The London Tube: Getting around the City and How to do it Right
Colin Nashelsky
When I first got to London and heard I would have to take the tube to for every class and trip, I honestly felt a bit nervous. I did not know the city at all and the idea of having to learn to navigate on my own made me fear that I would be late to class or outright lost in the city. However, after being here for 5 weeks I can proudly say that the tube system is easy to use and an essential part of my day not only in terms of getting to class but around the city as a whole. The big thing that helped me get around the city was Citymapper: an app recommended by the IES staff which tells how to get to y0ur destination from which walking path is the fastest to which train to get on if you are using the tube. This made the confusing spider web that is the train map much easier to understand and even told when we to get off and switch train lines whenever necessary. With just this one app, my uncertainty about the tube disappeared and I never once felt like I was truly lost around the city.
While I heavily recommend anyone coming to London to get this app, that does not mean the tube station themselves do not try and help travelers get to their destination. For every train line, there is both a simplified map of the route of that line along with a time for when the next train is arriving and where it is going. These are perfect for double-checking that you are on the right side of the train line and knowing how long it will take for the train to arrive. This makes quick trips to a certain restaurant or theater easy but I would still recommend using the app for planning any long trips.
Once I solved the tube situation, the city became mine to explore. With so much to see and do, even just wandering around the city was enjoyable as there was always something new to find. Seeing a show, eating a restaurant you have never been to before, or checking out one of the many historical monuments in the city, you could spend a whole year in the city and still not see all it has to offer. The tube allows for quick and easy travel between all of these places and has helped me truly appreciate just how much this great city has to offer. While walking or taking a cab are other options available, neither were as convenient and affordable to me as compared to taking the tube. If I wanted to go somewhere, I simply looked it up, put it in city mapper, and went straight to the tube station.
Since I’ve been to London, I’ve gone from feeling like I would constantly get lost in the city to being confident and able to travel to the London Eye, The British Museum, the Emirates Stadium, and so many other incredible places and can now say that the tube is not only my preferred way of traveling the city but also the one I recommend to anyone looking to give this wonderful city a visit.
