Shall we turn this round and ask, is there a particular interchange on the map that's worrying you?

My feeling is dominiquejade has a sort of free-floating anxiety about a new experience. When I was 20 and going to Paris, I suspect my problem-solving for the big picture, and also my utter ignorance, kept me from worrying about the details. And after I got there it was all so straightforward it was a non-issue. I think she'll find her experience similar and wonder, if she even thinks about it, what she was worried about. If she has the ability to get herself there, the rest is pretty simple stuff.

I apologize i maybe didn't clarify my reason for even worrying about it.
from what i've seen via my 'research', london public transportation does seem very straightforward to use and interpret.
I'm truly not in as much of an anxious state as i apparently portray :)
It's just a matter of picking a hotel. Believe it or not, from what i can see on maps, there are actually a great deal of hotels i've looked into that haven't been handy to a tube station, which is going to be my preferred mode of travel. I know you can always catch a bus or a cab, but i'd just rather not unless I really have to.
I guess my question is, if my choice in hotel is between something within spitting distance of a tube station (Holiday Inn Park Royal for example), or something slightly further from a station such as Holiday Inn London Brent Cross, is the convenience of Park Royal truly worth a little extra money?

>> there are actually a great deal of hotels i've looked into that haven't been handy to a tube station, <<

>>Holiday Inn London Brent Cross<<

Holy COW -- no wonder you are confused. That hotel is hell and gone out on the North Circular Road.

>>Holiday Inn Park Royal<<

And that one is in only a <i>slightly</i> better location.

Why are you looking at those??? Neither is in central London and neither would be a good place to stay as a tourist.

There are MANY tube stations and they are in just about every single neighborhood. But you seem to be looking in far flung areas for some reason.

What are your criteria - does it have to be a Holiday Inn? Or - what os your budget?

Brent Cross??? Acton??? Why would you stay out there?

Look at the tube map: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf

You want to be in Zone 1, preferably inside the Circle Line. Just possibly Zone 2.

And why the Holiday Inn? You can stay in those at home.

BTW, don't dismiss the buses. You get a very good view from the top deck of a bus and no view at all on most tube lines. Buses are a lot easier to use than they used to be, there's a map for Central London on the TFL site, and handy info on all bus stops.

It occurs to me, that if you live in a town of 700 people, you may not have realized how big London is. Greater London has a population of eight and a half million and covers over 600 square miles. If you stay out of the center, as you're currently proposing, you'll waste a lot of time getting to and from the sights you want to see.

If the question now is where to stay, just tell us how much you're willing to spend or if you're using points, which, and ask for suggestions for hotels in the center. Very straightforward. Narrow it down from too many, all over, to a few well located possibilities.

Well, staying in the center of the city, as opposed to something on the outskirts and having to deal with 30 minutes of travel into the center, saves me about 400-600 dollars on my trip in total.

Sorry,, I worded that backwards, but you know what I mean. Staying IN the city is incredibly expensive, so by staying further out and taking the tube into the city, thats several hundred dollars that I could use elsewhere.

I don't often cite Rick Steves...but your most valuable asset on a trip is not money...it's TIME. You might spend an extra hundred to stay at a small non-upscale hotel (like Cherry Court or similar) but you'll save a bunch of hours of time wasted getting into and out of the city. Being a "commuter" is not something I would recommend.

My wife and I always stay at Cherry Court Hotel...just down the street from Victoria station. It's inexpensive, clean, and the people who run it are great. Caveat: the rooms are really, really, small...but we've never found it to be a problem.

http://www.cherrycourthotel.co.uk/

Location is great for tube and buses. You can take the Southern train from Gatwick or the tube from Heathrow...very easy and inexpensive.

If you're going to stay for more than four days, get a 7-day travel card (zones 1-2) loaded onto your Oyster card. You'll be able to hop on and off buses at will in addition to unlimited tube & DLR access.

ssander

" Staying IN the city is incredibly expensive"

Only if you insist on staying in American chain hotels. Or posh hotels.

I don't know when you're going, but for early May the Holiday Inn Express Park Royal is asking 112 GBP/night. The place I would stay, walking distance to the British Museum, is 73 GBP for an en-suite single. Yes, it's tiny, and yes, it may be up a lot of stairs, but the rate includes a cooked breakfast and it's super central, close to tube and bus stops. (See http://www.ridgemounthotel.co.uk/prices )

In the summer, you can stay in a student dorm room, en-suite with kitchen, on Drury Lane, for 77 GBP, less if you stay more than four nights (www.lsevacations.co.uk/Home.aspx ). I did that last year. I could have stayed in my niece's apartment for free, but I didn't want the commute.

Where are you looking for hotels? Try booking.com and eurocheapo.com

>>having to deal with 30 minutes of travel into the center, saves me about 400-600 dollars on my trip in total.<<

Usually only if you are looking at really expensive properties in the center.

>>Staying IN the city is incredibly expensive,<<

Absolutely NOT true. What is your actual budget per night and we can aim you in the right direction.

First lesson I learned when I started travelling to Europe was the best investment is a central hotel. The atmosphere is generally more what I am expecting, easier access to sites, and no worry about a long commute at the end of the day. Commuting wastes more time than you think and you lose out on many amenities closer in (like restaurant choices by your hotel).

Brent Cross/Acton will be closer to an hour each way into city centre when you take into consideration walking to the station, waiting for the train etc...

There's definitely an art to asking the right questions. Taking into account that in traveling to a new place we tend not to know what we don't know, it appears we've finally reached the real question, where should I stay? So, again, how much are you willing to pay, as opposed to how much you think you'll save staying at one inappropriate place over another. HOW MUCH is a reasonable amount for you to pay for a good central location, keeping in mind travel cost, as well as time saved? Actual hotel names will be forthcoming when a figure is provided.

Its hard for me to give a per night figure, as I'm planning on booking through Expedia as a package. There will be 2 of us going, and I want to trying to stay around 1,000.00 per person for the package deal of a flight and hotel for 7 nights

You may want to compare prices, as well, to make sure the deal you're getting is not only less expensive but worthwhile in terms of the factors discussed above. It could work out better to buy air & hotel separately. For instance, check for airfares on Norwegian.com to see if they serve an airport near you.

As I thought: the question is based on a misapprehension.

This isn't a 100% accurate rule: but it's closer to a universal truth than almost anything else you'll hear anywhere else

- <b> Don't stay outside the area bounded by London's Central Line tube</b>

It's a slightly old-fashioned rule: the area between the Angel Islington and Highbury tubes is now as central as it gets (happened about the day I moved out). And the area round Hoxton Overground is so achingly cool anyone under 30 would be in serious danger of behaving like a grownup if they didn't stay there.

But it's just not true that whatever advantages you might imagine reside in Brent Cross (there aren't any) are worth "an extra 30 mins"

Those suburban stations have almost American levels of train frequency (sometimes you can wait for 20 minutes, which is simply incompatible with being in a proper city) The hotels are usually well over 100 yards away: often serious fractions of a mile. You're adding a good couple of hours a day to your travelling time by this false economy.

And, while both safety and the sense of being safe (not always the same thing) are ensured in central London by the near-unbelievable density of pedestrians around till midnight, walking from stations in deep suburbia to remote hotels makes you realise why North Americans are forever asking (to us incomprehensible) questions about neighbourhood safety.

Cricklewood isn't dangerous by any means: but walking back from its station at 11.30 pm, the question no longer seems absurd.

Any straightforward cost/benefit analysis will show immediately that a hotel, hostel or Airbnb in the centre gives you more sightseeing, bookshop browsing or clubbing hours per dollar than staying beyond the Pale.

>>I'm planning on booking through Expedia as a package. There will be 2 of us going, and I want to trying to stay around 1,000.00 per person for the package deal of a flight and hotel for 7 nights<<

$1000 for airfare AND 7 nights hotel???? Where are you flying from -- Dublin?

I think I'm handing off to others ;)

https://www.expedia.com/London-Hotel...&adultsPerRoom[1]=2&currentFlights=5f311bde46d0a6713dc6bd8cb62c4eb6 ,3b08c85ba88ef6ffe7e51c8da7238ee0&prices=2414.09&i nttkn=scJtnKPSyUpMn7SV

today is monday so prices are higher than usual, i don't think that's super unreasonable..

Sorry, i now realize link just brings you to hotel. As of right now, I can get airfare and 6/7 nights at tune hotel kings cross for 1,139 per person.