# Overnighting in London



## 101819 (Nov 17, 2006)

Hi guys!

It might sound hilarious to hear this but I´m wondering if overnighting in London is possible? I´ve heard there are numerous car parks, but I´m really looking forward to a nice, SAFE car park, or any other parking place which is safe at night. We´d only need one big parking place. It would also feel very good not to be more than 3 miles(as we are planning to go round on bikes) from Parliament and Westminster A.(and we´d like it to be north or northwest of those 2 locations). Now, I´m really curious about it, I´ve heard numerous things about this, so I hope you can help me.

Thanks for all the information!

Miha, from Slovenia


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Wouldn't know anywhere, but if you tried parking up in a motorhome near westminster (especially a foreign registered one!), be prepared to be woken up by loads of police / special branch, armed to the teeth, with twitchy trigger fingers. :roll:


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

Don't even think about trying . . . your best to go to one of the CC sites on the outskirts of London - also if you drive through the centre of London to see the sights you'll end up having to pay congestion charges [your vehicle is automatically photographed and they are swift sending out hefty £££ invoices for failing to pay].


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## 101819 (Nov 17, 2006)

I´ve seen a car park called "Cramer park" or something - it´s less than 3 miles away from Westminster abbey. Do you have any information about that? And thanks a lot for that info - I didn´t know you must not drive in the centre...it´s not fair, isn´t it? But on the other hand, there are like a million vehicles - what can you expect...


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

Miha,
There are a couple of camping sites 
(1) Crystal Palace near Sydenham in South London
Postal address = Crystal Palace Caravan Club site, Crystal Palace road
London SE19 1UF
Open all year
Telephone = 0208 778 7155
* * they say advance booking is required
Number 3 bus from outside the site will take you into London Piccadilly.

(2) Abbey Wood also in south London
Abbey Wood Caravan site, Federation Road, Abbey Wood, London SE2 0LS
Open all year
Telephone = 0208 311 7708
Good railway connection into centre of London [35 minutes]

Hope you have a good visit - DO NOT drive through the centre of London in motorhome . . . go by bus or Train, less problems and cheaper than getting a hefty fine !
ps/ take an umbrella & wear good comfortable walking shoes :wink:


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## 96088 (Aug 22, 2005)

Totally agree with the other posters about not driving through or stopping in the middle of London

I would recommend staying >>>Here<<<

It's very easy to get to from outside of London

An all day, unlimited, go anywhere in London bus/tube ticket costs £6.00 and the bus goes into the complex itself.

Hopes this helps


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

hi you used to be able to park on the embankment on a sunday, is this no longer allowed?

Also somewhere around the inns of court.

And I would have thought that with continental plates they could ignore the congestion charge.

Olley


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## freewheeler (Nov 6, 2005)

Don't be put off about driving thru' London. I did it one evening last summer with the family. We set off about 6 o'clock from Lea Valley, and did all the sights - Buck House, Whitehall, Big Ben, Embankment, Tower Bridge. It was a great way to see the sights and, if you are a confident driver, easier to drive thru than some smaller cities (e.g. my local city Norwich) - nice wide roads. You can always use your size (of your M/H that is) to persuade other road users to move so you can get in the lane you want. 
(I wrote up an account of it - in Motorhome trips "Trip to London") 

I heard from somewhere (maybe this site, but not sure) that there is a lorry park just near the south side of Tower Bridge where M/Hs have parked up for the night. No facilities but relatively safe. You take your own chances... 

Have a great time. Is this for July - Tour de France???


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## tokkalosh (May 25, 2006)

*Crystal Palace CC site*

>click for pics<

Crystal Palace CC site.
Excellent site and easy to get around from there.
At the office they have details of how to get to anywhere you fancy, all printed out for you.


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## 101819 (Nov 17, 2006)

Uhm no itË™s not Tour we´re going to see. We´re just going to see London, Cambridge, Nottingham, Manchester (Old Trafford) then doing a turn south west towards Bristol and then to POrtsmouth..this is a plan but very basically! Nothing´s been concluded yet.
I´m, still waiting for an update on Cramer Car Park, I sent them an email, hope they´ll response. I was never aware there was a place near Tower, but it´s really not for us, we´re just planning to stay over the night and then go on bikes for a visit of Buck. palace, Parliament, BB, Trafalgar, maybe a museum or two..and then return. This car park is located very close to these things, so I may call them to see if you can buy tickets for 3 days in succesion maybe.
Again ,tnx for all the info(keep it coming


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2006)

For details of how unfriendly to motorhomes London is see Here

In most areas of the city and suburbs you will find difficulty finding somewhere to "wild" camp overnight.

Graham


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## 101819 (Nov 17, 2006)

I´m really puzzled about this parking in Cramer street car park. They say you can park any vehicle, and for 24 h. I´ve just sent them an email, so hopefully they´ll response. And if you can give me any more information, well I´ll be just too happy to hear it.


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

I know I am out of touch but do visitors really tour London on push bikes these days?

I once wild-camped and slept peacefully all night in my minivan in Hyde Park but I guess that's not advisable in 2006 :wink:

Paul


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## 96088 (Aug 22, 2005)

Miha said:


> I´m really puzzled about this parking in Cramer street car park. They say you can park any vehicle, and for 24 h. I´ve just sent them an email, so hopefully they´ll response. And if you can give me any more information, well I´ll be just too happy to hear it.


Miha

You do realise that 24 hours parking in Cramer Street Car Park will cost you £32 and also it's within the conjestion charge zone so at current cost you will be paying another £8.

At £40 per day just for parking; I'm beginning to wonder if you should not be taking a little bit more notice of the good advice being offered in this thread


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## bigfoot (May 16, 2005)

In July of this year we were in London for my nephews wedding. We chickened oit and stayed in a hotel in Hampstead near the venue. We went into town a few days later (Sat). We saw a foriegn registered van parked round the side of the Albert Hall and the occupants dining.
We returned, on our way back at about 10pm to see the blinds drawn and th soft glow of a light inside. I hope they managed to stay all night.
You could stay there if you had an RV and there was a big celeb performing at the Hall, just say if challenged "I'm with the group" Depending on who, it would be more plausible if you had a few piercings and tattoos!!


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## 101819 (Nov 17, 2006)

Ok, but you know, if you take your motorhome to a campsite, I don´t know if staying there for 3 days is much cheaper - and you have got to add bus drives, etc. All I´m really saying is we´ve got money and with this car park being so close to all the things you want to see - it´s a bit unreal.
It´s 600m to Oxford street - I mean, how close can you get? From Crystal palace CC it would take an hour or more to get there...
and we also like being on our own, and with this being safe and all...
Thanks a lot for all the advices, there are practical and fantastic, but we are staying in London for only 2 days, so it´s less than 48 h parking.


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## des (Aug 13, 2005)

We have used Walton on Thames C & C C site, not open all year, and no facilites, but cheap and not bad access to rail (about 1 mile walk). Abbey Wood is great, only £3.70 return to Charing Cross, or £5.90 for travel card for the day (both after 9.30am). Only 10mins walk from beautiful wooded site. Suggest you don't go there as you might fill it up when I want to go!

des


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## 101819 (Nov 17, 2006)

Heh...yeah you know I´m considering all options, but to park this near to the centre must be great. I´m not a big fan of buses, or underground either. But if we can´t stay overnight in the Cramer car park, I´m definitely considering one of this camping sites - maybe just for over the night, but we´d definitely want to park somewhere near the City of Westminster. I think it´s quite good that I´ve come with all these questions now than in july/august next year!


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## 96088 (Aug 22, 2005)

London buses are an integral part of the London experience...

Meanwhile, a further look at your Cramer Street option reveals the following opening times. 

Mon-Fri: 0700- 2000
Sat: 0700-1900
Sun: 1030-1730

Will you need to be locked in with your van by the closing times, or can you just climb a fence or get a security guard to let you in and out?


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

If you do overnight park in London . . . please let us know [and how much it cost you in fines :wink: ]
Best of Luck


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## 101819 (Nov 17, 2006)

Unfortunately I´ve seen when they are closing...I´ve sent them an email to have more information and I´m hoping to have some on tuesday. Still, even for parking over the day, it should be great. But how to have a parking space "reserved"? :roll:


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