From Victoria station to London's Top Tourist Destinations

Victoria station is located on the south-west corner of the city's central area, but one of the city's most popular tourist attractions, The State Rooms at Buckingham Palace is within a 10-15 minute walk away on the road named Buckingham Gate.
When exiting from the front of the station head towards the Victoria Palace theatre, where Hamilton is being staged, take the road to the right of the theatre named Bessenden Place, then Buckingham Gate is the second road on the right.

You will be taking public transport on to all other popular tourist destinations, when arriving at Victoria 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 Victoria.
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.

Victoria is served by the Circle, District and Victoria lines, but the Victoria is the sole tube line at the station to/from the heart of the city, hence it being the Underground's busiest line.
So Victoria is a location when taking a bus can be a good option, particularly if you have luggage, pushcairs/strollers, young children etc, with you.

The entrance to the Underground station in Victoria is right in front of the station, by the taxi rank, there is now a lift (elevator) down into its ticket hall, you don't have to use the staircases.

In the newly enlarged ticket hall, you can't miss the escalators which lead down to the Victoria line as they are just off to the right, though a lift (elevator) is available which provides an alternative route to the trains.

The access to the Circle and District lines is through the passage way over to the left.
In this other entrance hall above these two lines, lifts (elevators) are available to each of the platforms, eastbound and westbound, but because these are sub-surface lines, which are not that far below street level, the only other access to these trains is by using short staircases.

The bus station at Victoria station is impossible to miss, as it's directly ahead from the front of the station on the other side of the taxi rank.

Routes, 38, 52, 390 and 507 leave from here, though most of the buses which serve the station, depart from other stops on the surrounding streets.

The easiest public transport option for travelling to The British Museum from Victoria is to take bus route 38 from the bus station in front of the railway station and leave it at the Museum Street stop.

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.
It’s a two station hop on any westbound Circle or District line train to South Kensington, or take bus route C1 from stop R on Buckingham Palace Road and leave it at the stop right outside the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Take any eastbound Circle and District line train to Tower Hill station, as it is a few minutes walk from the main entrance into the Tower Of London.

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.

There are two optimal routes from Victoria to Trafalgar Square :
(1) take the westbound Circle or District lines to Embankment station, as it's a 5-10 walk from there.
(2) take bus routes 24 or 26 from stop N on Victoria Street, which is opposite Westminster cathedral, a two minute walk from the station.

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.

There isn't a direct journey by Underground available between Victoria and Waterloo, so the best option is to leave a train to Victoria at Clapham Junction and transfer there to a train to Waterloo station.

Or take bus routes 11 or 211 to their final stop at Waterloo station from bus stop E, which is in front of the station, on the other side of the bus station.

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.

They are all within a 10 minute walk of London Bridge station and as there is no direct connection by Underground from Victoria to London Bridge, but many stations which have trains to Victoria also have trains to London Bridge.

When there isn't such a service available the easiest option is to make a transfer into a train calling at London Bridge at a swathe of stations, including Ashford International, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Rochester.

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 Victoria take a northbound Victoria line train to Oxford Circus for a very simple transfer to a northbound Bakerloo line train; this route is much easier than connecting into the Jubilee line at Green Park.

Or avoid the tube lines, by taking bus route 2 from the stop H, which is around the corner from the right hand side of the bus station on Wilton Road.

Take the route 2 to its stop at Marble Arch Underground station.
Then bus route 274 also departs from this same bus stop.

When heading to Westminster Abbey and the area around the Houses of Parliament from Victoria station take any eastbound Circle and District line train to Westminster or any bus from stop N on Victoria Street, opposite Westminster cathedral.

The Covent Garden area, which is where the London Transport Museum is located, has comparatively awkward access by Underground from Victoria station.
The easiest route is to take a northbound Victoria line train to Green Park and connect there for a northbound Piccadilly line train, but taking the bus avoids this hassle.
Bus route 24 goes from stop N on Victoria Street, which is opposite Westminster cathedral to its stop at Leicester Square station, which is within a 10 min walk of the market area of Convent Garden.

Victoria station is on the opposite side of central London from Greenwich so it's typically easier to board a train heading to London Bridge station instead.
It typically has six trains an hour to Greenwich station but if that isn't an option then the optimum route from Victoria to Greenwich is to take any eastbound Circle or District line train to Monument station and connect there for a DLR train to Cutty Sark station.
The DLR station is named Bank, but an escalator provides an easy transfer from Monument station.

The Jubilee line goes direct from London Bridge to North Greenwich station, and the easiest transfer to North Greenwich from Victoria is to connect into the Jubilee line at Westminster from the eastbound Circle and District lines.

However, many stations which have trains to Victoria also have trains to London Bridge, so that makes for an easier end-to-end journey.
When there isn't such a service available a good option is to make a transfer into a train calling at London Bridge at a swathe of stations including Ashford International, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Rochester.

Take a northbound Victoria line train to Green Park and transfer there to a northbound Jubilee train to Wembley Park station

The easiest route from Victoria station to the Sky Garden is to take any eastbound Circle and District line train to Monument station.

The easiest option for the journey from from Victoria to Somerset House is to take any eastbound Circle and District line train to Temple station.

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.

Or if you would rather not take 'the tube' head out on to Buckingham Palace Road using the side exit by the access from platforms 15-19, turn left and head to bus stop V, where you can board bus route C10, as it goes direct to Tate Britain.

If the station at which you will be commencing your journey is served by Thameslink trains, don't head to Victoria, instead take a train direct to Blackfriars station, board into the rear of the train, so that you will be by the station's exit on the South Bank.

It is a few minutes walk from the main entrance to Tate Modern so if a direct Thameslink train isn't available, making a transfer at Bromley South, Gatwick Airport, East Croydon or Rochester station can be a good option.

If you do want to head to Tate Modern from Victoria, the easiest option is take any eastbound Circle and District line train to Mansion House station, from the station head down Queen Victoria Street until you can see the Millennium Bridge over on the left.

The easiest option for accessing St Paul's cathedral from Victoria, take any eastbound Circle and District line train to Mansion House station, because from there it's an easy five to ten minute walk along Cannon Street.
St Paul's underground is closer, but by heading to Mansion House you can avoid having to make a transfer between tube lines.

Kensington Palace is a 10 -15 min walk from High Street Kensington station station, which can be reached from Victoria on a westbound Circle line train.

But bus route 52 stops much closer to the palace and it leaves from stop A in the bus station.

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are an easy journey from Victoria, take any westbound District line train to Kew Gardens station, though take care to board a train which will be heading to Richmond.
Though if your train to Victoria will be calling at Clapham Junction transfer there to a train to Richmond and then make another connection for a one-stop-hop on to Kew Gardens, step-free transfers should be available at Clapham Junction and Richmond stations.

All of the ticket gates at central London stations have 'readers' which enable contactless payment.

Regardless of whether you are resident in the UK, or are visiting, there are three methods of using Contactless:

1. A payment app on a mobile device, including your bank's contactless payment app, or the likes of Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay.
2. A debit / credit card as long as it has the contactless symbol
3. An Oyster card (you touch in and out as you do when using Contactless).

Good to know about using Contactless

• The system works by touching in and out.
• When using bank cards, take care to use the same card when touching out at the end of a journey, as you did when touching in at the start.
• You have to pay with Contactless on the regular red buses, you cannot pay with cash.
• When travelling by the Underground or Elizabeth line, you can save 10 - 20p per journey by paying with a banking app / card instead of an Oyster card.
• Making a Contactless payment is cheaper than buying a ticket from a station counter or machine - the price difference is usually at least 50%!

More info is available on the general London by train guide.

National Rail, which has overall responsibility for how the trains are managed in Britain, has teamed up with a swathe of tourist attractions for a promotion which allows two entry tickets for the price of one when travelling to and from them by train.
How it typically works is:

1. You can look for which attractions and guided tours are members of the scheme on the National Rail website.
2. Having chosen an attraction you can then see how to book the special promotional tickets or voucher; when needed you can find promo codes on the dedicated page for each attraction on the National Rail Website.
3. On the online booking page of the attraction you should see an option which corresponds to 'National Rail - Two for One offer'.
4. Book your attraction tickets or voucher.
5. On arrival at the attraction you present your attraction tickets and rail tickets to gain entry.

The offers are available to visitors to the UK as well as residents, so they can be a great way to save money when on a holiday.

Though what's good to know is:

• You need to present either the outward or return part of a national rail ticket to gain entry, along with your attraction tickets; So Oyster Cards and other Contactless payments, or Travelcards can't be used for the rail journey!
• The ticket machines at stations will retain one-way tickets, hence return tickets are a must - and if possible avoid putting your outward tickets through the machine, by asking the staff to open the gates/barriers.
• The two people entering the attraction on the 2-for-1 offer will both need separate rail tickets.
• The type of rail ticket, how much you paid for it and the distance travelled all don't matter, any pair of return rail tickets will suffice.
• If you have one, you can use Railcards to book the rail tickets.
• Rail tickets are available as an alternative to Oyster cards when travelling between any two National Rail stations in the Greater London area; a National Rail station is any station not solely served by the Underground or DLR, so it includes stations solely served by the Overground or Elizabeth Line trains.
  Therefore you can buy return rail tickets to a central London station, or to a station located by an attraction, from another station in the London area.

However before booking the 2-for-1 offers on the attraction websites, carefully check how much you will be saving by only paying one entrance fee, compared to the costs of booking two rail tickets.
If you look up the journey on the National Rail website you'll get a good idea of the train ticket costs.
It's likely you won't be able to claim a refund on the attraction tickets, if you then decide not to go ahead, because the rail tickets + the 2-for-1 offer won't save you money.
Though it's highly likely you will make a substantial overall saving.

But if you have already booked two return rail tickets and then find an attraction(s) that you want to visit, go ahead and book the 2-for-1 offer, as you'll then be certain of saving money!

Where can you go and what can you see

The full list of tourist attractions participating in the scheme can be found on the National Rail website.

Popular attractions in central London include:

• Westminster Abbey
• St Paul's cathedral
• the London Transport Museum
• The London Eye
• The Tower Of London (certain times of year only)

Attractions in the wider London area, with easy access from local rail stations, include:

• Hampton Court Palace
• The Cutty Sark
• Kew Gardens
• the World Rugby Museum

Attractions which are an easy day trip from London include:

• The Bluebell Railway; very easy connection at East Grinstead station.
• Steam - The Museum of the Great Western Railway
• There's a clutch of attractions in Brighton including:
  the charming Toy and Model Museum and The Royal Pavilion and Sea Life Brighton
• Chessington World Of Adventures which is walkable from Chessington South station, which has trains from London Waterloo.
• Thorpe Park which can be accessed by taking a train from London Waterloo to Staines and then connecting into a bus service.
• Legoland Windsor which can be accessed by taking buses from central Windsor that offer straightforward connections with trains from London Paddington and trains from London Waterloo.
  Though carefully check the full details for the amusement park offers as they exclude certain dates and periods of time, which tend to coincide with school holidays.