London parking

dan.jan

Check out the local borough websites (Camden, Islington, Westminster) - takes a bit of navigation but you can find details of the parking zones. I know that Islington has a zones with free parking after 1.30pm on Saturdays. You could try around Smithfields market or the one or two blocks south of Euston. From here it's about a 20 - 30 min walk to Leicester Sq.

gromituk

There's absolutely no reason whatsoever to fight your way into anything like the centre of London by car. Unlike much of the rest of the UK, its public transport is excellent, and because it's so large you'll just spend your time sitting in traffic jams if you try to get to the middle. As several people have recommended, park further out and get a Tube. Day or weekend Travelcards allow you to make as many journeys as you like (on the buses, too). Look at https://www.tfl.gov.uk for prices (including discounts for entry to some attractions) - but remember that, LPG or not, the car is a false economy unless you assign nothing to the value of your time.

Mark153

I remember parking at the Royal Festival Hall for free on a Sunday a few years ago - maybe that's a viable option for one day?

I'm staying in London on the weekend of May 5/6/7th. Having prepaid £7.50 for parking near the gig we are attending the Friday night, I am going to try and keep parking/travel costs to a minimum for the Saturday and Sunday!

Sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but I found this page the other day. Can anyone confirm that these rates are accurate? They seem to be good to be true, or are these amounts per hour?!

gromituk

I'm not sure you can park at the RFH at all at the moment, as it's closed for redevelopment.

tonys_3

The congestion charge operates from monday to friday 8.30 am to 6.30 pm-but no charge on bank holidays.
Parking in Westminster also finishes at 6.30 pm on Fridays but continues on Saturday, Sunday and
in certain areas on Bank holidays as well. And if you think the parking charges are high-
park in the wrong place and the penalty is £100- even for 2 minutes past your expiry time.! Its a total ripoff. Oh, and some traffic wardens lie about where you were parked,how you were parked and when you were parked-so if you have a cine camera-take pictures.
Traffic on bank holidays tends to be quieter than normal weekends, though around
theatre land [Soho and Shaftesbury Avenue] traffic can still be gridlocked up to 4am.

If you go to google and ask about parking in Wesminster and then Camden it will give
you some idea of what's involved.

silkcutblue

Park in Southwark (there are plenty of carparks near the Tate Modern) and just catch a bus over the river and into the centre of town. Easy.

mattyturner

janice,

It's certainly not going to be worth trying to drive to the theatre and park, unless its slightly out of the centre. I would take the local parking (£15) and get a bus - it'll onlly be about 1 each way for adults, and free for children.

If you wish to avoid the £15 you could park slightly further out - I imagine the back streets of Islington have free parking after 1:30 on Saturday, or other areas slightly further out (for instance it's not well suited for your hotel but I know Maida vale and Notting Hill both have free parking after 1:30, and they're only three-four tube stops or a 15m bus journe from the centre)

WiseInvestor_2

mattyturner wrote:

I imagine the back streets of Islington have free parking

Outside someone's house you mean? Residents' parking in London is scarce enough as it is without day trippers adding to the problem! There are some excellent recommendations above for dedicated car parks - please show a little consideration and use them.

jance

Thanks Matty, I have decided to park and pay the £15 a day at the travelodge and then use the buses. £3.50 is a small price to pay for unlimited travel all day. You can search the bus routes and get exact times from kings cross area into theatre land and how often they run and how long journey takes!!!

dag_2

I think that 15 pounds a day you're paying at travelodge is still quite a lot for parking. According to Croydon council's web site, you can park in Purley for 15 pounds a week.

Admittedly Purley car park is quite a long way out, though - the nearest station is in zone 6 - and it's also on the wrong side of the city for you. However, I only mean it as an example. Other London Boroughs don't seem to publish their parking tariffs on their web site quite as readily as Croydon do - but I'm sure they'll all tell you where their car parks are, and what their tariffs are, if you phone them up.

If you're coming from the north and staying on the north side of the city centre, then I'd suggest looking for parking in the boroughs of Harrow, Brent, Barnet and Enfield.

I suggest you could just leave your car in an outskirts car park all weekend, and take the bus or tube or train to your hotel, and anywhere else you go in London, until it's time for you to pick up the car and go home again.

But I would thoroughly recommend you phone up the local authorities in advance. Don't just turn up and chance it - the people who do that are the ones who pay an arm and a leg. I would suggest you make a shortlist of two or three possible car parks in the outskirts, just in case the first one you turn up at is full - though this tends to be less of a problem in the outskirts than it is nearer the city centre.