Because London hates tourists. No, I’m kidding. The truth is that “Victoria” is a mood, not a single building. The main railway station sits on one street, while the coach station hides a block away, like a shy cousin at a wedding.
The British built them in different centuries—the train station in 1860, the coach station in 1932—and apparently no one thought to ask, “Hey, should we maybe call one ‘South Victoria’ and the other ‘North Victoria’?” Nope. They just slapped the same name on both and called it a day.
The Walk: A Miracle of Urban Planning
To get from one to the other, you simply walk out of the train station and turn right. Follow the flow of panicked people with wheelie bags. You’ll pass a Wetherspoons pub, a Pret A Manger, and a man selling knockoff phone chargers from a cardboard box.
It’s so short that you can literally see the coach station from the train station’s taxi rank. If you hurl a croissant with great force, you could hit its front door. I do not recommend this, but the point stands.
But Wait—There’s a Catch (Of Course)
Here’s the surprising fact: despite being super close, they are technically in different postal districts. The train station is in SW1V, while the coach station is in SW1W. That’s right—the 500-meter walk crosses a secret invisible border that only mail carriers and obsessive-compulsive map nerds care about.
Also, if you use Google Maps to walk it, the app will show you fourteen different routes, including one that goes through a hotel lobby. Don’t take that one. You’ll end up in a conference room full of accountants.
Saapuminen lontooseen ja siirtyminen asemilta eteenpäin
