Best way to get to us embassy in London

October 28, 2015 3:20 AM

I'm taking my son to the US embassy in London to get his first adult passport. We're driving from Bristol, because train tix are too expensive. I was thinking of parking at the Kings mall in Hammersmith then tubing it. Our appointment at the embassy is at noon. Does anyone local have better suggestions? Feel free to tell me this a a stupid idea and I should rethink because it's half term or whatever. Thank you!
posted by mgrrl to Travel & Transportation around London, England (8 answers total)

Response by poster: Oops, I mean rethink our transport plans. The appointment is fixed and is during half term on purpose.
posted by mgrrl at 3:23 AM on October 28, 2015

Best answer: It is annoying, isn't it? Going into London from Bristol in the morning means you have to compete for fares with all the London commuters in Reading and Swindon.

(For those wondering what 'expensive' means here, we are talking £100 per person each way for a 90 minute train ride.)

We'll do anything to avoid driving into London. So what we have done in a similar situation includes:

1) Taking a bus. I see Megabus runs from Bristol to London and is much cheaper.

2) Driving closer and taking the train. For example, driving to Reading and taking the train from there. Still expensive but maybe less so.

3) Going to London the night before and staying in a cheap hotel. Crazy that this works out cheaper than the commuter morning train fares but it does, especially for two people.
posted by vacapinta at 4:10 AM on October 28, 2015

Book in advance on thetrainline.com. The cheapest adult fare is 43 pounds from Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington.
posted by lungtaworld at 5:05 AM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Your plan is the best plan.

It should only take a couple of hours to drive from Bristol to Hammersmith, then a bit longer to get to the embassy via tube. It's an early start, but not a super early start.
posted by Elysum at 5:42 AM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

That's a good plan.
The bit you are probably most concerned about is the M4 into Hammersmith, that's my cycle route to work.
It shouldn't be too bad if you hit it by around 10:30 ish. It gets pretty busy at rush hour, but actually should be a bit quieter on half term because a lot of commuters will have that week off.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 9:10 AM on October 28, 2015

Have you thought of National Express coaches? They run into Victoria, which is reasonably close to the US Embassy, and there are local stops in Bristol. The journey time is about 2hrs 30. Scheduled services will get you into London mid-morning, giving you time to find the Embassy.

Fairly close to the US Embassy is the Richoux Tea Room, where we had a MeFi meetup a few years ago. It's a nice place for lunch or a lovely afternoon tea complete with scones, petits fours, cucumber sandwiches, etc.
posted by essexjan at 1:18 PM on October 28, 2015

Driving to Hammersmith and getting the tube is def. the best bet. If you were tempted by the cheaper tickets to go by coach to Victoria (Firstbus costs about £25 return), be warned that you have to pay extra if you change your return time. Since it's hard to estimate when you'll be finished at the embassy this can turn out to be a real pain in the arse. Also Victoria's not a wonderful place to wait for your coach, it can get crowded and pushy and dirty.
posted by glasseyes at 3:27 PM on October 28, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions! We ended up driving to reading and training it to Paddington (£18 return each for off peak!), then walking through Hyde park to the embassy (then to the science museum since we were close, then a hire-a-cycle ride back to Paddington). Good day out was had by all - and we ordered a new passport and ss#.
posted by mgrrl at 4:17 PM on October 29, 2015 [1 favorite]