Welcome to London!

By far the easiest way to navigate around London is to use the Citymapper app on your phone. This will provide all the transport options to your desired location, along with the prices.

If you're using public transport, don’t buy a paper ticket! It is far cheaper to use your contactless credit/debit card (if you don’t have one, you can purchase an Oyster Travel Card from any Tube station), and tap in and out at the ticket barriers.

If you use a contactless/Oyster on a bus, you only need to tap in when boarding the bus – don’t tap out when getting off the bus, or you may be charged for another ride! All single bus journeys in London are capped at £1.75 (as of October 2024), no matter how far you travel. If you make another bus journey within an hour of tapping in on the first bus, your second journey will be free (known as a Hopper Fare). Please note that London buses do not take cash.

Daily caps apply to the cost of travelling in London, dependent on how far from the centre (known as a Zone) you travel to. Tube and bus travel within central London - Zones 1 and 2 - is capped at just £8.50 per day (as of October 2024), no matter how many journeys you take.

I do, of course, recommend you book one of my guided walking tours! On my routes I will show you sites that you may wish to come back to explore further, including several underground Roman remains that are open to the public.

Most of the larger museums in the UK are free to enter, including the British Museum, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, the National Gallery, and National Portrait Gallery.

The smaller museums are often even more enjoyable than their better-known counterparts: have a look at my map of articles to find places I've written about that you might want to visit.

The London Eye provides spectacular views of the city, but it is quite expensive and the queues can be long. If you’d prefer a less pricey option, and you’re feeling fit enough, you can climb the 311 stone steps of The Monument (on Fish Street Hill). Constructed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1671 to commemorate the Great Fire of London, it is 202 feet tall (62m), and provides panoramic views of the city. Entry is £6 per person, compared with a minimum of £29 for the London Eye.

Tickets to the Tower of London are £34.80 (as of October 2024) when bought online, but you can easily spend at least half a day here. If you visit, make sure that you definitely take one of the free Beefeater tours that begin every half hour – they are extremely entertaining and worth the ticket price alone. And don’t forget to see the Crown Jewels!

If you would like to visit one (or more!) of London’s many historic pubs, have a look a the pub map I've created.