Because London is saturated with a high volume of traffic getting about the Capital by car is not recommended and it invariably takes much longer than taking taxis or public transport. Finding a parking space is very challenging in central London, parking meters are expensive and you run the risk of having your car clamped or towed away if you don’t have a valid ticket or park illegally.
Furthermore, London now has a
Congestion Charge (which applies from 0700 hrs to 1830 hrs Monday to Friday and requires drivers to pay £8 per day if they wish to continue driving in central London during these hours). The charge aims to decrease the amount of traffic entering the city centre and ensure that vehicles using valuable and congested road space make a financial contribution.
Consequently it tends to be more expensive to drive in London than to take taxis and/or use the public transport system so from a time and a financial perspective opting for taxis or public transport is a sensible idea, not least because Harley Street is ideally located within walking distance to central underground train stations and major bus routes, and with a good pair of walking shoes so is much of the West End!
Parking meters
A vacant parking meter space can usually be found in the Harley Street/Wimpole Street area. Charges are £2.40 per hour from 8:30am to 6:30pm. There is a maximum stay of four hours.
Car parks
There are two 24 hour car parks located very close to Harley Street. Westminster City Council car parks provide safe, secure and reliable parking throughout central London and their
Harley Street Car Park is open 24 hours and is located in Queen Anne Mews, W1G 9HF (Tel 0800 243 348). To get an idea of costs, one hour parking is £5, and 24 hours is £30. There is another larger Westminster City Council car park located at Cavendish Square and short term meter parking can be made on the surrounding streets.
The Harley Street area is within the Congestion Charging Zone which needs to be paid at the machines within the car parks. For more information about where to park in this area, read the City of Westminster’s
Parking Service Guidelines.
