Car in London
Feb 8th, 2006, 08:11 PM
#1
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Car in London
Our Go As You Please package to London, which our travel agent has arranged, includes a car, which originally we really weren't planning to rent. Since we are arriving at Gatwick, would it be an advantage or a detriment to have a car available. My worry is where are we going to park it and how much will that cost? Have been to London before and used The Underground to travel about. When purchasing a package would I have to accept the car? We were planning to buy a round trip train ticket to London from Gatwick for flight home, before travel agent came to us with this package offer. There will be 4 of us on trip.
Feb 8th, 2006, 09:16 PM
#2
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a car in London will be a millstone..parking is expensive and you certainly dont want it to get around London...suggest your travel agent actually try to drive around London before he rents this package to people.
Feb 8th, 2006, 09:49 PM
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There may be some hotels in central London which offer significant parking discounts (no idea), but otherwise parking in central London will be around £25-£35 a day (though a great deal more if you move from place to place and pay by the hour), plus £8 a day congestion charge. Finding places to store a car overnight is easy: these days, finding parking during the day is also reasonably painless (people who tell you different are fantasising), though you have to keep your eyes peeled. A good place to find car parks is the NCP website.
Parking costs can drop sharply the further you go from areas in demand - but transport costs into the centre will generally go up more or less proportionately.
I can't imagine anyone's going to hold a gun to your head to take the car - though packages are sometimes conditional on your doing strange things, so you need to check this. But the daily parking plus congestion charge cost will be greater than the properly-researched public transport cost into town for four people. And while I'm a strong critic of the wimps who emote on this forum about the difficulty of driving here (ought to try the Palermo ring road if they want really tricky driving), I wouldn't recommend anyone, ever, to drive into London from Gatwick.
OTOH, Gatwick is reasonably well located for painless access by car to a lot of the rest of Southern England. It might make sense to use the car for just a couple of days if you want to get round the countryside. But even then, for some of the places north and west of London, public transport will often be a lot easier, quicker and cheaper than schlepping 30 miles south of London to pick a car up.
If you're planning to stay in London, the car is almost certainly worse than useless.
Parking costs can drop sharply the further you go from areas in demand - but transport costs into the centre will generally go up more or less proportionately.
I can't imagine anyone's going to hold a gun to your head to take the car - though packages are sometimes conditional on your doing strange things, so you need to check this. But the daily parking plus congestion charge cost will be greater than the properly-researched public transport cost into town for four people. And while I'm a strong critic of the wimps who emote on this forum about the difficulty of driving here (ought to try the Palermo ring road if they want really tricky driving), I wouldn't recommend anyone, ever, to drive into London from Gatwick.
OTOH, Gatwick is reasonably well located for painless access by car to a lot of the rest of Southern England. It might make sense to use the car for just a couple of days if you want to get round the countryside. But even then, for some of the places north and west of London, public transport will often be a lot easier, quicker and cheaper than schlepping 30 miles south of London to pick a car up.
If you're planning to stay in London, the car is almost certainly worse than useless.
Feb 8th, 2006, 11:23 PM
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It's only usefull if you are going to travel outside of London. In London, it is of no use, and will end up costing you quite some money too. And the train from Gatwick to London is far more convenient than driving, especially if you are not familiar with driving in London.
Feb 9th, 2006, 01:49 AM
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To put this in context, I live in London and own a car. I only use this car (a) at the weekends when I want to do a big shop at my local supermarket and (b) when I want to drive OUT of London to visit friends and family. It wouldn't occur to me to use it during the week as it's far too expensive (parking and congestion charges) and impractical (traffic and parking). Public transport if FAR easier, faster and cheaper to use.
What's more, the drive from Gatwick into London is a slow, painful journey through the congested suburbs of South London - there isn't a major highway from the south into London. While the train journey takes 30 mins, a car (or taxi) journey from Gatwick could easily take 90 mins in heavy traffic.
What's more, the drive from Gatwick into London is a slow, painful journey through the congested suburbs of South London - there isn't a major highway from the south into London. While the train journey takes 30 mins, a car (or taxi) journey from Gatwick could easily take 90 mins in heavy traffic.
Feb 9th, 2006, 06:57 AM
#6
SLLovett: You do not want the car. Your TA wants to hook you up w/ a package that has you paying for an almost useless "amenity". There may not be a "car rental charge" spelled out w/ the package, but you WILL pay for it. This is nuts - has your TA ever even been to London?
The only way having a car would make any sense is to go to Kent/East Sussex for a country holiday. But not for traveling from LGW to, and w/i London.
The only way having a car would make any sense is to go to Kent/East Sussex for a country holiday. But not for traveling from LGW to, and w/i London.
Feb 9th, 2006, 07:42 AM
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You've gotten great advice from the others - you won't need (or want) a car in London itself.
I have purchased "Go As You Please" packages in the past - is this with British Airways? Basically, the price you pay includes a certain number of items - airfare, overnight stays, transportation passes, meals, rental car, etc.
Because it is "Go As You Please," you choose which of those things work for you.
Many people who purchase the package are flying to London, but really GOING somewhere else within the UK, so the car is a wonderful addition to the package.
In your case, since you're staying in London, the overall price of the package may still be "a bargain" for the elements of the package, even without actually using the car.
If yours is with BA and similar to the packages I used years ago, there is no REQUIREMENT that you use the car that is included.
Now, having said all of that, I used the "Go As You Please" packages many years ago, when I was new to UK travel. Since then, I have found that I'm much happier making my own arrangements - and I usually don't spend any more money than those packages, sometimes I spend less.
I found that the package hotels were really dreary tourist hotels - huge and featureless (think the Tavistock and similar). The coupons for food were almost worthless - I rarely want to spend the time going all the way across town to get a "2 for 1" dinner at the restaurant in the packet.
If you look at my trip reports, you'll see that we've driven in London on several of our trips. It can be done (as others have said above), but I really wouldn't recommend it). We had specific needs that just made it the simplest choice for us - for a day or two.
So, you may want to pick apart the pieces of the "Go As You Please" package and make sure it really meets your needs.
Oh, and I think the "Go As You Please" with rental car is actually a slightly different version (because of the expense of the rental car)...so ask the agent about the price minus car.
Have fun - I hope you love London!
Gayle
I have purchased "Go As You Please" packages in the past - is this with British Airways? Basically, the price you pay includes a certain number of items - airfare, overnight stays, transportation passes, meals, rental car, etc.
Because it is "Go As You Please," you choose which of those things work for you.
Many people who purchase the package are flying to London, but really GOING somewhere else within the UK, so the car is a wonderful addition to the package.
In your case, since you're staying in London, the overall price of the package may still be "a bargain" for the elements of the package, even without actually using the car.
If yours is with BA and similar to the packages I used years ago, there is no REQUIREMENT that you use the car that is included.
Now, having said all of that, I used the "Go As You Please" packages many years ago, when I was new to UK travel. Since then, I have found that I'm much happier making my own arrangements - and I usually don't spend any more money than those packages, sometimes I spend less.
I found that the package hotels were really dreary tourist hotels - huge and featureless (think the Tavistock and similar). The coupons for food were almost worthless - I rarely want to spend the time going all the way across town to get a "2 for 1" dinner at the restaurant in the packet.
If you look at my trip reports, you'll see that we've driven in London on several of our trips. It can be done (as others have said above), but I really wouldn't recommend it). We had specific needs that just made it the simplest choice for us - for a day or two.
So, you may want to pick apart the pieces of the "Go As You Please" package and make sure it really meets your needs.
Oh, and I think the "Go As You Please" with rental car is actually a slightly different version (because of the expense of the rental car)...so ask the agent about the price minus car.
Have fun - I hope you love London!
Gayle
Feb 9th, 2006, 08:01 AM
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Ask yourself <b>this</b> question? What is that travel agent doing for you? Are they saving you money? Are they saving you time/ Are they doing ANYTHING that you couldn't do yourself just as easily?
This TA of yours sounds uninformed at best so I would beware.
This TA of yours sounds uninformed at best so I would beware.
