Advice needed for non-refundable London trip this weekend

[iwasgonnasay]

Hi all,
Could do with some help from ppl who know London well, as I don't really!
I have a non-refundable theatre trip booked to London Saturday 17th - obviously no longer a good time to go but it's been booked for months and can't be changed. We were going to drive and park in a Q car park near our hotel in Covent Garden due to the strikes which have now been cancelled. But i don't know what is best now - drive or train? Seems like either one will be a nightmare but which is going to be worse?! Any thoughts, tips or advice appreciated?

No way would i drive in London this weekend. It'll be horrendous and incredibly time consuming and stressful. I have no idea what your DH is thinking.

Even if the train is packed, it's only going to be for 30-40 minutes (depending which train company you use) and with no hassles at the other end.

I go into London regularly from just a bit north of you on the Bedpan line. Even at its busiest, it's far far better than driving.

Don't worry, you'll get there fine. Get a nice early train, and if you arrive to early for your brunch, have a walk up to Granary Square and watch the fountains or have a little walk along the canal.

Have a lovely day!

i would say Train/driving will be equally as bad

They really won't. OP is only 30 minutes away from London by train. By car, even on a good day, it's much longer and more stressful.
Let the train take the strain, as the ads used to say. OP and her husband will be stressed to fuck in the car and blaming each other for every hold up or closed road they come across.

Your best option for travelling into town from Luton would be by train.

Thanks all! I prefer the idea of train for all those reasons too tbh The brunch was booked when I got given this gift because we've always wanted to do it and wanted to make sure it wasn't busy (about 6 weeks ago) as we didn't know how busy it usually is. Then the strikes got announced for the 17th so we planned driving in and booking the parking. Suppose it did seem easier with a little case and being able to avoid crowds / have air con etc. This has then remained the plan until now. The strikes then got lifted because of recent events but everyone's been telling us it will be rammed ...blah blah blah... just too many changes / suggestions coming our way. Again, we just don't go to London much so you start to panic about making the wrong decision and missing out on your time there. On the map it all looked so close to road closures and Royal POIs so thought i'd better ask the experts. Glad I did, thank you! :)

THIS. This is exactly what I am not stressed about too.. it's our first child free weekend away for 2 special occasions, in 3 years. I do NOT want to be arguing about travelling haha

SORRY - meant i AM stressed about - as in you were spot on - it's been a long week?!

I'd definitely get the train. It's an easy journey to st pancras and an easy walk down to covent garden (I do it every week). There's lots of road closures for gas works at the moment so it's not great at the best of times. This weekend will be horrendous.

I drove to Pimlico as I had a parking space. Never again! Soooo stressful definitely get the train or even bus.

Just be prepared to stand on the train, OP. That's no denying that it's likely to be full by the time it reaches Luton. But I've stood for the journey from further up that line from you, at the height of commuter time, and survived. Unless you have real problems standing, it'll still be hugely preferable to going by car.

I've sat on the floor by the luggage bit before now, on a different line and a longer journey!

...oh, and get on the train right at the back if you can. It's always the quietest bit!

Today?
the traffic is virtually non existent in Pimlico today

No! On a busy Saturday last year there were marches etc was bloody stressful and took hours. Never again.

Where are you driving from? Why not park the car for free somewhere central and Tube it to CG? You can park in Maida Vale on a single from Friday 6.30pm to Monday 8.30am for free. Easy to get to CG.

That makes sense

Driving is a terrible idea. There are more road closures/roadworks than pre-Covid due to the backlog of construction etc, and then now with all the road closures due to the Queen's death, it will be hell on earth. Even as a local who regularly drives in central London (including Holborn), my car is going nowhere this weekend.

I was in the West End this morning and even on foot I was affected by the road closures. The tube (Elizabeth line) was also much busier than usual but fast and efficient....1000 times better than driving!

I live in zone 5 & went into C London tonight… I think you will be absolutely fine on the train & tube, it really wasn’t busy (less than a usual work day).

I don’t think there are any major events on Sunday & in any case you are not going to be in any of those areas

Success everyone! We have convinced him 😂👍feeling much more relieved now about the whole thing
Tbh think it's fear of the unknown meets wanting to have as good a time as we can. It's a special treat for us and it's already had the edge taken off so wanted to be as prepared as poss to get the most out of the weekend
Thanks for your genuinely expert advice all

Have a lovely day @iwasgonnasay !

@saraclara thanks so much 😄

"What am I missing?"

The milk of human kindness, perhaps

I don't follow @limitedperiodonly ?

Update to all the helpful people - had the best time ever, trains were a breeze and the only one busy time was leaving Sunday evening at Covent Garden which was expected - couldn't have gone better thanks all so much 😊

Brilliant, so glad you had a good time! Now you know how easy it is on the train, come more often 😀

Fantastic. I'm so glad that all went smoothly.