Travelling to Twickenham from the North east

[StealthPolarBear]

Dh and the dcs are off to the rugby and I've offered to drive. Ideally I'd like to kick them out about an hour north of Twickenham Nd have them get a straightforward train from there, is there anywhere obvious? Bonus points if there's a nice shopping centre with free parking i can buy a coffee and read my book in.

Hopeful bump

There's a direct train service to Twickenham from Reading - the journey is just under an hour. I don't know anything about shopping/parking in Reading though.

Or Watford Junction station (which might be an easier car journey as you're coming from the NE). They'd have to get the train to Clapham Junction and change there to get a train to Twickenham. Again, I'm not familiar with shopping/parking in Watford though.

Windsor in the lead at the moment

Thank you. Will look at reading. Have looked at Watford could be an option.

Windsor's lovely. If they get the train from Windsor, they can get off at Whitton which is the stop before Twickenham. It's a 15 minute walk to the stadium but a lot less crowded than getting off at Twickenham.
Parking in Windsor is abit of anightmare fromwhat I remember though.

Hmm thank you. Windsor does appeal.

Windsor certainly sounds the nicest option!

If it's good enough for the Queen...

Well that was going to be my other question, are there any castles around there? :o
Ds loves a good castle. Before you answer, it needs to be free to get in with English heritage membership

You’ll have to pay to go in but you still see it when you’re out and about in Windsor. I think they’re still buzzing off the royal wedding over there.

Another suggestion- drive to Kew, park on street for free on weekend. One stop on tube from Kew Gardens Station to Richmond (or 20 minute walk) then they can catch the shuttle bus to Twickenham and you can mooch around the shops/river.

Ooooooooh

You make it all sound so straightforward and stress free (and beautiful, although this will be november).would it be or would I end up going the wrong way down one way streets and abandoning my car in a bus stop?

You can park free on a saturday?

Have just discovered Kew retail park

watford junction station is a short drive from the town centre if you can work out the one way. I dont think.anyone would describe Watford as 'lovely' though! for pick up and drop off the station has a free 20 min carpark.

Thank you. I am from Middlesbrough so lovely could be relative :)

Only trouble with Kew is that you might still have to come via a316 which is where the traffic is bad for the rugby

Actually thinking about it you could come M4 to Brentford to go to Kew which could skim some of the traffic

Really helpful thank you

Kew Retail Park is tiny and won't keep you occupied for very long. As pp says you'll also probably end up on the a316 which is not a good idea on rugby day.

OK maybe a rethink on Kew. Would sound great in summer.. I will have a laptop/book to do some work and am quite used to coffee shop hopping.

Kew Retail Park is very unexciting, though .

Most stops on the Windsor and Eaton or Reading train lines are good as both lines run through Twickenham. I wouldn't go any further into London than Whitton though, car park prices will start to get (even more) ridiculous at that point. And the roads will be rammed Richmond/Twickenham/St Margarets/Kew/Whitton unless you're there very early!

Staines has a nice shopping centre and tons of coffee shops on the high street but you'd have to pay for parking at Two Rivers car park. Only about 10-15 mins on the train to Twickenham. Lovely river there to mooch about by too.

Bracknell is nice but not sure if there's parking.

I'd go for Staines. Far enough away to be cheaper and less busy, and a lovely pedestrianized high street. The Two Rivers Parking is about a 10 minute walk to the station. I think you'd avoid the mad rugby traffic too so it's a less stressful option!

You might get free parking on a residential street, but most people will be trying the same thing and there are a lot of parking restrictions near the stations close to the stadium, because the locals lost the will to live! (Can you tell I grew up around there )