How do I get the tube in London?

[sunshineandstarsgirl]

My family friend lives nearly 90 minutes from London. I want to visit her this month. I live near Manchester. I need to catch a tube from London Euston to London St Pancras International. And then a train to her place. To be honest, I have no idea what a tube is. How do I catch a tube from London Euston to London St Pancras International? I haven't travelled much in my life.
I will be going alone on this trip.

Walking it will be easiest, it is straight road between the two stations and St Pancras is easy to spot!. It is busy so make sure you have sensible footwea and a bag you caneasily wheel or carry.

As others have said if you do need to use the tube it is easy. You don't need a ticket, you can just use your phone or contactless card, hold it on the yellow roundle at the gates and they wil let you in. And you do the same on the way out. The stations are clearly sign posted and there will be easy to read maps with all the stations. If you do make a mistake it is fine, simply get off at the next station and go back.

There are staff at each station and in central London they are used to helping lost and confused people!

Couppe of hard and fast rules - always stand on the right on escalators, let people off the train first, move right in to the carriage and keep your bag close to you.

Look at Google maps. Walk from Euston to St Pancras. It’s a straight line on one road. 5 minutes st a fast pace but allow 15 minutes.

It’s quicker to walk. Seriously.

Yep! So for Ashford you want the new area at the far end of the station near Oliver Bonas - the trains are up the escalator. Make sure your ticket has the high speed upgrade or says any route permitted

Definitely those platforms. Will be 11, 12 or 13. Up the escalator at that end of the station.

When you’re walking, if you see an ugly red brick building that’s the British Library so keep going. When you see a beautiful red brick building, that’s St Pancras and you’ve made it

I wouldn't bother with the tube - walk out the front of Euston Station, turn left, King's Cross/StP's isxa five minute walk. Much easier than trailing your suitcase up and down the escalators/stairs of the tube.

Remember there’s two M&S shops in St Pancras. I would look for Oliver Bonas to find the way to the escalators.

Here’s a site with a lot of indication but it does provide photos of the station which might be useful. It’s a beautiful building. Lots of shops and places to eat.

www.seat61.com/stations/london-st-pancras.htm

A good app which probably isn’t needed on this occasion but is useful otherwise is CityMapper. Google maps is absolutely fine to help you get around but I find sometimes throws up some very random options for journeys - I use CityMapper as a back up and find it often gives me the more straightforward route.

Look at Google maps. Walk from Euston to St Pancras. It’s a straight line on one road. 5 minutes st a fast pace but allow 15 minutes.

Yep, quick and easy walk along one road. Just take a wheelie suitcase.

You’d walk further if you took the tube tbh.

For future reference, the tube map is very easy to navigate. Once you know the line you need, it’s just a case of checking the tube map for north, south, east or west-bound.

At 16, visiting for the first time for a 5 day course, this is what my DM told me and I found it very easy.

I agree with others. It's easier to walk. I've dibne it many times.It takes 10 minutes.

By the time you have gone from Euston Main Station down to the tube station that's waited for the tube and travelled to Kings Cross another then got out of the tube station at and gone to the rail station platform you could have walked.

The typical slightly nasty Mumsnet reply: "why don't people use Google?".

I've said on here before: there's a good reason people ask questions like this on Mumsnet, instead of asking that fount of all knowledge and truth, Google. It's because they want a reply from a human, from somebody who has done it, and not likely to be biased in the direction of whatever Google is trying to sell. For example, Google might tell you that the best way to make the journey is using one of London's famous black taxis; no need to mention the cost of this. When you ask Google anything, you don't know if the reply will be AI-generated, or if the information you get is right or wrong. Google doesn't even know what a "splashery" is.

Anyway, as you were, rant over. Walking is by far the easiest for that particular journey. However, in general, the tube is very easy to use, and can be paid for with a debit card.

It's 10 minutes walk, just turn left out of Euston station and it is straight along the Euston Road.
But educate yourself about the Tube, because it's stunningly easy to use!

Not really, she wanted some human interaction on the best way to do it. She has already said she hasn't travelled much. She wanted some reassurance.

If you didn't fancy answering the question, why did you click on the thread?

Given she lives in Manchester and she's only passing through London to visit a friend, not even staying in London, I don't think she really needs to be educated on the London tube system.

Those wacky victorians and their mental railway building projects! Capitalism for you, different train lines different stations. It's always made me laugh that King's Cross and St Pancras are about the same age they couldn't be more different to look at.
Also the British Library looks like a 1980s car park just to throw a bit of extra architectural confusion into the Euston Road.
OP leave extra time for shopping in St Pancras. Judging by how much money my other half manages to spend there it must be paradise for shoppers. Its her normal commuter station unfortunately.

Also OP the only place I've ever seen armed police in the UK apart from at Heathrow is at St Pancras, please don't be alarmed it's just to make the French people getting off eurostar feel at home.

Just to add another option, especially if it's raining, OP could take the short hop on a bus from Euston to St Pancras/kings cross. The 30, 73, 205 etc all cover the route.

I think @Growuppeople should take her own advice and grow up instead of making snarky remarks. I am familiar with London and the underground but if I was to go to Manchester, I may ask mumsnetters help with public transport.

How exciting! I love travelling and the train from St Pancras to Ashford will be partly through the beautiful Kent countryside :-) Have fun OP!

I think people who do London/Tubes regularly forget how daunting it can be.
Everyone seems to know where they are going and move so fast BUT I have found staff to be helpful if asked
Sounds like you are sorted now OP and have had some useful advice (amongst the snark) , I hope you have an easy journey and enjoy your visit to your friend

It's very well signed. You can also just 'tap' in with a standard bank card - hold your bank card on the yellow reader on the ticket barriers (watch other people doing it).

As others have said you can just walk if easier, but otherwise when you get to Euston, you follow signs for 'underground'. (The icon is a little circle with a bar through the middle, in blue).

You will go down an escalator. St Pancras is only one stop from Euston, and actually any of the 'underground lines' (Victoria, Northern, or H&C) that run through Euston will take you there. Pick one of the lines and follow the signs.

Once you've walked a little way, there will be the option of going in two different directions - one will be going towards St Pancras (Eastbound) and one platform going the other direction. The stops will be shown on maps on the wall. Make sure you head to the platform that shows trains will stop and St Pancras and then just get on the train!

When you emerge at St Pancras tap your card again on the ticket barriers to exit.

Rubbish. I've seen armed police at different times at plenty of London stations.

@sunshineandstarsgirl I know you're walking but just to build on reassurance about the Tube, because it's not nice to feel like you're the only one who struggles with it...

If you're ok with busy train stations you should be OK with the tube, its just a series of train stations underground. From the overground station (eg euston) you take the escalator/steps/lift down and look for the tube maps on the wall which will show you which line and direction you want. Then follow the signs accordingly (eg northern line north / south).

The signs directing you to specific platforms will be more detailed, showing the stops along the line for each platform.

There will be barriers at which you need to put through your ticket or scan the ticket qr code on your phone, but these are always manned so if you get overwhelmed or unsure you can ask for help.

People move quickly on the tube but there are always people willing to help if you run into problems. Avoid rush hour.

On escalators stand on the right hand side, the left is left free for people to walk down without being obstructed. When you need to pause to check direction or ready your ticket step out of the main flow of people and to the side, because nothing is more frustrating that people who stop at the top of escalators or in front of ticket barriers!

The underground is warm, there will be rushes of warm air near platforms, and smell kind of dusty - I quite like it.

Even experienced tube users don't always know which direction or exit they need, so don't stress. Just step to the side and work it out or decide its pot luck. At the end of the day, the worst that's going to happen is you end up going a stop or two in the wrong direction or coming out the wrong side of the station above ground.

There are videos on YouTube for first time & nervous tube-users - like this one: https://youtube.com/shorts/y1vI4-EB53k?feature=shared

And City Mapper, as others have recommended, is a great app. It'll give you all the ways to get where you're going, by foot, taxi, boat, car, tube, overground, with directions and timings. It also includes accessibility info if you need step free access etc.

Hope this helps for the future :)