London Calling

With the London Olympics now underway travel writer, Victoria Ugarte offers some helpful tips to avoid stresses that are beyond your control
By Victoria Ugarte

You’ve been saving for months or maybe even years for this moment. To be in the throng of the 2012 Olympic Games; supporting your country and experiencing the finest London has to offer.
However, if you’re not prepared you’re likely to encounter a mountain of stress as hundreds of thousands of people descend on the city’s transportation services. Add to that the unpredictable weather the area is famous for, and you’ve got a recipe for chaos.

Visitors and locals alike are cautioned to seriously reconsider driving in central London, around the Olympic Route Network (ORN) and Games venues. However, while London roads and public transport will experience extreme levels of congestion, there are ways to make travel in London less stressful.
Record numbers from all over the world continue to pour into London’s Heathrow, Europe's largest airport. As athletes, coaches, officials, and members of the media touch down in London the airport will handle some 236,955 passengers, breaking the previous daily record of 233,562 set in July 2011. As some 1,000 volunteers, dressed in bright pink attire, enthusiastically greet arrivals, hundreds of immigration agents are hard at work, ensuring that the lines at customs flow smoothly. With an increased police and sniffer dog presence, London’s Heathrow appears to be coping well with its first influx of Olympic passengers.

However, travelling on public transport will be a different story during the 2012 Olympics. London is a thriving metropolis that boasts the largest urban area in the European Union. To service the needs of the local population, and indeed the thousands of travellers who descend upon its shores every year, it has developed a very extensive and efficient public and private transport network over the years. However, there will be an extra four million visitors descending upon London all throughout the period of the 2012 Games. That's an extra 50% on top of its 7.5 million population. Travelling on public transport in London during the Games will be far from a pleasant experience.