The sights of London...

[mrcheek]

OK, so my holiday begins soon and I shall be spending one day in London. And I want to see as many sights as possible.

BUT, here's the challenge: I want to do it without ever leaving the railway or stations. No point wasting my London day travelcard.

Yes, this may seem insane, but remember, Im the guy that did an ALR where I returned back to my home town every single day (including day returns to Edinburgh and Glasgow where I never left the station...)

So, any recommendations? what can I see without leaving the train? are there particular lines I should travel, stations I should visit?

your thoughts please....

 

[JoshW1992]

Make sure you get a train out of Charing Cross. It crosses the river immediately, then runs past the London Eye and all the other interesting places.

 

[mrcheek]

Make sure you get a train out of Charing Cross. It crosses the river immediately, then runs past the London Eye and all the other interesting places.

yep, thats on my list! I came into Charing Cross after visiting Kent last year, couldnt believe how much different stuff you could see in the space of about 100 yards!

 

[JoshW1992]

Its also a good idea to do that bit of line when its dark. The Eye, and most of the surrounding buildings and boats on the River are lit up, with bright colours. Its amazing, far better than by day.

 

[mrcheek]

Its also a good idea to do that bit of line when its dark. The Eye, and most of the surrounding buildings and boats on the River are lit up, with bright colours. Its amazing, far better than by day.

then I may try that. Im leaving London on the 1930 from Paddington, and as it will be October, I guess it will be dark around 5-6 ish.

 

[P156KWJ]

go on the Hammersmith and City line from Hammersmith to see the BBC centre below you (the line is elevateds there)

 

[5872]

go on the Hammersmith and City line from Hammersmith to see the BBC centre below you (the line is elevateds there)

Yes that would be near Shepards Bush to be exact .

 

[Coxster]

If you truly want to make the most of your Travelcard then why stick to just the railways? The extensive bus network takes you past some London sights that you won't get near on a train/tube.

 

[mrcheek]

If you truly want to make the most of your Travelcard then why stick to just the railways? The extensive bus network takes you past some London sights that you won't get near on a train/tube.

i dont do buses

 

[Zamracene749]

Do some of the dlr, thats good fun. And try to combine it with a ride on the Woolwich free ferry if you can for a slightly less touristy but atmospheric view of the Thames.
Sadly most of the rail lines around the capital give a lasting memory of filthy brickwork, tower blocks, overgrown embankments, fly tipping and graffiti.

Not to mention sharing coaches with dodgy gangs and smackheads.

If you can I would advise sacrificing the travel time, surfacing and seeing some of the better things London has to offer- Superb food, night life, fascinating museums and galleries, architecture, friendly real ale pubs etc.

If you want to enjoy scenic rail travel head to Scotland, the north or the west- or better still Europe

 

[P156KWJ]

Yes that would be near Shepards Bush to be exact .

excuse me for not knowing the western part of London

 

[christopher]

Get a District Line train that will be some sights especially the Eastern end

 

[Pumbaa]

Definitely St Pancras, it's a brilliant station. And possibly Clapham Junction if you want to see some nice mixes of liveries...

As for lines, I quite like the Windsor loop with SWT, or the Willesden - Clapham bit of the North London Line. It's very subjective though - it depends on what exactly you want. Something thats typical of London railways? Or a nice train ride to enjoy the view?

 

[mrcheek]

Definitely St Pancras, it's a brilliant station. And possibly Clapham Junction if you want to see some nice mixes of liveries...

As for lines, I quite like the Windsor loop with SWT, or the Willesden - Clapham bit of the North London Line. It's very subjective though - it depends on what exactly you want. Something thats typical of London railways? Or a nice train ride to enjoy the view?

Im just looking for something that will make the ride interesting really.

thanks for the advice so far!
Ive already done Shepherds Bush. several times in fact.
The DLR is a must of course. Ive already done the line down to Greenwich. I was looking at an old railway map and was going to try the line to North Woolwich. Then I realised it had been closed. but then I realised that it has been more or less replaced by the DLR.

St Pancras I went to a few weeks after it reopened.
And maybe Ill try Willesden to Clapham!

 

[will1337]

Get a District Line train that will be some sights especially the Eastern end

Shame the District Line stops quite so incredibly much. On a c2c train, for the eastern end there are the views across the City which you miss a bit on the District Line going underground through Mile End etc and it's a lot more comfy.

I'd also recommend the West London Line as it's rather interesting and there's a rather good view across London on the approach to Willesden Junction High Level. There's also the couple of AXC trains a day that stop at Reading, Kensington Olympia, East Croydon which are worth going on as they won't be for much longer and it's quite a novelty travelling across London on a high speed train (well not exactly at breakneck speeds) as opposed to straight in or out like usual.

 

[Pumbaa]

Two other suggestions, which are of course completely subjective:

- Try the Chiltern line out of Marylebone towards Birmingham, not Aylesbury. I always find it a pleasant travelling experience - green and quite open. I'm not sure about the validity of the travelcard though.
- Take a southeastern service out of Charing Cross towards Kent. The lines snake through the suburbs and I always find it interesting. Not exactly scenic, but an eye opener nonetheless.

As an additional thought, doing the Thameslink line through Blackfriars is probably the best way to see Central London, but I've never travelled over it, so I can't say how useful that info is.