London Bus System

Your comprehensive Guide to Everything London

Public transport often gets a bad rap for the service etc, however the famous red buses of London are something different. There hundreds of bus routers around London which are all designed to get you to the places that the tube doesn’t as well as accompany the tube.
With this the public transport system in London for us is one of the best in the world.  If you are using Travelcard to get around London these are accepted on the bus network as well. Alternatively Oyster Cards (see London Underground) can be used for payment. If you don’t have an Oyster Card or Travelcard you may need to purchase your ticket at the bus stop before you board a bus, especially in Central London.

Recently people can now use the contact-less cards to get on the tube and travel around without necessarily the need to get Oysters.

To try and explain all of the different routes available would take up most of this website. Instead I would suggest you look at www.tfl.gov.uk where there are great journey planners available which will show you maps indicating where the bus stops are (remember to be on the correct side of the road) as well as details as to which bus number you should use.

Another good tip is to have a look on the inside walls of the bus stops in London. There is usually a map of the local area which shows which bus services are available and how often they run.

For those planning a late night out in London then the night busses may come in handy. These bus numbers are prefixed with an N and start at around 11pm running through till dawn. These busses can be very rowdy and full of late night revellers. However a £2 bus fare is a lot more palatable than a £40 taxi fare after an expensive night in a nightclub or bar.
Just one little thing, if you are on the main shopping streets in Central London it is often a lot quicker to walk than to wait for and then take a bus. Traffic can be incredibly bad and although the busses are able to use dedicated bus lanes, in places it can still be a very slow journey!