Charing Cross Station

Charing Cross tube station is a Zone 1 London Underground station located within the City of Westminster's fabulous West End. With an entrance on the Strand, at the northern end of the pedestrianised Villiers Street, and a subway entrance in Trafalgar Square, the station is as central as it gets and is serviced by the Northern line (black) between Embankment and Leicester Square stations and by the Bakerloo line (brown) between Embankment and Piccadilly Circus stations. The station also has an interchange to Charing Cross Railway Station which is run by National Rail and serviced by the Southern and Southeastern lines.

If you turn right from the exit along the Strand you'll be heading north-east in the direction of Aldwych and the City of London, where the Strand meets up with Fleet Street. Along the way there are several of the West End's greatest theatres including the Lyceum on nearby Wellington Street, the Adelphi on The Strand and twin theatres the Aldwych and Novello are located on either side of the Waldorf Hotel on Aldwych. London's grandest and infamous 19th century hotel, The Savoy Hotel, is located here and still known as the place to stay when visiting London. Down the road on the other side of Waterloo Bridge is Somerset House, the only palace still remaining along the River Thames, which houses several museums, galleries and has a fantastic paved courtyard great for relaxing in that is set off by its fab 55 jet fountains that dance and sprout every half hour. Here you can also enjoy open-air performances in the summer and ice-skating in the winter.

Amongst all of this are numerous shops, banks, cafes, restaurants and franchise clothing stores such as Top Shop which is right by the station exit. Opposite the entrance/exit is London's largest private bank Coutts & Co. and a little further east of here is Zimbabwe House where you can spy the controversial, now mutilated, naked figures on the second floor.

Turn left from the exit and you'll be heading west towards London's most famous square, Trafalgar Square, pretty much the centre of London and a superb place to start a day of exploring the West End. Along the northern edge of Trafalgar Square is the free to enter National Gallery, behind here at St Martin's Place, by the southern end of Charing Cross Road, is the National Portrait Gallery, across the way on St Martin's Lane is the fabulous London Coliseum and south of here on the east side of Trafalgar Square is St Martin-in-the-Fields, the official church of Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace.

As the Strand forms the southern edge of Covent Garden, the West End's favourite destination is just a few minutes north of the station and here there is easily an entire day of fun to be had including dining in restaurants and cafes, sipping on a pint in the famous Punch & Judy's pub in the Piazza, browsing Jubilee Hall Market, the Apple Market and the Theatre Museum, the Royal Opera House and countless theatres are also nearby as is ridiculous amounts of fantastic shopping. Not forgetting to mention the street entertainers that perform daily in the Covent Garden Piazza, right by St Paul's Church. For those travelling antipodeans, the Australia Shop is located on Maiden Lane one block north of the Strand and one block south of the Piazza, about a 3 minute walk north-east from the station.

North-west of the tube station is Piccadilly Circus, Theatreland's Shaftesbury Avenue and Leicester Square with all its frivolity. Head south-west and after Northumberland Avenue is the northern end of The Mall which runs alongside St James's Park, one of London's most beautiful. Walk south of the station down Villiers Street and you'll find Victoria Embankment and the River Thames where on the other side of the Hungerford Footbridge is the Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward Gallery, London's IMAX Theatre and the Royal National Theatre is a little further east along with the National Film Theatre.