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Original poster

2 teens going to Alexander Palace alone for concert, what is safest way to travel into London after, how do you book taxis

95 replies

SwanR1ver · 14/02/2023 16:19

Sorry we live miles away and they’re going on an adventure.😳Sorted it all themselves but not keen on going on tube for 40 mins back to their hotel in Kensington as worried about safety. How much would a taxi be and what is best place to book?

Yes I’ll be getting zero sleep that night.

OP posts:
Happypanda22 · 14/02/2023 16:53

Don’t worry they’ll be fine. Public transport is really safe. Am a Londoner and was in Devon last month for a very nice trip and I found the quiet lanes in what I know was really a very safe town - quite scarey (No people around!) It’s just what you know as a parent 😊. They will have lots of fun

Original poster
SwanR1ver · 14/02/2023 16:54

Thankyou for all the info, will be useful.

OP posts:
beAsensible1 · 14/02/2023 16:55

its just north london, they're unlikely to be stabbed as they're not known or involved with any gang/crime so why would they be?

Allypally is a well known concert venue with transport links either train, bus or tube. if they can navigate nyc they can navigate london fine. much safer when its busy with everyone going the same way.

loads of us grew up here unscathed.

Firstdays · 14/02/2023 16:56

I don,t know that part of London to suggest a route, but I would much rather get a train or a tube than a cab in London at night. Trains feel very safe and more reliable to me.

ironhelp · 14/02/2023 16:57

I think a girl and a boy together will be safer than 2 of the same sex.
If there had been an event it will be busy around Alexandra place/ wood green. Especially lots of young people with the kind of event it is. (Not going to attract a rough crowd)

There will be so much security around also.

I wouldn't worry about stabbing as this is not something that really happens to people just going about their day.

My experience as a girl growing up around these areas is that it's more dangerous for young men than young women.

Places are still busy at nighttime and it won't feel like the middle of the night.

I completely understand your worry but I would be confident that they will be ok.

There are ways to keep/each other their locations so if they are separated they will be easily reunited.

I hope they have a great time and you get some sleep.

Mirabai · 14/02/2023 16:57

Which bit of Kensington OP? South Ken, High St Ken, Gloucester Rd, West Ken? They might get away with the Piccadilly or they may have to change depending on the bit of Kensington.

Mirabai · 14/02/2023 16:58

They’re not a boy and girl they’re adults.

RedDoughnut · 14/02/2023 16:58

I think people answering the OP forget that some teenagers even if they are officially adults are not as streetwise as others, especially if they have been brought up in rural areas where opportunities for independence are more limited and they need to rely on parents to taxi them about.

I'd feel the same as you OP. Still kids even if over 18.

Original poster
SwanR1ver · 14/02/2023 16:59

Great thanks! No not involved with any gangs as far as I know.😂

OP posts:
Hartlebury · 14/02/2023 16:59

I live in Devon. Getting around at night in London is a lot less iffy and difficult in London, I've done both.

Also, panicking and worrying won't make them safer or stop things happening, it'll just make them more anxious so try not to project it.

Firstdays · 14/02/2023 16:59

I think we're allowed to worry about adults anyway.? My parents want to know I'm home safe and I'm 53!

ComtesseDeSpair · 14/02/2023 17:00

OP, London is one of the safest cities in the world, statistically speaking. I’ve been ambulating myself around it inebriated and late into the night with a 99% success rate for almost two decades (and the 1% fail rate was entirely user error: I went onto auto-pilot and got on the wrong tube to the home I no longer lived in because I’d since moved house.) There are two of them for company, if they’re really worried about being separated tell them to hold hands or for one of them to link their arm through the other’s backpack or something. They aren’t going to lose each other: the thing about London and living in the smartphone age is that you can never really be lost – bus stops are so close between and here are so many little highstreet areas they could set a route on their phone to and then duck into a shop whilst they wait for the other if the absolute almost certainly won’t of getting separated happens. They’ll have a great adventure!

PaperwhiteTheGhost · 14/02/2023 17:02

SwanR1ver · 14/02/2023 16:51

Ok my fears are stabbings, them getting separated and Dd ending up alone in the dark in a dodgy area….😬Feel free to alleviate my fears. They’ve navigated NYC alone on the subway but it was in daylight and in safe parts of the city. Son is pretty savvy.

Stabbings: almost always gang related, domestic violence or by someone known to the victim. A random stabbing for no reason is incredibly rare and no more likely in London than anywhere else.

As they're not gonna be in the suburbs, even if they get separated there will be plenty of people around. It's very busy at night. The mobile phone coverage is excellent so she will be able to call her boyfriend(?), an uber or use Google maps. Google maps plots your journey for you including walking to the tube etc. She can also hail a black taxi which are stringently licenced and know where EVERYTHING is. They're pricy but safe.

I feel like you're much more likely to get stranded in the dark in Devon!! I know I'd be more afraid in the countryside (although. Ahem. That's because of haunted scarecrows)

As an aside, please don't go on at your DD about your anxiety (not saying you are, but try to keep a lid on it) . This honestly is a you thing. I have a friend who's mum just couldn't calm down and it ruined a lot of things for her well into her 20s. She's moved to Australia now and no one was surprised.

shinynewapple22 · 14/02/2023 17:02

A bit late now but when my DS and his mates have gone to concerts at Alexandra Palace they have booked accommodation in the area - there's a travel lodge at Wood Green.

southlondoner02 · 14/02/2023 17:03

I'd just walk to Wood Green and get the tube if I were them. There will be loads of people about. I have got tubes from Wood Green and Finsbury Park often late at night, on my own with no problems loads of times.

They will be fine. People in London do this everyday and are safe, no reason they would be any different

ConstantlyCooking · 14/02/2023 17:05

Trains will probably be running after the concert. Failing that bus or walk to Bounds Green or Wood Green both Piccadilly line. Bounds Green is further but safer (184 bus). Wood Green won't be too bad as it will be busy. There is a premier inn about 5 mins drive away and a travel lodge in Wood Green (on the main shopping road). Got ubers walk around to alexandra Park Road and book one from there.

Rainallnight · 14/02/2023 17:05

18 and 19? I thought you meant a pair of 14 year olds.

southlondoner02 · 14/02/2023 17:05

Also, I feel much safer walking in the dark in London than Devon - if anything happens there's loads of people about to help you!

Showersugar · 14/02/2023 17:06

SwanR1ver · 14/02/2023 16:31

Will it be safe? They’re 18 and 19. Girl and boy.😩

Yes Ally Pally is a very safe area, and they will be exiting with several thousand, very jolly, like minded people - the journey home is often one of the best bits of a gig at Ally Pally!

PP is wrong to say that the station will be closed, I've caught the train many a time after a gig there. The train will take them to Finsbury Park where they can change onto the tube - again all perfectly safe and normal for 18/ 19 year olds.

They'll have a blast!

ShiverOfSharks · 14/02/2023 17:07

They're adults! They'll be absolutely fine. There'll be tons of people around, and public transport is very safe. With a smartphone you couldn't get lost or stranded unless you actually tried. Nobody gets stabbed going to a concert in London.

AllWorkYoPlait · 14/02/2023 17:07

They just need to walk down the hill to the train station. Get on train. Change to tube. Go to bed. I wouldn't bother going to Wood Green unless they miss the last train.

Unless they've never left the house before they'll be fine. They're adults Confused

I was roaming all over London in the middle of the night, inebriated, navigating night buses at that age and younger. It won't be quiet.

What do you imagine all the other concert goers will be doing at the same time?

Motnight · 14/02/2023 17:09

Rainallnight · 14/02/2023 17:05

18 and 19? I thought you meant a pair of 14 year olds.

This!

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 14/02/2023 17:12

SwanR1ver · 14/02/2023 16:40

Yes but clearly London at night is very different.

It's dark, it's cold and it lasts the same number of hours as Devon. The main difference is that in London there'll be loads of people around, esp afer a gig.

WinterFoxes · 14/02/2023 17:20

Frequent buses run from directly outside the venue to Finsbury Park station. From there, they get southbound Victoria Line to Victoria then change onto Westbound circle Line - two stops to South Ken or two more to High Street Kensington.

Get them to check which tube is the nearest to their hotel.

They need to keep their wits about them on the tube. Check they are going in the right direction and don't miss their stop. And at that time of night, don't talk to friendly men who offer to help them. Women yes, but not men.

DNBU · 14/02/2023 17:21

Uber would be about £30-40 each way depending..Personally I would change their hotel room!
Otherwise they’ll be on the piccadilly line for ages and then it’s still a walk from any tube up a big hill! It’s a nice area though, no issues with that.