How to get there

There are plenty of ways to get into London for Hotelympia…

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Driving

Planning your route:
There are plenty of good sites on the Web that can help you plan your route in to London. The AA and RAC both do excellent ones, and they also include their guides to hotels and restaurants if you're stopping off on the way:

Link: AA route planner

Link: RAC route planner

Green Flag also provides a route planner which includes European destinations:

Link: Green Flag route planner

Multimap is another good site with a route planner but is probably more of a general map site than a driving guide:

Link: Multimap

Streetmap is basically an online A-Z for the whole of mainland UK. Just enter the name of the street and up it comes. It needs to sort out the way it zooms in and out of the map but apart from that it's essential if you're working out how to get around London.

Link: Streetmap

Travel information:
The BBC's London travel site is an excellent source of information. It includes live webcams of traffic troublespots and immediate information on the latest travel problems, both for cars and public transport. Worth checking before you set out to see if there are any major roadworks blocking your route into the capital.

Link: BBC London travel

Car parking:
National Car Parks (NCP) has its own site with information on all its car parks. It's not the prettiest Web site, but then car parks themselves are pretty functional things. The Web site has all the data on locations, rates and opening hours. It could probably do with an up-to-the-minute guide to whether or not there are spaces available, but you can't have everything.

Link: National Car Parks

Flying

The traffic into London can be horrendous to negotiate and the advent of budget airlines has meant more and more people are abandoning their cars for the air.

OAG operates a good business travel site that covers most, if not all, internal UK flight operators, including budget ones like Easyjet and Ryanair:

Link: OAG

Or you could check out the airlines themselves. Their Web sites are deliberately simple to use and you can book a ticket in seconds.

Link: Easyjet

Link: Ryanair

Trains

Railtrack, for all its faults, still has the most comprehensive and easy-to-use train timetable on the Web:

Link: Railtrack

Or you could call National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 for the most up-to-the-minute information on whether your train is delayed. Very advisable considering the woeful record of trains into London at the moment.

Virgin is one of the biggest train operators and often offers good deals for anyone booking in advance.

Link: Virgin Trains

Coach

The biggest coach operator is National Express, which operates routes in to London from all over the country. Tickets are usually a lot cheaper than rail. Its site, with the straightforward name of "Go By Coach" is simple and easy to use. Victoria Coach Station is the nearest to Earls Court.

Link: National Express