I'm trying to plan a trip for the end of May-early June. One option is to stay in London for 10 days to 2 weeks and do day trips by rail to areas of interest. This will require going out from several different stations. Rick has recommendations for affordable hotels in three areas: Victoria Station, South Kensington and Notting Hill and Bayswater. I currently favor a hotel in Bayswater but wonder how convenient the location is. I would appreciate advice, please.
Posted by
Freedonia
16278 posts
With Bayswater, you're close to Paddington Station which will be where you'll depart for many of your day trips west of London.
The tube is efficient and will get you from Bayswater to any of the other London rail stations in no more than 20-30 minutes.
Posted by
Guthrie, OK
251 posts
We were in London in October and stayed in the Bayswater area. We found it very convenient being within walking distance of Paddington Station. It was literally a 10 minute walk. We were also within walking distance of Lancaster Gate Tube. Even though most of the sites closer to central London, we found transportation from the Lancaster Gate Tube following the Central Line very easy. Our hotel was the Lancaster Hall. Even though very modest and small, it was affordable, clean, and came with a delicious buffet breakfast.
Posted by
San Francisco
14980 posts
Diane,
You might want to consider staying in the King's Cross St Pancras area... convenient and very well served by the Tube and buses. If you plan on taking the Euro-Star, it's right there at St Pancras Station. From Heathrow to King's Cross is a direct shot. The B&Bs in the King's Cross are affordable...it's where I stay in London.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5850 posts
Any of the areas will work. As you mentioned, depending on where you are travelling you could be going from many different station.
I'm partial to South Kensington. I like the neighborhood and you are on both the Piccadilly line and the Circle line. But if the Bayswater hotel looks best to you, then go for it. Bayswater is a very convenient area also.
Posted by
London
291 posts
The UK has the most expensive railways in Europe.
It depends where you're going to but if you're going places like Salisbury, Bath, Oxford, Stratford, York the rail fares may be more than your overnight accommodation.
You'd do better to stay overnight and go cross country ifv these are the kind of places you go.
The best cheap hotel area is Kings Cross, where the quality of the cheap hotels (less than $US100) for a double with breakfast is relatively high. The cheap hotels at Victoria and Bayswater tend to be of low quality, some of Rick's recommendations look dubious to me so do read reviews on things like TripAdvisor.
It doesn't really matter where you stay in Central London becuase of the excellent public transport. For that reason Priceline is a good punt.
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
Affordable hotels (B&Bs) near train stations where I have stayed in the last couple of years: the Ashley Hotel near Paddington (decent, no elevator, good breakfast, nice park across the street), and the Crestfield Hotel near Kings Cross/St. Pancras. No park across the street, but very handy to the train stations. If you are doing daytrips, you won't have to haul luggage around, so navigating public transit is easier. I've stayed at hotels in the Victoria area, but a longer walk to the train station is involved with most of those hotels. The most affordable Victoria-area hotel may be EasyHotel. You probably wouldn't want to stay there for 10 nights.
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
3428 posts
Here is a link to an article I wrote about basing in London and doing day trips by train. I hope you find it helpful. By the way, we stay in the Victoria area.
NOTE- if the link asks for a zip code, use 28208 and if it goes to current issues, click on archives and select Jan/Feb 2008
http://www.aaacarolinas.com/Magazine/2008/Jan-Feb/britain.htm?zip=28201&stateprov=nc&city=charlotte