So I only this minute got assigned my accommodation for King's College London. To my dismay, I was put in Hampstead. Google says that it's a 40 minute walk to my campus (Strand), so I reflect a different form of transport is necessary. What would be the quickest and cheapest way to get to the Strand from Hampstead? I was thinking of buying a cycle and riding that to the nearby tube station, then taking that into the city. Is that a good plan, or is there an easier way?

---

Biking direct to the Strand would be the best and cheapest option. Check out the tfl cycling pages or google bike directions.

---

I think the KCL place in Hampstead is on the Finchley Road; if so the quickest method might be a walk down to Finchley Road tube (~10mins) and a train to Wesminster. I can't image the campus on The Strand so I'm not sure if that's the right end of it, though...

Either way I don't think you'll have a great deal to gain from cycling to the station over walking.

---

Whoops, looks like I misread the time estimated for walking. That sounds like it'll do fine. Do you know something about that area? Are there a lot of shops and restaurants, or is it more comparable a suburb?

Thanks!

---

Is London easy to cycle in? I'm used to taking suburban side streets, so I'm not definite how I'll be able to manage that kind of traffic.

---

Ah, I just asked Google and it reckons a 17 min walk - it's roughly a mile down one road (assuming I'm accurately guessing where it is you'll be going from).

It's an area I go via a lot - the Finchley road is a main road through suburbia - so I don't know what it's like to stay there but I can tell you that right by the station there's a Waitrose and some newsagents and kebab shops and there's a number of pubs but off the Finchley road it seems awfully suburban residential. You're not far from Golders Green, though, which certainly has shops and restaurants.

My guess, to some extent backed up by my Google search, is that you'll be here: http://goo.gl/maps/nJYU0

---

It's a terrible reputation but it's in fact a lot less bad than it might be, and has got hugely better in the past few years. Where are you used to riding/living?

---

I'm in fact American; I live outside of Chicago. I regularly bike on side streets, sidewalks, or trails. My town doesn't boast bike lanes, but there's not a lot of traffic so it's pretty straightforward to get around. I love biking, but I'm not sure if its worth it to buy one in London if I can only just use it.

---

Yeah, I'm technically on Kidderpore Avenue but pretty much the same place. Good to pick up that there's stuff to do nearby; a couple people made it sound like we weren't even living in London. It looks like the Hampstead tube is pretty close too, and that goes to Embankment with no a transfer. Looks like this might turn out pretty fine after all!

---

Kidderpore Avenue is the street the campus is on. Super super wealthy area. extremely large luxurious houses that put up for sale for millions, home to football stars and celebrities. The central area of Hampstead itself itself is very striking and fantastically village-like with heaps of eccentric winding streets and passage ways. But take into account it's a rich man's village obviously so be expecting it to be expensive, otherwise Fortune Green and West Hampstead adjoining are both a bit more on the regular side of things. You'll be near to some of London's best green spaces, in particular Hampstead Heath, Primrose Hill and Regents Park. first-rate transport links in general with many stations at acceptable walking distances, and West Hampstead in particular is one of the best-connected areas transport wise in London. Camden Town and Chalk Farm are also near the south-east via Haverstock Hill.

Finchley Road itself is a bit of a hectic thundering main road to say the least but it's ok. If I was cycling from there to the Strand i'd go directly down Finchley Road to Swiss Cottage, on to Avenue Road and then through Regents Park. From there on to Strand you'll have a hundred different ways of getting through the West End of which it's perhaps best for you to choose your own favorite route :)

---