There are few underground stations that are linked as you suggest, the only one I can think of is between Bank and Monument. However what the Undeground map does not show is stations that are in fact very close to each other, for example Warren Street and Euston Square. The Underground Map is a wonderful bit of design but it does not directly relate to where stations are on the ground, so you will hae to also use another map.

Sorry if this has just made things more omplicated.

Indeed. Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus (along the Piccadilly line) are all very close to each other at surface level.

An A to Z - which has a tube map printed on the back will be your best friend.

I think Monument and Bank are the only stations which have walkways between them, unless you count walking through the shopping centre to get from the DLR to Tube at Canary Wharf.

You may find that the buses will be easier with which to cope than the Underground. There are plenty of them on the major routes within central London, and they cover a lot of ground. The Central London Bus Map is available at the TfL website, but it may be even more confusing than the Underground map, but try not to fret - the buses and Tube are easier to use than to describe.

The advantage of the bus is that you can see a bit of the city, rather than the inside of stations and tunnels.

And you will need an A to Z or similar street atlas.

"as I find the whole system quite confusing"

You wont when you are here.

FWIW underground walkways that connect stations are pretty rare and you'd only use them if you were changing at those stations anyway, trying to get a map of them and use that to get around will only confuse you more, not less.

p.s to respond to TP's message, buses are 536 times more confusing* than the tube. If you cant cope with the tube, get on a bus and you'll likely end up in Outer Mongolia. Whilst you might see more than you would on the tube, it probably wont be somewhere you intended to go :-)

* I admit to being buslexic and proud of it

Joe, when I was last in London, we stayed in Earl's Court (well, we are Aussies are all LOL) and caught the bus one day to the V&A. Afterwards, we caught the same number bus back .... good plan, right? Yes, we saw a lot more of London than we expected, because the bus went all the way to (I think) Shepherd's Bush, where it terminated, without actually going back down Earl's Court Road; I forgot that ECR is one way, so naturally it only goes down that road on the way into London proper, not on the way back. It was a longish trip home, but we did see lots LOL

One thing that made us laugh (very often) on our holiday was that absolutely everywhere we went (even remote places), we never failed to meet someone that had either been to Australia, had a relative living here or a friend living here - and sometimes they really thought we might actually know that person :) I have to say, though, that absolutely everyone we met was so friendly, welcoming and helpful. You only have to look like you're not sure where to go and people will stop to offer assistance - lovely people, the Brits! :-)

There are walkways within Tube stations connecting different Tube LINES - but the only things that connect most Tube stations tend to have trains whistling down them.

As for the distance you'll need to travel, sometimes it's a matter of feet but sometimes you can spend several minutes getting between lines.

The standard Tube map shows which lines share a station

For a map of Central London that shows things where they really are may I recommend.

www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/centlond.pdf

And if you want to know the walking times between stations click on the image on

…typepad.com/rodcorp/…london_tube_map.html

"For a map of Central London that shows things where they really are may I recommend ..."

That's a good map but it's at least a year out of date. For the latest version, see tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Central-London-D…

"That's a good map but it's at least a year out of date"

What, they moved Big Ben *again* ?