B&B, hotel or apartment for a 3 day family stay in London

You do not say where you are travelling from, if from the channel ports you do not want to stay in Southgate (which is in the North of London)

Derek,
we'll be travelling by car, driving from portmouth

jean-christophe

Digressing slightly - if you think that you will be not driving in London, then do not take the car into London - car parking could be very expensive.

You could go by train from Portsmouth to London, a cab to the hotel of choice - get a travel card and enjoy the city. You could leave your car in France - however you would like to bring for four people quite a bit of luggage - so ignore my ramblings

£15 a night here for your dates and £5 a night parking.

https://www.travelodge.co.uk/find_a_hotel/hotel.php?hot...om=supersaver_search

Same Company as Bobs link, but slightly nearer and cheaper, only £39.00 per day per family room, same £5 a day parking.

https://www.travelodge.co.uk/find_a_hotel/hotel/hotel_id/45/LondonDocklands

You are within walking distance of the Canary Wharf development which is currently hosting an ice skating rink and also has a variety of shops and restaurants as well as good transport links into the centre of London.

Have a great time on your visit

David

Errm ... sorry but both the above fail somewhat versus the "20 min tube from central London", if by the latter one means the West End.

And amazing though the surge of new towers/malls etc. in Canary Wharf is, I'd hardly commend it to visitors as a place to go! Nor the East End unless they want the real Cockney "gor blimey, Guv"/jellied eels experience.

20 mins from the West End will be a place in the "hotel cities" of Bayswater, Victoria, possibly Paddington and others. But I'd echo the advice to leave the car behind.

Duncan

Dockland to Westminster (or even Bond Street) on the Jubilee Line is about 20 mins (or less) and Docklands has some nice restaurtants. Likewise to Farringdon (for Tower of London etc) is less than 20 mins. Docklands is also outside the Congestion Zone so no need to budget £8 a day for that. Take care Jean. In part of London called The Congestion Zone, you have to pay £8 a day just to enter (Mon to Fri 7.30 to 6.30 or thereabouts). If you don't pay, the penalty is about £100. You also have to pay on top of that to park. You mustn't drive in the Bus Lanes and you mustn't stop on Red Routes (Red Line alongside kerb). Whatever you do, don't stop in a YELLOW BOX (unless you are turning right), make absolutely certain your exit from the yellow box is clear BEFORE you enter.

Travelodge is good value but if they are offereing a cheap deal don't leave it too long, these offers tend to expire seven days before date of arrival.

Other chains offereing romms in central London for about £80 per night include Ibis and Novatel. Might be worth a look.

All the above are room-only IIRC, so you need to budget for breakfast.

Don't be put off. Just make sure you are prepared.

Cheers

Don

A superb location to stay in town is at either of the two hotels at County Hall - the cheaper is

http://www.premiertravelinn.com/pti/hotelInformation.do?hotelId=23881

the other is the Marriott - (which does excellent breakfasts) - both are convenient for Waterloo Station (where the trains from Portsmouth go to)
next door to the Thames, London Eye, just across the river from Houses of Parliament, close to tube stations and if you can walk - a short walk away from Trafalgar Square, lots of the theatres etc.

However car parking is expensive - and you will not really want to use it while you are staying there. And you will pay the London Congestion charge each day you venture out onto the roads unless the stay includes weekends and possibly holidays.

quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Fullerton:
Errm ... sorry but both the above fail somewhat versus the "20 min tube from central London", if by the latter one means the West End.

And amazing though the surge of new towers/malls etc. in Canary Wharf is, I'd hardly commend it to visitors as a place to go! Nor the East End unless they want the real Cockney "gor blimey, Guv"/jellied eels experience.

20 mins from the West End will be a place in the "hotel cities" of Bayswater, Victoria, possibly Paddington and others. But I'd echo the advice to leave the car behind.

Duncan

As has been pointed out correctly by Don, it is indeed a twenty minute journey from the Isle of Dogs area to "civilisation" i.e. theatre, museum and shopping lands.

The Canary Wharf development area has lots of great restaurants and bars and also holds many exhibitions etc, there is a Christmas market going up as we speak and quite often art exhibitions are held. Although I would not recommend this area to spend an entire holiday in, its more than adequate to spend a couple of hours there, especially when its on your doorstep.

The "real" East end cockney disappeared many years ago and you are more likely to encounter a Bengali/Polish speaking inhabitant than you are a "cor blimey guv, thats a cracking pair of minces the trouble has there" speaking person.

The run down hotel “Cities” of Bayswater and Paddington are slowly being filled with B&B's complete with refugees from many a war torn area making these districts not perhaps the most pleasing areas to be in if you are a tourist.

David

quote:

A superb location to stay in town is at either of the two hotels at County Hall

Inddedy. We are staying there over the Xmas break. 1 min or so from the Eye.

Jean Christophe.

If you want to leave your car at my house (10 mins from the Portsmouth ferry Port) and take the train into Waterloo, you'd be very welcome.

Nigel

Thanks all for your replies.
I've sorted out accomodations (B&Bs) for my stay in england. 2 nights quite close to Brighton and 3 nights in London (Ealing).
Not cheap in UK though ! significantly more expensive than in France.

Nigel, many thanks for your offer, it's very kind of you!
However as i mentioned I'll use the car for driving during the 1st two days.

many thanks

Jean-Christophe

Ealing has several underground stations so you should find it easy to get to/from the West End and the City ie most of London's attractions.

Its usually better value to buy Travel Cards lasting two or three days rather than buying individual journey tickets. Ask at the station what's best for you.

Cheers

Don