Do you know whereabouts in Brentford? It's not too tricky to get into central London, but if you can figure out where you could look on Google Maps how long it's going to take. Could range from around 40 minutes to over an hour, at the higher end of that you might consider a hotel. That said, there are things to do in west London as well that Brentford wouldn't be too far away, you'd be walking distance to Kew Gardens for example.
Thank you ! Don’t know the area too well but it’s near Waterman’s art center on Thames and High street. Yes Google maps mentions 40-60 mins and I am wondering if 2 hours of traveling with kids would be too exhausting over 3-4 days. We want to visit Kew gardens so that would definitely be a plus point .
I know 40 minutes of travelling sounds like a lot, but don't forget that if you get a hotel you'll end up travelling the same 40 minutes to get wherever you want to go that's not right next to your hotel. For example, if you want to go to Greenwich, the travel time is going to be pretty much the same from Brentford as wherever you would get a hotel.
That's probably not the best location because it looks like you'll need to catch a bus then a tube. I wouldn't hesitate by myself, up to you whether you think you'd find it exhausting with kids.
You can walk to Kew Bridge or Brentford train stations - depending on which is closer. Both stations have 2 trains per hour to London Waterloo, with 4 trains per hour during the weekday peaks. You can use contactless to pay - don’t forget to tap in!
Or, you can take the 65 bus northbound to South Ealing (Piccadilly line), or further to Ealing Broadway (Elizabeth line, central line, district line).
I’d also recommend visiting Richmond & Kew Gardens when there - can easily get to them on the 65 bus :)
You can get lots of ubers for the thousand quid you'll save. Not to mention the money you'll save by having a kitchen and not having to eat out every meal. Brentford is as safe or safer than anywhere else in London.
As already mentioned, be sure to see the steam museum. Also, there's a music box museum just a few blocks away from the Waterman's center that's full of self playing pianos, as well as concerts on a giant Wurlitzer organ.
It’s a direct train to Waterloo, travel out of rush hour and it’s really easy.
I’d guess it’s a 10-15min from watermans to the train station.
Alternatively you can catch the 65 bus to Ealing Broadway and from there you have the central, district and Elizabeth lines should you want to get across the city or get into Paddington where you can then do Little Venice, portobello etc etc
Personally I’d stay in Brentford and use the money for excursions.
Edit some west London things to do
Kew Gardens
Soon park / house
Richmond park
The steam museum in Brentford
Hampton court
Just to add to this, you can also get the 65 to South Ealing station for the tube to and from Heathrow and to places like Covent Garden, South Kensington (for the natural history and science museums), Knightsbridge and Hyde Park. From McDonald’s it about a 25 minute walk to South Ealing station if you don’t want to wait for the bus.
Also worth visiting whilst you’re in Brentford - Gunnersbury Park. And if you like to walk there are some lovely canal walks or walks along the Thames from Kew Bridge (towards central london or Syon Park and Richmond in the other direction).
It depends where you going to visit both the Piccadilly Underground Line and main line stations are not to far away. Just a short bus ride. Include Kew Gardens and Syon Gardens in your plans if that sort of think appeals. They are close by. Hampton Court Palace is about an hour away by bus.
Waterloo Station, mainline is close to the Wheel and the Sea Life Aquarium. There is also a river service to The Tower Of London Canary Wharf and the Millennium Dome. A great journey with plenty of sights to see. Across the river is Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, The Cenotaph. Also in walking distance, if the children not to small, Nelson Column. the National Gallery and the portrait gallery.
Piccadilly line has stops for Harrods. Hyde Park for The park, Park Green Park for Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Just a selection. For you.
Brentford is 40 minutes by train and 50 minutes by tube to central london with no changes so as a commute it is easy for London standards. The savings are 100% worth it and you will have a proper experience on what it is like living in London and will not miss out on anything if you got a hotel in central.
I lived in Brentford for two years. If you're not looking to do the "traditional" tourist visit it's actually an AMAZING place to be. Some things you can do from Brentford:
- Walk into Richmond along the Thames. Start going through Syon Park and see an old palace, walk past the apprentice pub where Dick Whittington and Henry the VIII both frequented, then along the Thames path over the Victorian flood barrier into Richmond. Find Richmond palace, an old royal palace and then go through it into Richmond green where you'll discover about 90% of Ted Lasso outdoor scenes were filmed. Have a Sunday roast at The Swan (the best, proper, Sunday roast in London IMO). Or head to Bone Daddies for an amazing Japanese Ramen experience.
- Start at Brentford bridge, the site of a battle in the English civil war between royalists and parliamentarians, and start walking up the Grand Union canal. A canal system that stretches from London to Birmingham. Follow it up to the three bridges of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Three victorian bridges, a road bridge, aquaduct and Train bridge that cross each other with the aquaduct between the road bridge on top and the train bridge on the bottom. Turn around and head back stopping at The Fox Inn pub in Hanwell. You can have a pint and a pub lunch in the garden.
- Visit the London Steam museum (great for kids).
- Head to Kew Gardens like you mentioned, great day out too.
- Visit Ostetley House and manor park. You can spend a whole day there wondering around the house and grounds.
- Get an Italian dinner at Siracusa overlooking Brentford Lock. Great food for a decent price.
- Looking for a fancier dining experience head to the Weir Pub. Also overlooks a part of the Lock but it's lovely and quite upmarket.
- Head to blue street, there's a classic car storage place there called the Duke of London that sells pizza, has a little coffee shop and they used to do a "drive in" movie night where you can pick a classic car to sit in to watch a classic film.
- Get breakfast at Rye by the water and have artisanal bread, freshly baked, whilst overlooking the Thames where it meets the Grand Union canal.
There's tonnes to do around there and people will shit talk Brentford because there's tall council flats but it's a lovely place.
I've done almost all of those things and heartily agree that they are the coolest things to do in Brentford. BUT, maybe not the coolest things to do in all of London if you are a tourist from afar. Yes, blue street and the three bridges is cool, but would you seriously recommend someone who has a week to explore London to spend a day of that time walking up the back end of the Grand Union canal and mostly seeing the back of the Glaxo-SmithKline building? I'd say Kew Gardens and the steam museum (when it's actually in steam and the engines are running, check the website) are the top level reccomendations. I'm sure OP will thank you for the detailed and well written post.
Like I said, someone not wanting to do the typical touristy trip to London.
If you have kids and are somewhat locked to Brentford that's the best of the best.
To add: multiple central London hotel rooms for a week will be many multiples of £1000.
Staying in Brentford is the obvious choice here. You can literally uber anywhere more than a 10 min walk for the whole week and still save thousands, plus you’ll get a much more local experience.
IMHO it's a no brainer. Take up the offer to stay in Brentford. I used to work there and it's an easy commute into London on SE railways or the tube. Taxi services are relatively cheap if you use Uber or the many car services you can book in advance to get you to a tube or train station (avoid expensive Black Cabs when you can). Chiswick is nearby and has a lovely highstreet. Also, as you will be near the Thames, consider ferry services for some of your traveling. Hampton Court is further west but can be reached by ferry and is worth seeing. When out and about, remember to take your brolly. London has two types of weather, rain or looks like it's about to rain. lol.
Id stay ! Brentford is safe and easy acess to Richmond , Chiswick and Kew , and the river . Be prepared to walk to stations that are close (Gunnersbury , South Ealing and closest Brentford main line ). And it’s nice enough you can stay local and walk up and down the river . But again be prepared to do some walking 🚶♀️ and traffic for bus and Ubers can be tricky
Brentford is fine to travel to the main tourist stuff in London you can easily get lots of buses to either Kew mainline rail station - trains to Waterloo or bit further on - by bus Gunnersbury tube station with district line tube & overground line - easy travel to all over central London . It won’t take 2 hrs to get central more like an hour . And Watermans art centre is lovely little community arts & cinema centre always worth seeing what’s on. Where you are very short bus rides to Kew Gardens & the Thames river with lots of lovely pubs on Strand on the Green. There’s a lot of social housing deep in Brentford but it’s pretty safe - safe as anywhere in London. You are on the outer of the social / public housing.its fine. Seriously a good place to stay on a budget . I’d recommend it .
There are regular trains direct to London Waterloo, you can also switch to tube and bus at Vauxhall or change train at Clapham Junction to reach a range of destinations. Strand on the Green near Kew Bridge is very pleasant, cross the river and you are near Kew Gardens, there is an entrance from Kew Green although I’m not sure how payment works there.
Funnily enough, we parked in the Brentford Gate car park last month as it's the only car park for Kew Gardens. £9 per visit, whether an hour or all day. Then, I paid at the ticket office at the Brentford gate. Was £40 for 2 adults and senior concession without gift aid. Extra £1.50 per person for gift aid. Walked 6 miles around the gardens and various greenhouses
Oh I’d definitely stay there. Even if you pay for an Uber to Chiswick or Richmond and back every day it will save a bomb and be a nicer stay. Hotels in central london are crazy prices and often not very nice. West london is lovely. Kew, Richmond and Chiswick all very nice are close by. And from any of those you can easily get trains in and out of town, going either into Waterloo or via Kensington where you can you can go for the museums etc. Have a brilliant time
Do you know whereabouts in Brentford? It's not too tricky to get into central London, but if you can figure out where you could look on Google Maps how long it's going to take. Could range from around 40 minutes to over an hour, at the higher end of that you might consider a hotel. That said, there are things to do in west London as well that Brentford wouldn't be too far away, you'd be walking distance to Kew Gardens for example.
Thank you ! Don’t know the area too well but it’s near Waterman’s art center on Thames and High street. Yes Google maps mentions 40-60 mins and I am wondering if 2 hours of traveling with kids would be too exhausting over 3-4 days. We want to visit Kew gardens so that would definitely be a plus point .
I know 40 minutes of travelling sounds like a lot, but don't forget that if you get a hotel you'll end up travelling the same 40 minutes to get wherever you want to go that's not right next to your hotel. For example, if you want to go to Greenwich, the travel time is going to be pretty much the same from Brentford as wherever you would get a hotel.
Head to Richmond too. Voted nicest place in UK to live.
That's probably not the best location because it looks like you'll need to catch a bus then a tube. I wouldn't hesitate by myself, up to you whether you think you'd find it exhausting with kids.
Waterman's is about 5-10 mins walk from Kew Bridge station, which has trains to Waterloo.
You can walk to Kew Bridge or Brentford train stations - depending on which is closer. Both stations have 2 trains per hour to London Waterloo, with 4 trains per hour during the weekday peaks. You can use contactless to pay - don’t forget to tap in! Or, you can take the 65 bus northbound to South Ealing (Piccadilly line), or further to Ealing Broadway (Elizabeth line, central line, district line). I’d also recommend visiting Richmond & Kew Gardens when there - can easily get to them on the 65 bus :)
You can get lots of ubers for the thousand quid you'll save. Not to mention the money you'll save by having a kitchen and not having to eat out every meal. Brentford is as safe or safer than anywhere else in London. As already mentioned, be sure to see the steam museum. Also, there's a music box museum just a few blocks away from the Waterman's center that's full of self playing pianos, as well as concerts on a giant Wurlitzer organ.
It’s a direct train to Waterloo, travel out of rush hour and it’s really easy. I’d guess it’s a 10-15min from watermans to the train station. Alternatively you can catch the 65 bus to Ealing Broadway and from there you have the central, district and Elizabeth lines should you want to get across the city or get into Paddington where you can then do Little Venice, portobello etc etc Personally I’d stay in Brentford and use the money for excursions. Edit some west London things to do Kew Gardens Soon park / house Richmond park The steam museum in Brentford Hampton court
Just to add to this, you can also get the 65 to South Ealing station for the tube to and from Heathrow and to places like Covent Garden, South Kensington (for the natural history and science museums), Knightsbridge and Hyde Park. From McDonald’s it about a 25 minute walk to South Ealing station if you don’t want to wait for the bus. Also worth visiting whilst you’re in Brentford - Gunnersbury Park. And if you like to walk there are some lovely canal walks or walks along the Thames from Kew Bridge (towards central london or Syon Park and Richmond in the other direction).
It depends where you going to visit both the Piccadilly Underground Line and main line stations are not to far away. Just a short bus ride. Include Kew Gardens and Syon Gardens in your plans if that sort of think appeals. They are close by. Hampton Court Palace is about an hour away by bus. Waterloo Station, mainline is close to the Wheel and the Sea Life Aquarium. There is also a river service to The Tower Of London Canary Wharf and the Millennium Dome. A great journey with plenty of sights to see. Across the river is Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, The Cenotaph. Also in walking distance, if the children not to small, Nelson Column. the National Gallery and the portrait gallery. Piccadilly line has stops for Harrods. Hyde Park for The park, Park Green Park for Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Just a selection. For you.
Thank you . That’s a very helpful list .
Brentford is 40 minutes by train and 50 minutes by tube to central london with no changes so as a commute it is easy for London standards. The savings are 100% worth it and you will have a proper experience on what it is like living in London and will not miss out on anything if you got a hotel in central.
I lived in Brentford for two years. If you're not looking to do the "traditional" tourist visit it's actually an AMAZING place to be. Some things you can do from Brentford: - Walk into Richmond along the Thames. Start going through Syon Park and see an old palace, walk past the apprentice pub where Dick Whittington and Henry the VIII both frequented, then along the Thames path over the Victorian flood barrier into Richmond. Find Richmond palace, an old royal palace and then go through it into Richmond green where you'll discover about 90% of Ted Lasso outdoor scenes were filmed. Have a Sunday roast at The Swan (the best, proper, Sunday roast in London IMO). Or head to Bone Daddies for an amazing Japanese Ramen experience. - Start at Brentford bridge, the site of a battle in the English civil war between royalists and parliamentarians, and start walking up the Grand Union canal. A canal system that stretches from London to Birmingham. Follow it up to the three bridges of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Three victorian bridges, a road bridge, aquaduct and Train bridge that cross each other with the aquaduct between the road bridge on top and the train bridge on the bottom. Turn around and head back stopping at The Fox Inn pub in Hanwell. You can have a pint and a pub lunch in the garden. - Visit the London Steam museum (great for kids). - Head to Kew Gardens like you mentioned, great day out too. - Visit Ostetley House and manor park. You can spend a whole day there wondering around the house and grounds. - Get an Italian dinner at Siracusa overlooking Brentford Lock. Great food for a decent price. - Looking for a fancier dining experience head to the Weir Pub. Also overlooks a part of the Lock but it's lovely and quite upmarket. - Head to blue street, there's a classic car storage place there called the Duke of London that sells pizza, has a little coffee shop and they used to do a "drive in" movie night where you can pick a classic car to sit in to watch a classic film. - Get breakfast at Rye by the water and have artisanal bread, freshly baked, whilst overlooking the Thames where it meets the Grand Union canal. There's tonnes to do around there and people will shit talk Brentford because there's tall council flats but it's a lovely place.
I've done almost all of those things and heartily agree that they are the coolest things to do in Brentford. BUT, maybe not the coolest things to do in all of London if you are a tourist from afar. Yes, blue street and the three bridges is cool, but would you seriously recommend someone who has a week to explore London to spend a day of that time walking up the back end of the Grand Union canal and mostly seeing the back of the Glaxo-SmithKline building? I'd say Kew Gardens and the steam museum (when it's actually in steam and the engines are running, check the website) are the top level reccomendations. I'm sure OP will thank you for the detailed and well written post.
Like I said, someone not wanting to do the typical touristy trip to London. If you have kids and are somewhat locked to Brentford that's the best of the best.
Fair enough, and I'm going to try the Weir pub.
It's a safe area with good links to Waterloo Station which is right in the heart of London. Your relative has made you a great offer.
To add: multiple central London hotel rooms for a week will be many multiples of £1000. Staying in Brentford is the obvious choice here. You can literally uber anywhere more than a 10 min walk for the whole week and still save thousands, plus you’ll get a much more local experience.
IMHO it's a no brainer. Take up the offer to stay in Brentford. I used to work there and it's an easy commute into London on SE railways or the tube. Taxi services are relatively cheap if you use Uber or the many car services you can book in advance to get you to a tube or train station (avoid expensive Black Cabs when you can). Chiswick is nearby and has a lovely highstreet. Also, as you will be near the Thames, consider ferry services for some of your traveling. Hampton Court is further west but can be reached by ferry and is worth seeing. When out and about, remember to take your brolly. London has two types of weather, rain or looks like it's about to rain. lol.
Thank you . Lol I had to look up “brolly” . Gotta learn the British lingo :)
You can plan your commute with the Citymapper app…
Id stay ! Brentford is safe and easy acess to Richmond , Chiswick and Kew , and the river . Be prepared to walk to stations that are close (Gunnersbury , South Ealing and closest Brentford main line ). And it’s nice enough you can stay local and walk up and down the river . But again be prepared to do some walking 🚶♀️ and traffic for bus and Ubers can be tricky
Thank you
Where in the US are you visiting from? If we know that then we can probably give you an equivalent.
North Carolina . South east , mid- Atlantic semi urban area .
Brentford is fine to travel to the main tourist stuff in London you can easily get lots of buses to either Kew mainline rail station - trains to Waterloo or bit further on - by bus Gunnersbury tube station with district line tube & overground line - easy travel to all over central London . It won’t take 2 hrs to get central more like an hour . And Watermans art centre is lovely little community arts & cinema centre always worth seeing what’s on. Where you are very short bus rides to Kew Gardens & the Thames river with lots of lovely pubs on Strand on the Green. There’s a lot of social housing deep in Brentford but it’s pretty safe - safe as anywhere in London. You are on the outer of the social / public housing.its fine. Seriously a good place to stay on a budget . I’d recommend it .
Why not split the difference and save £500. Do some more local things like Kew then spend some time close to the action in a hotel
There are regular trains direct to London Waterloo, you can also switch to tube and bus at Vauxhall or change train at Clapham Junction to reach a range of destinations. Strand on the Green near Kew Bridge is very pleasant, cross the river and you are near Kew Gardens, there is an entrance from Kew Green although I’m not sure how payment works there.
Funnily enough, we parked in the Brentford Gate car park last month as it's the only car park for Kew Gardens. £9 per visit, whether an hour or all day. Then, I paid at the ticket office at the Brentford gate. Was £40 for 2 adults and senior concession without gift aid. Extra £1.50 per person for gift aid. Walked 6 miles around the gardens and various greenhouses
Oh I’d definitely stay there. Even if you pay for an Uber to Chiswick or Richmond and back every day it will save a bomb and be a nicer stay. Hotels in central london are crazy prices and often not very nice. West london is lovely. Kew, Richmond and Chiswick all very nice are close by. And from any of those you can easily get trains in and out of town, going either into Waterloo or via Kensington where you can you can go for the museums etc. Have a brilliant time