The Open Guide to London: the free London guide

Network

The tube stops running soon after midnight and doesn't start again until about 5am. In the meantime, public transport is handed over to the night buses. London has the most extensive night bus network in the world, with a large number of extra buses and routes introduced in the last couple of years.

The traditional hub of the night bus network is Trafalgar Square - you can get to virtually anywhere in London from here, so for cross-London journeys you can guarantee that getting to Trafalgar Square is a good first step - a useful tip for after a night on the tiles.

However not every night bus runs to Trafalgar Square; other key hubs are Victoria Station, Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road Station, the Aldwych and Camden Town Station.

In recent years the number of orbital routes has increased (i.e. those not serving central London), making journeys between outer London areas much easier.

Transport for London have a very useful list of night bus spider maps.

Night bus fares are the same as day fares; �1 per journey, or 70p each with Bus Saver tickets or Oyster prepay]].

Particular routes to note are:

• [N9]? to Heathrow Airport via Hammersmith
• The [N6]? & N18 which mirror parts of the Bakerloo Line
• The [N5]? which mirrors the Northern Line Edgware branch.
• Ditto [N20]? for the High Barnet branch.
• N91 for the northern Piccadilly Line
• [N8]? for parts of the eastern Central Line
• N50 for the Docklands
• [N47]?, the longest bus route in London, to Orpington
• N68 to central Croydon
• N159 to Streatham or Central Croydon. Actually starts at Marble Arch
• N155 for the southern Northern Line
• N25 to Stratford and Ilford

Notes

It is unusual to have an identical night bus route (exception: [Bus Route 14]?) - they are almost always extended to outer suburbs although some are curtailed. --Dave)

Dave also points out that the 74 and the N74 follow an identical route although the latter is extended beyond Putney High Street to [Roehampton]?.