Safe area in London?

[digitalfever]

I picked my home stay and after finding out the area and a brief Google search it turned out to be a pretty unsafe area. For anyone from London the postal code is N17 7ES and is apparently near Green Wood or Wood Green. Is this a safe area for me to walk around at night? I have late classes on Wednesday and need to be able to get to and from the transit without feeling like I'm unsafe.

Are there any safer areas you can recommend?

[lademoiselle]

I haven't been up to north London often, I'm in the south east. To be very honest with you though, there aren't many places in London I'd feel awfully comfortable walking around alone in at night. Wood Green - which comes under the Borough of Haringey - is part of Inner London, and it's true that certain districts do have a reputation for being rather rough. However, it does depend on what time of the evening we're talking about. When do your classes finish? Whereabouts do you need to travel to and from? If you post an update with a bit more information I'd be more than happy to help you put a journey plan together, or find somewhere better to stay. I don't mean to frighten you; London's a great city, but forewarned is forearmed, as they say

[digitalfever]

I haven't been up to north London often, I'm in the south east. To be very honest with you though, there aren't many places in London I'd feel awfully comfortable walking around alone in at night. Wood Green - which comes under the Borough of Haringey - is part of Inner London, and it's true that certain districts do have a reputation for being rather rough. However, it does depend on what time of the evening we're talking about. When do your classes finish? Whereabouts do you need to travel to and from? If you post an update with a bit more information I'd be more than happy to help you put a journey plan together, or find somewhere better to stay. I don't mean to frighten you; London's a great city, but forewarned is forearmed, as they say

Oh my goodness that would be awesome. I have family that lives there but they aren't much help as they have a baby currently and take years to respond to emails and are just a bit busy settling into new family mode. I made my housing decision before actually Googling anything about it...

The house is located on Risley and apparent none of the other homestay people have complained about the area.
My classes start at four and are located at the University College and they end around 6ish. I think the ride to and from there was supposedly an hour and a bit but we'll see. I'd like to go the most direct route from the Turnpike lane stop.

Also there are a few nights I'd like to go out and go clubbing. Would getting home at 4 in the morning be unsafe I only ask this BECAUSE in my city the streets are still very much alive and full throughout the evening and early morning.

[lademoiselle]

Okey dokey!

The route you take to and from your classes will depend on which campus they'll be held at:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/transition/joi...ts/getting-ucl

Turnpike Lane Underground Station is served by the Picadilly line alone, so unless it's the Russell Square site you're after, you'll need to change lines along the way. If you pop the names of the stations you want into TfL's journey planner, it'll give you the most direct route at the times you need:

https://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/us...T2?language=en (you'll find pretty much all you need to know about travelling around London on TfL)

To get from Risley to the Tube you can hop on the 123 bus from Waltheof Avenue (stop LB) to Turnpike Lane Bus Station (stop T). Alternatively, take the 231or 217 bus from Granville Road (stop RN). If you type in the number of any bus into TfL's search bar you can see all the stops on the map

If your classes finish around 6, there's no reason why you shouldn't be absolutely fine; you'll be coming home on the Tube during the tail end of rush hour. When I read your first post I was a bit concerned you meant evening classes (which start at, say, 6 and finish at 9). I can't imagine you'd be at risk of any great danger even if that were the case, but still. Especially as the days grow longer, I'm sure you'll find that once you've got the hang of the transport system, you'll be able to make it from A to B and back again with no worries at all. In any case, I think it's good to take general safety precautions when travelling, even once you know an area well. For example, say you had to catch the bus home from Turnpike Lane later than usual; I'd take the 231 or 217 to Granville Road rather than the 123 to Waltheof Avenue, as the former stop is served by more buses. Just little things like that, you know?

Regarding your housing, you should be alright. If you aren't already, get acquainted with the other homestay people, and do keep in touch with the family of yours who live locally. All the usual stuff which I'm sure you know already!

Finally, the question of clubbing... the only public transport which will be running in the early hours of the morning are the night buses, and personally I would never willingly take the night bus alone. Even if I were with others I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so; your best bet is to book a taxi, but please use this service if you choose to do so:

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingar...s/default.aspx

Try to stick with friends, and remember to let someone know where you're going, at what time, etc. Sadly, a young woman wandering alone at a certain hour in a city like London will always be a target. It's a real shame we have to be so careful in this day and age, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Oh dear, how gloomy I've made this sound... I do hope I haven't depressed you with all these considerations! You know, a lot of it comes down to simple common sense: don't take unnecessary risks and keep your wits about you, and you'll be okay I think I'm starting to ramble a bit now though - I'm so tired, haha. But do let me know if there's anything more you'd like to know concerning your situation or London in general, and I'll be delighted to help if I can.