LONDON -- For months, London has been gripped by fear of transport gridlock during the Olympics. So

Traveling around traffic-plagued London can be a hassle at the best of times -- never mind during an event such as the Olympic Games. NBCNews.com put the city to the test in a race to the Olympic Park. By NBC News staff
LONDON -- For months, London has been gripped by fear of transport gridlock thrifty car rentals during the Olympics. So NBC News decided to find out just what was the best way to get about the city, notorious for its near stationary traffic and packed, sweltering subway trains.
Car driver Peter Jeary: You ll never get parked To be honest, no one in their right mind would drive from central London to Stratford even on the best of days -- let alone during the Olympics. It was, however, much less stressful than expected.
The pinch point around Trafalgar Square is always bad; it took me about 20 minutes thrifty car rentals to travel half a mile. The Olympic Lane [for athletes, officials] was often tantalizingly empty as I sat nose-to-tail in traffic.
One moment of crisis was when a London cab (naturally!) decided to drop a passenger in the only lane open to traffic. Could I sneak past, with just two wheels in the Olympic Lane? As the cars in front did, I decided to as well. Time will tell if I get a 130 fine ($203) in the mail.
Finding somewhere to park was a nightmare. In the interests of full disclosure -- I parked in a timed zone that would have expired just as the first competitors touched the water. So even if you do try driving -- don't! You'll never get parked.
As you pedal the tangled web that is central London, the sounds of languages and smells of foods from around the world become part of your point A to point B experience, making it just that, an experience, a journey, and any moment thrifty car rentals on the bike becomes about that journey, thrifty car rentals not just time passing by on your way to your destination.
For this trip, though, from Piccadilly Circus to Stratford, trying to focus on where to go and when to turn impacted thrifty car rentals my usual enjoyment of the international experience I've come to enjoy over the past week.
Sure, I still got to squeeze between double-decker buses with only inches to spare, and I got to dodge pedestrians as they crossed against the light, but doing these things one handed on a bicycle while trying to navigate via an iPhone with the other is, well, a bit awesome.
An actor from gangster movie "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" is giving walking tours of old underworld haunts in East London, where this month's Olympic Games are being held. NBC's Theresa Cook reports.
My driver, Steve, a cabbie of 19 years experience and a native Londoner, was great, regaling thrifty car rentals me with stories about the time he had actor Roger Moore, rock star Noel Gallagher thrifty car rentals and other celebrities thrifty car rentals in his taxi while performing neat u-turns and avoiding traffic effectively by using side streets.
We hit a bit of traffic initially but then caught Jim Seida as he stood at the side of the road looking a bit puzzled about which direction to go. Jim slipped away again through the traffic, but soon Steve found roads that were really quiet for London and we started thrifty car rentals making good progress. I started to feel confident.
Alastair Jamieson sent a text saying he was about to board one of the speedy Javelin trains to the Olympic Park, but moments thrifty car rentals later we saw our first glimpse of our target destination. It was definitely thrifty car rentals going to be close.
As we got to the venue, police stopped thrifty car rentals Steve from parking in what seemed to be a good dropping-off point and directed him to the taxi rank, wasting a few vital minutes. I thanked Steve profusely, paid the $43 bill and dodged through the crowds at a fast walk. I arrived at the entrance and couldn t see any of the others. It seemed like I d won, then I spotted Alastair standing at another entrance. He'd come from a different direction, so I went across to ask when he'd arrived.
Bus passenger Jamieson Lesko: Faster if I d ran I've never been a bus rider, so at the start of this journey, I wondered if I've been underestimating the Big Reds all this time. But unfortunately, it turns out that I've not been too hard on them. Double thrifty car rentals decker = double time.
For visitors to London, the benefit of the bus is that you get a comfortable seat and scenic tour of the many sites there are to enjoy but, if you've got a ticket for the Games or are on any kind of schedule, take the tube, grab a cab, or put on your sneakers and hoof it over to the venue!
thrifty car rentals And the winner is: train passenger Alastair Jamieson The official London 2012 website journey thrifty car rentals planner said public transport, using a combination of tube train and high-speed rail link, would be the fastest route for our trip.
To ease pressure on the narrow tunnels, a shuttle service thrifty car rentals of Japanese-built 140mph "Javelin" thrifty car rentals trains was introduced on the fast line between London and Paris which runs underneath the Olympic Park. Running every 15 minutes, it slashed our journey time by a remarkable 21 minutes.
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