Driving to Excel London (Docklands) from the west...

bartman100

Driving to Excel London E16 1DR on Saturday from Bristol. Am I foolish to try and drive through the centre (9am ish)? I really want to avoid M25 so have considered parking somewhere around about Acton and tubing it in from there. Any advice appreciated.

EKE_38BPM

Ha ha ha...driving through central London at 9AM. Ha ha ha.

I haven't one that good for ages! You bumpkins make me laugh.

pete54

bartman100 wrote:

Any advice appreciated.

Get the train. Seriously.

veronese68

I hate public transport with a passion, but even I'd get a train.

roger_merriman

Traffic isn't that bad on the weekend, and the M4 does go a reasonable way into west London, if you can park nr then it might make sence, but since trains to paddington and then tube are fairly painless like others I'd suggest public transport.

redvee

My Dad did the cricket a couple of times at The Oval and Lords and drove up the M4 and parked at Uxbridge and tubed into central London.

surrey_commuter

london is one of the biggest cities in the world.... Lords/Oval are nowhere near Excel (ie at least half an hour). If you must drive then use the M25, at that time it will be empty and the M11/A12 will drop you almost at the Excel.

Alternatively get the train.... though Paddington to Excel will take the best part of an hour

tgotb

Why are you so desperate to avoid the M25, yet happy to contemplate driving through Central London?

At the weekends, my observation is that loads of people seem to go out for short journeys; motorways tend to be free-flowing, but anything in town is a disaster (made worse by the number of weekend drivers who don't seem to know where they're going, or how to negotiate the junctions efficiently).

The M25 will be 70mph all the way.

Koncordski

TGOTB wrote:

The M25 will be 70mph all the way.

tgotb

Koncordski wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

The M25 will be 70mph all the way.

No exaggeration. I'm racing every weekend at theis time of year, all over the South East, needing to arrive at venues around 9.15-9.30. The only motorway with any delays at all, at that time on a Saturday morning, is the M23.

For the OP, M25/M11 is a no-brainer. You *might* save 10 mins by driving round the North Circular, but if it goes wrong you'll spend an hour sat in the Arnos Grove traffic jam.

surrey_commuter

I can confirm that at 8:00ish on a Saturday morning between M4 and M11 it is relatively empty and you can go as fast as you want

bartman100

thanks for all the tips. I'll be hittng the M25 about 09:25am. So 2 best options:-

1. M4 -> M25 -> M11

2. M4 -> West London tube station -> DLR

surrey_commuter

Go for option 1 - it will be quicker and easier.

Tube/DLR will take the best part of an hour and M4/M25 to a tube station will take half an hour. If you do go for tube aim for a stop on the Central Line (ie Ealing)

surrey_commuter

Anything you want to share with us??

Comic Con!!!!

fat_tail

It shouldn't be bad on a Saturday. I reckon 45 minutes from Hammersmith flyover to docklands.

bartman100

Surrey Commuter wrote:

Anything you want to share with us??

Comic Con!!!!

correct! For my daughter + friends. Honest.

EKE_38BPM

bartman100 wrote:

Surrey Commuter wrote:

Anything you want to share with us??

Comic Con!!!!

correct! For my daughter + friends. Honest.

Bearing in mind that this is you're daughter that we are talking about, would it be wrong to say POIDH?
For those that don't know, Comic Con girls =





Yeah, I suppose it would be.