Buses in London are great, if you're not in a rush

Thanks for the info, Lola. We have a week there over Christmas and can hardly wait! I love the idea of buses when you are not in a hurry. As I understand it we will be on foot Dec 25 & 26 as the buses and tube close down completely.

Buses and tubes should be running on 26th as normal, for a Saturday.

I was expecting a 'gotcha' at the end of this, considering the 'if you're not in a rush'... like... the buses are great but take an overnight bag! But it seems you had a very positive experience.

I avoid the buses as I much prefer the tube, but that's a personal thing, I guess I just find the tube easier to navigate. You could walk into any tube station and get to any other tube station with minimal effort. Jump on any bus... and you could end up anywhere! unless you're sure of the route. Tubes don't get diverted, buses do... but overall I agree, buses are very handy.

No " gotcha" involved, but the buses are subject to traffic in a way the that the Tube is not. For us it was way more comfortable. But there are a lot of road delays due to projects right now.

Yes they can be touch and go as to the speed - you can beat a bus walking down somewhere like Oxford Street at any time.

They are a lot friendlier to the unfamiliar than they used to be with the availability of tube-like spider maps and that the stops being announced before you get to them. There are some great routes for general sightseeing - the 11 and 15 have been mentioned but there are some others such as the 9, 24, 74 and RV1. Some of these routes have basically been the same for over 100 years with only minor deviations.

The spider maps vary as to how useful they are for tourists, because they only show the routes serving the immediate area. A few weeks ago I had to help some tourists at London Bridge who were looking at the spider map on the bus stop and thought that there were no buses at all that served the place they wanted to get to, when actually it was just that there were no direct ones from London Bridge.

There seemed to be road works everywhere! Is London really building a "superhighway" for bicycles?

One thing that does seem to have got worse is the signposting of stops at major bus intersections. I was going to an unfamiliar location in Chelsea last week, and looked up that I needed to catch the bus from South Kensington stop D. Got to the station and the local area maps there didn't give the bus letters at all. Fortunately I could look it up on my smartphone.

(Post 2000. Yea!)

Yes we really are building a cycle superhighway. I'm indefferent to it as it'll neither effect me nor benefit me... But we have had a lot of cycle deaths, so anything to help reduce that has to be good.

I very much doubt that very many London cyclists will use the boondoggles.

They will continue to weave around the traffic, ignoring red lights, undertaking heavy vehicles and nearly mowing down pedestrians - and winding up in boxes after they go under the left side of heavy trucks.

And the trucks will be blamed.

And the lovely Embankment will be ruined forever.

But I shouldn't let my personal feelings interfere with impartial reporting.

I love hopping on any random bus in London, climbing up to the top, sitting in the very front seat, putting my feet up, and watching London go by with no idea where I'm headed. At the end of the line I hop on the tube or take a cab to the nearest station and head back into the center. So much fun!

Nigel and Keith, you make London sound like Rome...or Portland Oregon!