North London park and ride
August 28, 2014 6:23 AM   Subscribe

Looking for a rail or underground park and ride station on the north side of London -- ideally near the M25. Difficuty: one where parking spaces are likely to be available in the middle of the day on a weekday.
posted by penguinicity to Travel & Transportation around London, England (7 answers total)
 
Cockfosters station has quite a large car park, and there are usually spaces at all times of the day.

Edit: Sorry, ignore me. I see you want park and ride.
posted by Nick Jordan at 7:56 AM on August 28, 2014


Cockfosters is the logical choice, though they don't appear to offer pre-booking. I haven't had trouble parking there during the week. Look also at High Barnet.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 7:58 AM on August 28, 2014


Watford is close to the M25
posted by gravelshoes at 8:06 AM on August 28, 2014


Which direction are you coming from?

The first capital connect car parking leaflet lists all their station car parks with numbers of spaces - to help you judge, I don't think New Barnet or Mill Hill Broadway ever get full.

If you don't mind parking 10-15mins walk away you can park near plenty of stations in zones 4-6, even though they don't have actual car parks. Use parkopedia or Park-up to check the restrictions. For example, I've never had any trouble parking on the road during the daytime near West Finchley or Burnt Oak. If you're coming from the north west, Stanmore, Canons Park, Northwood and Northolt are good options. North east, I would guess Theydon Bois or Debden but I've never tried those.
posted by tinkletown at 9:41 AM on August 28, 2014


North east, I would guess Theydon Bois or Debden but I've never tried those.

Don't. There's minimal parking at either station.

Chingford has trains into Liverpool Street every 15 minutes. The main shopping street (Station Road) has parking you have to pay for, but Forest Avenue and some streets around have a 10-11am restriction only to prevent commuter parking.

Chingford is a 10-15 minute drive from J26 of the M25.
posted by essexjan at 11:52 AM on August 28, 2014


Response by poster: We're dropping someone off at Heathrow, then driving back to Cambridge after spending the day in London.
posted by penguinicity at 12:22 PM on August 28, 2014


Oh, well I'd just try parking at West Drayton then (other side of M4 from Heathrow, 20mins to Paddington). It's been about 5 years since I worked around there, but West Drayton is not exactly a commuter hotspot so I'm sure it's still fine. It's only £2.60 a day after 10am, which does not suggest the car park is in high demand, and it's only about 5mins from Heathrow so not too far out of your way. There's a council car park round the corner if it's full.

Failing that, I know plenty of people who have parked at Osterley (picadilly line) with success.
posted by tinkletown at 12:52 PM on August 28, 2014


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