How long does your school run take in London area?

[ag123]

Just trying to figure out what is realistically the maximum amount of time to consider for future school runs. Am currently considering a prep which is 18 mins away outside of rush-hour, but I imagine would possibly be 25/30 mins at busy times (and basically all on North Circular). Is this a silly idea?

School run (outer London borough) is 5 minutes by car or 20 minutes walking.

But, we did one year the nursery run, 15 minutes car without rush-hour, 25 minutes with rush-hour subject to no roadwork and not in winter.

I was glad the year was over and we walk to school three times a week.

I would drive the route in rush-hour and see. But, remember, you have to drive 4 times a day and 3pm is just another rush hour as well.

25/30 sounds very optimistic to me

What do you mean, compared with 18 mins non rush-hour..?

40 mins door to door by bus and train. It was 20 (walking) to the old school.

Our primary is 1 mile away and we walk. 15 mins if "late", 30 mins at "playful amble" speed.

Secondary will be a 45 min journey on the tube but, for the teenage years, that's fine.

3 mins walk. Secondary will probably be a 15 min walk. I hate driving in London. Sometimes I drive past my office at a weekend....the drive takes a minimum 30 mins but during day I'd be lucky to do it in less than an hour. Cycling takes 35 mins.

How much time do u want to spend in car?

The North Circ is hell!! Time the travel at busy times.

Interested to hear any other comments..?

5 mins by car or 15-20 mins walking (primary).

Secondary will take about half an hour for dd, walk to station, one stop on train.

10 mins walk primary. Same for secondary. Our catchments are so small in London it's unlikely to be much more.

10 mins walk to primary. One of several reasons for us to choose a state school rather than private.

Ours is 5 mins stroll away. (Outer London borough)

I used to come home from work on the north circular and at a quiet time it took 15/20 mins. In the rush hour it was closer to 40 mins. Nightmare

3 min walk to Primary, we walk with most ofnthe chikdren in the class so it sometimes takes a bit longer.

I'm hoping for a 7 min walk to secondary, even though it isn't the fashionable school.

20 min - walking to/from bus stop and the actual bus ride. When traffic is heavy it could be longer. In London, this is not considered long.

Don't forget that 18 minutes is only half the time it will take you, that sounds like 45 mins-1hr round trip

Do you have a reliable sat nav? Sit in the car and programme it ts varying times to get a good idea- Google maps also shows 'travel at the moment' time. It's so variable though I did the same journey, same time last week twice along the south circular. 20 mins one day and 1hr 10 the next.
Another thing to consider is whether the other children travel and whether the school expects you to arrive at a set time or in a window.

Why not try driving it at the appropriate times, if you can spare the time?

Also on google maps click the 'traffic' button and it gives live colour codes on the route to show where the traffic is slow moving.

For us, primary is five minutes walk, secondary is about 50 minutes bus ride (or 15 minute drive via a better route, but they always take the bus).

Shameless hijacking but on a similar theme....is it reasonable to expect a reception child to be able to walk/scoot (no hills)15-20mins to and from school plus 10min train journey?

About 25 min walk with children, just under 15 if I'm alone. Driving would take longer - there's 3 bits which are nose to tail stationary traffic waiting for lights to change.