Re: FN-FORUM: all alone in the big city....
date posted 1st December 2006 20:36
Alex ..a bit too much to take in i'd say! ..geez it's the first-ish visit
for this person!
a, b, c. period.
..to, fro, and sight seeing period! (entertainment en route)
you've turned his simple business meeting into a dia-rio.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alex Libby" [EMAIL REMOVED]
To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 8:13 PM
Subject: RE: FN-FORUM: all alone in the big city....
Hi,
Good luck - no, seriously: 30-40 minutes is usually good on the Underground,
although this is probably for when it does not get too crowded. You will hit
the second half of the rush hour, so be prepared for a lot of people, and
for queues getting through the ticket barriers. I would probably allow an
hour from start to finish; I know this might seem a lot, but passenger
numbers can vary a lot - this will give you some time over, just in case
there are delays.
With regards to tickets; this largely depends where you are coming from.
London is divided into 6 zones, with zone 1 being central London (Oxford
Circus, Marble Arch, etc), all the way out to Zone 6, which is the reall
suburbs, such as Wallington, or Golders Green. Provided that you get a
Travelcard, then this allows travel on buses, trams (yes, down in Croydon
area), the Underground and trains passing in the London zone system, without
having to pay extra. Travel cards are available from machines, although I
don't think all of them accept credit / debit cards; I would suggest either
purchasing it as part of the travel ticket from your home (if outside the
London area), or by bringing along cash to make sure that you are covered.
If you are coming from outside of London, then the smartest way to do this
is usually get a combined ticket which covers Zones 1-6 in central London.
The biggest thing you need to be concerned about is that whilst a Travelcard
provides complete freedom on any bus, tram, train or underground, getting
one before about 9-9:30 is usually double the price of off-peak - the prices
are at
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2006/one-day/travelcard-day.shtml.
Make sure that you check a map, to show which zones you are travelling in,
and get the appropriate ticket - I think, from what you have already seen,
you need a ticket to cover Zones 1-3, which is £7.20.
As regards your route - it largely depends on how busy passenger traffic is
on the network. Oxford Circus could be a bit daunting, if you have not used
the Underground before, but is right in the centre of London - this is great
for the Virgin Megastore, down Oxford Street. Tottenham Court Road is at the
other end from Oxford Circus station - this has Foyles, which is London's
biggest bookstore (that I know), and a large number of computing stores,
where you might want to get IT stuff, if that is your fancy! Trafalgar
Square is not far either - this is often worth a little look, depending on
what might be taking place there. Elephant and Castle - sorry: I don't think
you'll find what I think you might have thought would be there! It has
suffered as an area for a long time; it is said that people either love the
area or hate it - it is a big student area, with London Uni, and the
Ministry of Sound nightclub near by.
Tooting Bec - this should not be too bad an area; it is south London, and
probably similar to other cities. Check out
http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/LeisureandTourism/Aboutborough/abtplacesto
visit.htm, which will give you details of what there is to see and do. It is
largely housing, but there are one or two things you might be able to see,
such as Battersea Power Station. Although it is largely derelict, it has a
bit of a chequered history, including being the source of a fire, which
affected the planned launch of BBC2 back in 1964! Although I have never been
mugged or attacked whilst in London, I would strongly suggest you bring as
little kit of value as possible; I have never seen anyone be mugged for any
reason, but then again, I would certainly not advertise that I have
expensive kit. Anything can happen, so be warned! I am sure you will be OK
though - just be wary.
I hope this helps - apologies for the length of this post; if I can be of
any help further, please email me.
Alex Libby.
P.S. A word of advice - if you see anyone ask you for your Travel card when
you leave the station, or leave London - DON'T give yours to them, unless
they are a member of Underground staff. I have seen a lot of people beg for
travelcards, which are then resold; 99% of the time unsuspecting people do
not realise that the cards may have expired, or only have a few hours left
on them - it is a common occurrence, and usually means that the poor
unsuspecting buyer is ripped off.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED] On Behalf Of webmetric
Sent: 01 December 2006 18:30
To: FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED]
Subject: FN-FORUM: all alone in the big city....
I'm going to be unusually sociable and actually meet a client face to face
next week - off to London no less (you might not think that's a big deal,
but where I live we don't even have street lights - seriously)
I need to get from London Paddington to Tooting Bec, does this seem like a
reasonable route it's from the TFL site, so I hope so
Questions,
Is 40 minutes - *really* 40 minutes? I'll be doing it around 8:30 / 9:00 on
Friday morning -
What's all this zone 1 zone 2 malarkey, do I need to worry about it?
What's the best ticket to get - simple return, or is there a smarter way. I
Might have a bit of free time on the way back - anything worth seeing in
these areas? (i.e. is there really an elephant and / or castle ?) I'm
assuming I can just bung my debit card in machine and get a ticket.
So, tooting bec? What's the chances of coming out of a tube station and
making it to see my client with out getting my laptop / wallet / ipod /
mobile / virginity stolen.
route is....
start
Paddington
Take the Bakerloo Line towards Elephant & Castle
start mapend maparea map
Av journey time: 14 mins
Zone(s): 1
Tube
Embankment
Take the Northern Line towards Morden
start mapend maparea map
Av journey time: 20 mins
Zone(s): 1, 2, 3
end Tooting Bec
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