Driving then getting a train into London

chipperhead

chipperhead

chipperhead

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I'm going to London with the family in December, arriving on the Saturday and leaving Monday. I live in East Yorkshire and have taken the train before but wondered about driving part of the way then getting a train into London.

We'd probably be travelling down the M1 and wondered if anyone could recommend a suitable station where this could be an option.
We'd be after somewhere secure where we'd be happy to leave the car and with good transport links into London.
Hopefully this would work out cheaper and give us some more options as to when we could travel.

If anyone could give me some ideas that would be great.
Thanks.
 
I remember when I was young visiting London a couple of times, we drove to Cockfosters and got the tube into the centre from there. I can't really comment on the parking as it was a long time ago, but it seemed to be a fairly good experience from what I do remember.
 
Depends how far south you want to drive but would Luton Airport Parkway work? No idea on parking but may get a cheap deal at the airport and the line it runs on goes through a few London stations.
 
Peterborough is 40 minutes into Kings Cross the prices aren’t bad at the weekend and parking is cheap. The ring road from A1 to station is pretty good. Other option could be Milton Keynes into Euston don’t know about costs on that one though. They’re both a way out but are quick journeys in if you want to avoid the madhouse.
 
St Albans for zero headache parking but you need a train; High Barnet for mild headache (busier town) and direct to tube.

St Albans will be quicker into central but factor in £15-20 return ticket per person cost. High Barnet is on the tube line so it'll max out your Oyster (don't use this, just tap your contactless credit card) at £12/day.

Parking will cost a fortune in High Barnet station.
 
Again depends on the drive you want, but on that route I would go Rugby or St Albans or Luton Airport Parkway. My choice of those would be Luton but that would be coming from the Midlands not Yorkshire. In the current climate space should be fine, though I did struggle at Rugby a couple of busier times when not first thing.
 
We stayed as a family in Hemel Hempstead for a long weekend last year. The trip was mainly for visiting Harry Potter Studios for the kids (it's in Watford ish), but we took a train into London on the spare day. Was quick and cheap from there.

Premier Inn was only £30/night for a family room. Bargain!
 
chipperhead said:
Hopefully this would work out cheaper and give us some more options as to when we could travel.
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Depends - especially if you can book train tickets in advance - I'm a bit out of touch with it now but it used to be the cost was front loaded going outwards from London to the main commuter stops, etc. and beyond that often the cost didn't increase much if at all. I've even done longer distances cheaper than the first few stops i.e. King's Cross->Edinburgh Waverley IIRC on a £24 return by shopping around in advance when it would have cost £70 for the first 2-3 stops (hence why you aren't supposed to use part of a ticket and people have been prosecuted for it even).
 
Not heard of that before with using part of a ticket, that's outrageous. Hadn't considered doing it but always assumed you could if you were allowed to split your journey.
 
chipperhead said:
Thanks for all the advice all.
After reading the suggestions we're driving to Milton Keynes and getting the train from there.
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Second Luton, 20mins into Kings Cross using Midland Mainline.
Ample secure parking at parkway edit: actually a few people had car window smashed
 
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chipperhead said:
I'm going to London with the family in December, arriving on the Saturday and leaving Monday. I live in East Yorkshire and have taken the train before but wondered about driving part of the way then getting a train into London.

We'd probably be travelling down the M1 and wondered if anyone could recommend a suitable station where this could be an option.
We'd be after somewhere secure where we'd be happy to leave the car and with good transport links into London.
Hopefully this would work out cheaper and give us some more options as to when we could travel.

If anyone could give me some ideas that would be great.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

You'll need to crunch some numbers if cash is a bit tight, but personally I'd be driving in to London, parking somewhere close to the hotel (which is often as little as £20 for 24h depending on where the hotel is, use Justpark to find spots - think of it as a parking spot Airbnb). Depending on what you want to do and where you drive you might need to pay the congestion charge, and if you car's a bit old, the ULEZ as well. Depending on how many people will be in the car, it could still be considerably cheaper than train tickets with the added convenience of not having to faff about on the train. Be warned though, driving through zone 1 takes a special kind of person, if you're not that kind of person, take that in to consideration. I drive in London every day so I'm used to it, but for your folks from oop norf, this could be a very hostile endeavour :D
 
When driving from the north, I often park in East Finchley. There are lots of nice residential streets which are free to park within 10mins of the tube station, I park on a road just off the A1.
 
Diddums said:
Be warned though, driving through zone 1 takes a special kind of person, if you're not that kind of person, take that into consideration.
I drive in London every day so I'm used to it, but for your folks from oop norf, this could be a very hostile endeavour :D
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I’ll vouch for that, expect no quarter from Black Cab drivers, ;) they see every private car driver as a timid ingenue who has inadvertently strayed into civilisation from some Podunk town, expressly to get in the way of those who know what they’re doing :cool:
 
Train from Leeds is probably quicker and less stressful? Tickets just got released for Christmas so you can probably get a decent deal.
 
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