London trip advice (2 Viewers)

Alkhen · Oct 21, 2023

I want to take my kids for break in London for a few days and was wondering if anyone had tips or advice to keep the costs down.

Was considering driving somwhere close with decent rail links and getting a Premier Inn or something, anyone know which towns/places outside the clean air zone are decent for that?

Otherwise any good shouts for reasonable in city accomodation?

Also open to ideas what to do.

I know I could Google this but have got good advice from here before.

Cheers

Brighton Sky Blue · Oct 21, 2023

Alkhen said:
I want to take my kids for break in London for a few days and was wondering if anyone had tips or advice to keep the costs down.

Was considering driving somwhere close with decent rail links and getting a Premier Inn or something, anyone know which towns/places outside the clean air zone are decent for that?

Otherwise any good shouts for reasonable in city accomodation?

Also open to ideas what to do.

I know I could Google this but have got good advice from here before.

Cheers

Could do worse than stay in Brighton actually, regular fast trains to London and lots to offer itself.

jimmyhillsfanclub · Oct 21, 2023

Premier inn Greenwich. Locally there is the royal observatory, cutty sark, the foot tunnel and a decent park.

Then you can swerve the tube and get a river cruise from here up the Thames and get off at westmister bridge for all the central sites etc.

Did this with my kids when they were younger and the boat trip was their favourite bit.....

....along with me introducing them to vintage street fighter arcade game that I found in a posh burger joint....

chiefdave · Oct 21, 2023

jimmyhillsfanclub said:
Premier inn Greenwich. Locally there is the royal observatory, cutty sark, the foot tunnel and a decent park.

Then you can swerve the tube and get a river cruise from here up the Thames and get off at westmister bridge for all the central sites etc.

Did this with my kids when they were younger and the boat trip was their favourite bit.....

....along with me introducing them to vintage street fighter arcade game that I found in a posh burger joint....

I stay at the Travelodge in Docklands when I'm at the O2. Pretty cheap, well for London, and like you say near the observatory. Depending how old they are and if you fancy some time to yourself you could dump them at the arcade / cinema at the O2 for an afternoon and make use of the many bars there.

As well as the river boats there's the cable car thing, can't remember what its called at the moment, changes with sponsorship.

Museums are you best bet for money saving, well until you get to the gift shop.

Deleted member 5849 · Oct 21, 2023

Brighton Sky Blue said:
Could do worse than stay in Brighton actually, regular fast trains to London and lots to offer itself.

Brighton's not exactly cheap nowadays mind!

Deleted member 5849 · Oct 21, 2023

Premier Inn Ealing - get the ticket to Paddington but change at Reading and get the overland to Ealing Broadway. Then Central or District Line into the centre whenever you want to. British Museum (free) could use up a couple of days but depends on the kids and how bored they get I suppose!

Beware cheap London hotels mind you - I've made the mistake a few times and never learned that it's always a mistake!

Brighton Sky Blue · Oct 21, 2023

Deleted member 5849 said:
Brighton's not exactly cheap nowadays mind!

Nor is London!

Deleted member 5849 · Oct 21, 2023

Brighton Sky Blue said:
Nor is London!

No, but Brighton's not the best moneysaving tip tbh!

Although the best moneysaving tip I could do, probably, is just suggest go offpeak on the train in advance (can be cheap) and forget all thoughts of staying anywhere close to London if your budget's that tight!

Brighton Sky Blue · Oct 21, 2023

Deleted member 5849 said:
No, but Brighton's not the best moneysaving tip tbh!

Although the best moneysaving tip I could do, probably, is just suggest go offpeak on the train in advance (can be cheap) and forget all thoughts of staying anywhere close to London if your budget's that tight!

Maybe stay with @Otis in that case

Otis · Oct 21, 2023

Consider a Friend's and Family Railcard (a 3rd off) and split tickets.

The longer you get them in advance, the cheaper they will be. Tickets are on sale 12 weeks before departure date.

Go off-peak if you can.

With my railcard I can get a return to London from around £9. Usually around £12, but definitely had some at £9 return.

Trainline is good, but charge a fee. TranPal is the one I use the most, because they have no fee. The customer service isn't as good though if you have a problem.

Bottom line is, book as early as possible and go for off-peak. A Railcard is around £30 if you haven't got one, so it might not be worth it if you haven't.

You can get them cheaper with discount codes and I believe you can still use Tesco Clubcard vouchers. Well, you still could when I renewed my card in June. I got a 3 year railcard for £42, which is excellent.

Good luck.

Otis · Oct 21, 2023

Brighton Sky Blue said:
Maybe stay with @Otis in that case

You CAN stay with me if you want. I only have a spare storeroom though, that's partially floorboarded and without electricity (work in progress)

stay_up_skyblues · Oct 21, 2023

If it’s not an “event day” at Wembley there is a Travelodge nearby with a beautiful view of a road and an iffy smell about it. But it’s cheap (or it was last time we stayed 3/4 years ago) and it was only £10 or so to park for 24 hours.

From there you’d obviously get the overground/tube into town. Always found it considerably cheaper than staying centrally and paying to park.

Robinshio · Oct 21, 2023

Superfare

Travel fast for less with Superfare tickets. Be matched to an empty seat, get a bargain fare for an Avanti West Coast train. Fares are low whenever you go.

www.avantisuperfare.co.uk

Marty · Oct 21, 2023

Drive to Ruislip area of London and park at one of the tube stations, I believe it's £8 per day and you can leave the vehicle for a max of 7 days. It's about half hour/40 mins to central London and only a few quid on the tube.

I tend to stay in Pimlico for hotels, only a few minutes on the tube to Trafalgar Square, and it's quite for such a location, feels a lot safer than other areas.

ovduk78 · Oct 21, 2023

I would get the best hotel that you can afford in Central London. This will cut out unnecessary tube journeys in and out every day. You won't need a car so either pay for parking close to London and get public transport in or just use the train from wherever you live. Remember if you drive down depending on the car you drive that the ULEZ has extended outside the North circular road.

The Science & Natural History museums are next to each other in Kensington and are both free entry. Tower of London & Royal Observatory in Greenwich are good but not free. There are loads of other things but depends on what you like & kids ages, interests etc.

CJ_covblaze · Oct 21, 2023

Park at Canons Park for 6 quid a day. Jubilee into the centre with contactless or Applepay. Kids are free on there. Air Bnb or Booking.com for a place to stay. Apartments are a good idea as they are quite often cheaper than a hotel, there’s more space and better facilities. Can get food to cook in the kitchen to save on eating out. Washing machine would be a bonus too with kids.

Alkhen · Oct 22, 2023

Thanks everyone, loads of ideas to mull over. I'm based in Gloucestershire and mercifully the local authority have moved the half-term break a week later than most of the UK (I think Wales and Birmingham have done the same?!) I'm hoping it will mean less chaotic at the museums and such.

SBT · Oct 22, 2023

Any reason why you wouldn’t just get the train all the way there, rather than drive and train?

Alkhen · Oct 22, 2023

SBT said:
Any reason why you wouldn’t just get the train all the way there, rather than drive and train?

Initially it was just cost, but it would make things a lot easier as we have a station in our town that has a direct route.

Going to try some of the above ideas to see if I can get the cost down

SBT · Oct 22, 2023

Alkhen said:
Initially it was just cost, but it would make things a lot easier as we have a station in our town that has a direct route.

Going to try some of the above ideas to see if I can get the cost down

In which case as others have said, I would just prioritise getting the most central hotel you can afford and get the train down. Your hotel is going to be by far the biggest expense, however you get there - no reason to commit yourself to a hotel in the middle of nowhere just for the sake of parking, when you have an easy train ride down. Schlepping it to Ealing or Ruislip (or Brighton!) at the end of each day is going to put a dampener on your trip.

ovduk78 · Oct 22, 2023

Alkhen said:
Initially it was just cost, but it would make things a lot easier as we have a station in our town that has a direct route.

Going to try some of the above ideas to see if I can get the cost down

There are websites where you can buy cheaper train tickets but they usually mean having to change trains a couple of times. Our resident rail expert @Otis would know what they are.

Otis · Oct 22, 2023

ovduk78 said:
There are websites where you can buy cheaper train tickets but they usually mean having to change trains a couple of times. Our resident rail expert @Otis would know what they are.

I often find I don't have to change trains at all though. Not always, but I will often get say Maidstone to Otford, Otford to London and it's the same train, so you just stay on the same train.

napolimp · Oct 26, 2023

Might be a bit late, but coming from the Midlands have at times trained it down to Watford - no hassle at all - and booked into the Village Hotel there. The Village is always reliable and can get some great rates with their offers. Then just jump on the overground into central London, or one of the national rail routes if you want to get in super quick.

Mr Panda · Oct 26, 2023

Broadwalk Centre Commuter car park is £6 per 24 hours. Edgware station is just round the corner and you can tube in

Alkhen · Oct 26, 2023

Thanks for the ideas.

Managed to get train tickets on a family saver thing for under half what I was originally quoted. think it eneded up about £80 return for the 4 of us

We ended up booking a premier Inn in Wembley Park. was about a 3rd less than any of the central ones but at least has a station very close. Will have a bit of a trek in/out in the days but I think that will be part of the experience for my country bumkin kids didn't want to risk an independent hotel as we have been burned in London before with some right grim places in scary areas! also though as the kids are still pretty young we'll be ok out in Wembley, there are restaurants and cinemas for the evening, May even look into doing the stadium tour.

We are booked in for the museums and will be having a trip up the river from Greenwich at some point. I reckon we'll take in the usual tourist spots, the big stores like Hamleys and Harrords and that'll probably be enough!

Otis · Oct 26, 2023

Good luck and hope you have a fab time.

stay_up_skyblues · Oct 26, 2023

Alkhen said:
Thanks for the ideas.

Managed to get train tickets on a family saver thing for under half what I was originally quoted. think it eneded up about £80 return for the 4 of us

We ended up booking a premier Inn in Wembley Park. was about a 3rd less than any of the central ones but at least has a station very close. Will have a bit of a trek in/out in the days but I think that will be part of the experience for my country bumkin kids didn't want to risk an independent hotel as we have been burned in London before with some right grim places in scary areas! also though as the kids are still pretty young we'll be ok out in Wembley, there are restaurants and cinemas for the evening, May even look into doing the stadium tour.

We are booked in for the museums and will be having a trip up the river from Greenwich at some point. I reckon we'll take in the usual tourist spots, the big stores like Hamleys and Harrords and that'll probably be enough!

Probably one for just the adults but the best thing we ever did down there was a Jack the Ripper tour. Only a tenner and a great laugh if you get a decent guide.

Sky_Blue_Dreamer · Oct 26, 2023

stay_up_skyblues said:
Probably one for just the adults but the best thing we ever did down there was a Jack the Ripper tour. Only a tenner and a great laugh if you get a decent guide.

Have considered doing on but wondered if there was much point given how much it's changed since.

stay_up_skyblues · Oct 27, 2023

Sky_Blue_Dreamer said:
Have considered doing on but wondered if there was much point given how much it's changed since.

Yeah there is a lot of “is what used to be here” but well worth a tenner.

pitts head · Oct 27, 2023

Just a note for anyone planning a trip to London.
If your just a couple, this palace in Hammersmith is excellent.

Temple Lodge Club - Guesthouse in Hammersmith, West London

Peaceful guesthouse in Hammersmith, West London, a few minutes walk from the Hammersmith Underground. More than just a bed and breakfast.

templelodgeclub.com

It's half the price of the hotels in the same area.
Literally next door to the Eventim Apollo.
I stayed there last year for the Jack White gig and have booked it again for Black Pumas in March (£119 b&b Sunday Night).

Sbarcher · Oct 28, 2023

If you go to the Tower pop next door to Saint Katherine’s Dock. Fantastic area usually pretty quiet with a great pub- The Dickens Inn. Whole place is a hidden gem.

Bertola · Nov 3, 2023

Sbarcher said:
If you go to the Tower pop next door to Saint Katherine’s Dock. Fantastic area usually pretty quiet with a great pub- The Dickens Inn. Whole place is a hidden gem.

Great Home-Made cider there too...

wingy · Nov 3, 2023

Bertola said:
Great Home-Made cider there too...

Who's on it, "the whole country"!

We'll_live_and_die · Nov 3, 2023

Been down today, parked at queensbury morrisons for £7.50 all day. Really easy to get to, half hour on the tube but it did the trick.

Sick Boy · Nov 4, 2023

Sbarcher said:
If you go to the Tower pop next door to Saint Katherine’s Dock. Fantastic area usually pretty quiet with a great pub- The Dickens Inn. Whole place is a hidden gem.

If that the one with the hanging baskets outside in the summer? It’s decent.

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