Is Teddington too far away to stay while visiting London?

It’s not too bad. As you’ve already worked out it’s 30 minutes to central London, then you’ll change to the tube to get to wherever you want to be. Plan your activities so that you see places near Teddington when you’re there. Hampton Court, Richmond, Kew Gardens are all nearby and great for kids. It’s a nice green part of London.

It’s certainly workable and the zero cost rather than 8 nights at the County Hall PI is a powerful incentive.
One negative to bear in mind is that it won’t be practical to nip back to your house for a rest during the day, something you would probably value with two children. You will need to carefully plan your days to make sure you don’t get overtired.

I love Teddington! My boss had friends who lived there, and we took the train from my hotel on Bayswater in London to Teddington. A very easy commute. There is a lovely park there.

If I had a reasonable home exchange deal I would take it.

It’s a love.y area, but it is far from central London and not on the Underground network, so make sure you know how far the house is from the transport into London. With tired kids, you don’t want to have to walk or take a long bus ride from Teddington train stat,ion to your accommodation after a long day. Also, I believe the trains from Teddington take you into London Waterloo train station, and from there you’ll have to take the Underground or bus to get you to where you’re aiming for in London

into London Waterloo train station, and from there you’ll have to take the Underground or bus to get you to where you’re aiming for in London

the previous stop is probably Vauxhall where the Victoria Line comes in as well as several buses - just a chance that you might, depending on the day's destination, also consider connections from there.

Have you checked the location of the house on Google maps? Look at the property, its surroundings and distance from train station, also bus routes- there are a lot of places nearby you can reach by bus. If you don’t want to be in central London for eight days this is a great option to visit places like Richmond, Kew Gardens, Ham House. Windsor and Legoland are also doable. But if you are wanting to spend your time in London it makes sense to stay at Premier Inn.

You will save on accommodation and probably food costs but you need to consider the cost of transportation for the four of you. Oyster cards are probably the best; check the website to find out what the kids are eligible for.

It's not super far out but is going to add time and cost to each day - but that does depend on what you plan to do. Teddington is a nice town and near Hampton Court and Kew. And Bushy Park is always worth a wander. The cost would appeal to me!

Another thing to consider is how being together in one room for a week will affect you all. We stayed quite a ways out of London when we visited with our sons (12 and 17 at the time) but having a house where everyone had their own room for sleeping, and the night owls and morning person (that would be me) could do their thing without disturbing anyone made the travel time worth it for us. Having space in the morning and evening made it easier to be together all day in a busy city.

We did a house exchange several years ago in nearby Twickenham and loved it. As a matter of fact some of our most memorable days were lovely Thames walks to Teddington Locks with a meal at the lovely Anchor pub, Eel Pie Island and walks to Richmond. We were a 30 minute ride to central London too. We utilized buses for getting around to Kew Gardens, Hampton Court, etc. I’d say go for it! It was a favorite exchange for 4 of us.

We stayed in Premier Country Hall a few years ago for 5 nights. I think we only went back once during the day and that was to change clothes before seeing a play. IOW, I would not worry too much about giving up going back to the room. It is a good location but still a good walk or tube ride to most sights. We liked it most for walking along the river.

I would travel further to have more space. A week in one room with the two kids would not be ideal. In fact, my husband and I were very happy when in our next location in Bath we were in a small apartment and had more space to spread out.

I'd do it in a heartbeat

This is all so incredibly helpful! So much to think about here...it's definitely appealing to be staying in closer to the city center and all the sights without having to think about commuter-packed trains, time/cost of travel, etc. But, the appeal of no cost plus more room to spread out (the comments about perhaps wanting some more space from family members are spot on!) is compelling as well!

We suddenly seem to have another home exchange possibility, this time in the Fulham/Hammersmith area. Seems quite a bit closer in! Any thoughts on that one? (Might start a new thread about that one, since this question might get lost in the Teddington shuffle here.)

Fulham/Hammersmith is indeed a great deal further in. Indeed many visitors stay in the Hammersmith area in hotels. Although I would always suggest it is too far west to be ideal, it would be very much on for a free home exchange for me.
I would just suggest that you check the location exactly to see how far away from a tube station it is.

Besides the free accommodation, other positives for the home exchange would be the option to buy breakfast items at the local grocery store and eat breakfasts in before heading out. Not sure if your Premier Inn rate included free breakfast, but we saved a great deal over our 9 days doing this, plus we enjoyed feeling like locals visiting and shopping in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.

The home would also give you the ability to do a load of laundry if you’d like. That could help with the amount of clothes you need to pack for the family.

I’d go for the home exchange option in a heartbeat. If you plan your itinerary well and plot daily sightseeing things out close to each other by tube/area, your bit longer commute in and back home at night to me would not be a dealbreaker.

Have fun!! It’s a wonderful place!!

you could also avoid the worst of the commuters crush by going in before the peak, that's pretty early though, or waiting to go in until after 9 or 9:30 (with a 12 and a 14 year old it should be easy to be after 9 LOL ) and come back after 7 or better yet 7:30 in the evening - you may be wanting to stay in town until 9 or 10 anyway.... I might prefer a train to a tube, usually more comfortable seats and faster.

It is nice to have a choice. Do you want urban or suburban?

I think we were hoping for more of an urban feel. But, we did (I think) find an opportunity to stay closer in for a home exchange (in the Hammersmith/Fulham area), so that feels like a better choice for us!

I hope it works out really well for you!

it is great to have a choice between what looks like two good and useful properties