Originally Posted by
dcstudent
Thanks for the bus idea, I'll have to get a TFL map online and start checking it out! When I'm in town for business I'm always on the Tube or a car and I'v never done the bus.
The tube map is a bit of tyranny actually, it's a beautiful bit of design that the bus alternatives, which are inevitably a bit messier, get overlooked even when they are quicker or cheaper. For the Metropole, there is an easy one to try out. Opposite the hotel, on the other side or Edgware Road, and only a short distance (by Costa coffee) is a bus stop. All the buses there go down to Marble Arch, where there are a number of things to do (Oxford Street shops including Selfridges, Marble Arch itself, Speakers' Corner, Tyburn Convent, Hyde Park, Animals in War Memorial). Some buses go on to Hyde Park Corner, which is the back of Buckingham Palace, Apsley House, Bomber Command memorial and much more.
There will be a bus every few minutes, it uses the same contactless / Oyster system as the tube, and there are seats near the door reserved for those who need them most. Often they are left open but a quick bit of friendly eye contact will normally get a seat. You're also allowed to talk to the natives on the bus (well, just a sentence or two!) whereas you will know that's quasi forbidden on the Tube.