London's gloucester tube station?

[THE G TEAM]

I've been trying to find out if the Gloucester Road Tube Station will still be closed August 28th - August 31st. This is the nearest tube station to the Millennium Gloucester Hotel (South Kensington Tube Station is a 20 minute walk from the hotel). I've tried a number of UK sites, but can't figure out if the station will be open or not when we arrive. Any Londoners out there who could shed some light:confused:

[John Bull]

No personal knowledge, but according to London Transport, it's just Piccadilly line trains which aren't stopping there, due to installing elevators etc, work which will last until almost the end of the year.

http://www.stationmasterapp.com/blog/2014/05/gloucester-road-closure/

 

The station is open, and Circle line & District line trains are stopping at Gloucester Road as usual.

 

So you can use Gloucester Road, but some destinations which would be direct on the Piccadilly line will need a change of tube train.

 

Not a big deal unless you have luggage - but complicates things just a little for accessing Heathrow from Gloucester Road since you would have luggage. There are stops (? Barons Court?) where a switch from the Piccadilly line is super-easy, even with luggage.

Is an airport run on your tube schedule?

 

The tube map has been updated to take account of the closure - you'll note that Gloucester Road has been excluded from the Piccadilly line.

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/standard-tube-map.pdf

 

No worries :cool:

 

JB :)

Edited August 2, 2014 by John Bull

[Cotswold Eagle]

JB is spot on - Piccadilly line not stopping there until December.

 

If coming in from Heathrow, change at Hammersmith or Barons Court for a level cross-platform change to the District.

[THE G TEAM]

Welcome back John! Thank you again for that helpful website.

 

We have 2 days in London and have seen most of the touristy sites on previous trips . We arrive at our hotel on the 29th of August (no need to use the tube, but thanks for the tip Cotswold Eagle) and plan to walk to the Victoria and Albert Museum for the afternoon. Jetlag will dictate an early night:o On Saturday the 30th, we want to visit Churchill’s War Room, in the am, head over to Leicester Square for evening theatre tickets, go to Covent Gardens for the afternoon and back to the theatre.

 

So, if I’m reading this map right, John, in order to get from our hotel in South Kensington to the theatre district at Leicester Square (via Churchill’s War Room), we must take the District Line from Gloucester Tube Station to Westminster TS. After visiting the War Room, we go back to the Westminster TS and take the Jubilee Line to Green Park TS where we pick up the Piccadilly Line to Leicester Square TS. Once we’ve secured our theatre tickets, we can walk to Covent Gardens, if it's not too far. Returning to the hotel means we take the Piccadilly Line from Leicester TS to the Green Park TS. There we transfer to the Victoria Line and at Victoria TS, we transfer back to the District Line to return to Gloucester TS.

 

Do I have this right? Does this plan sound doable? Is there a stop on the Piccadilly Line for Covent Gardens? Am I correct in thinking that the circles on the map are actual tube stations and the little ticks (like at Covent Gardens, Sloan, St. James Park) are just stops?

[John Bull]

Correct out-bound. Though if you're feeling tolerably energetic & the weather's fine you could walk from the War Rooms to Leicester Square in about 15 to 20 minutes - up The Mall past 10 Downing St, Banqueting House, Cenotaph, Horse Guards Parade, Trafalgar Square / Admiralty Arch/Nelson's Column/National Gallery & Portrait Gallery and a stack of other sights.

 

But returning to your hotel from Leicester Square (or Covent Garden if that's closer to the theatre) it's simplest to take the Piccadilly line to South Kensington & switch there to either Circle or District line, & Gloucester Road will be the first stop.

 

Covent Garden is about a ten minute walk from Leicester Square, or one stop on the Piccadilly line.

Garden, not Gardens. And there's no garden or park. It was London's central fruit & veg market, now the Victorian building has been converted to indoor / outdoor eateries, shops, stalls, street entertainers & such.

 

All the names on the tube map, including the little ticks, are tube stations, there are no other stops.

Those with circles are major intersections serving several lines - and those with two or three connected circles are the same but a single circle wouldn't fit the map layout.

Those with a little red double-arrow, like Victoria, are adjacent to regular train stations connecting London with the rest of the country.

 

BTW the map is schematic - it's not to scale, the actual lines aren't straight, the actual stations aren't evenly spaced, nor are the different lines necessarily as close or far from each-other as they are on that map.

So don't use it for your above-ground navigation, use it only to get from your starting station to your destination station.

After a journey or two you'll find that it's ideal for that purpose.

Most hotels, places of interest etc, quote the name of their nearest tube station.

 

Don't bother printing off the map, they're widely available pocket-size, and on the walls of stations & trains all over the system.

 

Mind the gap.;)

JB :)

Edited August 3, 2014 by John Bull

[Cotswold Eagle]

Just a heads up that Covent Garden is a terrible station - the Piccadilly line is very deep in Central London and access via Covent Garden is by lifts (elevators) only. It can get very crowded at the best of times, and I believe is currently exit only (ie you can't get in to get on a train there) because they are replacing the lifts. And at weekends only eastbound trains stop there, in any case.

 

I always use Leicester Square and walk through.

[THE G TEAM]

Wonderful information and so appreciated. I'm amazed to hear that these places are all so close together. I've revised our plan and, weather permitting, we will be walking from the War Room to Leicester Square, back and forth to Covent Garden and, if time permits, to Piccadilly Circus (hopefully, we won't sleep through the play:eek:)

 

BTW, 'Mind the Gap' is not a term I'm familiar with, John. Can you enlighten a curious Canadian?

[John Bull]

 

BTW, 'Mind the Gap' is not a term I'm familiar with, John. Can you enlighten a curious Canadian?

 

Nope. :p

And hopefully nor will anyone else :p :p

But when Emma Clarke tells you to mind the gap, as she surely will at some point while you're travelling around London, your curiosity will be satiated and you'll remember this thread. :D

 

JB :)

Edited August 5, 2014 by John Bull

[THE G TEAM]

My apologies, John, but my curiosity got the better of me - I goggled Emma Clarke:rolleyes: The good news is that as I travel the world under London, I will be looking forward to that sultry voice advising me to 'Mind the Gap'.

[John Bull]

My apologies, John, but my curiosity got the better of me - I goggled Emma Clarke:rolleyes: The good news is that as I travel the world under London, I will be looking forward to that sultry voice advising me to 'Mind the Gap'.

 

I deliberately quoted the lady's name to see if you were wide-awake and as curious as Alice.

You were :D

 

Here's a few of her announcements which never made it to the tannoy

http://www.emmaclarke.com/fun/mind-the-gap/spoof-london-underground-announcements

 

Mind the tramp ;)

JB :)

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I deliberately quoted the lady's name to see if you were wide-awake and as curious as Alice.

You were :D

 

Here's a few of her announcements which never made it to the tannoy

http://www.emmaclarke.com/fun/mind-the-gap/spoof-london-underground-announcements

 

Mind the tramp ;)

JB :)

 

Thank you--these were very funny.

[Crown Vic]

I deliberately quoted the lady's name to see if you were wide-awake and as curious as Alice.

You were :D

 

Here's a few of her announcements which never made it to the tannoy

http://www.emmaclarke.com/fun/mind-the-gap/spoof-london-underground-announcements

 

Mind the tramp ;)

JB :)

 

Delightful! Thanks! Makes one feel quite homesick...think I'll wear my 'mind the gap' t-shirt...

[Globaliser]

After visiting the War Room, we go back to the Westminster TS and take the Jubilee Line to Green Park TS where we pick up the Piccadilly Line to Leicester Square TS.

As an alternative to the Tube, if you don't fancy walking all the way, go to the bus stops on the western side of Parliament Street, just north of Parliament Square, and get a bus up to Trafalgar Square and then walk up to Leicester Square from there. I think some buses even continue up Charing Cross Road, in which case you can get off near Leicester Square Tube.

 

Incidentally, you may also want to note that Bakerloo and Northern Line trains are not stopping at Embankment until the end of the year, in case you have a change of heart and suddenly think that doing a change here is a good idea. However, it is possible to get out of those lines at Charing Cross and walk down to Embankment to resume your journey (or vice versa).

 

One other thing about the District Line: If the weather is hot, and you're not in a hurry, and a Circle Line train is coming along not too much later, it can be worth waiting for that. Circle Line trains are air conditioned; District Line trains are not (along the bit that you're thinking of, between Gloucester Road and Tower Hill).

[SteveH2508]

Just a bit of added info. Leicester Square to Covent Garden on the Piccadilly Line is the shortest distance between two stops on the network (250 metres apparently). It takes longer to go down and up than it does to walk. Most canny Londoners will get off at Leicester Square for Covent Garden.

[Globaliser]

Just a bit of added info. Leicester Square to Covent Garden on the Piccadilly Line is the shortest distance between two stops on the network (250 metres apparently). It takes longer to go down and up than it does to walk. Most canny Londoners will get off at Leicester Square for Covent Garden.

Last week's Time Out had a feature on 101 (or whatever) things to do in London.

 

As counter-balance, the back page had a feature on the top things not to do in London. After "stand on the left on the escalator", the other transport related thing that stood out was "take the Tube from Leicester Square to Covent Garden".

[SteveH2508]

Last week's Time Out had a feature on 101 (or whatever) things to do in London.

 

As counter-balance, the back page had a feature on the top things not to do in London. After "stand on the left on the escalator", the other transport related thing that stood out was "take the Tube from Leicester Square to Covent Garden".

 

Missed that - I was re-kindling an old love affair with Kolsch and Schweinshaxe in Cologne at the time...:D

[THE G TEAM]

Very funny, John - I love that dry British wit. It's too bad they never made it to the tannoy (had to google than too:rolleyes:) - they would certainly have brightened a day.

[Globaliser]

A "Mind the Gap" story is currently doing the rounds, albeit it concerns Perth in Australia: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11015678/Commuters-tilt-train-to-save-mans-trapped-leg-in-Perth.html

[THE G TEAM]

Yikes:eek: Emma's not just whistling Dixie when she says Mind the Gap. Well, they say a picture (video) is worth a thousand words!!

[SteveH2508]

Another Time Out article about a guide to Tube etiquette.

 

http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2014/07/31/the-ultimate-guide-to-tube-etiquette-20-things-you-need-to-know-to-be-a-good-commuter/?cid=TOL|DD|EM|_CTA||2014-08-06T19:14:51

[THE G TEAM]

Thanks for sharing, Steve. As a near Tewbie, I enjoyed the guide to tube etiquette very much - that wonderful dry British wit again.:D .