In message , at 17:32:48 on Wed, 26 Mar
2008, Graham Harrison
remarked:
On a Sunday afternoon in late July my wife and I will be departing from
St. Pancras station in London via Eurostar. Prior to this we will be
using a rental car for a few days, based in Cookham, Berks.

If you can drop the car off at Heathrow, I think that's the best option.
The Piccadilly line train is approx 1 hour to St Pancras. I can't think
of a faster way.

After dropoff you might want to try going via the new Heathrow Terminal
5, compared to the centrally located T123.
--
Roland Perry

On 26 Mar, 20:49, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 17:32:48
on Wed, 26 Mar 2008, Graham Harrison
remarked:

On a Sunday afternoon in late July my wife and I will be departing from
St. Pancras station in London via Eurostar. Prior to this we will be
using a rental car for a few days, based in Cookham, Berks.

If you can drop the car off at Heathrow, I think that's the best option.
The Piccadilly line train is approx 1 hour to St Pancras. I can't think
of a faster way.


Heathrow Express to Paddington then Hammersmith & City or Circle line
to St. Pancras would likely be quicker, though not by that much, and
would of course be a whole lot more expensive. I'd recommend the
Piccadilly line.


After dropoff you might want to try going via the new Heathrow Terminal
5, compared to the centrally located T123.


That does somewhat depends upon where the car rental dropoff point in
Heathrow is really!

"Mizter T" wrote in message
...



That does somewhat depends upon where the car rental dropoff point in
Heathrow is really!

Most of the car rental companies are on the Northern Perimeter Road. They
have complimentary shuttle vans to and from the terminals.

Regards

David Bennetts
Australia

In message
, at
14:07:42 on Wed, 26 Mar 2008, Mizter T remarked:
Heathrow Express to Paddington then Hammersmith & City or Circle line
to St. Pancras would likely be quicker, though not by that much, and
would of course be a whole lot more expensive. I'd recommend the
Piccadilly line.

Remembering that it's a Sunday, I wouldn't bet on a high frequency of
trains on the Circle or H&C. And with luggage to shift as well.

After dropoff you might want to try going via the new Heathrow Terminal
5, compared to the centrally located T123.

That does somewhat depends upon where the car rental dropoff point in
Heathrow is really!

Most of them are apparently along the north perimeter road, so T5 is the
closest. Hence my suggestion. Also bearing in mind that the railway
station at T123 isn't actually *at* any of the terminals, so you'd need
to guess one and then walk (after being dropped off).
--
Roland Perry

Graham Harrison wrote:
"Christopher Barker" wrote in message
...
On a Sunday afternoon in late July my wife and I will be departing from
St. Pancras station in London via Eurostar. Prior to this we will be
using a rental car for a few days, based in Cookham, Berks. We have
not yet booked the car, but before we do so I'd like to ask the group's
advice on the best place to drop it off so that we can then easily get
to St. Pancras with as few rail/taxi/bus transfers as possible.

We would rather not have to drive into London with it, but have driven
in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Milan and Naples during rush hour
without disaster, (though not without frustration,) so could pull it
off on a summer Sunday afternoon if a better alternative is not
forthcoming. (However, is St. Pancras within the congestion fee zone?)
The main problem seems to be that all of the stations on the Cookham
side of London connect into Paddington, Marylebone, or Euston, so we'd
need to then make it through the Underground system with luggage.

The fact that one of our party (father) needs to be dropped at Heathrow
at 6:30 AM the same day may also figure into our plans, though a taxi
from Cookham to Heathrow for them is an alternative. (This raises the
possibility of simply dropping the car at Heathrow as we let them off,
and taking the Underground from Heathrow to St. Pancras, which looks
like it involves a single line (Piccadilly?) and hence no transfers.
Is this correct?)

Thanks in advance,

Chris (in California)

Unless you can find a rental office actually at St Pancras (or Kings X which
is right next door) almost anything else will involve some traipsing.
You'd think that Eurostar or National Rail or EMT would say something about
car rental at St Pancras but they don't (as far as I can see).


There's Avis claiming to be at St Pancras (actually in Eversholt St,
beside Euston) -
http://www.avis.co.uk/CarHire/Europe...-Train-Station

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:22:16 +0000, John Watkins
wrote:



There's Avis claiming to be at St Pancras (actually in Eversholt St,
beside Euston) -
http://www.avis.co.uk/CarHire/Europe...-Train-Station


About the same distance in the other direction there's a big National
car rental site on Pentonville Road - go to
http://www.nationalcar.co.uk/Locations/630/uk and choose Europe /UK /
London / Kings Cross.

Nevertheless I tend to support the views of others in the thread who
recommend not driving in London.

If the original poster comes into Paddington, whether from Cookham or
Heathrow, bus 205 is a convenient alternative to the Underground from
Paddington to St Pancras.

Others have pointed out that from Heathrow to St Pancras, the
Piccadilly Line is straightforward, and as quick as any other route.
However be aware that you'll need to haul any luggage up an escalator
from the tube at King's Cross. So train to Paddington then bus or
even taxi might be worth considering if you've got heavy luggage.

Martin

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:32:48 -0000, Graham Harrison
wrote:


"Christopher Barker" wrote in message
...
On a Sunday afternoon in late July my wife and I will be departing from
St. Pancras station in London via Eurostar. Prior to this we will be
using a rental car for a few days, based in Cookham, Berks. We have
not yet booked the car, but before we do so I'd like to ask the group's
advice on the best place to drop it off so that we can then easily get
to St. Pancras with as few rail/taxi/bus transfers as possible.

I've had a car from Alamo, King's Cross in the past.

136/150 Pentonville Road
London, N1 9JL
http://www.alamo.co.uk

Five minutes walk to St Pancras.
Pretty easy to get to from the West - Just approach London on the A40 and
don't turn off.
Drop passengers and luggage off at St. P on the way past.
Outside congestion charging zone.
No 'airport premium' to pay for car rental.
No need to mess about with tubes, oyster cards and all that confusion that
goes with them!

--
HTH,
Fig

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:46:57 -0000, Fig wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:32:48 -0000, Graham Harrison
wrote:


"Christopher Barker" wrote in message
...
On a Sunday afternoon in late July my wife and I will be departing from
St. Pancras station in London via Eurostar. Prior to this we will be
using a rental car for a few days, based in Cookham, Berks. We have
not yet booked the car, but before we do so I'd like to ask the group's
advice on the best place to drop it off so that we can then easily get
to St. Pancras with as few rail/taxi/bus transfers as possible.

I've had a car from Alamo, King's Cross in the past.

136/150 Pentonville Road
London, N1 9JL
http://www.alamo.co.uk

Five minutes walk to St Pancras.
Pretty easy to get to from the West - Just approach London on the A40
and don't turn off.
Drop passengers and luggage off at St. P on the way past.
Outside congestion charging zone.
No 'airport premium' to pay for car rental.
No need to mess about with tubes, oyster cards and all that confusion
that goes with them!

Scrub all that, they're not open Sundays!
I would advise against thinking about a Heathrow drop-off though, you pay
a lot more for that. What about Park Royal? Easy to get to from the West
and also on Piccadilly line, but closer to town. Loads of rental places
there.

--
Fig

On 2008-03-27, Fig wrote:

I would advise against thinking about a Heathrow drop-off though, you pay
a lot more for that.

You do? In the places I've rented, you pay extra for airport _pickup_, but
airport dropoff is no extra charge.

In message , at 17:32:48 on Wed, 26 Mar
2008, Graham Harrison
remarked:
is St. Pancras within the congestion fee zone?)

It's just outside (it's on the road that's forms the edge of the zone,
so you don't need to go inside the zone). But the Congestion Charge
doesn't apply on Sundays.

The drive from Cookham, via M4/M25/M40/A40 to St Pancras is very
straightforward, if you can find somewhere to drop the car off.

--
Roland Perry