The Student Room Group

Travelling Around London

Hi Everyone, im hoping to be in London next year (KCL) studying English so i will be located at the Strand Campus however the halls i want to stay at are in Denmark Hill (KCH) So im obviously going to have to do some travelling. Can anyone give me a simple breakdown of how much i can expect to be paying and what would be the cheapest option for me if i wanted a whole season ticket. I have read about the oyster card, travel zones, metro, tram, tube etc etc but living in Birmingham and using only buses at the moment it is all a bit overwhelimg and just a tad confusing! If anyone could offer a simple break down i would be grateful. Thank you
London public transport is exorbitantly priced, plus Transport for London is a monopoly so they can charge passengers as much as they want to.
Basically:
Single adult bus ticket: £2 without the Oyster card. Around £1 with it.
Tube: Around £4 for a single journey without the Oystercard. Around £2.50 with it, but it depends.
The simplest and cheapest way to get around London, I find, is to walk or bike whenever possible and only take the bus or tube if it's absolutely necessary. My halls are around 20-25 minutes walk from college, so I generally walk, get some exercise, and save a lot of money. :biggrin:
Reply 2
That does seem expensive! I know my halls have bike sheds but it might take a bit too long to travel from Denmark Hill to Strand by bike everytime i have lectures, seminars etc. Is there a year ticket you could purchase tht gives you unlimited travel? and how much about does this cost? Thank you
Reply 3
Hiya. London Bus Services are pretty cheap if you buy a day rider. It cost £3.50 and you can make multiple journies all over the capital for up to 24 hours. You found them at machine points all over central. The tube isn't that bad for day riders either if you buy off peak. It's £5.10 between zone 1 and 2 for a day rider. Alternatively, as the previous fellow suggested, you could walk. Central Londons a lot smaller than you'd expect as I walked from King's Cross to Oxford Street in a relatively short period of time. I think the maps distort the distances slightly.
Around £2.50 with it, but it depends.


No... 1.50.
Reply 5
Bus = £1 everywhere at all times (if you're paying as you go on oyster, if you get some kind of season ticket it'll be cheaper. If you get a student oyster (£20) you get a 1/3 off season tickets). I think you can bus from Denmark Hill to the Strand. There are travel details on the kcl website www.kcl.ac.uk

Tube fares, pay as you go on oyster, are £2 for a single journey in zone 1 (so that's the minimum you pay). Can get pricey. best to learn to use buses and walk places, things really are much closer to each other above ground than you'd think. Have a good look at an A to Z and you'll realise that.

www.tfl.gov.uk will have a lot more up to date details.
The student Oystercard system doesn't work 100% of the time -- getting one is a long and very, very fiddly process and some colleges within UoL had major difficulties with forms etc. I ended up getting a normal Oystercard and saved myself a lot of time, money, and wrangling with the Union.
If you get a student oyster (£20) you get a 1/3 off season tickets).


They only cost 5 pounds, actually
Francophobia
The student Oystercard system doesn't work 100% of the time -- getting one is a long and very, very fiddly process and some colleges within UoL had major difficulties with forms etc. I ended up getting a normal Oystercard and saved myself a lot of time, money, and wrangling with the Union.


I got mine about 36 hours after I applied online.
tube journey inside zone 1 are 1.50 not 2 quid
journey not involving zone 1 is a quid off peak.
The quickest way is to cycle, which takes around 25 minutes, quite a simple route going up all the main roads (i know a few have cycle lanes).

The next quickest route is to get the train to Blackfriars, which takes around 40 mins.. it takes about 15 mins (included) to walk from Blackfriars to the strand. I'm not sure how much trains cost.

The next one is bus, which takes aroun 45-65 minutes depending on traffic. You can get the 68 and 176. The bus is £1 each way with Oyster.

You can't really get the tube as Denmark Hill has no tube stop. It will cost more if you get the tube from Blackfriars to Temple, so it's not worth it unless you are in a rush!

An Oyster is worth getting anyway, even if you don't think you will use it much.
Reply 11
josh2716
Alternatively, as the previous fellow suggested, you could walk. Central Londons a lot smaller than you'd expect as I walked from King's Cross to Oxford Street in a relatively short period of time. I think the maps distort the distances slightly.


That's good to know :biggrin: ...i like to walk and i thought that most places in London were quite far and so i would have to get public transport.
I doubt you'd want to walk to Denmark Hill from the Strand (or vice versa) to be honest.. I reckon it would take at least an hour at a moderate pace, and I doubt you'd want to be doing that twice a day, especially in winter! (I know as I live equal distance(ish) between both. From Denmark Hill you could also get the 42 bus to Old Kent Road/Bricklayers Arms and then change to a 172 or a 168. I imagine this would take approx. half an hour-40 mins, and is literally door to door.
Reply 13
For anyone interested, you can get a free regular Oyster card by entering your details here. They're usually £3 so it's worth signing up now before the run of free ones runs outs. Even if you don't use it too often or upgrade to a student card... eh, it's free!

Make sure you enter your postcode in block capitals without spaces - the system seems to dislike spaces in postcodes.
Reply 14
prettyblueeyes
I doubt you'd want to walk to Denmark Hill from the Strand (or vice versa) to be honest.. I reckon it would take at least an hour at a moderate pace, and I doubt you'd want to be doing that twice a day, especially in winter! (I know as I live equal distance(ish) between both. From Denmark Hill you could also get the 42 bus to Old Kent Road/Bricklayers Arms and then change to a 172 or a 168. I imagine this would take approx. half an hour-40 mins, and is literally door to door.


I don't think that i will need to walk to Denmark Hill from the Strand (or vice versa)...that's not a UCL area is it ?? Anyway 1 hour isn't bad at all i used to walk a little more than that everyday to school...including winter. I would rather do that then pay...especially if it was really expensive in the long run....and as i said i like to walk.:smile: Obviously i wouldn't plan to walk at night though. :s-smilie:
Reply 15
Well thanks for all your help everyone, i have learnt a whole lot more and im much more assured and updated about travelling around now, thanks to all of you once again!
Reply 16
I found a good website. You can get a free oyster sent to your home. I ordered mine a few days ago and expect one soon, it'll be useful when i start studying in London.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/oysteronline/freeoyster/