International Programme Logistics

Accommodation is at LSE Bankside House in the historic Southwark district on the South Bank of the Thames. A walk along the river will take you to the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral, the Tate Modern and the South Bank Arts Centre as well as the famous Borough Market.

Check in: 16/06/2024 at 3pm

Check-out: 29/06/2024 at 10:30am

Travel time to campus from Bankside House: 

On foot: 27 mins 

By bike: 13 mins Learn here how to use the London Bicycles System 

By public transport: 24 mins Learn here how to use the Public Transport in London 

Meals

Breakfast - included in your accommodation at Bankside House

Tea breaks - you will receive one voucher per day (Monday - Friday). This can be used to purchase one hot or cold drink at any of the cafes at LSE. Restaurants and cafes on campus (lse.ac.uk)

Lunch - you will receive one lunch voucher per day (week 1: Monday - Friday. Week 2: Monday - Thursday). This can be used to purchase a one course meal and one drink and can only be used at the 4th floor restaurant. Fourth Floor Restaurant (lse.ac.uk)

Dinner - Not provided. You will be required to purchase your own meal.

On the first day of the programme you will be provided with an LSE ID card which will give you access to LSE facilities including LSE library. Free Wi-Fi will be available. 

Travel from the Airport to central London:

Directions from Heathrow Airport:

From Heathrow Airport take the Piccadilly tube line (approximately £5 with an Oyster card) to reach your destination.

OR

From Heathrow Airport take the Heathrow Express (a single fare is £20 and a standard return costs £34) to Paddington Station. From Paddington Station take the Circle, District, Hammersmith and Bakerloo tube lines to reach your destination.

Directions from Gatwick Airport:

From Gatwick Airport take the Gatwick Express (a single fare is £19.90 and a standard return costs £34.90) to London Victoria. From London Victoria take the tube or bus to reach your destination.

OR

From Gatwick Airport take the First Capital Connect trains services (a single fare costs £10.00) Services to London Bridge. It will take a journey of between 30 and 45 minutes. From London Bridge take the tube or bus to reach your destination.

Check www.tfl.gov.uk for any changes to the tube service on the day of your journey; other routes and other nearby tube stations are available.

Oyster card

We strongly recommend that you purchase an Oyster card for the duration of your stay in London. Oyster cards reduce the fares for London transport considerably. For example, a normal single tube ticket for zone one will cost you £4.90 compared to £2.90 with Oyster. Single bus journey is £1.50 with Oyster or contactless card. Please bear in mind that you need to have an Oyster card or contactless card when travelling by bus since it is forbidden to pay in cash. Weekly travel cards are also available.

You can pick up an Oyster card at any tube station. For more information please see www.tfl.gov.uk

Unfortunately, as your programme is less than a yearlong you are not eligible for any student discount on travel cost.

Taxis

London black cabs (taxi) operate at theses airports however these are an expensive option (e.g. Heathrow £100). You may wish to pre-book an airport transfer with an established taxi service which tends to be at a lower cost. Please find below some recommended companies:

Addison Lee: www.addisonlee.com

Uber: https://www.uber.com/

Public transport

In terms of public transport, you can reach LSE by several different tube and bus routes. The nearest tube stations are Holborn (Central and Piccadilly lines) and Temple (Circle and District lines).

Tube/Underground stations

Holborn (Piccadilly and Central lines) - Approximately five minutes away. Take the exit out on to Kingsway and walk to the south until Gate Street. Turn left and walk along the Street until Strand. Then turn left to stay on Strand and reach a black gate. Walk through the gate until you see two buildings on your left: Pethick-Lawrence House and Fawcett House.

Buses

Buses that stop on or near Holborn and Aldwych are:

Numbers: 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 26, 59, 68, X68, 76, 77a, 91, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341 and 521.

Each bus stop normally has a countdown, showing which buses stop there and their frequency. On the front of the bus the final destination will be given. It may also show the names of the main stops on its route.

For other walking routes, see www.walkit.com.

Some ‘fast’ options are available close to LSE. For evenings, we recommend exploring the Covent Garden area which has a lot of restaurants, cafes and bars at a range of different prices.

The Shaw Café

Location: New Academic Building (NAB), Ground floor, Lincoln's Inn Fields

Opening times: Monday – Friday, 8.00am – 5.30pm

The Shaw Café serves Vegan and Vegetarianfood, offering freshly prepared, wholesomebreakfasts, lunches and treats. Among the dailyoptions are organic vegan soups with veganand artisan breads, colourful salad bowls, veganhot meals and desserts.

LSE Garrick

Location: Columbia House (COL), Aldwych, Ground floor and basement

Opening times: Monday – Friday, 8.00am – 7pm

The restaurant offers sandwiches, pastries, salads, sushi, snacks, and hot and cold drinkson the ground floor, and freshly prepared hotmeals downstairs. Hot halal and kosher mealsare also available.

Fourth Floor Restaurant

Location: Old Building (OLD), 4th floor

Opening times: Monday – Friday, 8.00am – 6.30pm

The largest restaurant on campus servesbreakfast, buffet style lunch, international specialities, hot and cold drinks. It offers adaily changing menu with regionally inspireddishes from Italy to India. Regular favourites include fresh salads, ramen noodles, pizza, pasta, and fish and chips.

Benugo

Location: Lincoln's Inn Fields

Opening times: Monday – Friday, 8.00am – 3.30pm

Scandinavian-style wood-clad restaurant with terrace for breakfast, brunch and oven-fired pizza.

Itsu

Location: 236 High Holborn, WC1V 7DN

Opening times: Monday – Friday; 7am – 9.30pm

Itsu is a chain of Asian-inspired fast food shops and restaurants, and a grocery company. Itsu began by selling predominantly sushi but the menu grew to include a selection of salads and snacks, plus some hot food offering, there are 63 different dishes available.

Pret a Manger

Location: 240-241, High Holborn, London WC1V 7DN

Opening times: Monday – Friday, 8.00am – 9.00pm

The company emphasises the use of natural ingredients and advertises that its sandwiches are made on the day of purchase in a kitchen at each location (with the stated exception of a few small outlets). 

The Espresso Room

Location: 71 Lincoln's Inn Fields, WC2A 3JF

Opening times: Monday – Wednesday; 7am – 7pm/

Thursday – Friday: 7am – 9pm

All of our delicious menu options are home made with the freshest ingredients to satisfy all your cravings throughout the day, whether it be sweet or savoury, breakfast or dinner!

Wasabi

Location: 19 Kingsway, WC2B 6UN

Opening times: Monday – Friday; 10.30 am – 9pm

Wasabi serve a variety of sushi and noodle-style dishes to take away. Catering for vegetarians is also provided.

Leon

Location: 77 Kingsway, WC2B 6SR

Opening times: Monday – Friday; 7am – 10pm

Outlet of a health-conscious counter-serve chain taking inspiration from around the Mediterranean.

PAUL High Holborn

Location: 296 - 298 High Holborn, Holborn, London WC1V 7JH

Opening times: Monday – Friday; 7.30am – 7.00pm

French bakery with products traditionally made and presented with care, with the sole aim of giving pleasure to our customers.  

National Portrait Gallery

Location: St. Martin's Pl, Charing Cross, London WC2H 0HE

Opening times: Saturday – Thursday; 10.00am – 6.00pm. Friday; 10.00am – 9.00pm

The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856. Portraits of Over 1,000 British men and women are on display from the Middle Ages until the present day.

Tate Modern

Location: Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Opening times: Sunday – Thursday; 10.00am – 6.00pm. Friday – Saturday; 10.00am – 10.00pm

Tate Modern is a powerful and dramatic combination of old and new architecture providing 10,000m2 of gallery space and has housed the Tate collection of international modern art from 1900 to the present day.

Natural History Museum

Location: Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD

Opening times: Monday – Sunday; 10.00am – 5.50pm.

The Natural History Museum in London is a natural history museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum

British Museum

Location: Great Russell St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3DG

Opening times: Saturday – Thursday; 10.00am – 5.30pm. Friday; 10.00am – 6.30pm

It might be called The British Museum, but its exhibits represent the cultural history of much of the world. With artefacts from dozens of ancient and modern countries from around the world and through the ages.

National Gallery

Location: Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London WC2N 5DN

Opening times: Saturday – Thursday; 10.00am – 6.00pm. Friday; 10.00am – 9.00pm

London's National Gallery, founded in 1824, houses a rich collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900[a] in its home on Trafalgar Square. The collection belongs to the British public and entry to the main collection is free, although there are charges for entry to special exhibitions.

Science Museum

Location: Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD

Opening times: Monday – Sunday; 10.00am – 6.00pm

Originally named the South Kensington Museum and first opened in 1857. The Science museum is dedicated to the all areas of the scientific and technical world including its history and development from the 18th century to the modern day.

Even though there are no longer restrictions in place in the UK either for the public or those who have tested positive for COVID. LSE asks students and staff to stay COVID vigilant and observe the measures suggested below. We trust you to do the right thing: 

 If you feel unwell during the International Programme weeks: 

• You should ask a member of staff to provide a lateral flow test. If the test is positive, the National Health Service (NHS) advice is to isolate for five days from the day of the test.  

• Self-isolation is no longer mandatory but the School’s general policy is that if someone tests positive with COVID even if asymptomatic, they should not come onto campus. They should not resume normal activities until they feel better, are not running a temperature and, if they have access to tests, have tested negative several days running too. 

• You should avoid contact with other people, especially those at higher risk from COVID, even if vaccinated, for 10 days. 

• If you have to leave their accommodation, you should wear a face mask. 

• If you test is negative but you feel well enough, and wish to continue with your studies, it will be considered if it is possible to arrange online attendance at lectures. 

If you suspect you have been in close contact with the infected person you are not required to isolate but in addition you should: 

• Take tests for the next two or three consecutive days 

• Use face masks in crowded public spaces and on public transport for those days. 

• Avoid contact with other people, especially those at higher risk from COVID, even if vaccinated, for 10 days. For more information do consult these NHS resources on testing positive and close contacts.

Please click here to find help with some of the most common questions about your time in London.