British and American culture
Getting around in Great Britain

Next in a series of articles on British and American culture.

Getting around London

The underground, more commonly known as the tube, is one of the most popular ways of getting around. You need to keep your ticket until the end of your journey as you will need it to get through the ticket barriers at the exit. On the escalators, unless you are going to walk up them quickly, you should stand on the right-hand side to leave room for passengers who are in a hurry. Mind the gap is the warning issued to passengers where there is a large gap between the carriage and the platform.

Bus travel is a good way of getting around town when you are sightseeing. If the bus stop sign is white, buses will always stop there. If the sign is red, you have to hold out your hand to flag the bus down.

Public transport in Great Britain

Britain has an extensive rail network throughout the country. Coaches are slower than the train but offer a cheaper option.

Useful phrases

At the airport
You will see the following signs:
Gate 5
Baggage reclaim
Nothing to declare
Way out
Exit

What you will hear
May I have your passport, please?
Excuse me, please.
Excuse me. Are you getting off at the next stop?
May I have your ticket please?

What you say
I wonder if you could help me.
Two return tickets to Manchester, please.
Is this train/bus going to Piccadilly Circus?
Thank you for your help.

Next in the series
Next month you can read about sport in the UK.

A Spanish language version of the text above is available in the 'Guía Cultural' section of Macmillan Diccionario Pocket, a brand-new bilingual English-Spanish/Spanish-English dictionary.
Spanish text written by Paz Blanco Castro
Translated into English by Sinda Lopez

If you would like to see a guided tour of Macmillan Diccionario Pocket on CD-ROM, download this file (SBCD.exe 1.95MB).