going to the Brisitsh Museum at night.....

[fishman620]

I have purchased tickets for the British Museum @ 19:00 on a Friday night in August......we are staying at a hotel near the Waterloo Train Station.....was wondering if we will be safe walking back to the hotel @ 21:00 from the Museum, or should we take the tube, if so is it a direct train or do we have to transfer.  Thanks so much for your help.

[Meander Ingwa]

You are perfectly safe walking at 21.  I have walked home to Russell Square from the theatre district at 2300, no worries.  Friday night in summer at 21, the night is young.  The Strand is a busy main street.

 

the only direct train close to the museum is the Northern line, southbound at Goodge Street.

 

If you have google maps on your phone, you can see all of the tube stations.  zoom in and you will see the roundel , a red circle with a blue line through.   If you tap on a station you can see what lines run there and even see a schedule.

 

If you have Google Maps you can also download a map and it is there for you even off line and without data.

Edited July 1, 2023 by Meander Ingwa

[gumshoe958]

Perfectly safe. There’ll be a lot of people around. Bars and restaurants will be busy. Central London is vibrant in the evening, unlike some American cities’ downtown areas.

 

But if it’s raining or you don’t feel like walking, the 68, 168 and 188 buses all run very frequently from Southampton Row, just east of the museum, and will take you over Waterloo Bridge direct to Waterloo station.

[fishman620]

Thanks for the information.....it sounds like taking the bus would be easier or nearer to the museum?  Does the bus take a chipped credit card or do we need cash/pounds?

[Cotswold Eagle]

London buses ONLY take contactless payment, no cash. Debit, credit or Oyster cards or mobile devices, and you'll need one each.

[Meander Ingwa]

yes you can tap in out with a card.  I dont know if it is particularly easier, though.  I never take the bus in London, I find the tube to be simple and efficient.  Goodge street is 4 blocks about the same distance as Russell Sq or Holborn.  If you are at the hotels near Waterloo tube station the bus might drop you further than the tube station inside the train station.  The bus stop near the museum is on the south side of Russell square, about 2 blocks away.

 

  Do you know how to use Google Maps to see your travel options?

 

 

[Cotswold Eagle]

Just now, Meander Ingwa said:

Goodge street is 4 blocks about the same distance as Russell Sq or Holborn.

And Tottenham Court Road is close than any of these to the main entrance. 

[Globaliser]

 

1 hour ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

1 hour ago, Meander Ingwa said:

Goodge street is 4 blocks about the same distance as Russell Sq or Holborn.

And Tottenham Court Road is close than any of these to the main entrance. 

 

And using either Holborn and Russell Square would mean you'd have to change trains to get to Waterloo.

[Meander Ingwa]

Yes I forgot Tottenham.  That would be the best and closer than the bus stop on Russel Sq or Goodge street.  ( though goodge street is close to one of my favorite Chinese restaurants)

 

Personally I would walk the whole way but if the OP is not comfortable with that option Tottenham for the Northern Line is a good choice.  

I would add for the OP that a walk along the south bank of the river, in the evening, is a lovely way to view the city.  With the lights on, it is pretty wonderful.  Add a full moon rising, it is a wow.  The riverside walk is handy and popular with many places to sit and a lot of places to grab a drink

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, Meander Ingwa said:

Yes I forgot Tottenham. ...

 

Personally I would walk the whole way but if the OP is not comfortable with that option Tottenham for the Northern Line is a good choice.

 

Be careful here. Not "Tottenham", which is a suburb of London about 7 miles away from the British Museum - and is somewhere a tourist probably shouldn't go unless they really mean to.

 

"Tottenham Court Road" is the name of both the station and the road for which it is named.

[fishman620]

thank you all for your replies.  Yes, we are absolutely able to walk back to the hotel.....so we might be able to see the city lights at night if we walk along the river and it is a safe walk......could you please tell me the details of the walk.

[gumshoe958]

3 hours ago, fishman620 said:

thank you all for your replies.  Yes, we are absolutely able to walk back to the hotel.....so we might be able to see the city lights at night if we walk along the river and it is a safe walk......could you please tell me the details of the walk.

There are many ways you could go, and you haven’t said which hotel but assuming it’s the Park Plaza or nearby Premier Inn, my choice would be to head due south through Covent Garden via Monmouth St & St Martin’s Lane to Trafalgar Square, then head east to the river, crossing by the northerly of the two footbridges next to Charing Cross station (for the best view), then turn right along the South Bank of the river past the London Eye observation wheel.