Getting into London from Ilford....

[Im a BusyBee]

We have a chance of staying at Ilford with our grandson who wants to see the sights in London - how easy is it to get into London from Ilford? Is there a link to timetables, prices etc?We would go in for probably 3 days.

[rowanwitch]

direct buses take forever Direct train from Ilford station to Liverpool Street then get the central line is pretty quick and there are stations in the areas around Ilford too if you are out of the centre e.g Seven Kings/Goodmayes or a bus to Barking and the District line straight into town Embankment or Victoria to either change for Oxford street (Tottenham court Road on Northern line from Embankment) or Ox Circus on Victoria line from Victoria..

[jno]

http://www.greateranglia.co.uk./

[rowanwitch]

Make sure you do a day on the open top bus round liondon sightseeing you can then chose what places you want to go back to.

[TheNovice]

very easy, trains link Ilford to Liverpool Street every 10 mins or so, from Liverpool Street underground is ideal to get to most of London sites. Invest in Oyster cards, it'll save you a fortune!!! Avoind coming into central London ona bus, cheaper but takes forever!!!!

[TheNovice]

oh, link for transport in London and Oyser cards...www.tfl.gov.uk

[vulcan]

This give a lot of information
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

[Im a BusyBee]

thank you for your helpful answers.....how long does the trail take from ilford to liverpool st please?

[vulcan]

18 minutes according to the National rail site.

[TheNovice]

about 12 minutes if you get the fast one, should only stop at Stratford (look out for the Olympic sites) and Liverpool Street

[MarkRae]

Firstly, I would disagree with the open-top bus suggestion. These are, without exception, a total rip-off. London is well enough known for anyone to decide what they want to see.

Secondly, I would suggest that you get an Oyster card with a weekly travelcard for zones 1-4. This will allow you to travel anywhere within those four zones, which is pretty much everywhere in London.

Depending how mobile you are, I'd forget Ilford overground and simply use Gants Hill underground. That will save you changing at Liverpool Street and allow you travel directly to Oxford Circus.

[Im a BusyBee]

Thank you Mark - is there good car park there ?(maybe a silly question but we live well out in the country!)

[MarkRae]

Apologies. When you said in your OP "staying at Ilford with our grandson", I assumed you meant that you would be, in fact, staying at Ilford and not driving in every day from the country.

There is limited parking at Gants Hill tube station: http://www.tfl.gov.uk...sandschemes/4988.aspx

[Im a BusyBee]

sorry this is getting confusing! we have a touring caravan which we can park somewhere in ilford - or perhaps your Gants HIll would be within walking distance of that which would be brill? We often struggle locally with parking facilities and obviously as we in the country need to drive to our local stations then find we cant leave car all day or nowhere to leave it at all.

[rowanwitch]

Not much car parking at gants hill, Where in Ilford will you be...only Barkingside or Wanstead might be better for parking and easy to get to and you'd still be straight in on central line...

The open top bus is expensive but it also covers a lot of the key areas in one trip The sites I wouldn't consider are tower of london/crown jewels , and Mme Tussauds long queues and expensive I would do science and Natural history museums, Trafalgar Square/whitehall/horseguards and depending on age of grandson maybe london dungeon The river boat from Westminster to Greenwich as Greenwich has a fair bit to see, and a trip around on the docklands light railway finishing up at St Katherines dock might be nice again its very much down to how old your Grandson is

[Im a BusyBee]

We stayed at Abbeywood last year and took him to lord mayors show but we didnt have time to see that much(thats the only time he's been), we done a Duck tour, london eye, st pauls quickly dashed into history museum as he wnted to see the dinosaur but big ben and houses of parliament made it for him, he was so excited! We missed tower bridge and the tower and also wanted to take him on the thames clippers to the O2 as he always looks for that on eastenders and i dont think he realises how big it is. Also he would love changing of the guard at buckingham palace. i have lots of ideas its just the travelling in im unsure of - im fine with getting around by underground once there too it is just the getting there and back!

[SeaJayPea]

Would I be right in thinking that you intend to park your caravan somewhere and use it to sleep in overnight? If that's the case, I don't think I'd want to do that anywhere around Ilford, unless you know somebody who'll let you get it off the road.

Why not stay on one of these sites? Either of the Lee Valley ones would seem to be suitable. I'm assuming you're coming in from East Anglia or beyond.

http://www.ukcampsite...lts.asp?county=London

Both seem to offer reasonable connections to the transport system. Make sure you buy Oystercards for each of you, much cheaper than paying for individual journeys.

Good link for timetables from anywhere within the M25 is this:

http://journeyplanner..._REQUEST2?language=en

Hope you all enjoy your trip.

[mushroom25]

best station to head for if you have a car is Newbury Park - right on the main A12.

[New Judge]

If you're going to use the Central Line for travel westwards beyond Liverpool Street change at Stratford. It is cross platform interchange between the train from Ilford and the tube, whereas the change at Liverpool Street is a bind.

The time and hassle saved in the change more than offsets the two extra stops (mile End and Bethnal Green) that the tube makes.

[dzug2]

I would suggest that an Oyster card may not be the best idea. If you are visiting tourist sights in London then:

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

offers you 2 for 1 admission to many attractions. The catch is you need a paper travelcard issued at a rail station (eg Ilford), not a tube station. This can be a daily card or a weekly one - depending on how often you plan to make that journey in. It shouldn't cost you any more in travel than Oyster - and if it does you will more than make it up on reduced admissions