Found at the Vauxhall Cross junction by the river Thames, Vauxhall station is on the boundary line between zones one and two of the London Underground. It is also a national rail station too, and can get you to the London suburbs, but nowadays a lot of the national services tend to race through Vauxhall without making a stop.

Famous for having a station cat - Charlie', whose main aim in life is, unsurprisingly, to catch rats and mice, Vauxhall as an area of London is home to a number of local and national celebrities, politicians and television stars.

The station itself is now mainly a tube line, and does this job very well. Nearby there is the Battersea Power station, which closed in 1983, and was once famous for being ugly, but is now more famous for still being there even though it is unused. It may not last forever, so keep an eye out for it when you're in Vauxhall (it is quite hard to miss).

An intriguing rumour about the station concerns the name of the place. It is believed by some that Vauxhall was the inspiration for the Russian word for station, which is (phonetically) vokzal'.

Once, apparently, a Russian delegation visited the area to see how the development of the London and South Western Railway in the mid nineteenth century, and made the mistake of thinking that the name of the station was the name given to all facilities of that type.

Whether it is true or not, Vauxhall is great to get around, and is close to much of London that is worth seeing. To make visiting the area easier cheap car hire is available at Vauxhall station.