katnik

Hi, We will be flying into Stansted Airport and traveling south by rental car to visit family in Bexhill-on-Sea. We would like to make a quick stop in London. Unfortunately we will only have a couple of hours, so we are planning to take a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour. From what I have read it is advisable not to drive in London. Is there anywhere we can park on the outskirts of the city and take public transportation in? We will be traveling on a Sunday morning so I am wondering how limited transportation schedules will be. Also we will be leaving our luggage in the trunk(boot) of the rental car so a fairly safe area would be an advantage. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

janis

OK - There is really no such thing as a "quick stop in London". Assuming you did find a place to park in outer London you could be 30 minutes or more from anywhere in the center where you could catch the Hop-on-hop-off buses.

Driving in London on Sunday mornings is not bad. But London is huge -- if you drove all the way into the very center you'd have 30 or 40+ minutes in and another 30 or 40+ minutes out, so your 2 hours is just about gone before you even find the bus.

katnik

Janis, Thanks for your reply. I'm glad to hear driving in London on Sunday morning isn't that bad. That's what we were going to do origanally. So you would estimate 30-40 minutes+ in and 30-40 minutes+ out? I think I read that the bus tour is about 2 hours if you don't get off. It would be such a shame to be so close to London and not get a glimpse. I'm guessing parking won't be too hard to find on Sunday morning either. Thanks again. Kathy

flanneruk

Have you ever driven in London before? And are you flying overnight?

Usually, I'd be the first to say that driving in London is a piece of cake and that only wimps avoid it. But if you're on a tight timetable, navigating to a Hop-on stop, then finding somewhere to park will be tough (which means it'll take much longer than you expect).

Cars parked illegally can get towed away, and, even on a Sunday, it's very easy to park illegally. So you'll spend forever finding somewhere.

With one proviso, surely it'd be easier to take the Stansted Express train (every 15 minnutes: journey 40 mins)to Liverpool Street, which is close-ish to some Hop-on stops, do your tour, then get the train back to Stansted. You've then a reasonably painless motorway route round London.

And it'll inevitably take you longer to navigate your way out of London than to train back out to Stansted. It usually take me longer, and I've spent most of my life learning what we call the back-doubles: the unsigned back routes that avoid major congestion points. And Christmas Day is the only day in the year those choke points don't choke.

If, in addition to all the above, you're seriously thinking of getting into a car after an overnight flight, bear this in mind. If you get behind a wheel in this country sleep-deprived and are involved in an accident, you're guilty of dangerous driving - and if a fatality results, you're guilty of manslaughter. For which you spend several years in jail.

Kate

Katnik, as a demonstration of the point Janis and Flanner are trying to make....

Last weekend I drove from my home in north west London to Brighton on the south coast. As it was the weekend, I decided to risk it and go across London rather than circumventing London on the M25 (the orbital motorway that bypasses London).

BIG mistake. It took me almost 2 hours just to reach the other side of London in the south - a journey that anywhere else I could have done in 45 minutes.

And I knew where I was going.

You, on the other hand, WILL get lost. People always do. London's street network is VERY confusing. One way streets, no right turns, weird intersections, you name it.

Also, London sprawls for miles. It's something to do with the English obsession with living in houses with gardens rather than in partment blocks. So even 10 miles out of the centre and you're still crawling in traffic.

If you must see London, then please allow yourself at least half a day. I don't say this because "you won't have time to appreciate London", but because, physically, I just don't think it's possible.

Unless you drive through London without stopping.

mclaurie

Lighten up flanneruk! I was unaware there were many overnight flights into Stansted.

Another idea might be to take the Stansted express into London with your luggage & rent your car in London (to pick up after you've done your tour) to avoid having to drive in, find parking & pay for parking. OR, if you don't want tod rive in London at all or can't find a good rental from London on a Sunday, instead of going back to Stansted, you could rent the car from Gatwick which is more "on the way".

katnik

Thank you all for your input. We will have to do some re-thinking. Stansted Express and then rent a car in London seems to make sense. And you can rest easy. We are not driving after an overnight flight, only from Shannon Airport. We are fairly responsible people.