In article , Dave Newt
writes

Andrew P Smith wrote:

In article , Richard J.
writes

According to the Imperial College website, it's open in vacations and
weekends, but is "severely restricted".

I had no problems parking there on Monday lunchtime.

I'm amazed at that - I had assumed that since they have just cut back
parking spaces for staff members by 50%, they wouldn't let the public in
during office hours.

The money-grabbing ****ers! :-)

Yup.
--
Andrew
Electronic communications can be altered and therefore the integrity of this
communication can not be guaranteed.
Views expressed in this communication are those of the author and not
associations or companies I am involved with.

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 22:44:39 GMT, "Jon Squire"
wrote:

We will be visiting London from California in late June. We know it is crazy
to have a car in London, but for our last 24 hours, it would make our lives
a lot easier to have a car while staying in South Kensington for various
reasons. How difficult is it to find a parking place on the street? Is it as
bad as Manhattan, or do you just need to go around the block a couple times?
And is S. Kensington (by the Gloucester Rd. tube stop) considered within the
central district where the levee is assessed?


First, South Ken is outside the congestion charging area.

If it's Monday to Friday or Saturday morning, on-street parking for a
whole 24 hours is pretty much impossible as everything around there is
either residents only, or parking meters or pay-and-display with a 2
or 4 hour limit.

In parts of South Ken, including I think the bits around Gloucester
Road tube, you can park free on single yellow lines and on meters on
Saturday afternoons, and most on-street parking in London is free on
Sundays. Beware, though, that some residents' parking restrictions
areas apply either 24 hours or until 10pm.

My other observation is that if you don't know the geography, there
are some places where going round the block might necessitate driving
a long way to get back to where you started.

Martin

In message rViOb.88294$xy6.160243@attbi_s02, Jon Squire
writes

We will be visiting London from California in late June. We know it is crazy
to have a car in London, but for our last 24 hours, it would make our lives
a lot easier to have a car while staying in South Kensington for various
reasons.

As others have said, parking is likely to be expensive and difficult on
most days. I live only 4 miles from South Kensington and find it much
better to use public transport, bicycle or even taxi (cab) most times I
go there.

If you want to say more about your plans for that last 24 hours it is
likely that the experts here might be able to suggest alternatives that
are both better and cheaper than car hire.

--
Paul Terry

In message rViOb.88294$xy6.160243@attbi_s02, Jon Squire
writes
We will be visiting London from California in late June. We know it is crazy
to have a car in London, but for our last 24 hours, it would make our lives
a lot easier to have a car while staying in South Kensington for various
reasons. How difficult is it to find a parking place on the street?

There are plenty of affordable (relatively) public car parks with a mile
or two (eg Marble Arch, High St Ken, Hammersmith). How near to *South*
Kensington do you need to be?
--
Roland Perry

Dave Arquati wrote:
don't have the car until you absolutely need it. There is an easyCar
rental place on Kensington High Street, which is 15 mins' walk, a 5-10
min bus journey or 5 mins (very variable) journey one stop on the tube
from Gloucester Road tube station.


Sorry, but I can't let a suggestion of using easyCar pass. Nobody
should use easyCar because, if the car breaks down*, easyCar have a
strict policy of not letting you have a replacement. You can get
compensation several months later if you threaten legal action, but
that's all.

There are many other reasons for never using easyCar at:

http://money.guardian.co.uk/cars/sto...075311,00.html
http://money.guardian.co.uk/cars/sto...080252,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian_j...110329,00.html

Don't be fooled by the branding. Unlike the no-frills airline, the
easyCar people are just cowboys.


*and can't be repaired at the roadside by the AA.

reasons. How difficult is it to find a parking place on the street? Is it
as
bad as Manhattan, or do you just need to go around the block a couple
times?
And is S. Kensington (by the Gloucester Rd. tube stop) considered within
the
central district where the levee is assessed?

We stayed at a hotel caddy-corner from the Gloucester Rd Tube station last
March. Parking was barely prevalent - which we expected, and is why we
placed ourselves near a few transit options rather than hiring a car.

I'd really revisit the idea of taking a car into the area, if the parking
garages' fees I did see were any indication - ouch. You'll probably save
money overall by using the ubiquitous taxis.

That area is not within the congestion-charging zone unless it's been
expanded somewhat from last year.