vicki.dietz wrote:
"MIG" wrote in message
ups.com...

vicki.dietz wrote:
Hello Everyone,

I'm planning a trip to England, will be there very soon and was trying to
figure a way into the city without having to take the rail (4 of us costs
over 30 pounds) or drive all the way there, since parking can be either a
nightmare, very very expensive, or just plain impossible.

Can anyone (or everyone) suggest to me the best way to drive to let's say
to
a distant tube station, park for the day, and take the tube into the city?

I'm coming from the Dorking area and would greatly appreciate cost
effective
ways to get as close to London as possible without hitting its main
congestion.

How much more is a day travelcard from Dorking (ie including return
from Dorking to Boundary Zone 6 and an all zones travelcard) than an
all zones day travelcard from wherever you can drive to?

I just think that you would spend quite a lot of the £30 on travel
within London anyway, even having driven part of the way (with all the
hassle of parking instead of just staying on a train).

That's a very good question. Sorry I didn't mention. We will also be
buying Travelcards (an additional 25 pounds) regardless if we take the rail
or drive and park. This is because once we get into London, we plan on
doing a lot of sightseeing and traveling around (which would require
Travelcards). Am I correct in this reasoning?

Day Travelcards from Dorking are £11.40 (offpeak). A travelcard from
somewhere within London's six zones, like Chessington South, would be
£6.30 off-peak.

There aren't really any Tube stations near enough to Dorking to be worth
travelling to over a suburban railway station - and the ticket price
would be pretty similar.

However, there is a group discount called GroupSave available on tickets
from outside London (e.g. Dorking) - 3 or 4 adults travel for the price
of 2, which would make the total cost from Dorking £22.80 or £5.70 per
person (i.e. cheaper than driving somewhere else, even without taking
into account the cost of parking). Given that you need to buy
travelcards upon arrival in London anyway, this is by far the best
option - it is almost certainly the cheapest and most hassle-free.

Details of the GroupSave discount are available at
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/groupsave.aspx

It's worth noting that you can also get 2 for 1 entry at a number of
attractions in London from that website.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London