How is this location?

Oxford Circus / Tottenham Court Road ( not Tottenham! ) is better than Earls Court. EC is ok, but not very central. TL Southwark seems ok too.

We are looking at an apartment near Earls Court. Is it a safe area at night? How long would it take to get to Westminster from the Earls Court station?

Thanks so much!!

My husband and I usually stay in the Earls Court area and have never had a problem day or night. The time from the Earls Court tube stop to the Westminster stop is usually less than 15 minutes.

We stayed near Earls Court and the Earls Court Underground station last year; and found the times to destinations in the center to be convenient.
You just avoid the Underground during the locals' commuting hours, if possible.

But of course there are closer-in locations, as Mike points out.
Possibly you'd pay more for the closer-in locations ( just a guess).

The Earls Court Tube station entrance (the northeast side entrance) puts you right out onto busy Earls Court Road, which felt safe at night. There is another entrance at the other end of the station, but that area is not as busy and at night you'd want to use the entrance/exit that puts you out onto Earls Court Road where there were more people.

It looks like the tube station at Earls Court is handicapped accessible. So I'm thinking that location may be easier for my dad. It also looks like we could get to several sites without having to change stations. Am I correct?

I really would love a more central location, but at this point I'm happy with just getting an apartment that doesn't have a ton of stairs and doesn't cost a fortune and is in a decent neighborhood (for 7 people)

When we were in London (with dad when he was 87!) I remember how much changing of stations we did. So, this looks better to me if I'm reading the map right. I guess it really all depends on the destination since London seems spread out.

There are locals here who know the Underground stations very well.
We used the Earls Court station every day and sure climbed a lot of stairs in the station!
I did notice an elevator (I mean, lift), but never used it except once and then the lift was very crowded.

One of our wonderful London/UK locals will hopefully be able to give you more details on this--but I think (and you may have already found it) that there is a detailed on-line map of the various Underground stations, showing accessible or not for various stations.

" It also looks like we could get to several sites without having to change stations."
Yes. Depending on where you're going, you might not have to change stations, or you might have to--but that's a given for the Underground: I'd guess that no single station is so central that you would ever be guaranteed not having to change stations, depending on where your destination is.
Sounds like you're doing what you need to do, focusing on accessibility issues.

Emma, it is actually very funny that I used the "handicapped" word since I have a disabled daughter and agree about using it! But, I guess we use "handicapped place card- handicapped accessible" but in general terms of a "handicapped person" I hate that word. We use disabled, too.

Well, dad really much prefers an apartment to the Travelodge. So, I think we will try to go for it. We found two that seem reasonable. One near Oxford Circus and the other near Earls Court. I'm so sick of looking that I really just want to be done with it, but also want to make sure I'm not making some big mistake like getting in a bad neighborhood.

Near Earls Court it looks like there is another line in purple (may old eyes can't see the name or color) Is that a stop close by? And, we may look into buses too. Any idea how far to "Big Ben" area by bus from Earls Court?

You all are a great help! Thank you so much!

Near Earls Court it looks like there is another line in purple (may
old eyes can't see the name or color) Is that a stop close by? And, we
may look into buses too. Any idea how far to "Big Ben" area by bus
from Earls Court?

What Emma said. You can easily get from Earls Court to the Houses of Parliament station (what you called the "Big Ben area") by Underground (the Tube), faster than the bus. We did it several times last year, about 15 minutes (all zone 1). Just avoid the locals' commuting hours, after 10am will be fine. Until the evening commute starts.

Earls Court has very good disabled access, is on both the Piccadilly Line (direct access from Heathrow) and the District Line with simple access to the Circle Line. Plenty of restaurants and a bit cheaper.

For Oxford Circus I would want to know where. The pavements on Oxford Street can get very busy, it is lots of steps to the Tube and the bus stops on Oxford Street can be confusing because there are so many lines there are loads of stops.

Tottenham Court Road station does not serve the Central Line again until Christmas. Only the Northern Line.

Southwark could be pretty nice on south bank.

I actually think Earls Court is pretty convenient for a tourist. It is on both the Piccadilly line and the District line which. makes it very convenient for a number of sites . Westminster (Houses of Parliament) is only 15 minutes away by tube. It is also only about 45 minutes from Heathrow by tube.

Ok, I'm breathing a sigh of relief! Now if I can just get this place rented. Only a few reviews, but it seems ok.

I thank you all very, very much!

Don't forget that the days are long when you will be there. You might be in for the night before the sun goes down.

And, if you're staying in an apartment, I believe there is a grocery ( Tesco) nearby. We were going to rent an apartment in that area a few years ago, but then the rental agency moved us to another apartment In South Kensington.