Getting around london (no tubes-I'm a wuss)

[Rowgtfc72]

We're due to visit London beginning of Nov. Dh, me and dd (11).
Staying in South Croydon And driving down.
We hope to visit the Science museum and the Natural history museum, certainly central London.
I'm not a fan of the tubes. Nor trains but would rather get on one than a tube. Love buses. We have a car.
What's the best way to get in and out of central London? Is it drivable? The train to King's Cross from Croydon is over an hour.
And how the hell do oystercards work? Or travelcards?
Would appreciate any advice for confused Northerners!

From a fellow northerner, (who moved to London) please give the tube a try. It’s safer than the crossing the roads, and it will give you much more time to enjoy the sights.

I lived fairly close to Croydon and the public transport links from there into the city are really good.

I would actually recommend going on the tube from Morden or Wimbledon as it starts off above ground to ease you in gently.

Honestly, get the tube. It’s quick and it’s easy. You’ll be stuck on the bus for most of your holiday otherwise.

From south croydon station there are direct trains to Victoria or London Bridge in about 20mins. From there you can tube or bus.

Download the citymapper app. It’s great and you just put where you want to go to and from and it will give you all the options including those without tubes

I would take the tube though. It’s fine and your 11 year old will love it!

Agreed about Citymapper. It gives you a bus only option for each journey too based on your exact location - couldn’t be easier. If you have lots of time, the bus is a good way to travel. Go upstairs on the double deckers and watch the cityscape. But do get a train to London Bridge first. Bus from Croydon to central London will take too long.

You really need to embrace the tube, honestly. It's crazy not to for getting around central London. Buses take ages because of the traffic.

Where on earth do you expect to be able to park in Central London?! And even if you do find a space, it costs a fortune!

Anyway, use the TFL journey planner - it's brilliant. You can type in stations, postcodes or addresses for the starting point and destination, and you can also change the options to be bus only, step-free or a whole load of other stuff.

I've just done a journey plan from South Croydon to the Natural History Museum and it would take over two hours - do you really want that?

tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/results?InputFrom=South+Croydon+Rail+Station&From=South+Croydon+Rail+Station&FromId=1001258&InputTo=Natural+History+Museum+%2F+Cromwell+Road&To=Natural+History+Museum+%2F+Cromwell+Road&ToId=1005797&TimeIs=departing&Date=20181014&Time=1200&Mode=bus

Came on to say Citymapper, but everyone’s beaten me to it! It really is brilliant.

Travel card, train to Victoria, no.52 bus from around the corner to Kensington ( Royal Albert Hall) for Science and NH museums, then a short walk. Unless you are travelling on a Sunday don't bother to drive in. No. 9 bus will take you back from RAH to Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square.

Driving from croydon to central London is madness...you'd have to pay congestion charge, would take ages and parking would be a nightmare.

Buses would take forever from croydon to central London.

Best bet is an over ground train into a main London station then bus/tube.

You’d be quicker walking in central over using a bus. Use the tube.

Theres a fast train from East Croydon (10 mins from South Croydon) to St Pancras (next door to Kings X) that takes 30mins.

There are direct trains from S Croydon to London Bridge (Borough Market, Shard) or Victoria (few tube stops to Nat History museum, or get an uber). Yiu can change at Clapham Junction for trainto Waterloo for easy access to London Eye etc.

The tubes ate fine if you avoid rush hour m South Croydon and East Croydon are easy to get anywhere on train. Stop being a wuss.

Whatever else you do, don’t drive. It’s slower than public transport, you’ll have to pay the congestion charge, parking costs a fortune, and much more stressful. Download Citymapper and as long as you avoid rush hour, you’ll be fine. You can use contactless on the bus and tubes now.

Tube. It's the only way. I'm originally from a Northern town, hated the idea of the tube at first, but much quicker, safer etc. Buses take f
Or ever to get from A to B, traffic is horrendous.

I get spooked on the tube too. I was ok as a kid.
The tube isn't that bad outside of rush hour though.
We always sit near the driver and it's fairly quiet.

Get the tube. Citymapper is a godsend and so so easy to use. Any other way an you will spend your whole holiday on public transport and you haven't got a cat in hell's chance of finding parking in central London.

You can use your contactless card on the tube if you don't want to use an oyster. You just put it on the yellow disk things and the little flaps open to let you through. You would have to use separate ones for you and your partner though.

Really get a grip FFS.

Fast train east Croydon to Victoria, at victoria station get the 52 bus to Albert hall, goes past hyde park, kensingston gardens then walk down the road to museum's or c1 bus from Victoria to South Kensington station, goes down knightsbridge and harrods walk up the road to museum's, everything is signposted. Walk up to Hyde park corner, through Hyde park, buses go all over London from there. Get a day travelcard, check the tfl website for different travelcard you can get, you can buy them at Victoria station. Don't bother driving, if you want days out from Croydon you can drive to Richmond park, Kew gardens, the traffic is still bad but a bit better if you're driving away from central London. Look up 2for1 offers, you can get a few bargains on there.

Brokengirl nasty.

Buses in London are good in general, but only for relatively short distances, or for journeys where you might get the tube for the main part and then a bus the rest of the way. They are not a suitable replacement for a big journey from zone 5 to zone 1.

Thanks so much.
I've been on tubes before. Hate trains and tubes terrify me! Guess the only plus point is you're never on them for long.
Thanks for the city mapper tip too. And the TFL journey planner.
Tectonic, appreciate that journey planner. Puts it into perspective.
Will look into train to Victoria. I was thinking kings cross so went very wrong there!
Would a travelcard be better than oyster? Is there a three day option or is it a daily or top up thing?
We're in London from the Fri to the sun. My brother lives in Croydon and is taking us to the fireworks at alexandra palace but the Friday he's at work so we're flying solo.
We do like walking and are happy to walk for miles.
We've driven into London before but probably lulled into a false sense of security as it was indeed a Sunday.

I’ve lived in London my whole life & hardly ever get the tube. From E Croydon get train to Victoria & then bus straight to museums. Walk from museums to Knightsbridge if you want to go to Harrods.
Bus from Knightsbridge to Piccadilly - walk from there to Covent Garden / soho/ oxford street/ Trafford Square

Buses can be fun in Central London if you’re a tourist though. People pay a fortune for bus tours when you can do it all for £1.60 on a card! Just use any contactless payment card, though you’ll need one each. And although you swipe when you change buses, you don’t get charged again if you’re within an hour of your last bus payment.

Buses are much better than the tube because you actually see stuff!

you can get 3 day travel cards i think.

Victoria or London Bridge direct from East Croydon (some trains direct from South Croydon one stop back but really easy to change at East Croydon) is best and easier way to get into London from Croydon from anywhere. Box Park right next to East Croydon station is good for a drink or snack.

St Pancras to East Croydon is 30 mins on Thameslink - not sure where you got over an hour from