Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Your biggest nightmare as a driver is undoubt-
edly
parking
. The basic rules are that double
red
and double yellow lines
mean no waiting or
stopping, as do the zigzag lines that you'll see near
a pedestrian crossing.
Single yellow
and single red
lines mean that you can park on them after 6pm or
7pm, and at the weekends, but times vary from
borough to borough, so read the signs before
leaving your vehicle. Parking at a meter or pay-and-
display will cost you up to around £4 an hour,
though again meters are often free in the evenings
and at weekends. In some boroughs, you'll need a
mobile phone and credit card with you to pay for
your parking. Finally, you can go to a car park - NCP
are the largest operators
W
ncp.co.uk - which costs
up to £10 for two hours during the day. If you park
your car illegally, you will get a Penalty Charge
Notice (usually £80), possibly get clamped (another
£80) or get towed away (£125 and upwards). If you
suspect your vehicle has been towed away, phone
the police on
T
020 7747 4747.
and 9.30am, and from 4pm to 7pm. Bikes are also
restricted on the tube, but allowed on the District,
Circle, East London, Hammersmith & City and Metro-
politan lines, plus certain sections of other tube
lines. Restrictions on the suburban trains vary from
company to company, so check before you set out.
Festivals
London hosts an enormous number of
festivals throughout the year, several of
which are worth planning a trip around.
The biggest street festival is still the
Notting Hill Carnival, which takes place
at the end of August, and the longest-
running event is still the Proms, whose
series of classical music concerts takes
place for around eight weeks over the
summer. There are also regular free
events held throughout the year on
Trafalgar Square, funded by the Mayor of
London. The list of events below really
just skims the surface - there is also an
excellent range of sporting events (see
p.435) and music festivals (see p.401).
Cycling
Cycling
is more popular than ever in London, not
least because it's the cheapest and - in the centre, at
least - fastest way to get around. The easiest way to
get cycling is to use the city's Barclays Cycle Hire
scheme or
Boris Bikes
, as they're universally known,
after Boris Johnson, Mayor of London at the time they
were introduced. There are over six hundred docking
stations across central London. With a credit or debit
card, you can buy 24 hours' access to the bikes for just
£2, after which you get the first half hour free, so if
you hop from docking station to docking station, you
don't pay another penny. Otherwise, it's £1 for the first
hour, increasing rapidly after that to £15 for three
hours. If you're going to use the Boris Bikes a lot,
you're best off becoming a member and getting a
key - for more details see
W
tfl.gov.uk.
If you want to rent a better bike for longer than
an hour or so, try
London Bicycle Tour Company,
on the South Bank at 1a Gabriel's Wharf, SE1 (
T
020
7928 6838,
W
londonbicycle.com), which has hybrid
and mountain bikes for rent at £3-4 an hour or £20
for the first day, £10 per day thereafter, £50 for the
week; or On Your Bike, The Vaults, Montague Close,
SE1 (
T
020 7378 6669,
W
onyourbike.com), which
has a whole range of bikes for rent for £18 a day,
£10 per day thereafter.
There are restrictions on taking
bikes on public
transport
: no bikes other than folding bikes are
allowed on any part of the system (with a few minor
exceptions) from Monday to Friday between 7.30am
JANUARY
London Parade
Jan 1
W
londonparade.co.uk; admission charge
for grandstand seats in Piccadilly, otherwise free. A procession of
floats, marching bands, cheerleaders and clowns wends its way from
Parliament Square, at noon, to Green Park.
London International Mime Festival
Late Jan
W
mimelondon
.com. Annual mime festival that takes place over much of January at the
Southbank Centre, the ICA and other funky venues. It pulls in some very
big names in mime, animation and puppetry.
Chinese New Year
Late Jan/early Feb
W
chinatownlondon.org;
free. Celebrations in Soho's Chinatown, Leicester Square and even
Trafalgar Square erupt in a riot of dancing dragons and firecrackers -
expect serious human congestion.
FEBRUARY
Clowns Service
First Sun of month 3pm. Holy Trinity Church,
Beechwood Rd, E8
W
clowns-international.com; Dalston Kingsland
or Junction Overground; free. The Joseph Grimaldi Memorial Service
for clowns, commemorating the great clown, with a clown show
afterwards in the church hall.
Pancake Day
Shrove Tuesday. Free. There are several places to enjoy a
public pancake race: go to Brick Lane for frivolity, and the Guildhall for
seriously silly costumes courtesy of the Poulterers' Guild.
MARCH
St Patrick's Day
March 15
W
london.gov.uk; free. Events all over
London and a parade that sets off at noon and ends up at Trafalgar