Accommodation for London trip with children

[startofanewlife4]

I'm planning on a few nights in/around London this Summer with my children. Can anyone recommend somewhere to stay (more than happy with a Premier Inn type place) that is outside London, we can easily drive to, but are able to catch a train from nearby to take us into London? Many thanks

We used the Village hotel at Watford. A bus, then tube into London. Easily accessible by car. And it has a pool.

North south east or west? How long a journey do you want?

Previously we stayed at premier inn at Archway. I realise it’s in London itself, but coming from the North, it was easy to drive to , and parking was free. The subway station is underneath the hotel and it worked very well for us.

We’ve stayed here and it was easy to get to, quiet, had secure parking and just a couple of minutes walk from the tube.

There is a lot of 'outside London' - which direction?

Consider the possibility of staying in central London as well, it can be useful with kids to have a base close by sometimes.

The Barn in Ruislip.

Really easy to drive to off the A4 and the tube station on the central line is at the back of the hotel.

There is a Premier Inn on every corner in London ! well thats what it feels like anyway - we have stayed in several
I’d just put in London on the Premier Inn booking page and see what comes up, depending on what you want to do.
There is one near all the main line stations. We stayed at Tower Bridge last year as we were visting the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. Greenwich was also good for activities in that direction.
We stayed at Kew Bridge this year as our main activity was Kew Gardens but its 40 mins or so back into central London

Premier inn Watford. They have parking a few mins walk away as well and the tube on your doorstep.

If you are staying outside of London to save on hotel costs - I would do the maths on daily train journeys for you as it is expensive and might not even save you money on your overall budget.

Add to that wasted time and the exhaustion of schlepping to and from Watford after likely long busy days on your feet in central London. Takes away the magic.

Personally I would go for a night less and stay right in the centre. It’s wonderful to wake up right in the centre of London - you can get to attractions and have the streets to yourselves etc way before the hoards descend after 11 (as likely have wasted 1/2 day waiting for off peak fares to kick in). It’s also brilliant to be in London late at night in the summer rather than spending it commuting out.

You could drive to somewhere outside London, park your car for the few nights and take take the train to your hotel.

Why don’t you want to stay in London?

Also if you have planned what you want to see you might be able to do most of it on foot from a central hotel. Saves more money and is as much if not more of the London experience. I love meandering the back streets. Everything is so close. We walked most of the Monopoly Board last summer (not the outliers like Old Kent Road of Kings Cross) - stopped for picnics in the parks - it was a great day and the kids loved seeing random but familiar place names like “Pall Mall”

Thank you for your replies. The reason I was thinking outside London wasn't to save money but so that we could drive and leave the car at the hotel but I do see the benefit of staying in the city centre. Location wise we are travelling from Wales so West, or even North/South. Though saying that I might take some people's advice and look at central London and maybe even take the train.

Look at the new recently opened fast speed Elizabeth Line - you could park your car near one of those stations and zoom into central London from there. That could be a nice experience to add to the trip.

I regularly travel up from the west, park at Hatton Cross and get the tube in for stays in central London.

I would definitely get the train in (assuming you’ve got a Friends and Family railcard to bring the price right down!) and stay more centrally. Premier Inn is always good obviously. We also had a really good experience at the Ibis by Westfield Shepherd’s Bush a couple of years ago, and you’re right by a lot of places to eat dinner that are low effort to get to and child friendly.

There are good deals you can find through Airbnb like this accommodation airbnb.com/rooms/41828691 it's only a 20-min train ride to Central London. If you don't have any ideas where to go you can get some ideas here https://gowithguide.com/united-kingdom/london and customize your trip that works for you and your children.