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Thanks to the previous advice and some googling, I've decided that the best option is to stay for a few nights at hotels well out from centre with free parking, then tube it in.
Question is this time is what's the best balance of nice area and not an obscenely busy tube?
Being as it's going to be milder soon, somewhere with opportunities for an evening stroll, not going to get mugged and hotels at around £100 a night. A 30 min or so tube into the centre.
My efforts have taken me to a nice Best Western in Chiswick, but turning to you lot for insider/better knowledge.
Thanks 🙂
Which tube station do you want to end up at?
Edit: FWIW, Richmond is quite pleasant of an evening and depending on where you want to end up is about 40 mins into the centre. You could even take a road bike and do laps of the park 🙂
Wimbledon?
Potters Bar or Cockfosters FTW
Chiswick is certainly nice but I'd struggle to describe Turnham green station as anything but busy. Remind me where are you driving from and where do you want to end up?
If it works and you can find something for the price I'd second Richmond. Train and tube options for transport. River and Richmond park for strolling / green space. Reasonable range of restaurants. Trouble is it's well known for this and so prices reflect the above.
Sorry, driving in from the north and destination being St James or Victoria tube.
Well Victoria Line doesn't really give you many nice places to stay so you're better off looking at the District and Circle Lines. Driving in from the north, I'd look at cutting out onto the M25 and going round to the west to stay somewhere like Chiswick Park, Kew Gardens or Richmond area.
If you want something a bit closer to town then Kensington - you've got Hyde Park right on your doorstep although I have no idea what hotel prices are like there!
Never mind where you get on, Victoria tube station is one of the busiest in London, it's horrendous!
Don't worry about getting mugged. London is very safe, the worst area are on the outskirts imo
As for areas to walk I in North loLond Hampstead heath is good, alexandriA palece .
I give up. Shit forum screws up auto complete.
If you are getting a good price in Chiswick with parking then I would take it - plenty to do in Chiswick and Hammersmith - and a direct commute in which is on both Richmond and Ealing branch of district line.
You want to drive from the north and end up in Chiswick? I'd rather poke my own eyes out. You are basically wasting 45 minutes if the traffic is good.
M1 or A1?
My first thoughts are Radlett, Luton or Borehamwood and then jump on the Thameslink. If you need a shorter / easier commute then somewhere like Edgware Road.
I live in Chiswick and drive from here to the M1 enough to know it's not a great idea
+1 hanger lane and south bound is not worth it.
Andy_B, it;s my fault for not giving enough info - I'm driving 200 miles from Leeds, then driving back 3 days later. I'm allowing 5 hours each way - it's still far more worth it versus the daft 'day and back' approach on the train which I'm currently doing.
So basically the tube is going to be busy any direction, but Chiswick isn't a disastrous idea then? (Hotel is £80 a night with free parking, which seems a bargain)
You are making this too complicated.. I've already said..
Potters Bar or Cockfosters.. Bottom of M1/Top of M25 junction and Premier Inn ofr £41 per night.
I possibly am 🙂 Just all very unknown. That does look very easy to reach by car.
Chiswick is lovely. It's probably 25 minute on the tube from Stamford Brook or Turnham Green to St james so works on convenience.
Personally I'd take the train and book a hotel anywhere in the centre.
Don’t rule out a boris Bike £2 for 24hrs and much nicer than traveling by tube
Tube: Cockfosters to Victoria (I don't know where you work, so just a guide)
Piccadilly to Finsbury Park..Victoria to Victoria..
Rail - Great Northern from High Barnet to Kings X, then Tube to where ever you need to go.
Er, I sort-of assumed to OP was doing this journey in the present. The Great Northern stopped running from High Barnet just under 100 years ago.
I'd be tempted to stop in Stevenage (some lovely areas around there though not necessarily nice in itself) - fast train into Kings X
Or Roydon/Broxbourne - Stanstead express into Liverpool Street
Don’t rule out a boris Bike £2 for 24hrs and much nicer than traveling by tube
Only if you dock it every 30 mins...
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<div class=""><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8rem;">Er, I sort-of assumed to OP was doing this journey in the present. The Great Northern stopped running from High Barnet just under 100 years ago.</span></div>
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Do as others said and don't spend the whole time on the tube, Central London is pretty easy to navigate and worth seeing.
For what it's worth - if you're commuting in at peak hours, add ten or so minutes to the journey.
When the tube doors don''t close first time at every stop... it adds up.
Thanks all - I hate the tube (I normally walk from KX to the office), but the only way of it to make financial sense to stay over, is to drive down. Therefore, parking the tin for a few days is the headache that forces me out of the centre 🙂
Honestly ,take Bikebuoys advice and stay north.
Chiswick is daft imo. you will add ,potentially , another 30 - 60 minutes trying to get round the North Circ to get to it.
Have a look at the map on this link. sorry it's massive.
The inlaws have stayed at both the Ramada(basic,clean)& the golders green holiday inn.Apparently there's a premier inn in Archway now. All very easily reached from M1 jctn.1.a!!!
If there's a hotel near Cockfosters , bring a bike and play out in Trent park after work!
If you are coming down the M1 then worth looking at KIlburn/Willesden Green which are minutes away from the end. You will then be able to get the Jubilee Line, which is pretty quick, to Westminster and walk from there.
Struggling to see why you'd recommend Chiswick tbh. I agree it's nice and leafy, but so are tons of places in London. Geographically it's pretty far from ideal!
Bikebuoy has the right idea if convenience and budget are your two main concerns.
Have you looked at AirBnB? Lots of my contracting friends use it for midweek rooms. Might throw up some other options?
Being as it’s going to be milder soon, somewhere with opportunities for an evening stroll, not going to get mugged and hotels at around £100 a night. A 30 min or so tube into the centre.
If this was me then I'd be looking at the Jubilee line. West Hampstead to start with, because it is leafy and posh, but trying further out if it's outside your budget range.
Another one is Finsbury Park on Piccadilly line, which is leafy but not posh. I like it round there, but it does have a bit of an edge to it so maybe not ideal if one of your main criteria is to avoid that sort of thing.
Both places are easy to get to from the North and have quick connections to Westminster/St James Park
I live in Whetstone, there are plenty of options for hotels and similar around me, for example there's a Travelodge in Whetstone.
If you stay far enough out for a few more minutes on the tube you can guarantee a seat, which is a complete winner. I commute in by bike so it isn't an issue for me, but the tube is painless
Check out AirBnB, you could rent a room in someone's house for quite cheap and have somewhere for the car. You can then jump on the tube pretty easily.
Northern line is very reliable, despite the random whinging from folks
Apologies if this was covered in your other thread, but why not just get the train from Leeds direct in to Kings Cross? Then you're on the Circle/Met/H&D line and can get anywhere pretty easily for the days you arrive and depart.
Then stay at a central hotel. My personal fave is the Holiday Inn Regent's Park, as it's also a short stroll from the Circle line, and pretty much bang on Regents Park.
Doing a drive/park/ride seems like a whole heap of hassle to me.
Value for money mainly.
Train costs £260, parking at station £18 a day. I do that now.
Car would cost £40 with hotels offering free parking in some cases (hence homing in on Chiswick, which has a nice BW with free parking)
I agree it does seem like a faff, but I'm sure there must be an easy way of:drive down Sunday - park up and then tube/walk each day, without staying in somewhere like Kilburn. Maybe not though 🙂
Last piece of advice:
Stays somewhere you can avoid changing tubes in the morning.
An extra ten mins on the tube can mean you get a seat, which makes the journey approx 17billion times better.
Finsbury Park will be painful in the AM peak.
If you;re prepared to flog around London for a bit longer when you arrive and leave, then Chiz is probably ok, But I'd have thought that Richmond would be nicer, and you can get the SWR and change at Vauxhall into Victoria. Fast trains, and you've got the river, the park, all those lovely Richmond-ites, a reasonable cinema and a couple of theatres.
Thanks, I'm using a tube map and plan is to just catch the one tube and walk. I'd never be able to keep a seat though anyhow - when I started using the tube I got up as soon as there was a woman standing (just schoolboy instincts from bus days) .
It quickly became apparent there was no point in me sitting down in the first place 🙂
Cycling in London may not be your thing (I love it although some people don't) but it's prob worth noting that it's as quick as getting the tube, and a lot less stressful! 🙂
Don’t write off KIlburn, haven’t been up that way for years but a lot of money has been spent there. You do have the luxury of trying a few ideas out.
Actually, Richmond is looking like a good option too with cheap hotel parking (I see it's been mentioned a few times now, sorry!). I'll just give it a shot and see how it goes. Like mefty says, I've got a few options. Cheers for all the advice 🙂
<div class="bbp-reply-author">bearnecessities</div>
<div class="bbp-reply-author"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8rem;">I agree it does seem like a faff, but I’m sure there must be an easy way of:drive down Sunday – park up and then tube/walk each day, without staying in somewhere like Kilburn. Maybe not though </span></div>
Fair enough.
I did some work in Kingston-upon-Thames for a period. Stayed at the Holiday Inn Surbiton which was an easy walk from Surbiton train station. You can get a train from there into Vauxhall or Waterloo in about 30 minutes. That hotel has parking and easy access to Bushy and Richmond parks.
If you wanted to do some mountain biking of an evening then you could consider something like Epping, Loughton or Buckhurst Hill. There are some hotels in the area (Premier Inn etc.) plus it's close to Epping Forest and also far enough out on the Central Line that you'd usually be able to get a seat on the tube.
Biased here as I live in North London, but I'd personally be looking North. Chiswick and Richmond are a mission to get to from the North, you're much better off coming straight down the M1/A1 and picking up a place that's quick to get to. You avoid the worst of the A406 and M26 then
Also, check out a geographic tube map, it's easier to see what's going on then -
PS - the Victoria line is RAPID. It's the quickest line in London. There's good changes to get onto it easily at places like Euston (Northern line to Victoria) and Finsbury park (piccadilly to victoria)
I normally walk from KX to the office
Keep doing this then, Hitchin, Stevenage will be easier to drive to, will be nicer to be in at night and are about 30 mins from KGX usually on a train and you don't need to use the tube. I HATE the tube and will only work where I don't have to use it!
Ha, I'm the opposite, will only live near a tube station, not a train station. Even though I cycle to work!
Tube isn't too bad, I get a seat if I take it in the morning, and regularly do if i take it in the evening