Travelling into London

[PornographicPriestess]

We're going to be staying in Central London for two nights. We're looking to travel from the East Midlands. Trains fares are extortionate, so we were thinking of driving to somewhere less central, leaving the car in a long stay car park, then getting the tube into where we're staying in Bloomsbury.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where we can park? The cheaper, the better. We initially looked at South Woodford because it's an area DH is vaguely familiar with, but Google Maps seems to suggest that the congestion charge applies there, which is what we're hoping to avoid.

Any help would be appreciated.

South Woodford isn't within the congestion charge zone. If you parked there you could travel by central line from SW to Chancery Lane or Tottenham Court Road.
If coming from East Midlands, somewhere at the top end of the Piccadilly line might work well for you too, then you can travel by tube to Russel Square. There is a reasonably priced NCP car park right next to Cockfosters for exactly this reason, a lot of people do it.
Are the train tickets really that expensive? If you drive, make sure you calculate the cost of petrol, plus parking, plus tube travel.

What about national express, its less hassle and you can go to Victoria, get the tube to tottenham court rd, holborn, euston, kings cross or warren street depending on which hotel you are in.

We'd be using the the tube to see the sights anyway, and yes train tickets work out a lot more than fuel and parking cost.

I don't think I could handle four and a half hours on a coach these days.

We'll be staying on Russell Square.

I'll have a look at the Cockfosters option, thank you.

Am I misreading Google Maps in this picture. The destination is South Woodford

In think you may be getting ULEZ and congestion charge confused OP, two different things, ULEZ zone much larger, CG is very central. Check online to see whether your car is ULEZ compliant and let us know as the options will be v different!

Where are you travelling in from

I agree that Cockfosters might be easiest, its £6 a day, cheaper on Sundays and then the Picadilly Line straight to Russell square

Our car would have to pay for the ULEZ zone. Sorry, I hadn't heard of that before today and assumed it was the same thing as the congestion charge. When we last travelled to London it didn't apply.

I've just looked on an app and it would appear that the train might be viable after all. When I looked last week we were talking more than £200 for the two of us, but it would appear that if we split the ticket that would mean we can get it for less than £100. And DH wouldn't have to drive which would be a nice break for him

Ordinarily staying in a hotel in Central London would be WAY out of our price range but I won a competition.

What a lovely competition prize, congratulations! If still driving I still think Cockfosters would be your best bet. Otherwise, yes, look at splitting tickets, you can save quite a bit. Finally, check for train strikes on your travel days!

It may be worth getting a two together railcard - they cost £30, unless you get a discount, but then they give you both 30% off the price of your train tickets.

If you're looking at parking in east London what about the Stratford Westfield car park?

Have you consider getting a railcard. You can get “Two Together” railcards which will save money. You can purchase them using Tesco Clubcard vouchers also.

There is free on street parking in Hounslow or Uxbridge and then you are near the pic line. There is also on street parking on Hampton hill so near Hampton station then a train to Waterloo. Happy to pm you good postcodes if that helps

I would actually suggest the Stratford International car park. It's way cheaper than Westfield, and right next to it.

If you have to pay the ULEZ, you only pay for entering the zone, and leaving. Not each day if your car is stationary. So it'll only be about £25 to enter and leave the zone (assuming you don't drive within in) regardless of how long you stay.

National express is a great option. Eg it's £6.90 in 10 days time each way

If you use a cashback site you can buy a railcard through that and get some money back, OP.

Then you can buy your train tickets on it too and make a bit more. I buy all my train tickets through a cashback site, I need to buy them anyway so I might as well be making a few pence back on every purchase.

I am unsure whether street parking is free in Uxbridge (I doubt it actually as work in the area & seems to be paid parking) but that would be a decent option if so

Handy hint if you have a Tesco club card. You can get a Two Together railcard for £10 of voucher and that will give you a third off for a year. Worth doing even if you only use it once. Its £30 usual price so it might even still be worth doing.

Thank you for all the advice. I hadn't considered it before but I reckon the two together rail card is the right option for us. This is assuming that a small child can still travel for free with us. He'll either be two or three when we travel.

The main reason it makes sense is that we've won a two night stay at each of four hotels in the country. So, as well as London we'll be travelling to Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh in the coming months. I didn't mean to drip feed - I had a brief look at train fares and they were totally unaffordable, but the railcard changes that.

Thanks again.

When are you arriving and leaving? Loads of on street parking in NW8/W9 from Friday 6.30pm to Monday 8am. You can walk into town or get a bus as it’s so close.

What a nice prize to win, OP!

If you do decide on the train (and the railcard definitely sounds like the best idea now), it might be worth checking out 2 for 1 London if you plan on doing any of the really touristy things. But it’s cheaper to go upstairs on a normal bus than buy one of the sightseeing bus tours, if you pick the right route (the 11, 9 and 73 are good ones).

Depending on where you are the east coast mainline operated by LNER is often significantly cheaper then EMR. Often works out better to go via Grantham/ Peterborough