Collins' Illustrated Guide to London and Neighbourhood / Being a Concise Description of the Chief Places of Interest in the Metropolis, and the Best Modes of Obtaining Access to Them: with Information Relating to Railways, Omnibuses, Steamers, &c.

by Anonymous

CHIEF OMNIBUS ROUTES.

There are few better ways for a man to see London, on a fine day, than by riding through it on an omnibus. These vehicles mostly begin to run about 8.30–9 a.m., and cease about 12 p.m. To give more than a mere general notion as regards a few of the chief omnibus routes, is impossible in our limited space here. The fares range, for the most part, from a minimum of 2d. to a maximum of 6d. They are painted inside the omnibus: the main localities passed on the way, outside. The groups of these conveyances known by distinctive names, (all the omnibuses of each group having one common name,) are chiefly the following:—

Atlas—colour, green—running between St. John’s Wood and Camberwell Gate, and vice versa, via Oxford Street, and over Westminster Bridge—every 5 minutes.

City Atlas—green—between Swiss Cottage, St. John’s Wood, and London Bridge Station, and vice versa, via Oxford St., Holborn, Bank—every 7 minutes.

Bayswater—light green—from Notting Hill and Bayswater to Mile-End Gate, via Oxford Street, Holborn, Cornhill, Whitechapel—every 6 minutes.

Bayswater to London Bridge Station, via Oxford Street, Holborn, Cheapside—every few minutes.

Bayswater to Shoreditch Station—Oxford Street, Holborn, Cheapside, Threadneedle Street, Bishopsgate Street—every hour.

Citizen—Paddington to London Bridge Station—Edgeware Road, (only,) Oxford Street, Holborn, Bank—every 8 minutes.

Other omnibuses also run to and from Paddington, as follows:—

Paddington to London Bridge Station—green—Royal Oak, Edgeware Road, New Road, City Road, Bank—every 10 minutes.

Paddington to Fenchurch Station—Some of the above go to Fenchurch instead of London Bridge Station.

Paddington to Whitechapel—green—as above to Bank, then Cornhill and Aldgate—frequent.

Paddington to Charing Cross—red—Edgeware Road, Oxford and Regent Streets, Charing Cross—every 8 minutes.

Favorite—green—Holloway to London Bridge, via Highbury, Islington, City Road, Bank, King William Street—about every 8 minutes.

Favorite—green—Holloway to Westminster, Islington, Exmouth Street, Chancery Lane, Westminster Abbey, Victoria Street.

Favorite—blue—Holloway Road, Caledonian Road, King’s Cross, Euston Road, Portland Road, Regent Street, Piccadilly, Knightsbridge, South Kensington, Museum, “Queen’s Elm”—every 9 minutes.

Havelock—Kingsland Gate to “Elephant and Castle,” via Shoreditch, Bishopsgate Street, London Bridge, Borough—at frequent intervals.

Paragon—green—Brixton to Gracechurch Street, Kensington, “Elephant and Castle,” London Bridge—every 10 minutes.

Buxton to Oxford Street—Kensington, Westminster Bridge, Charing Cross, Regent Street—every half hour.

Royal Blue—blue—Pimlico, Piccadilly, Strand, Cheapside, Fenchurch Street Station—every 8 or 10 minutes.

Waterloo—blue—from “York and Albany,” Regent’s Park, by Albany Street, Regent Street, Westminster Bridge, “Elephant and Castle” to Camberwell Gate—every 6 minutes.

Westminster—brown—Pimlico to Bank, via Lupus Street, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Westminster, Strand, &c.—every 6 minutes.

Such are a few of the numerous omnibus routes of London. From such places as Charing Cross and the London Bridge Stations, you can get an omnibus for almost any part of London, up till nearly midnight; while, by the aid of a map, no matter in what quarter you may be, you will speedily find out how best to consult your particular tastes in the way of locomotion and sight-seeing. In the case of gross incivility or overcharge, you have a simple remedy by taking the conductor’s number and applying for a summons at the nearest police office. If you are curious in the matter of social contrasts, say, you might do worse than by getting up outside a Stratford and Bow (green) omnibus, at the Oxford Street Circus, and riding—for sixpence all the way—via Regent Street, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square, Strand, Fleet Street, St. Paul’s, past the Mansion House and the Bank, Royal Exchange, Cornhill, Leadenhall Street, Aldgate, Whitechapel Road, Mile End, to Stratford. If your tastes should lead you westward, an enjoyable shilling’s worth may be obtained by riding on the Richmond (white) omnibus, from St. Paul’s Churchyard to that prettily situated little town.