To feel slightly traumatised by trying to navigate around London?

[theeverydaydancer]

OK. I'm a 32 year old, reasonably intellegent mother of one. I went on a nice day trip on my own yesterday to London to see something at the Barbican, a venue I had never been to before. I am from the provinces, could probably be described as a bit bumpkinesque, particularly after trying to navigate my way round the public transport system etc. I got wobbly legs going down the big escalators to the tube (they are so high I had to really psyche myself up to get on it!), and had to ask about 10,000 people directions just to get there and back to Victoria Station, couldn't really read any of the maps etc. I felt like a lost 8 year old. Is this reasonable at my age to be so hopeless? Or is London notoriously difficult to get around?

Good app: City mapper

I wouldn't worry - it happens to even those of who would consider ourselves 'seasoned' Londoners. Some of my friends and I went to see a play in January - between us we've probably got about 120 years of London-living experience - still we couldn't navigate from Farringdon to the Barbican possibly too much wine

Oh and every time I've been to the Barbican, I haven't been able to get out again.

Not really you need to get a grip!

the locals can be mean!!

Nice.

To answer the OP: as a Londoner, I think the Barbican estate is a nightmare to get round, multiply that difficulty by about ten if you aren't from London or a large city. I think partly it is you, but when outside of the tube station, its the Barbican! Try the South Bank next time, the atmosphere outside the theatre and along the bank adds a lot to the experience, and it is MUCH more navigable.

It is a bugger getting to the Barbican.
I am a seasoned London traveller and really enjoy all the different ways you can get to a place. But if you're not used to it, or navigating in general, it can be tricky.

Barbican is normally a little bit tricky but since the area around it is a huge Crossrail building site at the moment and half the routes are cut off it's a fucking nightmare.

Sorry - it's you

London is super easy to get around

Still, first time on the tube could, I guess, be a little overwhelming if it was absolutely rammed with Christmas shoppers

Oh, and talking the Circle line is a rookie error. 3 vital rules for London newbies: never rely on the Circle line, never change trains at Bank-Monument, never try to use the bus without a smartphone app to hold your hand.

(In Paris, never change trains at Chatelet-Les Halles for the same reason).

we were in St Petersburg this summer and made the tour guide take us on the underground for a couple of stops - the escalators there are about twice as long as the tube ones

I agree that the Barbican is more tricksy than the usual tourist destinations.

I'm sure the biggest escalator is at Angel. I think I learnt that in a pub quiz?

It is, pobble.

I was going to say you were being unreasonable, then I realised you were talking about the Barbican area. I don't know what it is about that place. I know London pretty well, but always get lost around there.

I agree about don't rely on the Circle line (also find an alternative to South Kensington in the school holidays, and don't spurn the lifts and think 'oh, I'll just jog up the stairs' at Goodge Street.)

I think I should have titled my thread differently. I really mean that I found finding the Barbican difficult as actually I have found other places reasonably straightforward to get to. But I feel reassured in the respect that others have found it difficult to find too.

I'm a country bumpkin too. I hate going to London. I find the navigation on tubes easy enough. I just always think I'm about to get mugged or blown up. .. and the black bogeys you I get in your nose in London disgust me. London by car though is not to be attempted. Last time I tried it out took me 4 hours to get home and I only live 40 miles away. I wanted to go on the M4 but there were no bloody signs to anywhere helpful. So I had to go with the M1 signs as I knew e eventually that would cross the M25 and then I could get home. No satnav. Have one now but never need to use it as I have not tried going inside the M25 since... and intend never to ever again.

London's fine.

The Barbican's a nightmare. I have never once got where I wanted to go there first time. I always get lost. The yellow line on the floor does help though.

I think if you had swapped Barbican for Londonin your title you would have had a unanimous YANBU

It's the Barbican, not you so YANBU. I work on Cheapside and seem to take a different route every time I have to go near the Barbican. It's like a Bermuda Triangle of streets.

The tube is simple and easy but the City/Square Mile can be tricky to navigate above ground - the lack of tall buildings and narrow streets often make it impossible to orientate yourself.

Ah, if you mean the Barbican specifically, yes, it's very confusing round there.

One of the great pleasures in life is getting lost in amazing cities, surely?

The Circle line seems almost always out of service when which is fine it's the only one I find confusing, as apparently did Winston Churchill.

You just get the circle line from Victoria to Barbican...

But the Barbican itself is quite difficult to navigate around, it's a bit of a maze.

Totally agree with what others have said, Citymapper app is all you need. And the Barbican is insane.

I used to walk to work from Bank and cut through the Barbican to get to my office. It took several weeks to work out the best route through the Barbican, it's the different levels that make it so awful and every path seems to include either a rising curve or a falling curve so that it's easy to end up walking in the opposite direction. The ability to navigate by the position of the sun is surprisingly useful. I once tried to find a shorter route and ended up in a remote backwater where I didn't pass another person for at least 5 mins (in central London that's just creepy), it added 20 mins to my commute and I stuck to the tried and tested (and populated) routes.