parking in / near south kensington
 

Hi, All

After some tips. If the weather is OK I will probably pop down to the smoke on Saturday to visit the modernism exhibition at the V&A. I'm coming from Evesham, and so will arrive via the M40. Got taken out by a VW driver a couple of years ago in city traffic in Chester so I don't want to be fretting about trying to park. Any suggestions? Am I likely to find ANYWHERE at all if I arrive mid morning, or would I be best to park further out and grab a tube in. I know that the whole point of bikes is that they can cope in the city, but I don't really know my way around London without going via underground. Also, I would happily spend a few quid to park somewhere where the bike will be safe.

Cheers
Simon

Hello there

I work near hyde park and have the luck of parking at my work so i dont really know about south ken etc.

However there are a number of bike parking maps (maybe try a search on this site) and i think even Streetmap has info on bike parks.

Also, RAC's routefinder may help you get to where you wanna go. Its a good tool and one i use often to get me to places in London i'm not familiar with. And i've lived here for 25yrs so dont feel bad if the idea of getting lost creeps up on you.

Just remember.... In london your never really lost, just temporarily going the wrong way ;)

hth

there are a number of bike bays in and around exhibition road (which runs up the side of V&A)

the other option is to be a bit cheeky and park in the car park of Imperial College (also off Exhibition Road) It has a manned guard so you'll be safe, just ride on in as if you know where you're going and you'll be fine.

good luck!

http://www.motorcycleparking.com/

http://www.parkingforbikes.com/

You can also buy a small A to Z that has the bike bays marked on it from some bike shops in London. Well worth having handy. If you want to get a space in a bike bay be prepared to scout a few. In the middle of the day you are likely to find many full. Looking at the map, there are quite a few in walking distance of the V&A so you should alright. Don't forget scooters are easy to move around :wink:

If you want to pay to park you can try an NCP or the car park of imperial college (entrance on exhibition road).

I presume you are coming on a weekday? A lot of metered bays are free on Sundays, and single yellows too.

Finally, if you park in bay that has a car already in it and it's serviced by a meter, then you should in principle not have to pay (because they can't prove who paid in the meter). From memory, there are meters on Queen's Gate.

Hi
the NCP near me in Knightsbridge charges £3 per day for motorbikes - worth it for a single trip as you'll have a lot less hassle than parking on the street - you're less likely to get it scratched by some chav on a scooter, let alone get it nicked

The V&A is easy to get to - from the M40, come off onto the M25, then off the M25 onto the M4, follow it until it becomes the A4, then the Cromwell Road, and it goes right past the front door

Print off a few pages from Streetmap or Multimap and you'll be alright

Mid morning on a Saturday should see plenty of space in the bike bays :wink:

Thanks for all the positive replies, gang. Will let you know how I get on. As I have a 200mile round trip, I will probably give it a miss if the weather is too iffy. Its not funny getting soaked if you have a purpose to your ride!

Cheers

Simon

We have a bike labelling thing running now (all bikes have to carry numbered sticker badges) but they don't stop bikes coming or going and I've never seen them checking bikes over (and I've had mine in without the badge a few times) - just one more thing for our admin to pretend to do :roll: There's over a hundred bike parking spaces about the place and it's free though...

Big bike park on Thurloe street here mate. Have fun!

http://streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=...app=newmap.srf