Could you please help me with finding a day parking garage or suggest a street/area near a tube station to park a car and take the tube to get to downtown of London? We would like to come to London for a day either on 17 or 18 of December. We will be coming from Stratford-upon-Avon. Every tour guide suggests not to drive in London even on weekends since parking is either limited or way too expensive. This seems to be true, I checked NCP site, and parking rates seems to be the same weekday or weekend. Since we will have a rented car, and it is group of 5 people train seems to be more expensive option.
Any suggestions on affordable parking near a tube station on weekend will be greatly appreciated. How do brits solve the parking in London problem when they come for a day trip? Always take a train?

Thanks in advance.

the tube is not the only option. it depends how far you wish to drive toward london. keep in mind that the driving can be stressful for the inexperienced even quite far out. without knowing any more information, my first reaction would be wembley. there is plenty of parking there and the tube is a convenient sail into the centre. wembley is also very well marked as you come off the M40 and on to the M25

Thanks, walkinaround! This is a very good suggestion. Just in case, if we do venture into London, where else could we park near the tube closer to the town center?

wakinaround, did you mean Wembley Park, North Wembley, or Wembley Central tube station? Which one has an ample parking? This is our first time in London, I apologize if this is a stupid question

not a stupid question...i should have been more specific. both wembley central and wembley park are about a 10 min walk from the stadium area (i chose because it is very well marked and has ample parking). the choice of station depends on where in london you are headed. wembley park on the metropolitan line would be my choice as that is a faster ride. i would check the schedule to make sure there are no major events on the day you visit.

walkinaround, I am correct to assume that this is Wembley Stadium parking? Does it have any restrictions on who may park there? Ticket holders only? Their wbsite says "parking reservations should be made in advance with WNSL reception" (http://www.wembleystadium.com/pressb...nteractive.htm) Umless I missed something

I am not sure there is much parking around any of the Wembley stations with all the development. Stanmore at the start of The Jubilee Line has a big car park as does Watford Junction which is a little further out and on the mainline into Euston.
Street parking in many parts of central London is free on Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday but the popular spots get filled up very quickly and more councils are charging at weekends. Tube station car parks are free on Sundays and sometimes cheaper than the normal weekday rate on Saturdays.
If you are coming down the M40/A40 from Stratford Hillingdon station on the Metropolitan Line is right by the main road and has a large car park.

adamhornets, thanks a lot. I'll continue my research but I feel much more confident now. Internet and travel guides do not offer much help with parking, it is the insider's help that counts!

Thanks again, and happy holidays

Veratop:

PLEASE don't post long URLs. Or at least, if you're going to, have the courtesy to use the edit function before finally posting and see how bloody difficult it makes life for everyone else.

Second, forget all this nonsense about the difficulty of parking in London. Drive in on the M40, and carry straight on till it becomes the Marylebone and then Euston Road. After the Euston Tower underpass, take any left and cruise round the side streets. You'll find wall to wall, unoccupied, single yellow lines.

Single yellow lines mean parking is not permitted during the working day. The definition of "working day" varies from location to location, and the precise hours are indicated on streetside notices.

In the area north of Euston Road, west of Midland Road and east of Hampstead Road, "working day" does NOT include Saturday. On street parking is free all day Saturday, and you're a couple of minutes from loads of bus and tube connections.

One of the traditions of this forum is that whenever anyone suggests dealing with this neighbourhood without an armed escort, a bunch of no-nothings (some claiming actually to live here!!) pipe up with stories about how dreadful the area is.

All old-maid claptrap. Mrs F and I have been leaving cars - often full of expensive technology - there for years. It's practically the only part of London we've not had a car stolen, broken into or keyed.

The truth about London is that you can ALWAYS find on-street car parking in the centre, and at weekends lots of it is free. The very best thing about the congestion charge is that it's now even easier. In the very centre it gets trickier around the fourth Sunday of Advent, since this is the one weekend the entire population of Islington and Chelsea bring their cars into the area round Oxford St to avoid sharing the tube with the oiks from Hounslow and Esher. But north of the Euston Road is far too far for their indolent weenies to be expected to walk.

We bribe the tour guides to perpetuate the no parking fallacy so we can keep all this for ourselves.

>>>>
One of the traditions of this forum is that whenever anyone suggests dealing with this neighbourhood without an armed escort, a bunch of no-nothings (some claiming actually to live here!!) pipe up with stories about how dreadful the area is.
>>>>

flanner:
can you please explain this? did i miss a post on this thread? to what are you referring?

This is a good website for reducing huge URLs and high Flannerian blood pressure.
http://tinyurl.com/

You copy the big URL into to box and it is broken down to manageable size
Veratop's URL becomes http://tinyurl.com/7clja

Veratop, if I were you I would plan on going on the 18th, a Sunday, when much of the restricted and paid parking is free. So you can drive right into the centre of London and park in the street, say 2 streets from Oxford Street, or a black from the British Museum, or anywhere else you want to go.

Simply drive to where you want to be, and then drive around the nearby streets, checking the signs attached to the lamposts that indicate parking restrictions - almost all of these are lifted on Sundays. The only exceptions are where you see DOUBLE yellow or red lines on the side of the road - this means no parking at any time. Single yellow lines are usually free on Sundays.

London will be busy so close to Christmas, so parking may not be THAT easy to find, but peresevere and you'll find a space eventually.

That's parking sorted. DRIVING in London is another matter entirely. You'll find heavy traffic even on a Sunday, and a confusing road system based on medieval street patterns, so make sure you buy an A-Z road map of London (comes in a small book format, available in all newsagents, petrol stations and book shops in London) and nominate a good navigator.

when I wrote black, I surely meant block. Serves me right for trying to use an American expression.

Far from it for me to disagree with flanner and others but driving in London is not something I would suggest (even on a Sunday) if you are not used to driving in a foreign country. (I'm assuming you are not born and bred in Stratford!)

The last Sunday before Christmas will be extra busy and most central spots will be taken by 11.00am or earlier. The areas that Flanner mentions will be better but you will still have some one way streets to negotiate and you will still have to buy tube or bus tickets. It really depends if you are happy to drive in London.

Thank you very much, everyone! This has been very helpful. I apologize for the long URL that I posted to this site. I was trying to provide as much info as I had available at the moment to make it easier for the forum gurus to give their expert advice Flanneruk, don’t you think you sermon on dangers of posting long URLs is much longer than my initial post?
I learned my lesson – I’ll do spell check before posting anything to the site. My only excuse – English is not my native tongue.
This is my first post, and I already learned a lot. Thank you, and happy holidays ahead for you!

More apologies, especially to flanneruk, - I thought for a moment you meant that my POST was long. I am ashamed... Special thanks to MissPrism for suggesting tinyurl.com.

Looking forward to my London trip.

P.S. My husband is a very experienced driver, he drove in Manhattan, I hope this counts as qualifying experience

veratop: I wouldn't normally recommend you drive into London. But coming in from the west and being on a weekend -- you can do it. Honest. Much easier than stopping at some outlying tube/rail station.

Access into London from the M40 is pretty straightforward.

BTW - flanner's "sermon" was just one sentence out of his most useful post. I'd just follow his driving directions to the area around Euston rd. Just be happy he mentioned the looooong URL before certain other un-named Fodorites did - talk about a lecture

Janisj, I agree, there is plenty of useful information in flanneruk post. I am thoroughly ashamed, my SINCERE apologies to flanneruk. I hope my awkwardness would not not make you think of Americans as rude or unrefined. I am not an American but I lived in the USA for many years. In my experience they are very patient, helpful, and most forgiving people.

veratop, If your husband is comfortable driving in Manhatten, he's a good candidate for London on a weekend. I don't mind driving in NYC (don't love it either) but I still find London stressful. Driving a car I don't own and staying ever conscious of the "other side of the road" thing adds a couple of levels of anxiety I don't experience at home. Travelling to and from Stratford in addition to touring London all day is going to be pretty fatiguing for your designated driver. If the additional expense isn't huge, I'd opt for the train.

Still, sounds like you've got another option to the train.

And don't worry. flanner's opinion of Americans is already deeply entrenched. Nothing you've said will alter it, nor should you feel ashamed for having posted a funky url. Many of us have done and now you know how to prevent it!

Hope you have a great trip!