Waterloo — Local services in London

I'd recommend going down to see the vaults below the station:

Waterloo's Leake Street is a dank hide out for aerosol-wielding graffiti artists, who cover the walls of this old railway passage with layer on layer of technicoloured designs. Make it through the painty fug and you'll discover The Vaults, a surprisingly huge arts venue hidden behind an unassuming door.

The Vaults is at its busiest each February and March, when hundreds of new shows take over this ramshackle collection of theatre spaces and bars, under the umbrella of Vault Festival. You'll find autobiographical solo shows, interactive adventures and installations, new plays, themed parties and hordes of tipsy theatregoers settling into the venue's many whimsically decorated bar spaces, which come alive with late night weekend events.

But there are plenty of reasons to venture to The Vaults at warmer times of year. It's become the go-to venue for ambitious immersive shows, most notably the venue's big 2015 hit 'Alice's Adventures Underground'. And it also holds dining theatre experiences a-plenty, jazz nights, gigs, and nights out which make the most of the venue's brick-walled, cavernous atmosphere.

The Vaults came into life in 2013 with its first event, a full album play of a Daft Punk album. It took over the space formerly known as The Old Vic Tunnels, which from 2009-2013 held an impressive array of pop-up theatre shows under the auspices of the theatre down the road. Today, it's got one permanent 160-seater auditorium, The Vault Theatre, plus a host more temporary...

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Great, fast, easy - but please stand on the right on the escalators!

You can tell the foreign tourists and the people up from the provinces. :-)

Not just because they huddle around the wall maps, or are peering at the tiny Underground map in their London guidebook. But because they stand two abreast on the escalators, preventing other people from passing them on the left! Or even worse - stand with a big suitcase next to them . . .

Please stand on the right. This is the rule - and clearly signed - in nearly all the underground stations - stand on the right, to allow others to pass. If you have a large bag or case - put it in front of you, so that others can pass.

The exception is Holborn station, there people stand on both sides and nobody passes.

So having got that point of etiquette across, travelling via the underground is fast and cheap. Much faster and cheaper than by taxi.

But it is also much hotter . . . few of the trains and no stations have air-conditioning. A fan and a bottle of water are therefore always...

I would first like to clarify that I have only visited this station once during the start of the summer holidays.

Firstly, the location of the station is great, there is also exellent wheelchair access.

The station puts you near some major attractions such as the London Eye, Westminster Bridge and Sea Life etc. And if you have any trouble walking to your destination, you can always catch the tube located just beneath the station, From which you can use the Northern, Bakerloo or Jubilee line.

On my visit, the train to Staines was delayed or cancelled, we were never really sure given the minimum amount of information available. However, we were fortunately able to use another train to get to our stop given the high frequency on our route.

I would definetly recommend that anyone who is planning on using the station should arrive early in preparation for delays or cancellations, especially in school holidays.

Overall the facilities were managed well given the station's popularity...