Help with driving route into Greater London......

Angelboy

Angelboy

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I have to take my son to Guy's & St Thomas Evelina Children's hospital this week and as it's an overnight I thought it best to drive rather than take the train.

When I put the route planner into Google maps it give's me two choices.

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I'm coming down the A1 so the route to the left is pretty much straight into London whereas the route to the right is via the M11.

We need to be at the hospital for 11.30am so I'd rather be there for at least an hour before to get parked and get sorted, so around 10.30am.

Which is the best route and how long should I expect traffic to be around this time of day? I'd rather get there with 2+ hours to kill if necessary rather than being stressed out and up to the wire.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
My advice is to take the train if possible. I live less than 40 miles from London and avoid driving in at all cost, traffic is often so heavy that an average of 11mph is considered good. Also, if you are going to drive research the parking beforehand, its another thing that can be difficult and eye watsringly expensive. Good luck at the hospital I
 
Had to work at the Lords cricket ground last week. I was leaving near Birmingham at 5am to get there for 7.20am. Parking is so expensive in London £11.40 for 4 hrs.
I would rather get train but obviously need tools and materials, if at all possible if I was you I'd drive to the outskirts and then get the train.
 
Like Brian, I would suggest that the train might be an easier and less stressful way to go.
I work in London a lot and have to drive as I have tools to lug about, but on any visit for pleasure or to visit mum I'll take the train even though it is more expensive (I can park free).
However, of the two routes you have shown, the A1 is the one I'd take as it is more straight forward, and you sound like you are not a regular London driver..
 
Definitely take the western route, I'm not sure if it cuts across the congestion zone but the route in from the east does and traffic is always heavy in morning. I live near Chelmsford and when I had to drive to Euston one morning it took me 2.5 hours.
 
I drive to St Thomas' a couple of times a year, I guess it depends where your coming from for me, in Warwickshire, it's M1 down the very first end, then onto the Edgware Road all the way down to Marble Arch, round, there onto park lane, then round the back of the palace into Whitehall, across Westminster bridge and take a right and your there

Edit, as a general rule I find the traffic not to be as bad as you'd expect just give yourself a little bit of a buffer in arrival time, it might be worth finding out the best place to park for the part of the hospital your going to as it can be a bit of a rabbit warren, although I seem to remember that unit is on the Westminster bridge end of the hospital, but please don't quote me on that
 
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Unless your really set on driving I would get a direct train to waterloo and it's only a 10 min walk from there.
 
Thanks for all the advice for the train - we did that the last time we came down but that was just for a consultation so we could walk & catch the tube. This time he's having a general so the last thing I want to be bothered with is getting him back to Kings Cross on the tube/train when the best thing for him will be to relax in the back of the car. He's got 4 hours pre-assement on the Wednesday then back at 7.30am (if they're on time of course) for his scan and then by mid-afternoon he'll probably be ready to go.


When we came down before it cost £120 just for train and tube and for that we had to get out of hours tickets so we had 5 hours to kill coming home. Fuel will cost me £60, parking £20-40, congestion charge £11.50 (as we'd end up leaving after 6pm the next day) so pretty much the same really.

We have a blue badge for him so the hospital said there's a few disabled parking bays but there's also a couple of car parks close by near Waterloo that I can use and it'd be 24hr parking anyway so £20/day give or take.

So I'm committed to driving but happy for me to set off at 4 in the morning if need be - I've just zero idea of the amount of time I'll be stuck in London traffic.
 
I'm even thinking that I'd be happy to set off at 3.00am to hit London at 6.00am - would this be before the traffic starts to build?
 
Just an idea but could you get a hotel nearby the night before so it takes the stress out of driving the next day?
 
Matt- said:
Just an idea but could you get a hotel nearby the night before so it takes the stress out of driving the next day?
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I'd rather travel in the early hours of the morning an hit London before the traffic builds up. It's easier on the motorway as well when there's no-one on it!
 
Angelboy said:
I'm even thinking that I'd be happy to set off at 3.00am to hit London at 6.00am - would this be before the traffic starts to build?
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You should be fine at that time - I would guess that hitting the outskirts of London at 6.30 would still be fine - there will be traffic but it will be moving. However, to avoid any stress leave at 3.00, hit London at 6.00 and enjoy some time once parked up in a blue badge space seeing some sights, standing on a bridge watching the day start, and if he is allowed, grabbing some breakfast - it may make it a special treat rather than an ordeal of a day..
There is plenty to see along that stretch of the river, even one of the few beaches (with yellow sand!) if the tide is out !
Good luck to you both !
 
stevewestern said:
You should be fine at that time - I would guess that hitting the outskirts of London at 6.30 would still be fine - there will be traffic but it will be moving. However, to avoid any stress leave at 3.00, hit London at 6.00 and enjoy some time once parked up in a blue badge space seeing some sights, standing on a bridge watching the day start, and if he is allowed, grabbing some breakfast - it may make it a special treat rather than an ordeal of a day..
There is plenty to see along that stretch of the river, even one of the few beaches (with yellow sand!) if the tide is out !
Good luck to you both !
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That's exactly what I was thinking!
 
Parking may well be a killer just there. But there is a travellodge a little way from there. Check if they offer parking. @Jerm 's wife works there. He may have another idea
 
i would go down the m1 ,,,,,,,but if you left at three i d say either way would be alright ,,,,,just keep an eye on the congestion charge area and dont forget to pay if you go in it ... all the best for the lad ,,,hope all goes well.
 
boyfalldown said:
Parking may well be a killer just there. But there is a travellodge a little way from there. Check if they offer parking. @Jerm 's wife works there. He may have another idea
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I've seen a few parking places, including the hospital itself, so I think at silly-o-clock it might be OK.
 
donut said:
i would go down the m1 ,,,,,,,but if you left at three i d say either way would be alright ,,,,,just keep an eye on the congestion charge area and dont forget to pay if you go in it ... all the best for the lad ,,,hope all goes well.
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I've already paid the congestion charge for the first day. You get it free with a blue badge but you have to register and it takes 10 days to process so I've done it for any future trips we might need.

Thanks for concern but unfortunately there's nothing they can do for him, further surgery is too risky so all we can do now is hope his problem grows with him rather than against him. s*** really, considering the Proffessor we've seen at the Evelina is the pretty much the top of the tree in the UK.
 
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There are lots of parking places fairly close and also not to expensive... try looking here especially if you want to pre-book... Hope everything goes well and you both manage to enjoy the day. As mentioned above getting there way early could help to make it a good experience.
 
I lived 5 minutes away from there for about 15 years (moved away 2.5 years ago) and go back fairly often.

Driving down M1 to Staples Corner, down A5, around Marble Arch and down Park Lane, Victoria, aim for Vauxhall Bridge and cross to south of the river. Turn left and you are heading to the hospital.

Getting there for 6-7am should be fine - traffic should be moving fine but will of course build up very quickly.

As above, go for breakfast if possible - there's a few nice places along the South Bank between Westminster Bridge and Waterloo.

Otherwise, hope for a good day and get a tour bus trip (even though it's only for a couple of hours, it passes the time and saves your feet) or simply sit along the river.

All good wishes for your lad :)

Edit: didn't read that you are coming down A1.

In that case, I'd go down A1 as on the map.
 
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When I used to travel to Welwyn Garden City in the morning there used to be long queues all the way past Potters Bar down to Apex Cornor going into London.
 
Angelboy said:
I'm even thinking that I'd be happy to set off at 3.00am to hit London at 6.00am - would this be before the traffic starts to build?
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Honestly if you hit London that early you'll be at the hospital before 7am trust me I've made that mistake thankfully the Lane-Fox unit that I attend we really good about it and actually sure me before clinic opened rather than me have to wait for my 11:30 appointment, I was actually home for a little after 12 noon :lol:

You said his appointment is at 11:30 in that case I'd aim to hit London for about 9:30-10, you'll miss the majority of rush hour traffic and should be sufficient time from past experience to make it to Tommy's

Also you mentioned you have a blue badge for your lad, so unless things have changed you should get gratis congestion charge but you do still have to register for the days used so for the in and outward journeys

As others have said best of luck for your lad
 
Angelboy said:
I have to take my son to Guy's & St Thomas Evelina Children's hospital this week and as it's an overnight I thought it best to drive rather than take the train.

When I put the route planner into Google maps it give's me two choices.

View attachment 101091

I'm coming down the A1 so the route to the left is pretty much straight into London whereas the route to the right is via the M11.
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No no no no NO!!!

On that screen shot, the leftmost route is the public transport route. Into King's Cross by train, then the blue bit is the route of the Victoria Line from King's Cross to Pimlico. You can't drive that route.

You could come down the A1 or M1 (sorry, I don't know where you're starting from) but driving across central London from north to south is not easy at all. Even with a satnav there's plenty of scope for bring in the wrong lane at junctions and that type of thing. Personally I would use the M11 route as illustrated here. It's much easier to navigate, much easier to drive, and consequently less stressful.
 
StewartR said:
No no no no NO!!!

On that screen shot, the leftmost route is the public transport route. Into King's Cross by train, then the blue bit is the route of the Victoria Line from King's Cross to Pimlico. You can't drive that route.

You could come down the A1 or M1 (sorry, I don't know where you're starting from) but driving across central London from north to south is not easy at all. Even with a satnav there's plenty of scope for bring in the wrong lane at junctions and that type of thing. Personally I would use the M11 route as illustrated here. It's much easier to navigate, much easier to drive, and consequently less stressful.
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I've nowt to add, I've never driven into London, but that route looked odd to me too.

But the OP's coming from Leeds so he has the choice of A1, M1 or M11 AFAIK.

@Angelboy hope it goes well for you. :)
 
The M1 route is pretty straight forward and brings you in on the west side - it's the way I'd go - I used to live on both the west and the north east side so have a little experience of both, albeit a few years ago..
 
Thanks again for everyone's concern about Joe. Just to fill in the blanks for you all. He had open heart surgery in 2013 when he was just 5 years old to patch his aortic artery due to having a disease called pulmonary and supravalvular aortic stenosis. His pulmonary stenosis has remained constant since birth but his aortic stenosis got worse to the point of emergency surgery up at Leeds General Infirmary. Whilst in theatre there were complications and we were told that the surgeons couldn't stop Joe bleeding and that they were running out of options, so we were given the worst talk of our lives and told not to expect him to come back. After drafting in all 4 heart surgeons to help work out the issue they managed to stabilise him after 10 hours but kept his chest open for the next 24hrs where they had to then go back, take out the packing and hope that it wouldn't cause further bleeding. My wife and I sat by his side for 24 hours straight and then waited for him to come back from theatre. It was an awful time for us all, mainly Joe. He's been seen by loads of speaicalists since and no-one knows what happened in surgery, so of course we've been dreading any more surgery. Well fast forward to 18 months ago and after several rounds of CAT scans and MRI scans LGI told us to go home as there was nothing more they could do for Joe and that we should be prepared for sudden death. I was f*****g livid about this so I've been fighting for the last 18 months for a second opinion. We finally got an appointment last month at the Evelina to see the guy who invented a balloon procedure that opens up the aortic artery. Unfortunately, he said he could perform the surgery but that not only would it behave a slim chance of success as the stenosis is so bad that it's all along the artery rather than just a pinch point but also that it's right in the place of branches that lead to his brain. He advised us not to do anything and to just monitor Joe to see if they can determine a pattern through his growth. So this is where we're at now. Wednesday he's just going for an MRI but he has to have a general for it. The hope is that as Joe grows his artery grows beyond the speed of the stenosis rather than the stenosis growing faster than Joe. All we can do is hope and pray that it's the first rather than the last.

At the moment he's running around and full of life so we just couldn't sign those forms for surgery knowing that we could be signing away his life. One thing that I didn't mention is that Joe also has Williams syndrome, which is a rare genetic abnormality which we always liken to being the opposite of Down's syndrome. It breaks my heart that Joe has been dealt a pretty s*** hand and I'd swap places in a heart beat. But he's full of beans and we're lucky really. Over the last few years we've been thrown into environments where we've seen some really poorly children that haven't made it. It's a different world out there when you scratch the surface and some people are going through some terrible things with their kids, far worse than what we're going through. It gives you a different perspective that's for sure!

So thanks again for the concern and the advice on the route. im just going set off at 3.00am and get to London before the madness hits I think!
 
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I'm so sorry to hear that. I do hope he's OK and will be thinking of him.

If I may, 3 am is a little early to head off. FWIW my parents live in Notts (which if I remember isn't to far from you). The longest its ever taken me from here is 4 hours. 2 1/2 is more normal. I know its not quite the same as a drive through central London but I normally pick up the M1 at staples corner. Leaving at 3 will have you at the hospital nice and early by about 6:30 am
 
A1, A41 to just below Swiss Cottage (keep right at Swiss Cottage itself to avoid the straight on into Regents Park), double back on yourself at the roundabout by Danubius Hotel/Lords cricket ground to go then left past Lords to join A5, left on to A5 to Marble Arch, Park Lane, Victoria, Vauxhall Bridge.

If you do choose M11 I would jump south of the river before that route shows, Embankment can be a nightmare.
 
B1ts said:
If you do choose M11 I would jump south of the river before that route shows, Embankment can be a nightmare.
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But easy to navigate and drive if you're not familiar with London. That was my point in recommending it; it might not necessarily be the quickest (though on any given day, which route will be best is almost impossible to predict), but I think it is definitely the easiest.
 
StewartR said:
But easy to navigate and drive if you're not familiar with London. That was my point in recommending it; it might not necessarily be the quickest (though on any given day, which route will be best is almost impossible to predict), but I think it is definitely the easiest.
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I see that I did make a mistake with the train line coming up on the first map - I didn't realise that google maps takes all transport into account and you have to just select the driving option.

I see your point about not being able to predict the best route. I've just looked again and there's loads of traffic incidents showing up on the Western route!

View attachment 101162
 
Hope you & your lad get some positive news after your appt. (y)
 
Angelboy said:
I see your point about not being able to predict the best route. I've just looked again and there's loads of traffic incidents showing up on the Western route!
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Lots of incidents? I'd say that's pretty normal for London.

Right now, Google says that driving from "Leeds" (I didn't specify exactly where, so Google picked the town hall) to St Thomas' Hospital takes:
3 hrs 46 min via M1
3 hrs 54 min via A1 and M11
3 hrs 55 min via A1
The differences between those timings are not meaningful and variations in traffic from one day to another can easily change the ordering.
 
I remember many years ago driving down to central london in my first car a red XR2 just on scribbled instructions and an old map.
many hours later i found the nurses residence she lived at boy that was insane then.
good luck.
 
Personally I think you should leave at 3am. You'll get there early but have plenty of slippage time. Hopefully your boy can sleep in the back most of the way down. You sound like you don't want any extra stress on the day (very understandably) so I'd aim for the 3am departure, if you are a bit late no problem, if you have unexpected bad traffic (lane closed etc) you will still be ok.

Needless to say best of luck to you and especially your son.
 
Well we set off at 3am and got to the Evelina at just before 6am. London is amazing when there's no one here!!! An hour later and the traffic was really starting to build and by 8am it was gridlocked.

So I paid for the congestion charge but never needed it and it looks like we'll be leaving today well after 6pm so we won't need it again.

Thanks for all the advice anyhow!
 
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That's great - when my little one needed hospital attention I used to take her, and the drives became special times and are still fondly remembered by us both. Enjoy the drive home and let's hope the day brings some good news..
 
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