The Absolute Best Way To Get Around The Giant City Of London, According To Rick Steves

You just landed at Heathrow Airport, and despite being on a backpacker's micro-budget, you're completely bushed and decide to spring for a taxi to get to your hostel. Big, big mistake. Over a hundred pounds sterling later, your week's food and entertainment budget is gone. Now you'll be watching the buskers at Piccadilly Circus instead of bending an elbow at the local gastropub. You should have heeded Rick Steves' advice and taken public transportation right from the get-go. The 69-year-old author and PBS television host of "Rick Steves' Europe" knows exactly when you should splurge for a signature taxi tour of Paris or rent a car for a successful European road trip. But in London, according to Steves, the world's leading expert on getting the most out of any vacation budget, you should stick to getting your ticket punched.

"Public transportation is the most efficient way to get around this huge city," Steves writes on his website. "Consider the London Day Travelcard, which zips you to most of the top sights for one flat fee. It not only covered my airport-into-town Tube ride, but gave me unlimited Tube and bus rides." Depending on the length of your stay, there are other Travelcard options that could save you even more money, like the Seven-Day Travelcard, which can be loaded on London's multi-modal Oyster Card. These flexible public transportation options allow you to switch between the Tube (London's subway) the bus system, the Tram, and more to get you just about anywhere you want to go. Some of those rides might be long, but you can sightsee as you go. It's better than watching that taxi meter as it sweeps your holiday fun into what the Brits call the "rubbish bin."

Your first ride in a London taxi cab may be your last, once you recover enough from the shock of the outlandishly high fare to make other plans. Why are London taxi rides are so punishingly expensive? London actually has several different types of private ways to ride, including black cabs, minicabs, and rideshares. Traditionally, a London black cab driver has had to pass a rigorous, comprehensive exam, called simply "The Knowledge." To receive a passing grade on what has been called the most difficult test in the world, they must have memorized every single one of London's 25,000 byzantine streets. Their reliability is a great reason they're popular with business travelers. Black cabs are the ones you see with yellow lights on their rooftops, and they're the only ones you can legally hail from the street like a New York-style taxi cab. When you use Uber in London, the app will offer you the opportunity to book a black cab.  You can't hail the less expensive "minicabs," but can only summon them by phone app, as you can a rideshare, but be warned that surge pricing can be brutal.

Finally, forget about renting a car and driving yourself. Even if you can handle the congestion and wrong-side-of-the-road rules, time spent in traffic and parking fees make it prohibitively expensive. Happily, the London Tube's newest line, the Elizabeth Line, travels right from Heathrow to the center of the city, so you really can skip the spendy black cab even from the airport.

If you're ready for a break from public transport, London is also a superb walking city. The Thames Path stretches 80 miles along each side of the famous waterway for easy, flat strolling. You can pause to take a ride on the London Eye, take in some of London's iconic art scene at the Tate Modern, and then dip into Kew Gardens for some green respite. In East London, you can walk The Line, the city's contemporary art walk, with public outdoor sculptures galore. 

London has also undergone a renaissance when it comes to bicycle infrastructure. You can rent an e-bike or one you power yourself through the city's bikeshare program. A day pass gets you 24 hours of unlimited 30-minute rides, perfect for a one-day London sightseeing itinerary. Between pedal-power and shoe leather, your feet might be able to get you just about everywhere you want to go.

But there's one more, totally unexpected form of transportation in London that Rick Steves highly recommends that you sample on vacation, and that is a super-touristy double-decker bus ride. That big red bus tour is totally worth doing, he says. "I recommend saving this for a Sunday morning, when many sights are closed, making this a convenient time to get an overview of the city," Steves writes. Sometimes it really is hip to be square — if that square is Trafalgar.