Where to stay, Need to get to Canary Wharf and park please

[DontWantToDance]

Help please. I don't know London and have never been on the underground.

I need to get to Jubilee Park in Canary Wharf by 9am one day next week, I won't be able to get to the hotel until about 9pm at night, I will need to park my car and leave it there whilst I go into CW or drive in is that crazy?

Please help, I have no idea

When is this for? There’s train strikes this week. Barking is an absolute shit hole and miles away from CW

So I regularly drive up from Southampton area for meetings in Canary Wharf. I usually park at Richmond (Old Deer Carpark) and get the overground to Waterloo and then Jubilee line to CW.

Richmond seems near Brentford. I would leave your car in that part of London, rather than trying to drive through or round!

Just seen that you haven't got a hotel. Try hotels in Greenwich. DLR will get you to CW in about 15 mins. Park in the side streets with no restrictions, towards Woolwich/Charlton

Thanks both, issue is price. Priced out of all the CW hotels because they are firstly more expensive then LEZ for both days and parking.

@DreamingOfAGreenChristmas I was going to go around London (hence the fascination with Barking) need to drive as likely the first day will correspond to train strikes.

www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-greenwich.html?ARRdd=17&ARRmm=12&ARRyyyy=2022&NIGHTS=1&ROOMS=1&ADULT1=1&CHILD1=0&COT1=0&INTTYP1=DB&BRAND=PI

Would this be OK? And then would driving from Brentford to Greenwich be manageable?

Look at Raddison Blue nearby. It’s a 15 min walk and has parking there. I used to live there

Can I just say thank you to everyone that has replied, I didn't expect this much help

Driving from Brentford to Greenwich will be a nightmare. It's the other side of the river.

Stratford would work much better if you can find somewhere near there.

Oh God don't stay at the Britannia. It's a notorious shithole. The Britannia chain was voted the worst hotel chain in the UK.

Park either in one of the Wharf car parks or at Westfield. Look at staying in Stratford if you're trying to keep costs down.

Driving from Brentford could be horrendous or it might not be too bad. The traffic at present is unpredictable but given you're driving during 'train strike week', it's more likely to be horrendous (based on previous strikes and their impact on traffic). Note that Google maps saying its a 45 min drive from Brentford to Canary Wharf is a complete work of fiction. I'd assume more like 1.5 - 2 hours, quite possibly longer. Less than 3 hours is probable. Less than 2 hours is a good result. You might be better off going round the North Circular rather than trying to drive through town. Especially if you don't have London driving experience.

I actually think you'd be better off to stay in Brentford, leave your car there and get the tube across to the Wharf. Driving in London is miserable these days. The average speed used to be 8mph but it's much slower now. I avoid driving across central London now unless its the middle of the night (and even then there's traffic).

Don't drive from Brentford to anywhere. Find a hotel nearby and get on tube from there in the morning to canary wharf.

You asked Londoners a question related to transport. We live for this!

Greenwich is in the ULEZ so if you're trying to avoid it that's not much good to you. But if it's a cost trade off and ULEZ is ok, it would be about 15 minutes on the DLR so super easy.

In your shoes though I'd be tempted to go to the Premier Inn at Ealing and take the Elizabeth Line direct to Canary Wharf. About half an hour's journey, will save you driving through London and getting stuck in traffic, and it's a BEAUTIFUL train.

(Brentford to Ealing is about a 15 minute drive.)

In your shoes though I'd be tempted to go to the Premier Inn at Ealing and take the Elizabeth Line direct to Canary Wharf. About half an hour's journey, will save you driving through London and getting stuck in traffic, and it's a BEAUTIFUL train

Great advice but depends which day as the Elizabeth line is usually affected by train strikes. But I guess the Central as a back-up still works even though its slower. It won't be as slow as driving, that's for sure!

See this is why I need to ask, Stratford has a good Premier Inn so will look at this

@HundredMilesAnHour thanks, Google makes it all seem perfectly reasonable, lying sod.

If it's next week it's currently looking safe (apart from Xmas Eve). On a train strike day all bets are off...

But as you say Ealing Broadway definitely gives you options. If it was a strike day the roads would be grim.

Second the advice about getting the premier inn Ealing Broadway then travel on the Elizabeth line the next morning. There's limited parking at the premier, but a Q park just around the corner, and it's a fair bit less than the parking at CW.
Ealing Broadway is nice, M&S, and lots of cafes to get your evening meal.
It's probably also worth planning your route to the place where your meeting is at as the tall buildings in CW can make Google maps a bit hit and miss!

Now this is amazing as (trying not to look completely incompetent) but driving across London in the dark is not really something I'm keen on doing.

Will this be outside the ULEZ? Not that it matters so much especially as the hotel is cheap.

Do I get the Elizabethan line from one of these stations and can I just use my card as previously suggested?

Ealing Broadway train station 0.4 Miles
West Ealing Rail 0.6 Miles
South Ealing tube station 0.8 Miles

I'd love to look out the window and not worry about driving- providing no strikes I take it they have a decent service on a Sunday.

I definitely recommend Ealing and the Elizabeth line. I was in Canary Wharf last week for an event that finished after 11pm. DLR and Elizabeth line were running till after midnight and it was all very easy and smooth. You can usually arrange parking at travel lodges before check in time. The only potential problem would be strikes, so you would need to check on TFL website. There is usually more than one route for getting from A to B. I refuse to drive anywhere in London these days.

Thank you @Quella for that tip, i love AtoZs (showing my age) so will print the directions.

You want Ealing Broadway for the Elizabeth line which is on the same road as the Premier Inn. And yep, just a debit/credit card and you're away.

If it's this Sunday coming it should be ok - you might want to allow yourself a little bit of extra time in case there are delays from the Saturday strike.

And yes it's just outside the ULEZ 😁

Canary Wharf can be very confusing if you're not familiar with it (and mobile reception is poor). So don't hesitate to ask someone if you're struggling to find where you need to get to.

There's a relatively inexpensive travel lodge in Lewisham which wouldn't be too bad to head to from IOW. The Just PArk app has lots of parking spaces including private drives a couple of minutes walk away which are not too expensive. Its easy to get in from Lewisham to Canary Wharf on the DLR. Again to get to Brenfod you can get the DLR into town and pick up the tube to Brentford.

Another vote for staying Brentford/Ealing, but also want to recommend the Citymapper app, it’s free and excellent.

Portsmouth to Ealing is a shorter drive than to Lewisham, even though it is further North. I am more familiar with the North side though.