Your ultimate guide to London transport

There are five London tube lines that run a 24-hour service on Fridays and Saturdays – ideal if you want to tick off lots of exciting evening activities, restaurants or bars across the capital city. These London tube lines are:

• Victoria line

• Central line

• Jubilee line

• Northern line

• Piccadilly line

However, make sure you check Transport for London’s website for any travel updates or changes to the London night tube service before you make plans.

The London Night Tube

Cycling is extremely popular in London. Affordable, good for your health and the environment, and often quicker than getting public transport, the city positively encourages it with its cycling routes in London – new ‘cycle superhighways’ have opened for commuters, and ‘quietways’, offering back street cycle lanes for leisure cyclists and visitors wanting to see the city.

At rush hour you’ll see countless commuters cycling to and from work, but for visitors and tourists, Santander Cycles are the way to go.

Santander Cycles is a public bicycle-sharing scheme in London. There are over 800 docking stations and 12,000 bikes across the city, letting you pick one up, cycle to wherever you like, and then return it to another docking station. The scheme is available 24/7, 365 days a year, and covers many of the popular areas of the city, including the City, Westminster, Soho, Camden Town, and many more, making it perfect for exploring London.

• Bikes at a docking station are available for hire – follow the instructions on the touch screen to hire and pay with your debit or credit card (they don’t accept cash).

• Price: £1.65 for the first 30 minutes. Journeys longer than half an hour cost £1.65 for each additional 30 minutes.

• Return the bicycle to any of the hundreds of docking stations across the city – use Transport for London’s website to find your nearest docking station.

• Keep wits about you – always use cycling routes in London when they’re available, as traffic can be seriously busy.

• Wear a helmet – it might not be in the spirit of spontaneity to carry a helmet around with you for Santander Cycles, but with busy roads, we recommend you always put your safety first.

• Before setting off on a bike ride, check out the best London cycle routes and read up on how to cycle in London, including top tips on staying safe.

• If you hear the term ‘Boris Bikes’, it means Santander Cycles! The bikes were initially nicknamed after Boris Johnson who was Mayor of London when the scheme first launched, and people still use this term

• Cycle hire scheme

• Santander Cycles

You might know the famous black cabs of London, but did you know that the drivers have something called ‘The Knowledge’? Black cab drivers undergo 3–5 years of rigorous training and take a series of exams to qualify, having to learn 25,000 streets within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square, as well as the ‘100 most-visited spots of the moment’, such as bars, clubs and restaurants.

Like the yellow cabs of New York, you don’t need to book these black cabs. Technically they’re available for hire when the yellow sign above the windshield is lit, and you can just stick your arm out to flag one down. However, more often than not, you’ll find black cabs lined up at taxi ranks in busy areas, such as Leicester Square, or outside venues, such as hotels or train stations – you’ll never have to look far to find a taxi rank of black cabs waiting to pick people up.

Generally, black cabs cost more than pre-booked taxis, such as Uber, so they’re better for quick trips around the city, rather than longer journeys. Fares are metered, with the initial charge of £3.80 rising by increments of 20p over distance traveled or time taken, which varies depending on the tariff being used. You can pay for your journey with a credit or debit card or cash.

• Despite the name, not all of London's black cabs are black! They are broadly all shaped the same, though, and will have the yellow sign above the windscreen that says "Taxi".

• Taxis and minicabs

Travelling by boat might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to travelling in London, but the Thames Clipper is an easy and popular way to get around, transporting people across the city on the River Thames. These boats transport over 10,000 people per day, both commuters getting to and from work, and tourists and visitors exploring the city.

Thames Clippers boats run regular services between Embankment, Waterloo (London Eye), Blackfriars, Bankside (Shakespeare's Globe), London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf, Greenwich, North Greenwich and Woolwich piers.

Tickets can be bought at the piers, or pay-as-you-go with your Oyster or contactless card.

• River fares

• Uber Boat

The overground trains serve Greater London, with six lines and 113 stations making up the network. Various private companies operate trains in London that run out to the suburbs or further afield, making the network great for day trips out of the city.

But if you’re travelling around the city day-to-day, other public transport like the Tube or buses are much more convenient, as well as cheaper.

• Pay attention to which operator you've booked train tickets with, as more than one train company will depart from the same station.

• Some of the overground lines pass through Zone 1 (Central London), so pay attention if you’re trying to avoid Zone 1 fares, which are typically more expensive.

• Travelling during off-peak train times in London (i.e. not rush hour, roughly between 7:30am–9:00am, and 5:00pm–7:00pm) also helps to keep the ticket price down.

• London Overground

A unique and exciting way to travel across the River Thames! London’s 90m-high cable car connects the Royal Docks in East London with North Greenwich Peninsula, and while it’s a brief trip and a bit pricey, the views of the city are spectacular - absolutely worth it if you’re visiting London for the weekend.

The cars are spacious with comfy seats, so you can relax and soak the view of St Paul's Cathedral, The Gherkin, Thames Barrier, Maritime Greenwich, and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It’s open late, too, so people often bring a picnic and non-alcoholic drinks and make it a real experience to see London at night.

• Connected to the rest of the TfL network, you can easily make the cable car part of your wider journey.

• The cable cars are fully wheelchair accessible.

• It’s been designed so you can take on your bike, and then continue your cycle route.

• IFS Cloud Cable Car

If you have the time, walking is a great way to see the city, especially those quirky little backstreets of coffee shops and boutiques, that you might otherwise miss if you’re getting around on public transport. If you’re on a shopping trip in the captial, it’s easy to walk around London’s major West End shopping areas, such as Bond Street, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Carnaby, Mayfair, St James's, and Covent Garden.

• You can walk between Knightsbridge (where you’ll find the famous Harrods) and super-swanky Sloane Square in around 10 minutes – much quicker and easier than swapping tube lines at South Kensington.

• Walk instead of taking the Piccadilly line between Covent Garden and Leicester Square. It takes just four minutes to walk (and avoids the queue for the lifts at Covent Garden).

• Instead of hopping on the Northern or Bakerloo line for one stop from Charing Cross to Embankment, enjoy the 300-metre stroll from Trafalgar Square to the river Thames.

• To really get to know the city, book onto one of the many guided walking tours in London.

• Walking around London

• Top walking routes

While you can buy ‘paper’ tickets at ticket offices and at self-service machines at most Tube stations, but most people don’t do this these days, as contactless is much cheaper and more convenient – whether you pay with a debit card, credit card, a mobile payment with a smartphone, or an Oyster card.

To go contactless on the Tube, you hold your card or mobile next to the yellow card readers at ticket barriers to mark the start and end of your journey - this is referred to as “touch in, touch out” – and the cost of the journey will automatically be deducted from your account.

Oyster cards are pre-paid reusable cards that you ‘top up’ with funds, which you can do online or at a ticket machine at the station. You then follow the same “touch in, touch out” system, just like you’d do with another contactless payment.

You need to buy the Oyster card, which costs £7, but you’ll only need to buy one, and once you’ve bought it, they’re a bit cheaper than using your debit/credit card. You can buy them everywhere in London - most Tube and train stations and most newsagents.

You can buy tickets for overground trains in a few ways:

• A ticket office at the station

• Self-service machines at the station

• Online

You can buy tickets online directly through the train company, but Trainline might be the easiest option – download the app to search for tickets and timetables and buy tickets, and use the QR code to scan in and out of the platform.

London buses are now all cash-free, and the easiest way to pay is contactless, either with your credit/debit card or an Oyster card. You only need to “touch in” when you get on the bus at the start of your journey, and just pay one flat fee, regardless of how many stops you stay on the bus for.

Only around 25% of London Tube stations, and around 50% of overground train stations, have step-free access, so it’s important to plan your journey before you travel. Otherwise you could go through an interchange on the Tube or train network and find yourself facing an unexpected flight of stairs.

It’s also worth noting that there is often a gap between the Tube or train and the platform to contend with, but if you notify a member of staff then they can connect the ramp to help you on and off.

All the DLR stops have step-free access.

All the Thames Clippers and most piers (the exceptions are Cadogan Pier, Wandsworth Riverside Quarter Pier and London Bridge City Pier) have step-free access.

Buses in London might be the most accessible way to travel on public transport. Wheelchair users travel for free, and have priority use over the pushchairs in the allocated space. Buses can also be lowered to street level when they stop so it’s easy to get on and off.

All black cabs are supposed to be wheelchair-accessible. However, if you’re using a power wheelchair, please be aware that space is often tight, and headroom might be insufficient.

Guide dogs are welcome on all public transport.