London City Guide

South Kensington ⇄ St Paul’s Station | Tube Journey, Train Times & Fares

The journey from South Kensington to St Paul's is in fare zone 1 and you’ll have to use the Piccadilly and Central tube lines, changing trains at Holborn

  1. From South Kensington take the Piccadilly Line
  2. Change at Holborn to the Central Line
  3. Leave the train at St. Paul’s

Number of tube stops: 9 · Journey time: Approx 26 mins

Stations on the route: South Kensington ➜ Knightsbridge ➜ Hyde Park Corner ➜ Green Park ➜ Piccadilly Circus ➜ Leicester Square ➜ Covent Garden ➜ Holborn [change train] Holborn ➜ Chancery Lane ➜ St. Paul’s

London Underground tube delays

Strikes and closures on the Piccadilly and Central

First and last train times on the Piccadilly line

Tube times for the Piccadilly line

Alternative routes include South Kensington to Mansion House, South Kensington to Barbican and South Kensington to Blackfriars

Stairs, lifts and escalators to the station platforms

South Kensington tube station is not wheelchair accessible

St. Paul’s station is not wheelchair accessible

South Kensington station entrance – You must use two flights of stairs from the Pelham Street/​Thurloe Street entrances to the booking hall (13 steps down +3 steps down), or use three flights plus walk through a long subway from the National History Museum entrance (15 steps down +16 steps down +8 steps up), or use three flights plus walk through a long subway from the Science Museum entrance (10 steps down +14 steps down +8 steps up), or use three flights plus walk through a long subway from the Ismaili Centre entrance (2x14 steps down +8 steps up). After that you must use another two flights of stairs down to the Circle/​District line platforms (13 steps down +12 steps down), or use two escalators plus one flight of stairs to the Piccadilly line platforms (17 steps up to the eastbound, or 20 steps down to the westbound platform)

Changing tube line at Holborn – You must use stairs when changing between the Central/​Piccadilly line platforms

St. Paul’s station exit – You must use an escalator from the westbound platform to the booking hall, or two escalators from the eastound platform to the booking hall, plus another two flights of stairs from the booking hall to the entrance (8 steps up +17 steps up to the St Martin’s Le Grand/Cheapside entrance, or 10 steps up +18 steps up to the Newgate Street entrance). If you want to avoid the escalator from the westbound platform then you can use seven flights of stairs (11 steps up +5x17 steps up +3 steps up). If you want to avoid the escalators from the eastbound platform then you can use eleven flights of stairs (+11 steps up +17 steps up +3 steps up +11 steps up +5x17 steps up +3 steps up)

The journey from St Paul's to South Kensington is in fare zone 1 and you’ll have to use the Central and Piccadilly tube lines, changing trains at Holborn

  1. From St. Paul’s take the Central Line
  2. Change at Holborn to the Piccadilly Line
  3. Leave the train at South Kensington

Number of tube stops: 9 · Journey time: Approx 27 mins

Stations on the route: St. Paul’s ➜ Chancery Lane ➜ Holborn [change train] Holborn ➜ Covent Garden ➜ Leicester Square ➜ Piccadilly Circus ➜ Green Park ➜ Hyde Park Corner ➜ Knightsbridge ➜ South Kensington

London Underground tube delays

Strikes and closures on the Central and Piccadilly

First and last train times on the Central line

Tube times for the Central line

Alternative routes include St. Paul’s to Mansion House, St. Paul’s to Barbican and St. Paul’s to Blackfriars

Stairs, lifts and escalators to the station platforms

St. Paul’s tube station is not wheelchair accessible

South Kensington station is not wheelchair accessible

St. Paul’s station entrance – There are two flights of stairs from the entrance to the booking hall (17 steps down +8 steps down from the St Martin’s Le Grand/Cheapside entrance, or 18 steps down +10 steps down from the Newgate Street entrance), plus another escalator down to the westbound platform, or two escalators down to the eastound platform. If you want to avoid the escalator to the westbound platform then you can use seven flights of stairs (3 steps down +5x17 steps down +11 steps down). If you want to avoid the escalators to the eastbound platform then you can use eleven flights of stairs (3 steps down +5x17 steps down +11 steps down +3 steps down +17 steps down +11 steps down)

Changing tube line at Holborn – You must use stairs when changing between the Central/​Piccadilly line platforms

South Kensington station exit – You must use two flights of stairs down from the Circle/​District line platforms to the booking hall (12 steps up +13 steps up), or use two escalators plus one flight of stairs from the Piccadilly line platforms (17 steps down to the eastbound, or 20 steps up to the westbound platform). After that you must use another two flights of stairs to the Pelham Street/​Thurloe Street exits (3 steps up +13 steps up), or use three flights plus walk through a long subway to the National History Museum exit (8 steps down +16 steps up +15 steps up), or use three flights plus walk through a long subway to the Science Museum exit (8 steps down +14 steps up +10 steps up), or use three flights plus walk through a long subway to the Ismaili Centre exit (8 steps down +2x14 steps up)

Tube fare between South Kensington and St Paul's

This tube journey is in Oyster zone 1. The cheapest fare is £2.70 off-peak (£2.80 peak) when you pay by Oyster or contactless. There’s no return fare, you just pay the same as two single tickets

Cost of tube fare from South Kensington ⇄ St Paul’s Station | Tube Journey, Train Times & Fares
Fare zone Cash Oyster & Contactless cards
Single fare Single fare Daily cap
Peak Off-peak Peak Off-peak
Zone 1 fare £6.70 £2.80 £2.70 £8.50 £8.50
Travelcard prices from South Kensington ⇄ St Paul’s Station | Tube Journey, Train Times & Fares
Fare Zone Travelcards (Train, Bus & Tram)
One day travel­card Week travel­card Month travel­card
Anytime Off-peak
Zone 1-2 travelcard n/a n/a £42.70 £164
Zone 1-4 travelcard £15.90 n/a £61.40 £235.80
Zone 1-6 travelcard £22.60 £15.90 £78 £299
Zone 1-9 travelcard £28.50 £17 £111.30 £427.40
See our complete list of London Underground prices, Pensioner prices, Children’s prices, Oyster card prices, Contactless card prices and Travelcard prices
Note: Tube journey prices are correct as of

Peak and off-peak journey times

For Oyster and contactless off-peak is outside the hours of 6.30 AM-9.30 AM and 4 PM-7 PM (Mon-Fri). For travelcards it’s any time after 9.30 AM (Mon-Fri). Weekends are always classed as off-peak. Note: Between the 8th March and 31st May 2024 TFL are running a trial called ‘Off-Peak Friday Fares’, where Fridays will be classed as off-peak all day.

The fare is based on what time your journey begins. It doesn’t matter what time your journey ends.

Other ways to make this journey

Travel on foot – The distance is about 3¾ miles which would take about 80 minutes on foot

Travel by bus – Single fare: £1.75 (you may need more than one bus); Daily cap: £5.25; Weekly cap: £24.70; 1-day travelcard: £6; Weekly travelcard: £24.70 – Adult bus prices 2024 · Pensioner bus prices 2024 · Children’s bus prices 2024

Travel by taxi – The 3¾ mile ride between St. Paul’s train station and South Kensington in a black cab should cost you about £18 to £31 and take anything from 15 to 29 mins

Travel by carCar parks near South Kensington station and St. Paul’s