Car Parking in North London

daz_free

Hi Guys,

My girlfriend and I are having a New Year visit to London. :beer:

Going down on 31/12 and coming back on 02/01. Were staying in a hotel in Islington. Anyway, just checked the train prices and for the pair of us it is £150 (£75 for a return ticket). (From Chester or L'pool to London).

So thought about driving, which will prob cost £40 in fuel and then just need to find a secure car park in North London, which is near a tube station and if possible outside the congestion charging zone.

Can anyone advise on an ideal car park and how much they usually are?

Cheers

Darrell

maxheadroom

You have a PM

Jeff_Bridges_hair

I dont think the cheap advance tickets have been released for New Year yet so it may be that the train is more cost effective..

Go to the cheap train ticket thread and post exact dates and from/to in there and people will help you out

rob_wiltshire

I don't have the complete answer to your question but, if it was me, I would be thinking along the following lines:

Congestion Charge issue is irrelevant - Islington is (just!) outside the charging zone and, in any case, the charge does not apply on weekends or public holidays. As Monday the 2nd Jan will be a public holiday the charging zone will not be active for the whole of your stay.

Parking: Unless you specifically need secure parking I would be investigating on-street meter parking. Arrangements vary by borough so you need to check the applicable times in Islington but it is often free after either 2:00pm or 6:30pm on Saturdays and free on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Depending on your arrival time you could end up not having to pay anything! Alternatively, you could always park up an hour or two before the end of the charging period and put enough in the meter to get through to the start of the free period.

Hope this helps!

Addition: Just had a look on a site called Parkopedia and it appears most Islington meters finish charging at 1:30pm on the Saturday.

leosayer

Ask the hotel. They may have a secure car park or know someone local.

property.advert

Sod the drive and the car parking. I lived in Angel and parking is all permit save a few here and there. Get the train, around 12 weeks is the advance lead I understand so just about now, but peace of mind and no driving back when hungover should be the deal clincher.

discplayer

property.advert wrote: »

Sod the drive and the car parking. I lived in Angel and parking is all permit save a few here and there. Get the train, around 12 weeks is the advance lead I understand so just about now, but peace of mind and no driving back when hungover should be the deal clincher.

I agree. Except that often it's less than 12 weeks especially at Christmas & new year when the scale of works mean they take longer to confirm services.

Keep an eye on the booking site, some have an alerts system to let you know when they release advance purchase tickets, can't remember if Virgin does.

cddc

Argee with those saying sod the car and take the train. For one thing you really dont need a car in London and meter parking in Islington is among the most expensive in the country if not the world!


Most have max 2 hours restrictions on them anyway. When I was repping and going to see customers in Islington I would park in Sainsbury's, buy a sandwich on the way back and get a couple of hours for free.

Street parking is rigourously patrolled so if you are 5 mins late getting back expect a ticket. Not worth it.

benjus

I don't see why street parking is such a problem. As has been said above, the OP is talking about a Saturday, a Sunday and a Bank Holiday Monday. This means that he only has to worry about parking until 1:30pm on Saturday, after which street parking in Islington is free and unrestricted (including resident permit parking). The drive down from Liverpool will take the best part of 4 hours, so unless he leaves at the crack of dawn he may not even arrive in London before then.

When I lived around Amwell Street in Islington there was always plenty of free parking at the weekends, and it's not all resident parking.