Bus
We counted seven different bus stops within a minute of Charing Cross station. It’s confusing because of the one way system.
Let’s try to simplify it a bit, and we won’t include the buses that terminate here or nearby:
- immediately in front of the station (don’t cross the road) is stop H. The buses there are 9 (Piccadilly, Knightsbridge and Hammersmith), 23 (Paddington and Queensway), 139 (Oxford Street, St John’s Wood, Golders Green) and 176 (Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road)
- slightly along to the left, towards Trafalgar Square and near the bookshop is stop K for the 26 (Westminster) and 87 (Vauxhall, Battersea, Clapham)
- across the road (be careful) to the left of Pizza Express is stop F for 15 (Tower of London, Poplar), 26 (St Paul’s Cathedral, Liverpool Street, Hoxton) and 91 (Holborn, Russell Square, Euston, King’s Cross)
- further along is stop E for 9 (Aldwych), 23 (Aldwych) and 87 (Aldwych)
- on the other side of (ie behind) the pizza restaurant, cross a second road, on Duncannon Street, is stop G for 139 (Waterloo) and 176 (Waterloo, Camberwell, Dulwich)
- on Trafalgar Square, stop D is for the 24 (Victoria, Pimlico)
- across the road, stop C does 24 (Goodge Street, Camden, Hampstead), 29 (Euston, Camden Town) and 176 (Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road)
Note also that very many night bus routes (the numbers have an N at the start eg N91) start and finish at Trafalgar Square. More about night buses later.
Buses at stops E, F and G are heading east, towards Aldwych. It’s walking distance if that’s where you are heading and there are some big hotels there eg Strand Palace, Waldorf Hilton.
And if it’s not immediately obvious, the letter for the bus stop is at the very top of the sign. There will also be an indication of the general direction, and possibly route maps, local maps and timetables.
