clairefraser

I am thinking of booking into a b and b outside of central London at Golders Green.
Does anyone know how much it would cost to catch the tube into central london?

worldinabag

Hi

Why outside of central London? We stayed at Hampstead Heath. It was lovely there but when you take into account tube fares it wasn't alot more to stay in the centre. No travel time and walking distance to attractions. Definitely stay in the centre next time we go.

Dukey

Golders Green is in Zone 3. I believe it will cost 3 Pounds for a ride from Zone 3 into Zones 2 and 1 (that's paying the regular single fare)

You might do well to go here for further public transport info.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2006/single/

audere_est_facere

Golders Green is on the northern line. It's a bit of a trek from the centre though. Having said that it's a nice enough place.

WillTravel

How long are you going to be there? If you're there for long enough (probably more than 4 days, but not sure) then it will pay to get a weekly pass, and particularly if you are coming in from Heathrow by tube, it could be very worthwhile to get a multizone TravelCard. I'm sorry I'm not up to date on the details.

If you buy a one-day TravelCard for use after 9:30 AM, then the cost is not that much more for a Zone 3 card vs. a Zone 2 card (if I recall correctly).

janisj

I wouldn't. Nothing wrong w/ Golders Green but as already said it is quite a trek. Unless it is saving you a LOT of money it would just be too incomvenient IMHO.

No way to pop back to the hotel in the middle of the day to drop off shopping or take a quick nap, or head back to change before dinner or going to the theatre.

Lovely place to live, not such a great place for a short visit.

What room rate are you getting?

Lori

If the point of this plan is to save money on lodging you are going to spend it on transportation and time. GG is a nice enough place, I've even been there, but it's not very central for anyone doing the "tourist stuff". I'd rethink. If you are the kind of person who might want to pop back to your room during the day to freshen up, drop off shopping bags, whatever it's a bit of a trek and rather inconvenient to do that.

Lori

I think janisj and I posted virtually the same thing

nessundorma

Were I to stay in someplace that's not in prime tourist locales, I wouldn't pick Golders Green. I'd pick Hampstead, Highgate, the South Bank or Islington.

Robespierre

Oh, for heaven's sake. Golder's Green is 15 minutes from King's Cross. By comparison, London Bridge is ten.

Unless you restrict your sightseeing to within a mile of your hotel, it's going to take some time to get there for naps or whatever. Let's say your hotel is around the Gloucester Road Tube station. The ride from the British Museum is 15 minutes - from Tower Hill, it's 22.

If you can save a few bucks a night by traveling an additional five minutes each way to your hotel, I say go for it. The cost differential between a 2-zone and a 3-zone 7-day Travelcard is less than £4.

flanneruk

Robespierre's 101% right. Golders Green tube station is at least as convenient for most things visitors might want as those awful concrete hotels near Gloucester Road.

But I've never seen a B+B anywhere near Golders Green tube - which is not to say there isn't one, since I'm usually more interested in finding somewhere that sells decent latkes or gefilte fish. (If you stay there and find such a place, please come back and post).

The issue isn't the convenience of the tube station: millions of us regard that distance from the cemtre as something we commute every day without thinking twice.

It's how long it takes to get from the tube to the B+B. Input the B+B's postcode into multimap.com to get a map. If it's more than a short walk, use the journey planner at the tfl site to work out how much extra travel there might be.

WillTravel

There are several Golders Green guesthouses listed here.
http://www.s-h-systems.co.uk/london-north-west.html

The YHA Hampstead Heath hostel is actually in Golders Green.

I've visited the Golders Green area only once, but it was very interesting, and I noticed the restaurant prices were noticeably lower than in central London.

However, I've also stayed in a hotel near Gloucester Road and did not find it horrible at all. If I had to choose between the two areas, I'd have to think about what my priorities were on the trip, and where I'd be spending my time. Also, I seem to recall that the Northern Line, which you'd have to use coming from Golders Green, seems to be quite prone to shutdowns and delays. Look at bus options also.

alanRow

But Golders Green is on the infamous Northern Line!!!

Just to point out that the Northern Line splits at Camden so you can get trains from Golders Green to both Charing Cross & London Bridge but from London Bridge & Charing Cross you can get traisn to both Golders Green & Highgate - which is on the other leg.

See www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/colourmap.gif

walkinaround

i'm with robes and flanner. this is a cosmopolitan area very close to hampstead and only marginally less convenient (if you measure convenience in terms of closeness to central london. 20 minutes to leicester square so i don't know why you couldn't go home to freshen and rest up before a show. you are also very convenient for exploring many places on the northern side of london....islington, hampstead, goodge street, camden, etc.

the deal breaker for me would be if there is a long walk to the golders green tube station.

WillTravel

Because Golders Green is not served as frequently by tube trains as more central destinations, going "home" to freshen up from Leicester Square could easily take more than an hour roundtrip (3 minutes to get to the tube platform, 7 minutes to get a train, 20 minutes tube ride, walk from Golders Green tube to B&B, and then a repeat of that procedure on the return), if the Northern Line is operating, whereas if you had a hotel a few blocks away from Leicester Square, it obviously would not.

walkinaround

an hour return trip is nothing in london. how long do you think it takes to get to kensington high street (a popular area for foderites to stay) to central london and back? ok, you do have some better bus options to and from kensington but we are really not talking about a completely different realm of convenience. nor is it very much different from paddington in terms of convenience. trains should come through golders green about every five minutes or so, depending on the time/day.

janisj

Why all the talk about Gloucester Rd. I thought we were discussing Golders Green.

Anyway, as an example of more convenient areas - If one stays near Victoria they are w/i 10 or 15 minutes of most tourist attractions. There are a few other neighborhoods w/ good connections like that. Golders Green is not one of them.

nessundorma

Perhaps clairefraser will reappear and tell us more about the focus of the trip to London. Golders Green is fairly convenient to some popular destinations, and really a drag for others.

In general, I've yet to find *any* single location in London that I find convenient to *all* my top interests.

I just find Golders Green mostly boring. (Not totally boring, just mostly boring.)

alanRow

Generally I'd stay in an area that has some tourist attractions and which has more than one tube line connecting it to the rest of London.

Dukey

It is always interesting to hear all the speculation about ewhat "we" would do and where "we" would stay but the OP never even asked about that, only about the cost of a tube ride.

I am convinced everyone who responded with the "we" stuff is trying to be helpful but unless we hear from the OP it ends up being lsitening to choirs singing...again!!!