Only a short walk from County Hall is the historic Waterloo Station which is full of hustle and bustle all day long and well worth a visit if only for a coffee and some people watching before you dive back into County Hall.

'The London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened the station on 11 July 1848 as 'Waterloo Bridge Station'....

Only a short walk from County Hall is the historic Waterloo Station which is full of hustle and bustle all day long and well worth a visit if only for a coffee and some people watching before you dive back into County Hall.

'The London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened the station on 11 July 1848 as 'Waterloo Bridge Station' (from the nearby crossing over the Thames) when its main line was extended from Nine Elms. Designed by William Tite, it was raised above marshy ground on a series of arches. The unfulfilled intention was for a through station with services to the City. In 1886 it officially became 'Waterloo Station', reflecting the long-standing common usage, even in some L&SWR timetables.

As the station grew it became increasingly ramshackle: a little-used railway line crossed the main concourse on the level and passed through an archway in the station building to connect to the South Eastern Railway's smaller station, now Waterloo East, whose tracks lie perpendicular to those of Waterloo. Passengers were confused by the layout and by the two adjacent stations called 'Waterloo'. This complexity and confusion became the butt of jokes by writers and music hall comics. In Jerome K. Jerome's book Three Men in a Boat no one at Waterloo knows the wanted train's platform, departure time or destination.

Extensive reconstruction between 1900 and 1922 gave 21 platforms and a concourse nearly 800 feet (250 m) long. The main pedestrian entrance, the Victory Arch (known as Exit 5) is a memorial to company staff who were killed during the two world wars. Damage to the station in World War II required considerable repair but entailed no significant changes to the layout.

A past curiosity of Waterloo was that a spur led to the adjoining dedicated station of the London Necropolis Company from which funeral trains, at one time daily, ran to Brookwood Cemetery bearing coffins at 2/6 each. This station was destroyed during World War II.'

To get there is only a five minute walk either up the river and right by the Royal Festival Hall, or out of the back entrance of County Hall and left/right/left until you see Waterloo on your right hand side.

Sources:

Wikipedia