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The ultimate guide to surviving the tube strike

Isabelle Aron
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Isabelle Aron
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It's official, the tube strike is coming and there's nothing we can do about it. To ease your pain, we've trawled through our archives to bring you the ultimate guide to surviving a tube strike including practical advice as well as a few LOLs, because let's be honest, you're going to need them.

The Walking Tube map

Click to enlarge

Since there won't be a single tube running for 24 hours, the rest of London's transport is going to get pretty hectic. If things get really bad (which they inevitably will), you might contemplate sacking off TfL completely and using your own two feet. But before you don your walking boots, take a look at this handy map by A&J Creatives, which shows how long it will take to walk between each station. They've also included some of London's landmarks that you wouldn't normally see if you were underground. See, it's not all bad, is it? (It's pretty bad).

Five of the best apps to get you around London

Once you're done scrolling through your Twitter to see who else is feeling your #tubestrike pain, here are five apps that will help you get around London sans tube.

1. Station Master

Ok, admittedly this isn't that helpful as we're pretty sure every single tube station will be closed. But on the off chance that anything starts running again, this app will give you up-to-date info. It's also full of tube trivia including stuff like the optimum carriages to stand in for a swift exit, so you could just use the time spent waiting for a bus to brush up on your tube hacks.

2. Citymapper

Unless you've been living in a dark cave for the last few years, you'll probably be familiar with Citymapper. As well as giving you the usual TfL, cycling and cab options, they've also got a designated page for how to survive the strike. It includes a 'strike safe section', suggestions of how you can combine cycle hire and train options to get around, as well as a rather optimistic 'line status' section, in case any of the tube lines reopen.

3. Waze

If you're lucky enough to own a car, then there's really no point even entertaining the idea of taking public transport. Take a look at this traffic busting driving app that uses crowd-sourced data to find the quickest route and smugly hop in your car. 

4. Join.me

If you can't get to work despite your best efforts, then it might be time to head back and 'work from home'. To at least give the illusion that you're working hard, you can virtually show your face through this app, which lets you host virtual meetings and access conference calls. 

5. London's best coffee

That's it. You've tried your best but it's now time to abandon ship and take refuge in a coffee shop. Use this handy app to find the nearest place you can get your caffeine fix, stat.

Boris Johnson's alternative commuting

Obviously Boris Johnson loves a Boris Bike, but he's also been known to whizz around London on a zip line or hop on his penny farthing, because why the heck not? Give the bus a wide berth and opt for one of the alternative transport options instead. I mean, how hard can it be to find a go-cart or a rogue horse to help you on your merry way?

PfL: Parking for London

Even if you've abandoned all hope of public transport and you're planning to take refuge in your car, there's still the small matter of finding a place to park the damn thing. Luckily, Just Park have produced this useful map, which locates cheap parking spaces that you can book ahead online so you don't end up in a parking spot stand-off.

Find out more about the tube strike here.

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