Make a speedy exit:
When your station is next, get ready to move quickly. The trains don’t hang around. More than once I have seen out-of-towners utterly dismayed at the sight of the closing doors as they were just moving towards them. Only to look around at the rest of us as if we were supposed to agree with them that “it’s ridiculous! They closed too quickly!”. No love, they didn’t. You were just too slow.
Carry water with you.
Unfortunately, when trains become excessively crowded, some people tend to overheat, panic, and pull the alarm bell. For this reason, you’ll often see public health announcements like these:
Walk if you can
Many stations in central London are actually very close to each other. If you’re in the West End trying to get from Oxford Circus to Covent Garden, just walk it. It’s a pleasant and entertaining walk through Soho and then Leicester Square. From there it’s a short walk over. It’s not worth getting the Tube – save it for longer journeys.
And finally …….
There’s no phone service/internet on the Underground (when it’s underground)
I apologise for the inconvenience on behalf of the city. Sorry.
So there you have it! Remember to touch in AND out, stand on the right, let passengers off the train first, and carry a bottle of water with you!