Welcome to my travel log!
Here I will be sharing information about my travels whenever I remember to!
Sunday 25th January 2026
SL11, the South East and Kent!
Stratford-North Greenwich-Abbey Wood-Bexleyheath-Horn Park-Lewisham-Waterloo-Dartford-Bluewater-Lakeside-Romford-Leytonstone
As always, my travels began at Stratford Station!
I went on the Jubilee Line down to North Greenwich to ride on the new SL11 on its second day of service!
I quite liked the SL11, as explained in my review at the end of this log! It was absolutely chucking it down with rain and I was very happy that I was in the bus!
Moving on, I got on the SL3 at Abbey Wood to go to Bexleyheath, but I got a bit confused and got off at the station rather than the shopping centre! I got another bus to the shopping centre, but I don't remember the number...may have been a 422. I managed to get on an E400 MMC with those weird grey faux leather seats that would be common out of London!
After getting a stone cold Vegan Sausage Roll (I'm not vegan, they just taste better!!) I boarded the B15 to Horn Park and fell asleep so I barely saw any of the route!! Ended up walking to Lee from Horncastle Road and getting the 261 to Lewisham. Popped into McDonald's and got the BL1 all the way to Waterloo, but it was terminating at Waterloo East due to some roadworks. Ended up going into Waterloo Station and decided to go down to Dartford from Waterloo East. Ended up trapping my finger in the vending machine on the platform while trying to push it open so I could get my crisps out (they got crushed). Fell asleep AGAIN on the train to Dartford and woke up in the platform at Dartford.
I went and got the 492 to Bluewater (with some hooligans following along). They got off and as soon as they did, one of them kicked a bunch of wheelie bins and litter bins over (ah, Dartford is wonderful isn't it?). At Bluewater, my intention was to get the X80 to Lakeside but I missed it and had to wait an hour in the cold! Ended up getting another Vegan Sausage Roll from Greggs (which was warm this time) and got on the X80 to Lakeside. It's a lovely bus route, and after leaving Bluewater at 16:00 I arrived at Lakeside in time for the 16:33 370 to Romford!
Went on the 370, and I spotted a peculiar thing in South Ockendon. Someone had put a USA flag on a lamppost! I found it hilarious and took a picture of it (obviously!). Once I arrived at Romford Station, I waited for the 66 and got it all the way to the end in Leytonstone. The 66 truly is fabulous at night when there's no one on the A12 and no one wanting to get on (though we did stop at most bus stops), so we were able to go at 40mph! It was a long trip and very off the cuff (well, after I arrived at Waterloo). My next travel log will be when I visit the Cambridge Guided Busway on the 18th February!
My review of the SL11 (North Greenwich - Abbey Wood)
Rating: 4/5
I quite liked the route as it was fast, though it was the exact same as the 472 except missing Thomas Street and going directly down Beresford St. Would definitely ride again if I needed to get to Thamesmead or Abbey Wood if the Elizabeth Line's out of action!
Wednesday 18th February 2026
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway & other stuff
Stratford-Tottenham Hale-Cambridge-St Ives-Huntingdon-Hitchingbrooke Hospital-St Ives-Cambridge-Tottenham Hale-Stratford
Like always, my journey began at Stratford Station!
I got the 08:59 service terminating at Bishops Stortford to Tottenham Hale, where I changed for the 09:20 train to Cambridge!
I alighted the train at Cambridge and got on the Busway A to Shire Hall (I hopped off to find a toilet...), but I did go back on the A until its final stop at Burrel Road where I waited for a while in the cold!
I got the bus back down to Ramsey Road so I could hop on the Busway B all the way to its terminus at Hitchingbrooke Hospital, where I waited 20 minutes to hop on the bus back towards Cambridge. I got off at the last stop at Cambridge Bus Station and popped into the Grand Arcade to use the toilet and grab a doughnut. I went back out and got the number 3 to the Station where I went home!
It was quite a short journey, however I didn't want to remain there too late as the bus frequency would plummet and it'd take forever to get home!
My next travel log will be when I go down to Whitstable and Kent on Sunday 22nd February!
Sunday 22nd February 2026
Whitstable and Kent
Stratford Intl-Whitstable-Canterbury-Birchington on Sea-Whitstable-Stratford Intl
I began my journey at Stratford International station (as a change) and got on the 09:27 towards Ramsgate and got off at Whistable!
I walked from the station to the harbour and had a wander down the high street, where I almost missed a bus to Canterbury! When I got on, I almost hit the driver with my umbrella (which I didn't use at all) and got an Under 19s South East Dayrider.
I got the 401 to Canterbury Bus Station via the University of Kent, and had a walk around Canterbury. I got a bag of chips (didn't fancy any fish) and got a couple of DVDs at an Oxfam charity shop (Mrs Doubtfire and Series 2 of My Family, which I got just because). I boarded the route 8 towards Westwood Cross and ate my chips on there. I finished them in Sturry (quite a lot of chips) and carried on with my journey. However, someone puked in the back of the bottom deck and we had to curtail. However, our driver was really nice and (in a nutshell) he said "Someone's puked, I'm supposed to terminate here now but I don't care and if anyone asks, I kicked you off here". We eventually curtailed in Saint Nicholas-at-Wade and we waited for the next No.8 which was in half an hour, and then I got on that and got off in Birchington-on-Sea.
I walked to the train station and got a single ticket to Whitstable where I bought a few records (I'll talk about them on my Random Blog at some point) and had a walk along the beach (which for some reason I didn't do). I did a lot of walking so I was quite tired and thirsty, which is why I stopped in a Co-Op and got some water, which resulted in me missing a train to St Pancras which forced me to wait 55 minutes for the next one!
I got the train back to Stratford International, where I made my way home!
Wednesday 8th April 2026
Hammersmith, Castelnau, Battersea Power Station & Edgware
Maryland-Tottenham Court Rd-Leicester Sq-Hammersmith-Castelnau-Hammersmith-Battersea Power Stn-Edgware-Arnos Grove-Walthamstow Central
I began my journey at Maryland Station and caught an Elizabeth line train to Tottenham Court Road. I changed to the Northern line and went one stop to Leicester Square, where I changed to the Piccadilly line. I got off the Piccadilly line at Hammersmith and walked to Hammersmith Lower Bus Station where I caught the 533! I decided to catch the 533 because it will be withdrawn some time in August 2026. It was originally made to be a temporary route due to the closure of Hammersmith Bridge, linking Hammersmith to Castelnau via Chiswick Bridge and Barnes.
Once I had gotten back to Hammersmith, I walked into Hammersmith Broadway and got McDonald's for lunch. After that, I got the 211 all the way to Battersea Power Station. It took forever! There was so much traffic in Fulham and around Chelsea Bridge. And, to make it worse, on King's Road and at Sloane Square there was this d**k in a Ferrari who, whenever he stopped at traffic lights etc, he did not move until he was beeped at. He was 100% doing this intentionally and it really annoyed me!
Anyway, once I got to Battersea Power Station, I wondered why the entrance to the tube station didn't say 'Battersea Power Station Station', instead saying 'Battersea Power Station'. I wonder why it said that as usually tube station entrances say something like 'Leyton Station' (for example) and not just 'Leyton', which meant if the word 'Station' wasn't added to the end, it would be called 'Battersea Power'. Very odd.
I got on the Northern line and went on it all the way to Edgware. I changed train at Camden Town as it was going to High Barnet. I took a few pictures at Edgware Bus Station and then took the 251 to Arnos Grove. I really like this route as it travelled along Totteridge Common between Mill Hill and Whetstone. At Arnos Grove, I caught the SL1 and ended my journey at Walthamstow Central.
My next trip will be tomorrow when I go to Croydon and Epsom!
Thursday 9th April 2026
Route 166 to Epsom Hospital
Maryland-Whitechapel-West Croydon-Epsom Hospital-Epsom High St-Morden-Warren St-Walthamstow Central
I began my journey at Maryland Station again and caught an Elizabeth line train to Whitechapel, where I changed to the Windrush line and got a train to West Croydon. It was my first time at West Croydon on foot, as I had only been to West Croydon once while I was on the 407 to Caterham. I waited for almost 1 hour at the bus station as the 166 only goes to Epsom Hospital once an hour, with all other buses terminating in Banstead. I took some bus pictures and finally got on the bus that would take me to Epsom. The bus I caught was an Enviro 200 operated by Arriva London South, operated out of Croydon (TC) Bus Garage. The reg plate was LJ60 AYO. As this is a 60 plate Arriva bus, it has manual blinds rather than powerblinds. This is because Arriva didn't order any buses with powerblinds until the time for 61 plate buses. I didn't notice it had manual blinds until I arrived at Epsom Hospital when I saw the driver stand up and change the blinds by hand! Maybe this is why most older Enviro 200s and 400s have 'via' blinds on the side so they don't have to be changed every time they terminate or have to curtail...
I waited in the cold (stupidly, I wore shorts and a t-shirt on a cold day) for a few minutes and got back on the bus, getting off at Epsom High Street. As I was quite hungry and (for some reason) hadn't eaten anything, I popped into McDonald's for some lunch-dinner (it was about 4pm) and ate it whilst waiting for the 293 to Morden. When it arrived, I got on and stayed on it all the way to Morden Station. I got the Northern line (again!!) and got off at Warren Street as it was one of the few trains that go via Charing Cross from Morden as most of them go via Bank. I changed to the Victoria line and went on it all the way to Walthamstow Central (again) and finished my journey there.
My next trip will be tomorrow when I go to Ruislip and Uxbrige!
