Yesterday I wanted to go into town with my son, but, as many times before, the thought of having to ask for help to carry his buggy up and down countless stairs in the Tube put a cloud over my plans.
We could have taken a bus, but that would nearly triple our travel time. So I had a look on Transport for London to see if there was a way of getting to Piccadilly, avoiding stairs (escalators were fine) and not spending 3 hours travelling. I found their Avoiding stairs Tube guide PDF (PDF), which, albeit cumbersome to decipher, was very helpful in letting me figure out a way:
- Bus up to Walthamstow Central from Leyton
- Tube down Victoria line to Green Park
- Walk around, eat, shop
- Return from Warren Street to Walthamstow Central again
- Walk back home (about 30 mins walking), as buses start to get busy by mid-afternoon
This has happened so many times: I get excited about going for a walk about town with my baby and then think of the stairs. Often I just go anyway and count on the helpfulness of strangers, but I don’t like it: I want to be able to manage by myself.
Over the last few months I’ve found places we can go without much trouble (read: lots of stairs) but somehow I feel it should be easier.
1 reply on “Step-free”
I feel your pain. We are currently on holiday in New York and it seems like if possible it’s even worse than London for steps. Fortunately there have been 2 of us so the steps are just tiring and not problematic but despite that lots of people have offered help. It’s very life-affirming!