Parking within M25 and travel into Central London...?

littleblue735

Hi any Moneysaving advice appreciated

Every few months a group of us (3 or 4) travel into London for an overnight trip using train from Peterborough to Kings Cross, we always book well in advance and get a specific train in and out to reduce costs. However its getting so expensive for us so I was thinking one of us could drive down the A1 to a town within the M25, park up and get the local train / tube into Central London. I've had a quick look at the map but don't know where to start...! Or even if it would be cheaper once we'd paid for secure parking.?
Anyone done something similar? Any knowledge on safe local areas please...?

giraffe69

You could park on the street in Potters Bar but would have to be 15 minutes walk from the station for it to be free. Stanmore and Canons Park on the Jubilee line have paid for car parks which divided 4 ways won't be too much. You can then pay tube fare using a contactless card.

elverson

Where do you tend to go in Central London?

You could try Stratford station which is close to the A12 dual carriageway. Westfield charge £9.50 for 24 hours but there may be others.

From there you can get the Central or Jubilee lines to various places.

elverson

giraffe69 wrote: »

You could park on the street in Potters Bar but would have to be 15 minutes walk from the station for it to be free. Stanmore and Canons Park on the Jubilee line have paid for car parks which divided 4 ways won't be too much. You can then pay tube fare using a contactless card.

Potters Bar is outside the TfL zones - Hadley Wood might be better as it's the first station in Zone 6.

littleblue735

Our hotel is near Waterloo but we will travel all over - tourist spots etc.
thanks for info so far, I've looked at Potters Bar and you can book to park on someone's drive!! so that might be an option.

susancs

littleblue735 wrote: »

Our hotel is near Waterloo but we will travel all over - tourist spots etc.
thanks for info so far, I've looked at Potters Bar and you can book to park on someone's drive!! so that might be an option.

You will pay more in fares from stations outside of the London travel zones. You will get cheaper single and daily capped fares with a contactless bank card if you travel from zones 1-6. Maybe have a look at tube station car parks. Large ones like Stanmore usually have spaces but somethimes these can be more limited when there are Wembley Stadium events as people park up there and get the tube as it is only about 10 min journey to Wembley. Direct joureny from Stanmore to Waterloo. £5.30 weekdays, £2 Sat and £1.50 on Sunday and you can get a pay and display ticket for a few days to put on the car.



https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/tube-station-car-parks

Nasqueron

Guy at work who does this from the West Midlands parks at Hillingdon and gets the Metropolitan line into London - you could change at Baker Street to get to Waterloo. Hillingdon is £6.30 per day Mon-Fri or £2 Sat / £1.50 Sun which might work - £5:10 peak / £3:10 peak for oyster/contactless

It's inside the M25 and about 86-92 mile journey depending on route. The car park has the Park Mark for safety and is patrolled

People on trip advisor also suggested Ickenham as you can buy advanced tickets there, about 1m away and next stop along the line

littleblue735

Thanks for help, I don't really want to drive within M25, so Potters Bar will do, its £6.70 for a single to Kings Cross and only 17 mins plus £7.50 to park on a drive so I think we'll do that in future, that will save us around £100!

ctbfc

littleblue735 wrote: »

Thanks for help, I don't really want to drive within M25, so Potters Bar will do, its £6.70 for a single to Kings Cross and only 17 mins plus £7.50 to park on a drive so I think we'll do that in future, that will save us around £100!

Just had a look for this weekend going out Saturday and back Sunday out of interest for prices. If there are 4 of you then its £29.95 each from Peterborough and you can get any GN train.

Doesn't seem that expensive.

You can then use contactless cards for the Tube if you have them.

The_Groat_Counter

Another option is to park at Cockfosters station at the end of the Piccadilly line. It's not far in from the M25 (under three miles) and has a large car park.

The_Groat_Counter

ctbfc wrote: »

Just had a look for this weekend going out Saturday and back Sunday out of interest for prices. If there are 4 of you then its £29.95 each from Peterborough and you can get any GN train.

Actually it's better than that - for three or four people travelling together, it's £26.65 each (thanks to Groupsave).