Help! I'll be in London this fall and need to go to a shop in Mitcham, Surrey, CR4 4LB. I believe this is relatively near London, but have no sense of where. I would prefer to take a train from London (roundtrip, but don't know if there'll be taxis at the train station, etc. Alternatively, I'll be arriving in Southampton via ship - should I try to rent a car there and drive to Mitcham, conduct my business and drop off the car somewhere before London and then somehow get to my hotel in London (depending on where Mitcham is, I could leave the car at Gatwick/Heathrow and take the express to London.) I'll be on my own and will be loaded down with luggage. Any thoughts on where Mitcham is and how best to get there? Thanks very much.

Judiscious use of my map and A-Z tells me that Mitcham is in Greater London, between Wimbledon and Croydon. Depending on where you want to go, it seems to enjoy the use of a main line railway, with two stations in the borough, but be just beyond the end of the Tube line. It shoud be dead easy to get to by train <BR> <BR>I'm sure Ben Haines or Nigel Doran or some knowledgeable Londoner (resident, not necessarily born there, guys) will respond to you intriguing heading..given that Surrey is the County in which Heathrow finds itself

Mitcham is a suburb in South London which is very easy to reach. It is about 80 miles from Southampton. I suggest you visit www.cwlease.com and use their excellent route planner. Alternatively, if you want to take the train, you would go from Southampton to Mitcham via Clapham Junction. As it is a suburb, there will be frequent trains out of central London. Check out www.railtrack.co.uk for timetables for whatever permutation of trains you want.

Er... sorry Sheila, Heathrow Airport is actually in Middlesex (though very close to Surrey)

Thanks, folks! Although my initial message was less than clear, you gave me the info I needed. Since it's so close to London, I'll take the train from Victoria and figure out local transport from the Mitcham train depot to my appointment.

Vickie, if you go to http://www.streetmap.co.uk/ <BR>and enter the postal code, a map will appear with an arrow pointing to where in Mitcham the location is, and, if you change the scale, you can figure out where it is in relation to Mitcham Junction train station.

Woops!