Visiting friends in London

knightstyle

Hi everyone. We plan to visit friends in Britten St. EC1M 5SZ and would like some advice. We will come from the North, spend a day/night in the area, then leave heading South. So should we drive in and try to park? Congestion charge? Should we leave the car somewhere and train or underground in. It will be a hire car if that makes any difference. My wife is disabled but can walk a short distance, not too many steps. Cheap accommodation in the area? All ideas gratefully received.

susancs

Have you got a disabled parking badge and asked your friends if any parking is avaialble in their road? If going Mon To Fri (until 6pm) you would pay the congestion charge. You would probably be best to look for a hotel on your drive home route (eg. cheap travel lodge etc). If planning to go a weekday and there is no parking in the road-I have checked the tube map on www.tfl.gov.uk and Farringdon Station near Britton St does not have a suitable for disabled sign.Nearest one is Kings cross. If coming down the m1 driving- wembley park station is also suitable for a disabled person, with a car park beside it. I would probably drive to wembley park, get the train to Kings cross and get a black cab from there to Britten street. There are b and bs across the road from wembley station (but as very near the Stadium, it may be booked up if big event on). You could drive from there to nearby areas like Harrow if that is the case. Hotel just beside wembley park station.
http://www.premierinn.com/pti/home.do

knightstyle

Thanks for all that, very helpful. Yes we have a badge but I don't think we can use it in London, they have white ones, not blue. Can anyone confirm? We will come down on Sat June 21st and head south the next day. Will this be a problem? I did not realise the congestion charge was only for weekdays.

susancs

If you are coming into London on a Saturday then the congestion charge will not apply as it is Mon-Fri. The nearest and cheapest hotel I can find near yoyr friends is the www.travelodge.co.uk at Farrington at £81 for a nights stay and parking is an extra £15 for 24 hours. The hotel is 2 mins drive away as under half a mile away from your friends address as found on the aa route finder.If you are unable to park near your firends, a taxi should be cheap enough from the hotel and back.
Start out at WC1X 9LN,Grays Inn.
Central London Congestion Charges Apply Mon-Fri 7am-6pm A2010.000.51At traffic signals turn left onto the A5201A52010.510.04Turn right onto Turnmill StreetTurnmill Street0.540.07Turn left onto Turk's Head YardTurk's Head Yard0.610.01Arrive at EC1M 5SZ,BarbicanUnclassified 0.62-Section time 0:02, Total time 0:02-
My mother in law has a disabled badge and she is able to use it to park anywhere in the uk she says.She however lives in London, so assumes the same applies to all disabled in the UK.