Parking my hired car in a car park

June 12, 2008 6:13 AM

24 hours in London (arriving at Heathrow and leaving from Stansted). Where shall we leave our luggage while we see the city?

Three of us arrive Thursday at 6:45 in the morning at Heathrow Airport. A fourth is already in London, on the Northern line of the tube. All four of us are spending Thursday night at a bed & breakfast near Stansted Airport and we fly out of that airport at 6:45 Friday. We want to see the city, while leaving our luggage in a secure location. So here's the plan I came up with. We will rent - I mean, "hire" - a car. I found this list of park and ride stations. Finchley Central has about the most parking spaces of any stop on the Northern line. So we will park there, the fourth member of our party will meet us, and we will leave all the bags in the car and take the tube into the city. After a few hours in the city, we'll go back to our car and drive to the B&B.

Is there a better way to do this? I'm guessing it'll probably be 9:00 by the time we get to Finchley Central. Will all the parking spaces be taken by then? Will there be any place to park nearby the station? Should we park at a different station? Or should we do something else entirely?

posted by Dec One to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

I would suggest dropping the bags off at the b&b first and not leaving them in the car. unless you can manage to store all of them out of sight in the trunk you're basically just asking for your windows to be smashed in. there are also locker places (with a person who will check your luggage because of the IRA bombs back in the days) at paddington or liverpool station and many other large railway stations. (I mentioned those two because the heathrow express train pulls into paddington and the stansted express into liverpool street, I think.)

you will be able to find parking around most stations on the northern line beginning with zone 3. london is a rather spread-out city and this is not exactly the most inner-city area, with the exception of golders green station, which is kind of tough to find parking right in front of but not a block away or so.

make sure to remember to pay the congestion charge if you happen to drive through the center, which can happen easily. the rental company will share your information if they get a ticket.
posted by krautland at 6:25 AM on June 12, 2008

My suggestion is this: At Heathrow Underground station buy a one-day travelcard which will cover you for all tube and bus travel for that day. Get the tube from Heathrow to Liverpool Street (Piccadilly Line to Holborn, change at Holborn for the Central Line to Liverpool Street). Get your friend to meet you there with his/her luggage.

There is a left luggage desk at Liverpool Street station. It is near platform 10. The cost is £5.50 per item and that allows you to leave it for 24 hours. They are run by Network Rail and the number to call regarding luggage is: [phone] or [phone].

Get the Central Line back into London, and have some fun. Then at the end of the evening pick up your luggage and get the train from Liverpool Street to your B&B. It'll be about £12-£15 each for a single ticket, I think.

Check with the B&B the following:

1. What the nearest station is. Stansted Airport is in the middle of nowhere, so it's possible that the closest station to the B&B isn't the one at the airport. When you know which station, you can plan your journey from Liverpool Street to whichever station here.

2. Ask the B&B if you can arrive late-ish in the evening, so you'll have time for a good look round London, if you want to do that. Allow yourselves a good two hours to get from Central London via Liverpool Street, picking up your luggage and then out of London to the B&B.

3. Ask the B&B for the number of a local mini-cab firm. A mini-cab is a private (but licensed) taxi service. You're unlikely to find any other kind of local transport to get you from the station to your B&B, if it's not within walking distance. Phone and book the mini-cab when you know which train you're getting, so it'll be there to meet you at the other end.

Hiring a car and parking it for the day is likely to be problematic. For a start, as krautland mentioned, you have to take into account the congestion charge. Even if you turn into a CC street by mistake and turn straight back round again, you'll be liable for it, and if you don't pay it at once, the fines quickly become punitive.

Secondly, leaving luggage in a car is a very bad idea and if you have travel insurance, it probably won't cover you for theft from a vehicle if the bags are not all locked in the boot.
posted by essexjan at 7:26 AM on June 12, 2008

I wouldn't rent a car in London. You'll burn 3/4 of your day in traffic.

There are luggage storage places all over Heathrow, some of which will deliver your luggage to Stanstead for you. I wish I knew which, but I am certain I have seen this on their rates card.

Or you can use one of the left luggage places on the Tube. Essexjan mentioned Liverpool station already, and I know Victoria station has one. There may be others.

Everywhere you want to see "in the city for a day" is much easier to experience on foot and the Underground. In fact, I might argue you're not even getting the London experience at all without the Tube. :)
posted by rokusan at 8:23 AM on June 12, 2008

I'd basically agree with the above - rent a car if you want to explore England outside of London (tricky with time constraints) but for london use bus and (mostly) tube. To paraphrase Futurama: Nobody drives in london - there's too many cars!

This thread may help with the luggage question.
posted by Artw at 9:50 AM on June 12, 2008

finchley central is madness

here's your route

• arrive heathrow

• take train to paddington, with your luggage (not the tube - it'll take you over an hour to get from heathrow to central london on the tube - you don't have that time to waste!)

• take underground (pink line) from paddington to liverpool street

• leave luggage in left luggage facilities at liverpool street

• enjoy day in london
posted by ascullion at 12:04 PM on June 12, 2008

and i should have said - a car will be a major hindrance, not a help
posted by ascullion at 12:05 PM on June 12, 2008