Getting around London by Bus

We are a bit outside the center in one of the old villages, Chelsea.  Of course, it’s not a village now, but it does mean we will learn how to get around greater London.  We are not that near any tube stations so let’s look at the bus.  And we can always hop on the bus and get off at the South Kensington tube station for the Central, District and Piccadilly lines.
I happen to have a Central London bus map...admittedly it’s from March 2009, but it allows me to see the larger picture, and I’ll supplement it with one of the apps I’ve downloaded for London.
Starting from 431 Fulham Road, traveling on Fulham Rd.
The 14 will take us up Fulham past the South Kensington museums, up Piccadilly to  Covent  Garden, then up Charing Cross and Tottenham Ct. to Euston Station.  Of course it might take a while...but the apps will tell us how long.  That route will take us to the S. Ken. Museums, Covent Garden, Bloomsbury and near the British Museum
The 414 parallels the 14 to Hyde Park Corner then veers north along Hyde Park.  We could take that up to Speaker’s Corner and the. Walk a bit east on Oxford to Selfridges for their food court.
The 211 will take us to Victoria Station and on to Westminster and across the Westminster Bridge, but, again, it may take a while.  From the end of that line we can walk 14 minutes to the Imperial War Museum.
Now if we walk southerly (0.2 mi) to King's Road we have even more bus choices:

The 11 looks like a really useful route.  It travels up King's Road, past Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, travels down the Strand, passes the Royal Courts of Justice, turns down Fleet Street into the City, past St. Paul's Cathedral and ends at Liverpool Station. 

Here is an article, "London's Top 3 Sightseeing Bus Routes," from VisitBritain. 
And, of course, we will use Transport of London's Plan a Journey all the time!


P.S.  We'll always be looking for double-decker buses and will try to ride on top in the front seat,  what Mitch called "the Terror Seat,"  don't ask me why because driving with him as a passenger in NYC was "the terror seat." 

But if you want to ride on one of the iconic Routemasters, here's an article for you.

  "The heritage number 15 service is a fantastic route for tourists as it passes by some of London's most iconic sites including St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. It's a much cheaper alternative to some of the London bus tour companies. For the best views, grab a seat at the front upstairs. "
We can catch it at Trafalgar Square and ride to Tower Hill, and it runs every 15 minutes, seven days a week, between c. 9:30 am and 6:30 pm

Quirky and Eccentric and the South Kensington Museums (Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum, Natural History)

 Nancy sent me a Apple News link to a story from BBC US:  Victoria and Albert Museum Tour of British Identity.

I watched the clip and thought it was a odd, limited choice of items, although I’ve since discovered there are more.  She responded that the British were quirky and eccentric.  Now, I thought that was probably a pretty dated description left over from times of independently wealthy, privately educated, upper class individuals.
Today as I read my daily Atlas Obscura posting I stumbled on a London Loves list by Angelalazenbury of 49 London sites that can really only be described as quirky and eccentric.
So I invite you to read and enjoy her list, and jot down ones you’d like to see.
Then, tell me are the British still quirky and eccentric?
P.S.  Also at the Victoria and Albert is a Frida Kahlo exhibit.  And here's a BBC article on that.  
There is probably a charge for that and other special exhibits, but otherwise the museum is free, so we can pop in and look at this and that.  The museum has been described thus, "Beautifully but haphazardly displayed across a seven mile, four storey maze of halls and corridors, the V and A's treasures are impossible to survey in a single visit."  Perhaps their new Photography Gallery will be open by then.  Here are some opinions of what to see there.  The V and A From the Collections.  TimeOut's Seven Wonders of the V and A.  And the Telegraph's How to Visit the Victoria and Albert.
We can easily get to the Victoria and Albert, and the adjacent Natural History Museum and the Science Museum by taking the 41 or 141 bus up Fulham.  Or we could walk, but I think we'd better save our strength.
The Science Museum is on Fernando's list and "it is undeniably impressive, filling seven floors with items drawn from every conceivable area of science, including space travel, telecommunications, time measurement, chemistry, computing, photography and medicine.  There are hands-on exhibits and an IMAX cinema, too.

Kids in the Wonderlab at the Science Museum

Is time for lunch, yet?  Let's wander across to Herrod's Food Hall with its exqusite Arts and Crafts tiling  We can probably get anything we want although it will be pricey, as is the entire establishment.  It's also a major tourist destination so don't expect to be alone.  Here's what Yelp says

We might also stop for coffee and...in the Victoria and Albert at the cafe in the room designed by William Morris.  Here's other suggestions for cheap places to eat near the South Kensington Museums.

Then has anyone the energy for a walk in Hyde Park?

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