Most convenient Tube Stop to stay near in London?
 

Is there one particular tube stop or subway line that is most conveniently used to visit London for just a couple of days?

In looking at a map of London, it appears so spread out...trying to zero in on a neighborhood to select for a hotel. Looking for a safe area but also an area that doesn't close up at 6:00 pm either. Thanks for any input.

South Kensington. It's on the Picadilly line which starts at Heathrow goes to Leicester Sq and Picadilly Circus. It's also on the District line which goes to Westminster and the Tower. There are many small hotels and B&B's in the area, chiefly on Sumner Place. And it is very close to pubs, bookstores, and a post office.

South Kensington, Gloucster Rd, Sloane Square, Covent Garden...
My fav South ken or Gluscester Rd

I don't know if it is the best location, but I have stayed near the Gloucester Road tube station several times. I have stayed at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel several times and enjoyed it, but more recently I have stayed at the Harrington Hall Hotel. It is a tad cheaper than the Millennium but has much more charm and feels of "Old London". I like this area. Easy access to the tube and many places to eat. I have also stayed out in Hammersmith at the Hammersmith Novatel. That was too far out of London.
I would highly reccomend you pick up a multi-day / multi-region tube pass. I do this every time I am in London. The price is reasonable and then you just ride the tube wherever and whenever you need. Also, if you are a gadget freek like I am and you have either a Pocket PC or Palm device, there is a great bit of free software called Metro. It has the entire tube/underground system in it. You simply select where you are, then where you want to go, and Metro will map out for you exactly what lines to ride, where to make line changes, and how long the trip will take. Metro can be found at http://nanika.net/Metro/

Probably anywhere along the Picadilly line - of those my favorite would be Green Park because of the good choice of lines going to major tourist areas, with South Kensington a close 2nd. But actually any zone 1 stations on the Picadilly line or along the south leg of the Circle line would be convenient to just about everywhere.

hi traveler,

Yes...Yes...Yes... the gloucester rd station!

I wish to second the gloucester rd area. I just came back from london and I stayed at the Millennium Gloucester. It was a wonderful area. We got a great rate at the hotel and stayed 8 nights. I will be returning there again in the spring.

The area is absolutely wonderful! I have been to london three times now. The first time, I stayed at the Novotel also, but we were with a group excursion and had no choice. it is too far out.

The second time we stayed at the comfort inn bayswater in one of their 3 bedrrom apartments. Great hotel for a group of people, terrible location because the nearest tube station was 10-12 blocks either way. Now if you are in great shape that would be no problem, but even the ladies with us that were, said that facing that walk each morning and evening to and from the tube began to get old. Me, I was in trouble from day one.

This time, I listened and made the decision to find a hotel near a tube station. The Millennium gloucester and it's sister hotel Bailey's hotel are as close to the tube as you can get and the Gloucester station is a great station. You walk into the station, go thru the turnstyles, and then down a set of stairs and wham, you are on the platform. And it has both sides, heading east and west right there, no walking over or underground to get to the other side of the platform. gloucester rd is also a mesh of the district and circle lines, the main lines thru and about the tourist area of london. it also has the piccadilly line via access thru deep elevator.

You can't beat this tube station. I think I may have had to change trains only 2 or 3 times the whole 9 days.

As far as the neighborhood goes; right across the gloucester rd is a dino's a little italian rest. that serves a wondeful full english breakfast in the morning for about 5 pds. also has a wonderful lunch and dinner. there are 4 or 5 other restaurants in just a 2 block radius. Next to the tube is a boots pharmacy. Across gloucester, same side as dinos in the same block is a small grocery store AND a 24 hour convenience store. In that same 2 blocks is a burger king and the stanhope arms the local pub, which serves food all day. a block south, there is a used book store and a stationary. 2 blocks north is cromwell rd, and within 10 blocks is numerous indian cusiane restaurants, a laundromat, and a supercenter grocery.
attached to the gloucester tube station is a small mall or shopping center with several nice stores.

as you can see this area can't be beat. I will be there again. I saw mike's harrington hall, which is just across the street from M. Gloucester and it is nice also. My problem was that I never could find a great rate there, whereas anyone can get a $75-90 rate at the gloucester if you are watching the net. I get it at a steal because I have travel industry connections.

A three hotels, harrington hall, M. Gloucester, and Bailey's are 4 1/2 star hotels. they offer full ensuite rooms, bath and shower with air cond and trouser press, heated towel racks and hair dryers in the rooms (watch out for this in M. Gloucester, the hair dryer is in the desk drawer lololol). sat. tv and minibar.

okay...I have rambled on enough here, but you can see this is great area.

hi again,

oops even with all that, I forgot one of the best parts..

right across from the hotel on gloucester rd is a bus stop that has about 5 different bus routes, namely the number 49 which takes you all the way up gloucester rd to kensington gardens, kensington palace.

about 10 blocks north and 2 or 3 blocks over is exhibition rd where many of the museums are.

harrods and knightsbridge is on the tube route really close. as is buckingham palace.

the gloucester rd station is on the same line as the victoria station, and also the same as tower hill where the tower of london is.

there is actually more, but can't remember it all..lololol

Bloomsbury and Bayswater are also good choices, and they won't break the bank like staying in the Mayfair-Soho-Picadilly Circus-Covent Garden area will.
Bloomsbury is just north of the West End and Theatreland, with great tube access at Holborn Tottenham Court Rd stations.
Bayswater is just west of the Oxford Street shopping area with great tube access via the Queensway Station (and the speedy Central line); Bayswater (the less speedy District and Circle lines); and Lancaster Gate (Central line again)

Is there a Holiday Inn close to the Gloucster Tube stop? (we're planning to redeem points for our stay)? Thanks,

Yes. Just about directly across the street on Cromwell Road.

The history of London has two medieval centres, the City (I mean the area of Roman London from the Temple to Liverpool Street) and Westminster (always the seat of government. In the extensions from 1780 to 1851 the city spread to the areas that include South Kensington and Bloomsbury. The results stand now. The line South Kensington, Victoria, Westminster, Embankment, Blackfriars, Tower Hill takes you to or near all the standard tourist sightseeing destinations except the British Museum.

Shopping centres on Oxford Street and Regent Street, so centres at Oxford Circus, though in fact shoppers usually want Harrods at Knightsbridge and the arcades off Piccadilly, between Piccadilly Circus and Green Park.

And so to theatre, and that lies mostly in the box Oxford Circus, Embankment, Temple, Holborn, Oxford Circus.

If you look at a tube map you find two lines that are good for all three aims, monuments, shops, and theatres. One is the Central Line from Bond Street to Tottenham Court Road, good for shopping and the British Museum, and fairly good for theatre. This line has a scatter of hotels a block north of Oxford Street. The other, as Janis and Jody say, is the Circle Line from South Kensington to Monument (The Tower is too far from things). As erinb says, this is a cut and cover line, not a deep tunnel line, so you drop one or two flights of stairs to the platforms, with no escalators. The line is strong in hotels (including a Holiday Inn) near Victoria, but for monuments and theatre you do better from beside the Strand: Thistle Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross, Royal Albion, Strand Palace, and if you are rich the Waldorf and the Savoy. Each has a web site worth a look, and Thistle hotels are cheaper bought through agents. The station for most destinations is Embankment, but for shopping is Charing Cross or busses, and for theatre is walking or busses.

So what am I arguing against ?
Bloomsbury, unless the British Museum and British Library will take most of your time
High Street Kensington and Gloucester Road. An extra ten minutes tube to and from most destinations. Even South ken is a bit away from shopping and theatre.
The Tower. Ten minutes walk to the station, and an extra ten on the train to most places.

All areas named so far are safe. Unsafe places in London are three miles from Piccadilly, in estates of social housing. All have pubs, bookstores, and a post office. From Heathrow you take your tube to Hammersmith, walk four yards across the platform, and carry on by District Line to Embankment, from where you want a bus on the Strand or a taxi.

Welcome to London.

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My parents stayed at the Copthorne Tara right around the corner from the High Street Kensington tube station and had no problem going in the morning to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square and then to wherever they were going that day, whether it was the British Museum, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the Cabinet War Rooms, Westminster, Harrods (a short stop there just to see the food halls) or to a train station to go to Windsor Castle or Hampton Court.

South Kensington, High Street Kensington and Gloucester Road might not be as close to the West End, but Kensington is very safe, very walkable, has plenty of really good restaurants to choose from and is quieter at night so you can actually get a good night's sleep before another full day of sightseeing and theatre/opera/etc.

Mayfair. I believe you would have the choice of Green Park, Piccadilly, and Bond St stations, but I never use the tube. It's dark, unpleasant, and vile. You can walk to anywhere worthwhile from Mayfair, or if you must, take a taxi or a bus.

As a rule of thumb, postcodes with 1 are more central, but SW1, W1, NW1 (at a pinch) are the only worthwhile ones. WC1/EC1 is too City, and I won't even go into south or east London.

I agree with Janis only the exact opposite preference. I'd choose Gloucester Rd. and then Green Park. You can't go wrong sitting on top of three major lines on Gloucester Rd.
I've stayed near Gloucester Rd. 2x's and Green Park and Marble Arch once each. I'm not a fan of the Central Line, too many changes for my needs.

Just realized we're answering a question from 2yrs. ago. Any reason why?

Good question , princess! Maybe to give MK2 another chance to boost Mayfair..from where you can walk ANYWHERE! His/her feet and legs must be better than mine!

TTT

Mayfair is full of toms; septic hedge-fund chancers; iffy geezers from the Levant; poodlefakers and rich old bints with air-dogs.

...and a nightingale sings in Berkeley Square....

david, I'm unfamiliar with those colorful terms. Are those other ways of saying "people who refuse to ride on public transportation as it is beneath them and people who will only buy the latest fashions and only from the most exclusive shops, shuddering to even think to go to a designer shop in >GASP< tacky Covent Garden for example"?

Patrick: That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.

(And for info: Toms – Thomas Moores – whores

septic – septic tank – yank;

hedge fund – the dot com bubble de nos jours;

Chancers – people who believe in the tooth fairy or that the laws of economics can be suspended if you wear a shiny enough suit;

Poodlefakers: The sort of chap who wears co-respondent shoes

Bint – an old Doris

Air-dog – one of those yappy mutts that never touches the ground as it’s carried everywhere and put on a cushion when it gets to its destination)

David West, I really enjoyed the words and definitions. Is some of that Cockney rhyming slang?

We stayed in Faversham for a few days this summer where we met an old man who was a retired Beefeater and was being a guide for the open church/garden festival that we went to. He said he was born a Cockney and demonstrated his rhyming slang. It was very interesting to talk to him.

A young American couple that we know moved to London this summer. He was complaining that people at work called him "septic tank." Now I get the connection- Yank!

Yes some of it is rhyming slang – the bits that rhyme!

Rhyming slang isn’t a static thing; it changes all the time. Some is very obsolete now, whereas recent additions include things like Brittney Spears – beers (as in “fancy some Brittneys?” Dave? Don’t mind if I do, I’ll have a nelson” (nelson Mandela - stella). When I was younger the slang for this was either pig’s ears or Don Revies (bevvies. Don Revie was a football manager in the 70s)

Also as the substances of choice change so does the slang. Gianluca is cocaine (Gianluca vialli – charlie), Gary Abletts – tablets (or Mick Mills – pills) (they’re both footballers), also things like “bumbles” (bumblebees – “E”s).

Cobblers.

No true Londoner's ever even heard of septic tanks. They don't have them down the Mile End Road, they don't have them in Romford and they don't have them on Footballers' Wives.

They DO have them, though, in the wilder bits of Gloucestershire. Where all those Eton-educated Mockney chums of Big Ears hang out.

So "septic" is entirely an invention of merchant bankers. In both senses of the word.

Complete orchestras Flanneur old chap, complete orchestras.

Everyone in Romford would know what a “septic” was, as well as a captain, a bubble, a jam roll a sweatty and so on.

London slang , as that’s what it is, forget all that bow-bells pony, is a living dialect (or sub dialect at least) and it is informed by all strata in society.

So there (and no returns)!

Hmm...no septic tanks in 'Footballer's Wives'..? I think flanner just might have suggested a whole new plot line for the next series. Or indeed two. There are now American owners of a Premiership club, so there's one plotline to pretend to keep some contact with reality; the second plotline could involve a lot of explosives and embarrassment for one character or another. I don't suppose US viewers will ever get to see Footballers' Wives (which may be just as well) - just imagine Dynasty without the profound meta-intellectual moral analysis, and with all the women in charge, when they're not in court, prison, rehab or Versace.

But this is turning into far too much of a Friday afternoon thread.

Merchant bankers inventing rhyming slang? How declassé. Do they also affect the appropriate accent?

<i>p.s.</i> I <u>do</u> think there are numerous better ways to select a hotel than by what tube stop it's near. Look at a bus map and you'll see it's possible to get from anywhere to anywhere else on the surface.

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/pdfdocs/centlond.pdf
</b>

&quot;Merchant bankers&quot; IS rhyming slang.

And yes, they DO speak Mockney (aka &quot;Estuary&quot;)

Oh. <i>B</i>ankers! :&quot;&gt;

A merchant banker is someone who regularly enjoys a J. Arthur.