please empty your brain below
Since you introduced me to alwaystouchout.com my wife has thought me a big geek. I know this as a fact. I am not so sure that she didn't already think it, but even if she didn't, she does now.

flashgordonnz | 11.04.07 - 2:39 a.m. | #

Not following the crowd indeed.
Living there- I appeal to you all- stay away.

Strandman | 11.04.07 - 8:53 a.m. | #

Clearly it's stupid to change from the Northern Line at Leicester Square to get there, but if you're already on the Piccadilly Line it's nonsense not to use it - I know someone who frequently travels Cockfosters to Covent Garden and back again.

Gert | Homepage | 11.04.07 - 9:32 a.m. | #

Hard to follow uninteresting back streets? Even if I'm on the Picc, Holborn is my Covent Garden get-off stop. You're much more likely to discover the beauty and quirks of Great Queen Street, Drury Lane, Monmouth, Seven Dials etc. if approaching the area from Holborn. The boring and uninteresting parts of Covent Garden are the southern edge and shopping-mall excuse of a lineup that is Long Acre. Stanfords is the exception of course ...

Jag | Homepage | 11.04.07 - 9:39 a.m. | #

Time was - as my mum has told me on numerous occasions when she used to live round there (we’re talking 40 years ago) – Covent Garden was London’s wholesale fruit and veg market, meaning the place was heaving during the early hours of weekdays and dead at weekends. So dead, in fact, that Covent Garden station did not open on Saturday and Sundays. Quite a contrast from weekends these days!

And let’s not forget the station’s most famous passenger, the shade of Victorian actor William Terris…

http://www.timeout.com/london/
fe...Id=ODE0MzIzMgS2

Marc | 11.04.07 - 9:43 a.m. | #

In one of my old books on the history of the Underground it looks forward and states that Covent Garden station is unlikely to survive after closure of the market. The dangers of predicting the future !

Pedantic of Purley | 11.04.07 - 10:31 a.m. | #

I remember when i first came to London, cramming
myself into underground heat sinks with
utterly confused tourists and thoroughly
pissed of Londoners - i thought that was
the easiest way to get about! What a total doofus!

To my shame i'll admit looking at a tube
map and thinking "yes - covent garden
would seem to be the logical choice here..."

Luckily at some point down the line I was introduced to a bicycle and realised
just how small central london is...
*smugly counts saved money/time/health/lives etc*

vagrant | 11.04.07 - 11:19 a.m. | #

don't forget to mention lloyd grossman...

dg writes: even worse, Johnny Vaughan...

geofftech | Homepage | 11.04.07 - 2:43 p.m. | #

Of course tourists usually pay top fares to use the tube, so I guess this station is subsidising the rest of us.

Kevinho | 11.04.07 - 4:01 p.m. | #

Vagrant - I always reckoned that their were three steps to acquiring familiarity with the geography of the West End/your own bit of town:

1. Knowing your way around the Tube - eg being able to navigate around without frequent reference to the map. A good way to test if you have acquired this skill is to see if you make my frequent mistake of thinking the Jubilee still terminates at Charing Cross.

2. Knowing where it is quicker/more pleasant/less effort to walk/stay on the surface than taking the Tube. The classic example of this is, of course, mastering the tricky walking route from Covent Garden to Leicester Square. But another instance could be getting from Piccadilly Circus to Tottenham Court Road on foot. Going by Underground might be fractionally quicker, but by staying up top you get to stumble upon the sights of Soho and save schlepping down and up several escalators and interchanging at Leicester Square. And you don’t really need an A-Z in your hand to do it: take a left turn, take the next right, then the next left, follow that with a right until you either come out on Oxford Street (in which case turn right and keep straight on) or Charing Cross Road (turn left and keep straight on).

3. Sussing out which of your local buses take you into the centre of town and where to catch them back home again. Nine times out ten the bus will be slower than the Tube, but if you ain’t pushed for time, it is an infinitely more interesting – and hence rewarding - journey.

Marc | 11.04.07 - 4:41 p.m. | #

Couldn't agree more with your last point Marc. The best views in London are to be had from the top deck of a London bus.

Jag | Homepage | 11.04.07 - 6:46 p.m. | #

oooh! I saw this the other day and meant to tell you about it: On the wall at Covent Garden (in that wonderful mustard tile pattern) there is a slightly strange bit of text. Partially obscured by posters and the TFL sign are the letters "bury Park"...What's going on there then???

dg writes: I suspect the answer's here.

Me | Homepage | 11.04.07 - 8:05 p.m. | #

ahhhhh thank you!

Me | Homepage | 11.04.07 - 10:16 p.m. | #

I like the "Walk" adverts on buses and taxis at the moment.

I expect you've posted the short cut walking routes previously, too?

I copied the various maps into my flickr stream access via here, though I think some of the timings are slightly optimistic.

rashbre | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 12:46 a.m. | #

I once changed at Embakement to travel to Charing Cross. I swear on the surface they are less than 150 metres apart. The interchange alone at Embakement is probably 100m from District line to Northern (I only made that mistake once, so am going from impressions in memory). I had only been in London a few days at that stage...

flashgordonnz | 12.04.07 - 2:23 a.m. | #

Hi Marc - i agree - bus is much more plesant than the tube and, like you say, if you know where to walk you usually dont have to make any changes. The three stages you outlined (getting to know the tube layout, learning how to walk above ground, and learning the bus routes) i would say all point to the fourth and final enlightenment. The zen that is... london on a bicycle. All i can say is London is
brand new again when you learn how..

vagrant | 12.04.07 - 1:08 p.m. | #











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