Going to London wwyd?

[Lemondrizzle13]

I’ve started another thread about this.

We are planning a short trip to London next week, we’ve left it a bit late planning and booking. Anyone experienced in visiting London wwyd?

Plan A was to drive from Birmingham to a hotel in Wimbledon south. There is free parking at the hotel, the hotel is £150 for two nights and it’s a 10 minute walk to Colliers Wood tube station. We would then buy underground passes and travel into central London.

Plan B is book a hotel in central London. There are hotels still available, Southwark, Waterloo, which are walking distance from some of the main attractions. We would get the train from Bham which is £115 for a return but the hotel is around £300 for the two nights.

We are trying to keep costs down and want to fit in as much as we can. Driving seemed the easy option just because of quickness and faffing about with bags on the train. We did it that way several years ago but lots of people seem to say it’s easier to get the train and stay more centrally.

Wwyd?

How short is your short trip? Have you looked at travel times and how long each option will take you, door to door, factoring in the time of day you will be travelling?

You don’t need passes for the underground. You just tap a debit/ credit card each. There is a limit on how much you can be charged per day.

We are going to two nights.

So for option A we are looking at around a 2.5 hours drive to the hotel. Then around one hours travelling on the underground into central London and back each day.

Option B would be more like 4 hours travelling by the time we’ve got to the station, then from Euston to the hotel. But then we’d be closer to all of the attractions.

Oh ok, shows how long it’s been since I’ve been to London.

Plan B.

Really, how many bags do you need for a short trip?

And if you’re only there for a few days, the environment you stay in is part of the trip. You can be far more spontaneous if you’re already in the centre of everything. There’s a huge difference between popping back to your nearby hotel if you need a break, and being somewhere far out, which would mean you have to plan full days with no breaks.

You’d just have a much better experience for your money if you stay centrally.

Two hours round trip every day versus strolling back to your central London hotel every night. A no brainer! Plus we may need to start conserving petrol so there’s that. You don’t need much luggage for 2 days surely?

Yes that’s what we thought, we might want to take a walk out in the evening.

Plan A is cheapest & fine. You don’t need to buy an oyster card- just use a contactless credit/debit card for tubes and the bus.
Under 11’s go free with you, go through wider gate when you tap in.
I would just check on the tfl website that there are no planned engineering works for the northern line for the dates.

The faff is the tube so it depends if you mind it or not. I have one child that hates getting it, another that doesn’t mind and as previous poster said, how much time you want to be travelling each day.

Stay central, total no brainer. Colliers Wood is proper sarf London suburbia and a long schlep in. Agree about conserving fuel as well! For two nights you won’t need a big bag to lug on the train.

From Birmingham have a look at going from snowshill/ moor street into Marylebone as can be a lot cheaper than new street to Euston. Takes a bit longer, but much nicer trains too!

I would agree with staying central. You’ll see far more and be able to walk out and find somewhere nice for dinner - much easier than in the suburbs.

Alternatively look at somewhere like Watford. Holiday inn right by the station, walking distance to the centre with lots of restaurants - and only 20 mins into Euston.

@Lemondrizzle13 I commented on your other thread. It’s time vs money! I’d spend the money and make use of valuable time. Not all Birmingham trains go to Euston either. There’s Marylebone. Although I’d look at travel lodge type hotels around Euston. Great transport links.

I don’t get Wimbledon if you are driving from Birmingham. Why? You would be far better off staying in a suburb off the M40 with underground links. However central London is so much easier and you don’t need loads of bags: one small bag each.

Traveling takes time and you are not really giving this holiday the best chance. You really will be sick of the commute! I don’t get your need to be in the SW of London! My DD lives in Kennington and Colliers Wood is so far out on the northern line! At least look at north of Euston!

Brilliant thank you 🙂

Definitely stay centrally. You only need one small bag each, and the Tube is so easy to navigate.
South of Wimbledon is a long way out of town, and an awkward drive.

I would agree to not stay in colliers wood. It makes no sense coming from Birmingham. If you're driving pick a hotel in outer north or north west London on a tube or train line. Transport runs reasonably late. Or come by train and find a hotel in Kings X. There are plenty now and restaurants too.

Thank you, to be honest there are so many different options I find it a bit confusing 😕 it was just somewhere we’d stayed previously, plus having left it so late some of the better central hotels are booked up.

Echoing other posters. Go into Marylebone then short walk to Baker St underground which will take you directly to Southwark. There's bound to be nice things going on around Tate/Southbank Centre so you won't need to go far.

Which station are you planning to arrive in to? I’d take Chiltern Line from B’ham Moore St or Snow Hill into Marylebone. Stay in a hotel around Edgware Rd (stay East of this area) and then you can walk to most places in the West End or hop on a bus.

Moor Street/Snow Hill to Marylebone actually looks like a much better option all round than from New Street.

Colliers Wood into central London is only around 35 minutes each way.

Recently spent a weekend in London also travelled from Birmingham. We stayed at a hotel in Shepherds bush, parked in Westfield shopping centre which was a 2 min walk and also has tube station right outside. Parking was £22 for 24hrs. On the closest side to us so no driving through london. We didn't buy passes for the tube just used contactless debit card, both days were spent hopping on and off to various places including Camden and each day was only £7 each in total.

There is engineering work over Easter on euston/Birmingham line. 3-8th April. No trains in or out of Euston i think.

Not really once you’ve factored in 10 mins walk to or from the station then generally a bit of a wait for the tube itself.

If you're coming to London to see central London then I'd stay in Central London. Colliers Wood is just suburbia and is a long way out.

Just to add, I think you're being optimistic about it taking 2.5 hours to drive from Birmingham to Wimbledon, especially over the Easter holidays. I would add another hour to that estimate.

There are engineering works over the next week or so between New Street and Euston so definitely avoid that line