Driving to Madame Tussauds

[Catlover1705]

Hi everyone, We're planning on driving from Dorset to Madame Tussauds on Friday, my DH doing the driving. I've looked at parking and Bloomsbury Square NCP looks reasonable and walkable but how horrendous will it be in terms of traffic jams and is there a better option re parking. Thank you.

Honestly if I were you I would park outside and tune in. Parking will be crazy with schools off.

Tube

You are crazy. Park outside the city and take the tube.

Bloomsbury square is not near mme Tussauds at all. You'd still have to bus or tube there, so as per pp, you might as well go public transport... Maybe drive to Reading?

Well, there are so many much nicer and more interesting places to go than Madame Tussauds!

But if you insist on going, park well outside the city and get the Tube. If you drive right in, you not only have to worry about parking, but also congestion charge and ULEZ.

In fact, I'd take the train the whole way.

Ok Richmond then tube in. It's our grandsons first trip to London and he wants to go to MT, Hamleys,Lego store and Buckingham Palace.

I have no words. It sounds like the day from hell. Multiplied by 1 million.

That area is a notorious traffic bottleneck. I used to drive / cycle through regularly and it’s utterly miserable (I now take a longer less central route to avoid the traffic hell).

Get the train and tube and it will be much more pleasant.

As for Madame Tussaud’s, words fail me. For some bizarre reason, the queues outside are always long. I usually stare at the people (while stuck in the traffic!) wondering why out of all the amazing things London has to offer, they chose Madame Tussaud’s. Honestly you couldn’t pay me to go there. And after a drive from Dorset, OMG no.

It's about a 40 min walk and it will be crowded as Easter holidays so maybe longer.

I'd honestly park and get the tube in. Took me over an hour to drive just 6 miles through central London last Sunday, it's just really really unpleasant. It's also city driving on steroids so he'd need to be a confident and unflappable driver.

I went to MT for Harry Styles last year and loved it, it's fun, though v expensive.

Yikes!! I've not been to London for some years and our nearly 10 year old grandson is soooo excited. I have a wonderful memory of MT when I was a child but it's probably changed. Might have to rethink the day.

Parking at Richmond is also a ball ache imho.

Take him.
If the price doesn't put you off it's great, yes, there's better things to do but that's what he's asked for, and there's loads of figures.
I even enjoyed all the Marvel/Star Wars ones and I've never seen a single one of the films.

We went for One Direction some years ago - brilliant photo and really enjoyed it so don’t be put off - I would train/tube though too

Park at Westfield and then get the tube in. It is not expensive to park and there is easy access to tubes and buses.

Why are people being so nasty to the OP because her Grandson wants to visit Madame Tusaurds?.. you don't know her Grandson and if the child wants to visit who are you to judge? You must have been at some point to say awful things about it..
Parking l have no idea about .
Enjoy your day out with your Grandson op and hope you all have a lovely time.

DH and I have parked at Richmond many times and ok from Dorset but will probably be busier due to school holidays, grandson won't care and the day is for him.

I'd go for somewhere like Uxbridge and take the underground. No way would I drive!

Uxbridge or Richmond?

Definitely do not drive into central London / west end . We always used to drive in ( SE) but even I won’t do it now because of the 20mph speed limits all over the place , it takes hours to get anywhere .

Definitely park outside London at the end of a tube line.

There is no parking around Madame Tussauds, the traffic is crazy and any NCP will be ££££.

If you are determined you may find someone selling a space on Just Park but honestly the traffic would put me off.

Of your list, Madame Tussauds is definitely the worst. I'd try to interest him in one of the sites like Houses of Parliament (walk from Buckingham Palace?)or Tower of London.

I got talking to a guide, (quiet weekday in term time), and he emailed me the photos from the original 1D shoot for their waxworks when he realised I am a huge fan. I went for Harry's 30th and was wearing a custom hoody for a photo with him
Everyone says it's crap but I genuinely enjoyed it even aside from Harry being there.

Oh my goodness, the child wants to go to Madame Ts for his birthday, why on earth would people be suggesting other attractions?

OP, I've driven into the west end and parked in Chinatown for the theatre. It was slow and trafficky but was a Sunday late afternoon so not horrendous. In your case I'd park in Richmond, and consider the tube journey part of the adventure/treat for him. My out of London children were fascinated by it all.

@Catlover1705 I am going to go against the grain here. I drive to London on a semi regular basis. I have found it surprisingly easy. Traffic is random, so you'll either get traffic or not, but that's the same anywhere. It is way cheaper to drive in than to get the train, even including parking. Look at just park for a deal.

If the weather is nice a walk isn't outrageous either.

Get the tube, it's very close to Baker Street tube.

He will love it, I took my son when he was ten and we had a great time. Book in advance but but you’ll still need to queue for a bit. It’s fine though and there’s a park next to it.