It’s very possible you are staying nearby, on The Strand perhaps. This is outside the station and to the right, walking distance. You may even be staying at the station hotel.
The same is true if you are in or near Covent Garden – just cross the road and head right.
Again, Leicester Square and even Piccadilly Circus are probably best walked to if you can. Be careful crossing the road outside the station, head leftish to Trafalgar Square and then right along, past St Martin in the Fields towards Leicester Square.
Underground services
There are many entrances to the station, but from the railway it’s simple. Go out of the ticket barrier and slightly to the left or straight ahead, and there’s an arch with a set of steps down to the tube.
There are, or should be, awards for the worst station on the system, and for us, Charing Cross gets it. It’s dirty, smelly, with lots of horrible yellow and orange tiles and often floods and/or vagrants. There used to be some shops. Last time we went they were closed and parts of the station were blocked off.
We avoid it. You may not get that opportunity.
And we really hate the long passageways and lengthy walks to get, well anywhere.
Still, the lines covered are:
- Northern line – this is the branch that passes through Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road and Goodge Street to the north and down to Battersea Power Station south
- Bakerloo line – to Waterloo south and Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square etc, exactly as Waterloo
- in addition, it’s a short walk down Villiers Street (out the front of the station is easiest, right, right again before McDonald’s and two minutes walk) to Embankment and this gives you the District and Circle lines, to Tower Hill, Victoria, Earl’s Court and even Wimbledon and Richmond