Driving around London

rach13

I'm moving to London in 3 weeks and trying to find somewhere nice to live! Getting OH company to pay for 2 months in a serviced apartment so we picked one near Gloucester Road Tube station - it's the only area we really know that is nice. The company is out by Heathrow Airport (14miles). They have come back and said that the price etc is ok but they are worried about OH's commute being 1.5hours.

As I have never driven in London I don't know how accurate this. All the people who work there seem to live in serviced apartments around Uxbridge. However we want to move to London to enjoy busy city life and I don't really want to be stuck out in the sticks just cause everyone else does that! Also we don't really want to live ontop of OH's boss and colleagues etc.

Using public transport it would take 1 hour according to TFL although OH is planning to drive - so I was just wondering what sort of time it would take - I'm guessing it's against the flow of traffic? And seems to avoid congestion zone. Also what is reasonable commuting time?! I have applied for a couple of jobs and would be working in Central London (although probably not for the first 2 months) so need to factor in my commute time also.

We also felt that we needed to stay in the area temporarily that we eventually wanted to rent in in order to spend the time finding out where is nice to live and house hunting. OH will be travelling a fair bit so I will be doing most of the househunting and also if I am not working don't want to be sitting in a flat in the middle of nowhere!

Savvy_Sue

Well, I'd say 1 or 1.5 hours commuting wasn't unreasonable, but if you or your OH haven't had to commute like this before then you may find it doesn't suit you - it can be completely exhausting!

I'd also say that the only way to be 'stuck out in the sticks' in London is not to have good local public transport links.

And if you're going to run a car, then parking is going to be a BIG issue / expense, unless you have your own off road parking.

debsy42

Well, if you're looking for somewhere to keep your car have a look here not quite sure what to say except :eek:

Savvy_Sue

debsy42 wrote: »

Well, if you're looking for somewhere to keep your car have a look here not quite sure what to say except :eek:

Be fair, it is an "exceptionally large" garage! :rotfl:

Biggles

Is this new definition 'out in the sticks' something out of the Uxbridge English Dictionary?

(apologies to ISIHAC)

Cornucopia

Gloucester Road - Heathrow should be about 30 mins against the traffic flow. However, it will be very unreliable, as congestion coming into London can easily affect it, and it can get quite busy in that direction, too.

If other people are in Uxbridge, it suggests it's not actually at Heathrow, so that may add some time, too.

For a longer-term location, you might want to consider Chiswick/Kew/Richmond which are slightly further out, but have local amenities and good transport links. They are all nice areas.

browneyedbazzi

Cornucopia wrote: »

For a longer-term location, you might want to consider Chiswick/Kew/Richmond which are slightly further out, but have local amenities and good transport links. They are all nice areas.

I was thinking Chiswick could be the answer too because it would be a relatively easy commute to Heathrow and access into central London. Chiswick itself has good shops and pubs etc and a really nice atmosphere.

Richmond is lovely too but pricey and sometimes feels a little on the snobby side for me. Chiswick feels a bit more down to earth so I'd be more comfortable there.

bizzybee

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

I was thinking Chiswick could be the answer too because it would be a relatively easy commute to Heathrow and access into central London. Chiswick itself has good shops and pubs etc and a really nice atmosphere.

I would agree with this and public transport out to LHR is good from Chiswick if he needs to use it.

Savvy_Sue

bizzybee wrote: »

I would agree with this and public transport out to LHR is good from Chiswick if he needs to use it.

I agree that looking for good transport links in both directions is well worthwhile: even if he intends to drive there may be times when it makes more sense to use public transport, or times when he can't drive.

rach13

Thanks for all the replies!

Thankfully there is a parking space with the flat and a carpark at the other end. It's not at Heathrow although pretty close to it - but no tube line - so it would be tube to heathrow and then a short bus ride - too far to walk.

We talked last night and are going to go with the Kensignton apartment for the 2 months (that they are paying for) and take that time to look around other nice areas to live - will def have to spend some time in Chiswick and Richmond and see what they are like - London is just so big it's hard to even know where to start! If the commute is awful then it's only for 2 months - and it's better to know these things that sign up for a year long lease somewhere!

Aesop

Just want to say something about Uxbridge

It is not the sticks. Metropolitan line straight to Baker Street in about 40 minutes, and you can even get Piccadilly Line into central London in about an hour, to Leicester Square, etc.

It has a nice shopping area, local access to some lovely areas which are a bit more rural, ie Harefield, Borehamwood, etc. But some lovely pubs and restaurants around Harefield, Denham etc.

You could always look at areas around Uxbridge like Ruislip to live in, very nice area with local Ruislip Lido (man made). If you goto West Ruislip station, you can get overground to Marylebone, so into London within about 20 mins and then can travel to anywhere in Central London.