From Euston station to London's Top Tourist Destinations

London's most iconic tourist attractions are scattered across the city's central area, the museum district in South Kensington in the west is around three miles/four kilometers away from the Tower Of London in the east.

The original Euston was the first long-distance railway station in London and the current station occupies the same location, on the northern edge on the heart of the city.
So it's entirely random that there aren't any of these popular attractions in the Euston area, therefore you will be taking public transport on to an ultimate destination, when arriving at Euston by train.

Hence using my insights from being a Londoner, who frequently has to plan trips around the city centre for someone who prefers to avoid using stairs, to come up with this guide to accessing London’s most popular tourist attractions from Euston.
The focus is on what’s easiest, so where relevant alternative step-free routes have been included; though comparatively few Underground stations in central London have step-free access by lift (elevator) between the trains and the streets.

Accessing the Northern and Victoria lines

The main access down to the Underground station ticket hall is by escalator, but there are also lifts/elevators down to this level.
You'll find them on the right on the main concourse, by the entrance to the mainline ticket office, there also lifts down from the Underground's ticket hall to the trains.

Whether you will be taking the Northern or Victoria Line, there is only one set of escalators which leads down to the trains from the ticket hall in the Underground station.
However at the foot of this escalator, you need to take different routes to the THREE parts of the station that the trains to central London leave from; and they are:

• The Northern Line via Charing Cross - platform (track) 2
• The Northern Line via Bank - platform (track) 6
• The Victoria Line
  So you need to pay particular attention to the signs when you the step off of the escalator which leads down from the ticket hall.
  From this space at the foot of this escalator, go left for the Northern Line which goes to Charing Cross and Waterloo, but go right and then turn left for both the southbound Northern line to London Bridge and the southbound Victoria line to Victoria.

Accessing the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines

Euston Square underground station is is a 3 - 5 min walk away from the main station and the route isn’t particularly obvious.

When you’re on the main concourse, follow the route from here which leads to the relocated taxi rank; use the exit doors on the right hand side of the concourse, those that are over the by the ticket office.
On the other side of the doors you will see a roofed step-free path, which leads down to the taxis, which will then be over to the right.

Keep going ahead, until the charming old pair of buildings, which house the Euston Tap pubs, are on your left.

When you reach them you need to turn right and walk towards the road junction, which is on the far side of the area used by the taxis.

When you reach the road junction/intersection, cross the street and keep walking ahead, you will be on Euston Road.
The entrance to Euston Square station, will be on the left, before you reach the next road junction.
Though look out for it, as it’s a contender for London’s most anonymous Underground station entrance.

You’ve reached Euston Square when you can see an underground sign on a pole above a staircase, which leads down from the street.
The staircase will take you down to a ticket hall which provides access to both the trains heading east or west.
Though the only access to the eastbound platform at Euston Square is by staircases.

However, the westbound platform has lift (elevator) access, but to reach it, you have to walk passed this entrance and turn left at the next intersection.
You need to cross to the other side of Euston Road and use the main entrance to Euston Square, which is the glass fronted building on the street corner.

The trains will look the same, regardless of which line they are serving, so check the indicators on the platform and on the sides of the trains.

The easiest public transport option for travelling to The British Museum from Euston is to take bus route 68.
It leaves from stop E in the bus station in front of the railway station and goes to a stop named Southampton Row/Theobalds Road.

The Natural History Museum and The Science Museum and The Victoria and Albert Museum are all located on the aptly named Exhibition Road in South Kensington.
These museums are a five minute walk north of South Kensington underground station, through a subway which leads off from the ticket hall.

Taking the southbound Victoria line from Euston and connecting there for the westbound District Line to South Kensington seems the logical route, but it’s best avoided due to near permanent overcrowding.
The usually less stressful option is take a southbound Northern Line train on the Charing + branch to Embankment station and then transfer there to any westbound Circle or District line train, as they will all call at South Kensington.

Trafalgar Square is the location of The National Gallery and the separate National Portrait Gallery, plus Horse Guard’s Parade and The Churchill War Rooms, which is just off The Mall, are within a few minutes walk.

Take the southbound Northern line from Euston to Charing Cross station for The Mall and Horse Guard’s Parade, but if you’re heading to the galleries, leave the train at Leicester Square station instead for the short walk down Charing Cross Road.

A clutch of tourist destinations are located on the south bank of the River Thames between Waterloo and Westminster Bridges.
They include The London Eye and The Sea Life London Aquarium and The London Dungeon and The South Bank Centre arts complex including The Hayward Gallery and The Festival Hall.

Waterloo Underground station is within a five minute walk of all these attractions, though the station has multiple exits, so take your time and use the maps and signs, so that you use the exit with the easiest access to where you will be heading.

The fastest option for a Euston to Waterloo transfer is to take a southbound Northern line train via Charing Cross, but if time is on your side, bus routes 59 and 68 go from stop E in the bus station.

Head over to Euston Square station and board an eastbound Circle line train to Tower Hill station, as it is a few minutes walk from the main entrance into the Tower Of London.
Though this route from Euston to The Tower does have some compromises; these trains can only be accessed by staircases in Euston Square and the Circle line trains aren't particularly frequent.
The alternative is to take a southbound Northern line train on the Charing + branch to Embankment and transfer there to an eastbound Circle or District line train to Tower Hill.

A clutch of tourist destinations are located in the London Bridge area including Borough Market (best experienced on a weekend), The Shard and HMS Belfast the south side access to Tower Bridge, plus the attractions in the adjacent Bermondsey Street area such as the Fashion and Textile Museum and The White Cube Gallery, plus on weekends, The Ropewalk.

To access the London Bridge area from Euston taking a southbound Northern line train on the route via Bank is the only logical way to go.
Its a six station journey to London Bridge, but it will typically take less than 15 minutes.
For Borough Market use the exits on to Borough High Street.
For HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge use the exits on to Tooley Street which is where the station's main ticket hall is located.
For The Shard and Bermondsey Street head to the Tooley Street ticket hall, but exit through the right into the passage way under the railway named Joiner Street, which also gives access to the mainline station. At the other end of Joiner Street go to the left.

Madame Tussauds is adjacent to Baker Street Underground station, it is on the next block, but taking the bus is the easiest means of reaching The Zoo.
The only bus route which stops right by London Zoo’s entrance is the 274
and at Baker Street it departs from bus stop C, take the bus heading to Angel, Islington.

To head to Baker Street from Euston station, head over to Euston Square station and board any westbound train,
Though an alternative option for accessing London Zoo from Euston is to take a northbound Northern line train to Camden Town as The Zoo is a 15 – 25 min walk from there.
Head off down the road named Parkway and then turn right on to Prince Albert Road.
Though Camden Town station can be exceptionally busy on Sundays.

When heading to Westminster Abbey and the area around the Houses of Parliament from Euston, making the transfer at Green Park between the southbound Victoria and Jubilee lines seems the way to go.
Though the Victoria line's near permanent crowds result in the typically easier option being to take a southbound Northern line train to Embankment station on the Charing + branch instead.
Then from Embankment it’s a 10 minute walk along the river to Westminster, which also saves the bother of connecting to the District line.

The Covent Garden area, which is where the London Transport Museum is located is most easily accessed from Euston by taking a southbound Northern line train on the Charing + branch to Leicester Square station.
Take the exit from the station on to Cranbourn Street, turn right into Garrick Street and then left into King Street.

The entrance for the viewing of The State Rooms at Buckingham Palace is approximately an equal distance from Green Park and Victoria stations, so from Euston take a southbound Victoria line train to Green Park.

Unusually for a central London underground station, step-free access by a series of lifts (elevators) between train and street is available at Green Park; and Euston underground station is also fully accessible.

The historic center of maritime Greenwich is served by two stations:

1. Greenwich station is served by mainline regular trains and is a 5 – 10 minute walk to the town centre.
2. Cutty Sark station which is in the heart of the historic area and is served by the DLR, which is a hyper people mover system, on which metro style trains travel on routes mainly above ground through the Docklands business area.
   Though Cutty Sark station is below ground with escalators and a lift (elevator) up to street level.

North Greenwich station on the Jubilee line is in an entirely different location.

Hence there being multiple options available for a journey to Greenwich from Euston station:

(1) Take the southbound Northern line train to Bank and connect there for a DLR train heading to Lewisham, though it’s a long transfer within Bank station.
(2) Take the southbound Northern line train to London Bridge station and connect there for one of the typically six trains per hour to Greenwich station, or,
(3) Make the 7 – 12 minute walk over to St Pancras Thameslink station, as it typically has two trains per hour direct to Greenwich station.

Take the southbound Northern line on the Bank branch to London Bridge and transfer there to an eastbound Jubilee line train to North Greenwich.

The railway used by long-distance trains to Euston passes through Wembley, so if you can take a train to Watford Junction, you can transfer there to an Overground train, which will call at Wembley Central station as this station is a 15-25 walk away to the stadium.

Or if that isn’t an option, the two feasible routes from Euston to Wembley Stadium are:
(1) heading over to Euston Square station to take any northbound Metropolitan train to Wembley Park, or
(2) Taking the Overground to Wembley Central in a northbound direction,

The easiest route from Euston station to the Sky Garden is to take a southbound Northern line train to Bank station, use the exit on to Lombard Street and then keep waking ahead for 7 to 10 minutes.

The most direction option for the journey from Euston station to Somerset House is to take bus route/line 68 from stop E in the bus station in front of the railway station and leave the bus at the Aldwych/Drury Lane stop.

Pimlico station is an 8 to 15 walk from Tate Britain, so take the southbound Victoria line
Then on arrival at Pimlico, head to the gallery's side entrance by crossing over Vauxhall Bridge Road on to John Islip Street and turning right into Atterbury Street,

When accessing most of London's tourist attractions from Euston station, the route involves heading on from Euston to another station and then completing the journey on foot from the nearest station.
But the optimum route for a Euston to Tate Modern transfer flips that because the longer walk comes at the beginning of the journey:

• Head to the left hand side of the station concourse and then access Euston Road, which is the main street in front of the station, it's on the other side of the bus station and a small green area.
• When you reach Euston Road turn to the left and four blocks over you will see the entrance to The British Library on the left.
• Take the next street on the left, which is named Midland Road.
  St Pancras station is on the right-hand side of the street, you'll soon come to the entrance on Midland Road pictured below
  
  where the entrance to The Thameslink station is just inside on the left.
• Head down to platform A and then board into the front of any train, and leave it at Blackfriars station, using its southside exit.
• The main entrance to Tate Modern is then within a 3 minute walk.

On Monday to Saturday there are two optimum routes for travelling from Euston to St Paul's cathedral;
(1) Make the 7 – 12 minute walk St Pancras Thameslink station, as per the directions above when heading to Tate Modern, and then take any southbound train to City Thameslink station, board into the front of the train for easy access to the exit on Ludgate Hill.
The advantage of the route is that the walk from Ludgate Hill leads up to the front of the cathedral, where its main entrance is located.
Also lifts (elevators) are available to from the trains at both Thameslink stations.
OR
(2) take a southbound Northern line train to Tottenham Court Road on the Charing + branch and transfer there to an eastbound Central line train to St Paul's station.
This is the only option on Sundays as City Thameslink station is only open from Monday to Saturday.

There are two optimal routes for the journey from Euston station to Kensington Palace:

(1) Take a southbound Victoria line train to Oxford Circus and connect for the westbound Central line to Queensway, or
(2) avoid ‘the tube’ by heading to Euston Square station to take a westbound Circle or Hammersmith and City line train to Edgeware Road, connecting there into a Circle or District line train to Bayswater.

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are some distance from Euston station, hence the multiple options for making the journey between them by train:
(1) The quickest, but busiest option is to take a southbound Victoria line and then connect at Victoria for a westbound District line train to Kew Gardens station, though take care to board a train which will be heading to Richmond.
(2) Avoid ‘the tube’ by heading to Euston Square station to take a westbound Circle or Hammersmith and City line train to Edgeware Road.
Transfer there to District line train to Wimbledon which will call at Earl's Court, where a simple as can be cross-platform transfer will be available into a train heading to Richmond; check the indicators.

If you're in luck, a cross-platform transfer will also be available at Edgware Road station.
(3) The simplest route is to take one of the Overground local trains, which leave from the main station building, to Willesden Junction.
At that station a transfer is available to another Overground train, on a separate line, to Kew Gardens; take care to board a train to Richmond.
If an Overground train is due to depart from Euston within 5 minutes, it can be the quickest option too.
Oyster Cards can be used on the Overground trains.