Traveling Savvy in London - Part One

London is a spectacular city, absolutely stuffed to the gills with history and culture, and when you go, you will want to get as much out of your time and energy as possible! So, in no particular order, here are the most useful tips I have picked up while traveling in England's capital.

 Always, always carry a Tube map.

One of our Tube maps, our Oyster cards and some spare cash.

The Tube is London's efficient and easy-to-use transportation system, which, combined with the famous red London buses, can get a person practically anywhere they want to be within the London and greater London area. But there is no way anyone, especially on their first trip to London, will remember which Tube lines go where and where they stop! This means it is imperative to have a Tube map handy, ready to pull out at a moment's notice when you are deciding how to get anywhere.

Tube maps are of course available in every Tube station for free, which is an excellent option for any traveler. Small pop-out maps are available for sale online and in bookstores, and some travel books include a copy of the Tube map. In this day and age it would also be possible to find an image online and print it out, or to download an image onto your smartphone or tablet.

However you choose to do it, just have one! It is a time- and sanity-saver.

Travel using an Oyster Card.
 Using an Oyster Card is a fabulously easy way to travel around London. The Oyster Card is simply a card that you load with money at any Tube station, then scan whenever you get on the Tube or a bus. It is also a money-saver because it caps the fare amount that you can spend during any one day.

The only catch is that you must order it before you leave on your trip because it is not available to purchase once you arrive in England. It can be ordered online here: Visitor Oyster Card - Transport for London. We have simply kept our cards from our first trip to London, reusing them each time we have gone back, with no difficulties at all.

Look up closing times before you go anywhere.

I have found out the hard way that many museums and attractions close at 5:00 PM, so I highly recommend looking up closing times before going out to your chosen destination. If you have wifi where you are staying then simply go on TripAdvisor to obtain the hours of the place you would like to visit. Many guidebooks also have opening and closing times, but those are liable to change, so I would still advise looking them up online.


If you can go the extra mile and write the times down, that is also very helpful, since it can be difficult to remember what closes when.