Living in London

Thinking of cycling to LSE? Great idea!

By ChauComms 21 Mar 2023

Did you know, cycle parking spaces have increased by almost 50% on our campus in the last 3 years? We have 756 open access & 243 indoor cycle parking spaces with access restricted to LSE students and staff only.

Getting started with cycling in London:

1. Get a bike!

A bit obvious, we know – but there are different options for this. You can either choose to buy a bike outright, do a 12-month subscription with the likes of Buzzbike or Swapfiets, or rent-as-you-go with the Santander Cycle Hire Scheme (they have docking stations on Houghton St, Sardinia St & Portugal St), Lime, Human Forest, Dott etc. We recommend buying yourself a helmet too, so you are keeping yourself safe.

2. Do some preliminary research 🤓

Have a quick look at possible routes you could take to campus. TfL have maps that allow you to plan quiet routes, and apps such as Citymapper also allow you to pick between ‘quickest’ and ‘quiet’ routes.

Find out where our cycle facilities are located on campus: https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/estates-division/facilities-guide/transport-and-cycling-facilities

Do online or in-person cycle training with TfL if you want to brush up on your cycle skills: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycle-skills?intcmp=2386

An example map created by TfL - feel free to click on the link above for more cycling maps

3. Just give it a go!

One of the hardest things to do is to just start, so we’d recommend if you aren’t an avid urban cyclist to start small.

Rent a bike for a couple hours and trial cycling around parts of London – it’s a great way to see the city, and you can pick scenic areas such as Hyde Park, Regents Park, or the Olympic Park in Stratford.

Slowly work your way up to cycling into campus. Commuting by bike isn’t going to be for everyone, but even if you opt to cycle a few times a month, you’ll be doing your physical and mental health a favour, plus cycling is a no-emissions form of travel, so it’s great for the climate. On top of that, it is cost-effective, and once mastered, can be a lot more fun than sitting on the bus/tube!