what is it like driving in central London?

[Lightatwinter]

I would like to go to an event in London tomorrow. I will be travelling 3.5 hours to get there. Thing is, I have a commitment on sunday which means by the time I start travelling I will only have 3.5 hours till the event starts.

So its really tight timing.

I am also quite an anxious driver and not used at all to driving in big cities. I am also quite good at getting lost, even with a satnav. What is driving in London like? Is it confusing and terrifying?

I really want to go to this event but worried I will travel all that way and just end up missing it anyway.

anxious driver
not used to london

don’t do it to yourself (or cyclists, other drivers!)

Driving in London is not for the faint-hearted, and satnav isn't always very helpful. One of the biggest issues will be parking. Whereabouts in London is the event you are going to?

Can you not get a train/tube in?

It’s really slow and if there’s an accident or road works or a protest or some other event it gets very very congested. I’m about 40 miles outside London and last time I tried to drive in on a Sunday we gave up after being stuck in traffic for 3 hours.

Train is normally quicker.

Dh and I lived and worked in london for years before moving to the countryside. It is intense and even with local knowledge we struggled. It is confusing and either really fast paced or just traffic.

Can you find something else you can do there if you miss the event? If you get there late you can have a back up plan

Yeah the parking will be tricky. Driving in London is slow mostly but a lot of cyclists to watch out for. A lot. And it can be hard to change lanes etc as it's so busy and slow moving.

Can you park and get train/tube from somewhere on the way in? More reliable in terms of timing too.

To provide a counter view, I like driving in London. It’s so slow, I never feel pressure to make a call like I do in the ‘burbs!

Don't do it. Park further out and get public transport to the centre.

Driving in Central London is not for nervous drivers.

Can you park near a station on the outskirts and get the tube or tra8n 8n to centralLondon. It will probably be quicker than driving. Which way will you be driving in?
We can suggest somewhere to park.

It is confusing and complicated and drivers are aggressive and clueless.

It also always takes a lot longer than a sat nav says due to traffic

I really wouldn't advise it if you are an anxious driver.

If it's in central London, can you park in the outskirts and take public transport in?

If you drive into the centre you will probably have to pay the Congestion Charge too

Park at Watford junction or something like that.

1, where is the event?
2, where are you coming from?

If coming from the or down via the west I'd advise parking in Westfield and then public transport from there.

I am coming from Cardiff.
Do you think this will be possible?

The Strand

if your event doesn’t include freee parking it’ll be cheaper for you to park somewhere like milton keynes / stanmore etc and take the train / tube in.

I would definitely park at Watford and get the train in - I do this rather than drive into central london (the roads are so busy and often delayed so this makes it much quicker). I'm also a confident driver and the london drivers are another breed, especially delivery drivers!

Where are you coming from and where are you trying to get to?
I agree that driving to the suburbs and then getting train/tube might be better.
Is your car ULEZ compliant? If not register on the TfL autopay website to avoid getting fined.

If it’s central London don’t do it to yourself, you have to be very confident to drive in central London with lots of lanes bikes, electric bikes, pedestrians and a lot of them not looking where they are going or what they are doing all coming at you, you will also have to know where you are going with no hesitating otherwise other road users will make their feelings very known. There is zero way I would do it but would give most other places ago. Can you drive to somewhere less central and jump on the tube it will probably be quicker anyway.

So I am coming from Cardiff and the event is at the Strand. If I were to drive to outside london and get a train in, where should I aim for outside London?

Probably Reading. Why can’t you just get the train all the way though?

I would 100% get the train in.

What time are you leaving? 3.5 hours could very easily turn into 5 hours with motorways…

For what it’s worth I don’t find London driving that stressful. It’s very slow, you spend most the time not moving. You need to watch out for bus lanes and cyclists. If you can’t pull out because of traffic you need to edge out and not just sit there. But mainly it’s just slow…

It's very difficult. Not because it's busy...but because they don't want people to drive in central London so it's very anti car. Lots of bus lanes, one way systems, blocked off roads...it's very difficult to know where u can go. Make the teeniest mistake and you'll be fined. Parking is also an utter nightmare. You're better off parking somewhere suburban near a tube station.

It's a hundred and fifty miles along one of the busiest motorways in the country. You'd be far better off getting the train most of the way really.

I would drive to a station that has the Elizabeth line - many are west of London and therefore might be suitable if you're travelling from Cardiff.