How I Learned To Find My Way Around London
Lost and Found in the Big Smoke
Moving to London is a bit like being dropped into the middle of a maze, blindfolded, with someone shouting “Mind the gap!” at you every few minutes. Streets curve unexpectedly, buses seem to follow an ancient and unknowable logic, and don’t even get me started on the Tube map—it looks like a colourful plate of spaghetti. If you’re not careful, you can step into a station expecting to head north and somehow emerge two hours later in a completely different borough, questioning your life choices.
When I first arrived, I was embarrassingly reliant on Google Maps. I’d stare at my phone like it was a sacred text, whispering prayers that it wouldn’t reroute me into an alley full of angry pigeons. But I quickly learned that while technology is helpful, it’s far from perfect. The real key to finding your way around London is a mix of common sense, good walking shoes, and an uncanny ability to remember landmarks based on where you last had an overpriced cappuccino.
Over time, I cracked the code. I learned that walking isn’t just for desperate people who can’t figure out the bus system. I found that public transport maps can reveal more than just how to get from A to B. And I discovered that the city makes a lot more sense when you stop looking at it as a vast, unknowable monster and start seeing it as a collection of familiar spots. Here’s how I finally stopped looking like a lost tourist and started navigating London like someone who (sort of) knows what they’re doing.
Google Maps Is Your Best Friend—But It Doesn’t Know Everything
Google Maps is great for a lot of things—finding the nearest pub, figuring out whether a bus is actually coming or if it’s just wishful thinking, and avoiding walking straight into the Thames. But it’s not perfect. It has a habit of suggesting wildly inefficient routes, taking you down dark alleyways that scream “mugging hotspot”, or guiding you to a Tube station that’s temporarily closed because someone dropped a crisp packet on the tracks.
The real problem? Google Maps doesn’t always understand the unspoken rules of London travel. For example, it might tell you to take the Tube for a two-stop journey, blissfully unaware that the walk is faster and won’t involve being pressed up against a sweaty commuter who smells of regret and Greggs pasties. And while it can give you a decent bus route, it won’t tell you that the 73 bus is often about as reliable as the British summer.
So yes, use Google Maps—but use it wisely. Double-check routes, develop an instinct for when it’s lying to you, and if it tells you to take three buses instead of walking ten minutes, consider your life choices.
Walking: The Ultimate Cheat Code for London
At first, I avoided walking. London seemed enormous, and I didn’t trust my own sense of direction. But after one too many journeys where I got off at the wrong stop and ended up in a completely different postcode, I decided to embrace walking.
Walking is not just a way to avoid public transport disasters—it’s the best way actually to know a city. You start to notice things you’d never see from a bus or Tube window: the best shortcut through an otherwise confusing area, the coffee shop with the weird but excellent pastries, the quiet side street where all the cool-looking people seem to disappear.
Once I started walking more, I realised that half the places I used to take the Tube to were actually within a 20-minute stroll. Instead of suffering through a journey on a packed Central Line train, I could wander through the city, enjoying the sights and feeling very smug about my ability to avoid rush hour hell. Plus, it’s excellent people-watching. You get to see city life in action—dog walkers with impossibly tiny dogs, suited professionals speed-walking like their jobs depend on it, and tourists trying to figure out why their Oyster cards aren’t working.
Building a Mental Map with Orientation Points
One of the biggest game-changers in my navigation skills was learning to build a mental map of London based on landmarks. And I don’t mean Big Ben or Buckingham Palace—I mean actual, useful orientation points.
For example, I have an unspoken rule: if I can find my way to my favourite bakery, I can find my way home. I also memorised the location of a particularly good corner shop, a bus stop where I know the night buses actually show up, and the one public toilet that’s always clean (a true rarity in this city). Over time, these little mental notes created a personal map of London that made getting around so much easier.
The trick is to pick places that actually mean something to you. Maybe it’s an ice cream shop, a newsstand, or the pub where you always end up after work. Once you have these points, you start connecting the dots, and suddenly, the city doesn’t seem so confusing anymore.
Public Transport Maps Are Your Secret Weapon
I used to think transport maps were just for tourists. I was wrong. Studying a public transport map—even just a quick glance—can save you from the most ridiculous travel mistakes.
For example, I once spent 45 minutes on a bus to get somewhere that was literally one stop away on the Overground. Had I actually looked at a map instead of blindly following Google’s suggestions, I would have saved myself an unnecessary journey and a deep existential crisis.
Tube maps are especially useful, but don’t just look at the classic one with all the pretty colours. There are also maps that show walking distances between stations, revealing that some stops are ridiculously close together (looking at you, Covent Garden to Leicester Square). There’s also the Night Tube map, the Overground map, and my personal favourite—the “If Your Tube Line is Down, Here’s How You Survive” map.
Once you start memorising key stations, bus routes, and sneaky shortcuts, London suddenly becomes far easier to navigate. You might even reach the ultimate level of mastery: confidently giving directions to a lost tourist without breaking into a cold sweat.
The Moment It All Clicked
One day, everything just made sense. I walked from one side of the city to the other without checking my phone once. I knew which bus to take without triple-checking. When a friend asked me how to get somewhere, I actually got an answer that didn’t involve “Let’s just see what Google says.”
That’s when I realised I’d cracked it—I’d stopped feeling like a confused outsider and started feeling like a local. Sure, I still occasionally get lost (this is London, after all), but now, instead of panicking, I roll with it. Because getting a little lost in this city is part of the fun.
So, if you’re new to London and feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry. Give it time, get walking, and start paying attention to those little details. Before you know it, you’ll be the one looking at a lost tourist and thinking, “Ah, I remember those days.”