London Underground aka: The Tube

Price: It’s four pounds to get a single ticket if you pay by cash, but if you get an Oyster card, it’s just a little over a pound per trip. Get a travelcard if you can, but definitely get an Oyster card if you’re taking more than a few trips (Oyster cards required a deposit of three pounds, but you can sell them back).

When: Watch out for the workday rush, especially around five o’clock. Weekends always involve massive closures (especially in preparation for the 2012 Olympics), so check ahead before you make plans. If a line has scheduled closures, there are always replacement buses, but they take a lot longer.

Which lines to take: Picadilly is the deepest line, so avoid it if you don’t like stairs/escalators/elevators. Jubilee is the most modern line. District and Circle usually run on the same tracks and as long as you stay in central London you don’t need to worry about the branches. Monument and Bank are not as connected as the map would leave you to believe. Oftentimes it’s easier to walk to the most convenient station rather than make a one-stop transfer form the nearest station.

The tube is quite expensive (although cheaper than cabs or tour buses) but if you are traveling around London a lot in a day, definitely buy a day travel card. If you’re in London for longer, get an ‘oyster card’, which you then just have to top up on a machine – much faster than waiting in long lines to buy tickets each day!

If you’re in a hurry and are able.. avoid the Circle/District line. They are the only ones that are really known among locals to always experience delays. They also have a knack for giving people who usually don’t get motion sick problems.

Also, if it does snow… just try to stick to the Victoria Line. It’s the only one completely underground and the underground experiences severe delays (or cancellations) on all other lines.

- whisking you wherever you need to go. Though, when it grinds to a halt, it’s terrible as everything gets backed up and if you’re unlucky, you’re underground with lots of cross people in an overly warm carriage. If you’re doubly unlucky, you’re standing wedged next to the person who has a cold or cough, but no tissue. Yeuch.

London is so big, the Tube is really the only efficient way to get across town. Cycling – forget it, not enough cycle lanes and too much ground to cover unless you work locally. Buses – much better for sightseeing, but unlike the Tube, it’s often hard to work out where you have to get off!

very efficient & dead-easy to understand connections. (color coded!)

A great way to get around London on a budget. And the next time your exiting a train at night alone on the platform, don’t forget that scene in American Werewolf in London.