Visit in London 3 days moving bike? can be!
A bike sharing station, vicino all’Imperial War Museum
I had visited London already some times (some time ago I wrote articles on two of the itineraries I followed), though, I confess, I had a little problem: unlike other cities, my little orientation it's bad!
If they asked me how to get from A to B, I would have simply said, take metro X from station A, and get off at stop B. Simple and clean. 🙂
Always use the subway only, however, makes us miss an interesting piece of visit, and that allows us to understand the city better where we are, or also discover hidden corners.
So, I decided to visit London for 3 dayI (dedicating others 2 days in Oxford and Stonehenge / Salisbury, which I will write about in another post), using only the bike, without *MORE* take the subway, *MORE* use the’Oyster Card, * taking * A one time one of the iconic red buses in London.
Bike sharing in London (recently renamed Santander Cycles), and its (affectionately calls) Boris bikes will not be disclosed in a capillary as in Paris, but I assure you that I am a Excellent, quick and inexpensive way to get around downtown, da Camden ai Docks, da Battersea a Notting Hill e Portobello Road.
Unfortunately, the system does not yet cover the area of Greenwich, so you have to drop it on the north side of the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, and “go across” Thames walk, through the aforementioned tunnel.
The cost is extremely low: 2£, payable by credit card before taking a bike.
You can use the bikes over 24 hours at no additional cost, as long as deliver them in a station within the next 30 minutes.
In the itinerary that I followed, all paths do not exceed 5 / 6km, that, net of traffic lights and the overwhelming traffic in London, They can easily to fulfill within the 30 minutes.
The mechanism is simple, and I summed up in one small guide to London bike sharing:
- Find a station characterized by blue column, and the inscription “CYCLE HIRE”
- Locate the touch screen monitor, and select “HIRE A CYCLE”
- Make payment by credit card
- Select the option to immediately withdraw a bike
- Wait for the paper ticket is issued, containing the release code
- Select a bike, check that it is in order, and enter the release code just received
- Ride until the next station… I recommend, returned the bike within 30 minutes, unless you want to incur additional costs, often salty!
- To return the bike, push with force in one of the stalls, and wait to hear the confirmation BEEP, and see the green light. Without that, you risk that the system will not detect the return, with the related problems that would lead to it!
- If there are no stalls for redelivery, andate al touch screen, and select “NO DOCKING POINT FREE”, to receive 15 additional minutes, and reach another station.
I admit, used to my city bike as I am, these bikes turn out to be nails very heavy, as in all bike sharing systems in the world. This is due to the fact that they are equipped with an anti-theft system, roof rack and that… their frame is certainly not made of carbon. 🙂
In any case, you manage to hold one average decent (around 15km / h, in my case), and you can easily move around the city, discovering many new views, and learning to orient yourself in a big city like London.
There are cycle paths, come sul Westminster Bridge o, In alternative, it is possible to travel almost all “Bus Lane“.
Do a lot beware of traffic, because Londoners are quite aggressive when driving, while being very respectful of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings.
At the traffic lights, try to get to the head of the line, and position yourself in the large box with a bike on it drawn, placed just before the pedestrian crossing.
This is designed specifically for cyclists, in order to allow him to have an advantage over motor vehicles. Push science fiction, in Italian.
Ah, needless to say… keep left, if you care about your life! 🙂
To have a list of all stations, and relative availability of bikes, you can consult the official map, A this address.
As for the actual visit to London, in addition to having to do the usual museums in which you can never give up (see British Museum, where there is a spectacular exhibition on satire the time of Napoleon, with original cartoons), I was lucky enough to happen in London just the 26 April, day of London Marathon, and then I got the chance to have fun with the camera to catch the strangest runners… Fred Flintstone, Jesus with the cross, Homer Simpson, an English phone booth, people who shaved his beard as he ran… in practice, a band of lunatics!
Check your boobs! Jen alla Virgin Money London Marathon
I leave you also a video I shot during the marathon:
The downside was finding a city paralyzed, in which not only move around by bike, but even on foot, it was almost impossible: tutta l’area dal London Bridge a Canary Wharf (and not only) it was cordoned off, or totally occupied by a flood of people.
The photos of my visit to London (in particular the marathon) they are shown, along with all the old photos of London, in my galleria, A this address.
We come to’itinerary of this visit (I lodged near Waterloo, so the start is calibrated from the bike sharing stations around):
1 day (arrival in the early afternoon – rossi pin)
- Imperial War Museum – London (free admission. Time 10-18. Pay £ 2 and take bike Lambeth North station and continues to the south of Kennington Road, to the junction with Brook Dr. Where we are stalling for bikes)
- Late afternoon / evening in the center (Resume bike Kennington Road and back, crossing the Westminster Bridge and laying the bike in Storey's Gate Station, which it is a road on the left just before the beginning St.James Park.)
2 day (pin verdi)
- St. James Park (from Lower Marsh bike station, pays £ 2 and take the bike to get to the Storey's Gate bike station, just before beginning St.James Park, as the previous day)
- Green Park (cross it up to the Wellington Arch, just before Hiyde Park corner)
- National Portrait Gallery (It opens at 10. From Wellington Arch, Take your bike and walk to the Piccadilly North West. A Leicester Square, turn right, and laying the bike in St Station. Martin’s Street)
- British Museum (Resume your bike from St. Martin’s Street e percorri verso Nord Charing Cross Rd e Tottenham Court Rd. All’incrocio con Great Russell St, immediately after the Tube stop Tottenham Ct. Rd., turn right, and after a while 'is the station to lay the bike)
- Portobello Road (The famous street markets of. Riprendi la bici da Great Russell St. and go to the West of Oxford St, that begins where the Tube station Tottenham Ct Road, along Hyde Park. After a while 'you get to the Tube station Notting Hill Gate, where there is a stall to lay the bike. In total, about 5km, there it can be done in 30 minute time limit)
- Back in Marylebone / Oxford Circus (Towards the north end of Portobello Rd., turn right onto Westbourne Pk. Road and reach the stall of bike sharing of Gloucester Terrace, near the underground Tube Royal Oak. I scoured la A404 / Westway / Marylebone Rd. to the east until you reach the bike stalls Great Portland Street / Bolsover St., close to the Tube station of Great Portland St. e di Regent’s Park)
3 day (pin blu)
- Lower Marsh Market (Alternative to the usual Portobello and Camden, dating back to the Victorian era, It is a branch of the road adjacent to Waterloo Station, and usually it takes place on Saturday morning)
- Stroll in the area between London Bridge and Tower Bridge (Pay £ 2 and took the bike from the stalls Baylis Road, its extreme north of Lower Marsh. Percorri verso NE la B300/The Cut e St.Thomas St., and placing the bike in the stalls of Curlew Street, just after Tower Bridge)
- National Maritime Museum (Perhaps the largest maritime museum in the world. open hours 10-17. It crosses Tower Bridge and turn immediately right. Get the bike the bays of Wapping High Street, and along the Thames to the east, following its course, up to, by Westferry Road, the bike stalls Saunders Ness Road, ISLAND GARDENS near the DLR station. sono as. 6km. It crosses the Greenwich Foot Tunnel walk)
- Camden Market Area (through, walking toward Southeast, Greenwich Park and, all’incrocio Blackheath Avenue e Shooters Hill Rd., pays £ 1.5 and take the bus 53 Horse Guards Parade, to the last stop on Whitehall. Walk to the north up to the stalls of Craven Street bike, Just to the east of Charing Cross Tube station, and take the bike. Go to the north via A400 / Charing Cross Road + Tottenham Ct.Rd + Hampstead Rd + Camden High St. Laying the bike in the stalls of Greenland Road, near the Tube station Camden Town. A total of 3.5km)
MAP ON THIS TOUR: link
You also have used the bike sharing system in London? What do you think? some, is not that of Paris (that soon I try again), and the extension is still too limited but, per me, it is promoted!
Making a comparison with Napoli (which it is non-existent, ruled out a research project which expires at the end of May 2015, and it provides a few stations on the cross) and Rome, well… would cry, all without considering the widespread incivility, putting at risk the safety of cyclists.