Driving in London

foreversomeday

I fancy going to London in July for a baby sling show, it is on a Sunday, and have calculated the cost of both public transport and driving.

For 2 adults, it is about £50 for us to get the train, then an all day bus ticket, to get to the venue. It would cost about £35 to go by car, there is free parking for the event and both prices include entry.

My question is, I don't drive and my OH has never driven in London before. You only ever seem to hear bad things about it. He is quite confident driving in Coventry now, which is supposed to be quite bad, but I don't know how it would compare to Central London. Congestion charge is not an issue, as it will be the weekend. We have a sat nav so don't need to worry about getting lost.

What are the problems/difficulties with driving in London? Is it worth the saving of the extra £15?

Keith

I drive into London a lot on a Sunday, it's a lot more convenient than using public transport.

It may seem quite scary at first but it's just like driving in any other major city.

If your partner is not confident, take the train and maybe have some dinner. But there is only one way to become confident and it's to not be afraid of the unknown

LandyAndy

Let the train take the strain and enjoy the day.

I wouldn't want to drive into London for the first time if the main purpose of my visit was a pleasant day out.

hewhoisnotintheknow

just take your time, make sure you have sat nav

remember that sat navs get out of date so beware of no right turns etc

Also if you cant make a turn as theres something in your way etc just carry on your sat nav will re route you, much easier than panicing and tring to turn round etc.

bargepole

foreversomeday wrote: »

What are the problems/difficulties with driving in London? Is it worth the saving of the extra £15?

If you pop along to Coventry Stadium to watch the Stock Car racing, that'll give you a fair idea of what driving in London is like.

The shortest time interval known to man is the time between the lights turning green, and the taxi driver behind you beeping and flashing his lights.

If you get in the wrong lane at a junction, as you almost certainly will, don't expect anyone to let you move across, just put your foot down, lean on the horn, and hope they get out of the way.

Oh, and your satnav won't be much use, many of the roads and junctions are so close together that satnavs don't react quickly enough to your position.

This is a venture not for the faint hearted!

Cardelia

Driving in central London is not vastly different to driving in the centre of any other major UK city. There are probably more traffic cameras than Coventry though, so make sure you don't do anything naughty as it'll probably be seen by someone, somewhere. And the taxi drivers are a little more aggressive than anywhere else. However, getting from the bottom of the M1 to central London is not a particularly quick journey by car, especially on a Sunday when the shoppers at Brent Cross cause chaos.

On the flip side, there's a good chance that your train journey will be disrupted by engineering works. This is something you can check in advance though.

If you have to drive, I would recommend driving to somewhere like Barnet (top of the northern line), parking in the tube car park and taking the underground all the way into central London. But the train is probably your best bet.

scbk

If you can, try and get within the m25 by say 8am, the roads are dead and it can actually be kinda fun

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=962851

tinkerbell84

You'll discover aggression you didn't know you had driving in London!!!

Where is the show?

foreversomeday

It's at the Conway Hall which is London WC1.

Hmm perhaps aggression not the best thing - OH is like Stressed Eric when he drives, and that is in normal driving conditions in a smallish tourist town, hehe!

tinkerbell84

You need about 8 sets of eyes too.

Believe me, I live here!

bargepole

Simplest solution is this: From the Stivichall Interchange, take the A46 southbound and join the M40 southbound at J15. Continue to the end of the M40, it becomes the A40, then at the Polish War Memorial turn left on to the A4180, then right to South Ruislip tube station. Station car park is £1 all day on Sundays.

From there, take a Central Line train to Holborn, a short walk away from Conway hall.