Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Carré have lived here, and it's still one of
the most desirable districts in the city. It
has a few hotels and B&Bs, although it is
quite far from central London. Hampstead's
calling card is
Hampstead Heath
(p. 118),
nearly 320 hectares (791 acres) of mead-
ows, ponds, and woodland; it maintains its
rural atmosphere despite being surrounded
by cityscapes on all sides.
Highgate
Along with Hampstead, High-
gate is another choice north London resi-
dential area, particularly on or near Pond
Square and along Highgate High Street.
Once celebrated for its “sweet salutarie
airs,” Highgate has long been a desirable
place for Londoners to live. Today most
visitors come to see Highgate Cemetery
(p. 119), the final resting place of Karl Marx
and George Eliot.
SOUTHEAST LONDON—GREENWICH
In the southeast of London, this suburb,
which contains the prime meridian—“zero”
for the reckoning of terrestrial longitudes—
enjoyed its first heyday under the Tudors.
King Henry VIII and both of his daughters,
Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I, were born
here. Greenwich Palace, Henry's favorite, is
long gone, though, replaced by a hospital
for sailors during its second great age,
which saw it emerge in the 18th and 19th
centuries as one of the country's main
naval centers. Today's visitors come to this
lovely port village for nautical sights,
including the
National Maritime Museum
(p. 120), and some niche shopping oppor-
tunities (p. 152).
4
GETTING AROUND
By Public Transportation
The first London word that any visitor needs to learn is “Oyster.” The
Oyster Card
is a plastic smartcard that is your gateway to pretty much every form of London public
transport. You can still pay to use all these services with cash, but an Oyster offers
substantial savings on just about every journey. The pay-as-you-go card costs £5 for
adults from any Tube or major rail station—a charge that's refundable if you return
the card after use. As well as these significant discounts, your daily bill for using an
Oyster is capped at the price of an equivalent 1-Day Travelcard (see below), so there's
no longer any need to calculate in advance whether to buy a discounted multi-trip
travel ticket. Basically, if you're staying more than a day or so, and plan to use Lon-
don's public transport network, then investing in an Oyster is a no-brainer. It saves
you time and money.
To use an Oyster, simply swipe it over the yellow card-reader that guards the entry/
exit gates at Tube and rail stations. You should always swipe your Oyster card as you
leave the station, even if the gate is open, otherwise you will get charged maximum
fare next time you use your card because you haven't “completed” your previous
journey. On the bus you'll find the reader next to the driver, or opposite any of the sets
of doors on London's long “bendy buses.” If you're caught traveling without having
swiped your Oyster, you're liable for an on-the-spot fine.
You can order an Oyster in advance, preloaded with as much credit as you like,
from
www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster
. Postage to the U.K. is free, but worldwide delivery
costs £4. It's cheaper for overseas residents to wait and purchase from the first Tube
station they encounter. To top-up your balance, use cash or a credit card at any Oys-
ter machine, which you'll find inside most London rail stations, at any of a network
of around 4,000 newsagents citywide (see http://ticketstoplocator.tfl.gov.uk), or
online if you register your card in advance.
