Basics - The Rough Guide to London - page 27

laundrettes exist all over London, although they
are harder to find in the centre - there's Red &
White laundrette at 78 Marchmont St, WC1 T 020
7387 3667 (daily 6.30am-10.30pm; ! King's
Cross). For a central dry cleaners, try Valentino Dry
Cleaners, 56b New Oxford St, WC1 T 020 7436
1660 (Mon-Fri 8.30am-6pm, Sat 9am-1pm;
! Tottenham Court Road).

Mail

The postal service is pretty e cient. First-class
stamps to anywhere in the UK currently cost 60p
and should arrive the next day; if the item is
anything approaching A4 size, it will be classed as a
“Large Letter” and will cost 90p; if you want to
guarantee next day delivery, ask for Special
Delivery (from around £6). Second-class stamps
cost 50p, taking up to three days; airmail to the rest
of Europe costs 88p and should take three days; to
the rest of the world stamps cost from 76p and
should take five days. Stamps can be bought at
post o ces, and from newsagents and supermar-
kets, although they usually only sell books of four
or ten first-class UK stamps.
For general postal enquiries phone T 0845 774
0740 (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat 8am-1pm), or visit
the website W royalmail.com. Almost all London's
post o ces are open Monday to Friday
9am-5.30pm, Saturday 9am-noon. The exception is
the Trafalgar Square Post O ce (24-28 William IV St,
WC2N 4DL; Mon-Fri 8.30am-6.30pm, Tues opens
9.15am, Sat 9am-5.30pm), to which poste restante
mail should be sent. In the suburbs you'll find
sub-post o ces operating out of shops, but these
are open the same hours as regular post o ces,
even if the shop itself is open for longer. To find out
your nearest post o ce, contact T 0845 611 2970,
W posto ce.co.uk (Mon-Fri 8.15am-6pm, Sat
8.30am-2pm).

Left luggage
Airports Gatwick: North Terminal T 01293 734888
(daily 5am-9pm); South Terminal T 01293 734887
(24hr). Heathrow T 020 8759 3344: Terminal 1 (daily
6am-11pm); Terminal 3 (daily 5.30am-11pm);
Terminal 4 (daily 5.30am-11pm); Terminal 5 (daily
5.30am-11pm). London City T 020 7646 0000
(Mon-Fri 5am-10pm, Sat 5am-11pm, Sun
11am-10.20pm). Luton T 01582 405100 (24hr).
Stansted T 0844 824 3109 (24hr).
Train stations Excess Baggage Company ( T 020
7262 0344, W left-baggage.co.uk): Charing Cross
T 020 7930 5444 (daily 7am-11pm); Euston T 020
7387 1499 (daily 7am-11pm); King's Cross T 020
7837 4334 (daily 7am-11pm); Liverpool Street
T 020 7247 4297 (daily 7am-11pm); Paddington
T 020 7262 0344 (daily 7am-11pm); St Pancras
T 020 7837 4334 (Mon-Sat 6am-10pm, Sun
7am-10pm); Victoria T 020 7963 0957 (daily 7am-
midnight); Waterloo T 020 7401 8444 (daily
7am-11pm).

Lost property Maps

Airports Gatwick (South Terminal) T 01293 503162
(daily 10am-4pm); Heathrow (Terminals 3 & 5)
T 0844 824 3115 (daily 9.30am-4.30pm); London
City T 020 7646 0000; Luton T 01582 395219;
Stansted T 0844 824 3109 (daily 1-5pm).
Eurostar T 0844 822 4411 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm).
Train stations Euston T 020 7387 8699 (Mon-Fri
9am-5pm); King's Cross T 020 7278 3310 (Mon-Fri
9am-5pm); Liverpool Street T 020 7247 4297
(Mon-Fri 9am-5pm); Paddington T 020 7262 0344
(Mon-Fri 9am-5pm); St Pancras T 020 7837 4334
(Mon-Fri 9am-5pm); Victoria T 020 7963 0957
(Mon-Fri 9am-5pm); Waterloo T 020 7401 7861
(Mon-Fri 7.30am-7pm).
Transport for London Lost Property O ce, 200
Baker St, NW1 (Mon-Fri 8.30am-4pm) T 0343 222
1234, W tfl.gov.uk; ! Baker Street; map p.89.
Contact TfL about property lost on buses, tubes or
in black cabs.

The maps in this topic should be adequate for
sightseeing purposes. Alternatively, the Geogra-
phers' A-Z map series produces a whole range of
street-by-street maps of London, from pocket-sized
foldouts to giant atlases. Virtually every newsagent
in London stocks them, but the best map shop in
London is Stanfords, 12-14 Long Acre, WC2 ( T 020
7836 1321, W stanfords.co.uk; ! Leicester Square).
Free maps of the Underground and bus networks
can be picked up at tourist o ces and TfL informa-
tion of ces (see p.21).

Media

The free listings magazine , Time Out , comes out
every Tuesday and carries critical appraisals of a
selection of the week's theatre, film, music,
exhibitions and children's events, though for
comprehensive coverage, you need to visit their
website W timeout.com/london. London's only