What bus or tube will get me to .....

The first thing you do is go to the nearest TI and get a map of the system. Second, have the nice, helpful, generally a young lady, mark on the map where you are staying and where you want to go. Mostly you can take the tube to most places. One thing you might find handy in London is the hop on/off buses that will take you to all of the major tourist attractions and you can use it some of your transportation needs. The tickets are good for 24 hrs and I recommend buying around noon so that you have until noon the next day.

The Transport for London web site "Journey Planner" will help you to find the best routes/method to get to your destinations, includes walking.

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en

Marylebone Station is a gem in the London transportation crown. The station is small, with one front entrance and a small one to the side. Very good free (at least last year) toilets, food, a WH Smiths, one gate line to the platforms and a very good train display screen. There are a couple of ticket windows near the gate line, and across from them are ticket machines for both the trains and the buses and Underground. There is also a ticket window for the Underground. See elsewhere on this board about the delicious 2 for 1s available if you use the railways.

Down the escalator you find the Bakerloo tube Line which can take you to Baker Street (better as a 5 minute walk), Oxford Circus (3 stops), Piccadilly Circus (4), and the Embankment (6, the edge of the Thames and not a bad walk to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben) and Waterloo (7, for the London Eye).

At Baker Street you can add the Jubilee Line (for Green Park - walk through and find Buckingham Palace) and Westminster (closer to Parliament) ; Circle Line to all other major railway stations and the City (Circle Line, Metropolitan Line, and Hammersmith and City Line all run together at that point, and all the way around as far as Liverpool Street in the heart of The City.

Taking the Tube does initially feel like you are a gopher - you go in one hole and pop out of another with no clue how the surface goes together. You do get used to it, though. It is faster and point to point, but can be VERY crowded and hot and noisy. Londoners have a love/hate with it.

Buses are slow, crowded, complicated routes, and on the surface. You can see everything from the top deck. Skip the bendie-buses. You can't see out, they are very low, and sometimes they catch fire (one did while I was on it). No, catch double deckers, go upstairs, sit as far forward as you can. When the bus goes under trees watch folks duck.

(I've run out of space and time... to be continued tomorrow)

Thank you again for your help Nigel. I wish you were traveling with me!! I am looking forward to your next helpful hints. You can tell I am not a well seasoned traveler. Now if you come to Maryland, I can help you!! LOL

Just go online and look at the Tube map. It is alot quicker than the bus. The underground District (green) and Circle (yellow) lines go to Tower Hill for the tower of London.

Take the #74 bus to Kensington Palace (also Harrods, etc).

Before I traveled to London the first time, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a London city map (small and plasticized). It lists all the sites plus tube stops - very easy to figure out which routes to take. Plus, my experience has been that the people who sell the tube tickets are very helpful with directions. It really is easy to take the tube and, believe it or not, fun.

I really love Nigel's explanation. Makes me want to go back to London straight away. CLICK HERE for the London bus map. It's a bit difficult to use at first because you don't see streets. Just follow a color on the map and note the bus line. Believe me, it works well. On some streets such as Fleet Street and Regency Street, you can see a bus go by every 8 seconds. I actually timed them as they went by. Lots of buses.

However, I agree with Nigel that the bus routes are crowded. You won't believe the car congestion in some places. The buses have special lanes but it can take double the time to get across parts of town than it takes on the tube.

On the tube, I have two thoughts. 1) whichever direction you are walking in the tube tunnels, there are far more people walking in the opposite direction. 2) there reportedly over 400 escalators in the tube system. Try and find one. Actually, you will come across a few but you will negotiate tons of stairs both up and down. There are often elevators as well.