London – Travelling about and Hotels nr Euston

I am down in London in October for a couple of days with Jnr FD, our train will get us to Euston.

Day 1 is taken up with football at one of the big clubs so will just need to get tube etc to their training ground. Day 2 we are visiting the tower of London before travelling home.

We are thinking of just staying around Euston purely because The Tower doesnt allow large rucksacks in, and the station has secure storage. Can anyone recommend a hotel near Euston, or would we be better staying near the Tower of London?

Tube travel, the last time I was there some years ago they were really pushing Oyster cards. Is this still the case, or can I just buy tickets with my phone?

Ta

Tube – just tap your phone on the card reader at the turnstiles. No need for tickets, or oyster cards.

We were in London in the summer and stayed in the Premier Inn Blackfriars – though it’s not close to Euston they have free bag storage.

Also it’s two stops from the Tower (or 30 mins walk) and two minutes from Blackfriars station, which is on the Circle and District line, which connects you to most places.

By the way for kids, unless they’re under 11 and free, they’ll need either an oyster or buy a travel card.

The area around Euston is not particularly nice, imho, down on the South bank area would be better. Euston down to Waterloo is a fairly short hop on the tube.

I’ve used the Euston Travelodge a few times to catch an early Eurostar. It’s not a hotel, or really an area that I’d like to spend a lot of time hanging around in, but it’s cheapish and convenient and the rooms are clean and comfortable. I’d go so far as to say it’s much better than it looks from the outside.

However it’s not really a special occasion hotel.

Also to use your phone on the tube, you need to have a debit/credit card registered with Applepay or equivalent and the express transport option enabled.

or would we be better staying near the Tower of London?

if you do this there’s a CitizenM hotel right opposite the tower – I had a great view right out of the window last time I stayed there! Very funky hotel with a roof terrace, 10 times nicer than Travelodge/Premier etc so worth the extra IMO. Although if you were planning on sharing a room be aware they only have (massive) double beds!!

I normally use my debit/credit card to tap on all London transport.

Coal Drops Yard is near Euston and is a nice place to be. Camden (where I’m typing this from), is just up the road with lots of places to eat out by the canal. Lots of tourists there now so busy.

South Bank is our go to destination when folk visit.

London transport outside of rush hour is generally excellent.

Been here 27 years, still not made it to the Tower of London :D

Thanks for the advice so far, may look nearer the Tower.

So I wont be able to use my phone to get a ticket for myself and one for my son?

Yeah, I wouldn’t stay around Euston – stay somewhere central instead (most hotels will let you leave your bags) as getting around is quick and easy, tap in/out with your card (there’s a daily cap)

We often stay here when we have a night in London, it’s a bit of a walk to the nearest tube station though:

https://www.seacontainerslondon.com/

And there are a few decent hotels on Minories – just up from the Tower.

Or, if you’re feeling flush, this is lovely: https://www.corinthia.com/

What’s your budget?

The area around Euston is not particularly nice, imho,

Directly by Euston, no

walk a few 100metres and youre at granary square which is fine, you can also do the tourist thing up in Camden

The premiere inn hub at Kings X is cheap for the area, has free bag storage and is nice enough if you want a basic room, you can walk along the Canal to see the Monkeys at London Zoo and Beer + Burger near granary square is great

So with phones or contactless cards you just tap where you used to tap your oyster card. It works out where you’ve travelled to and from over the day and charges your card the appropriate (minimum) amount. If your son has a phone with contactless payment or a contactless card he can use that himself, but will be charged the full adult fare.

That’s reminded me I have an Oyster card somewhere that must have about £10 on it that I last used before the COVID pandemic .

The Premier Inn on the south bank is a nice spot to stay. Next to the Globe theatre, few minutes to the Tate modern and easy walk down past Borough Market and over tower bridge to the Tower. They’ll let you leave your bags after checkout and an easy tube ride back to Euston.

walk a few 100metres and youre at granary square which is fine, you can also do the tourist thing up in Camden

I was up in Camden a couple of weeks back, I don’t remember it being such a shit-hole tbh. Must be getting old!

Two Premier Inns on Euston Road opposite British Library so great for train at Euston (no bag schlepping), tubes from Kings X (many), and buses up and down Southampton Row. One is newer / nicer and Kids Eat Free. It’s clean, modern, has two beds per room,  quiet from road noise has secure luggage storage so if it’s in budget why would you go anywhere else? We did exactly this a few weeks back.

https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-st-pancras.html

express transport option enabled

This is optional. If it isn’t enabled, you have to unlock the phone before tapping in. At least, that’s the case for Android.

A child’s Day Travelcard is £7.90 and you can buy them in advance or from the station at Euston.

When we went with kids to London we used Apple Pay tap in/out for adults and bought the kids one day travel card tickets (ie not Oyster cards) using contactless payment at the first station we got to. If your son taps in/out he’ll be charged adult price, kids are half that iirc

The Travelodge near Euston has the worst bed I’ve ever slept on and there is/was a fire station right next to it, worst night ever!

As other have said, look slightly further afield.  We prefer buses these days, still Oyster based but more pleasant than the tube usually.

Regarding TFL, how old is jr?

Agreed about the buses, a much more pleasant trip than the tube.

Apologies if stating the obvious but couldn’t see it clarified above so wanted to clear it up in case.

@funkydunc you mention using your phone to buy tickets, assuming you mean from a ticket office or machine then you just use it like a normal payment card and can of course use it to buy a rocket for both you and your son.

However if ,as I suspect, you mean using it to tap in and out at the barriers (effectively pay as you go and what everyone else is talking about above) then you will not be able to use the same phone for both you and your son, you can only use it for one person. Might be easier to just buy him a travel card and you do the PAYG via phone

Just give the child a contactless card to go through the gates at either end, can take it off them inbetween. Make sure you use the same card at both ends. Can be the same card as the one on your phone (the one on your phone is a virtual card so technically different from the physical one).

Do not leave luggage at Euston it cost a ridiculous amount per case.

Premier Inns are a good shout.

The Thistle at Bloomsbury square is fine and reasonably cheap for London. About 10 min walk from the station.

breakfast is average but the cafe in bloomsbury square is nice.

Premier inn the hub tower hill was really good for us , right by spitalfields,brick lane

Regarding TFL, how old is jr?

14yrs old although he looks about 20 !

Mrs FD says we have some Oyster cards with loads of cash left on them from about 5 yrs ago so might use them for Jnr

currently thinking Premier Inn London Bank Tower

Next thing is to find a restaurant that does home made burgers/pizzas not chain processed shite :-)

14yrs old although he looks about 20 !

Know that feeling, got a similar one at 15 :)

This thread is quite timely as we’ve got a London trip planned in a few weeks with our two 11 & 15 and has saved me looking all this up.  Thanks

currently thinking Premier Inn London Bank Tower

Having worked in that area in the past i would suggest maybe looking due south of the river. Borough market will have better burger options too.

Mrs FD says we have some Oyster cards with loads of cash left on them from about 5 yrs ago so might use them for Jnr

wave them at a ticket machine and it’ll tell you what they’re worth. Otherwise just give him a bank card for the day to tap in and out ( you only tap in on buses).

I’ve been going up to that area monthly for nearly 2 years now, I stay at the Euston Square Hotel, its a few min walk towards the BT Tower, rooms are on the moderate size, but have the best showers. Do not stay in the Hub off of Tottenham Court Road or the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury…

I see some posts about the area, I’ve never see any issues and from Euston or Euston Square Tube you can get anywhere. Sometimes I run and Regents park is minutes down the road to do a lap of.

I was there last week.

I use Premier Inn at either Kings Cross or Paddington Basin, both of which are easy to get to (15 mins walk or a couple of tube or bus stops). I got fed up of ‘variable’ and overpriced hotels in London, with Prem Inn you know what you are getting.

I like the Doubletree Hilton near the Tower of London.

Others have covered the tube, it’s definitely the easiest.

I generally stay outside of zone 1/2 as it can be a lot cheaper but in a hotel close to a tube station, the tube works really well in general, so 5 mins extra on the tube can work out a lot cheaper than trying to stay central in terms of hotel costs.

I normally go for budget hotelssuch as Permier/Ibis etc. as you know what you are getting and you usually get a free (but crap) breakfast thrown in, so the trick is to pinch a few bananas and pots of yoghurt, etc, if you don’t fancy sitting down for breakfast!