London to Silverstone
 

What would be the recommended rail route from London to Silverstone? I could not find a rail station directly in Silverstone, so what are the closest options? I'm arriving into LHR, and planned on HEXing it to Paddington. Thanks for the help.

I've never made this journey myself so maybe someone else can advise better, however renting a car at Heathrow and driving could be the best option;

Travel Planner at www.theaa.com advises 70 miles to the circuit from Heathrow, taking 1.5 hours

http://www.transportdirect.info/ which is a government run website that can compare various modes of transport advises that the only option to the racing circuit is to drive ! However if you are visiting the town of Silverstone itself then there is an option to travel by train from London Euston to Northampton and then by bus to Silverstone - which would take 2-3 hours in total..

Another useful source of info is at http://212.188.131.251/scripts/webtr...r.dll/journeys

If you can tell us if you are travelling to the circuit or the town and whether it is during the Grand Prix then perhaps someone else may be able to help more ?

I'm supposedly staying at a hotel adjacent to the track--but not during the Grand Prix. It's a business conference that I'll be attending. How much would a taxi be from Northampton to the circuit?

Is about 15 miles so guessing between £20-30 each way. The hotel should be able to advise exactly, and possibly have a special rate or shuttle facility.

I would hire a car for this trip. It'll be much quicker (particularly given that you'll have to get into London to get out again on public transport, which is an extra hour).

I went to school five minutes from Silverstone.

If you insist on training it, then you need to go from Euston to Milton Keynes. Then it is about a half hour drive to Silverstone by cab (plentiful) from there. MK is the best station as the trains are InterCity (ie fast, regular, not too many stops en route and more comfy than the local trains which you are more likely to find on the Northampton run).

I would not recommend this public transport option as you would be paying for Heathrow Express, tube from Paddington to Euston, rail from Euston to MK (likely to be expensive if you don't purchase online ahead of time, whcih means fixing your travel times, whcih is tricky), plus cab from MK to Silverstone. On top of all the the hassle of lugging your stuff along, dealing with the heaving unwashed masses, it would take three to four hours all in, and you would end up with no transport when you get to your hotel (it's a nice part of the world to meander on a country drive).

Being from NYC, you may not be keen/able to drive yourself (which may be the reason for the need to train it), but I would stongly second the hire car from LHR option. Just request an automatic, and ask for Sat Nav. It should take about an and a half to drive there (it would take me an hour as I know the route), just zoom out on the M4 then M40, come off at the Bicester exit and follow the brown signs to Silverstone.

If you are uncomfortable driving, the other option is to hire a driver or even get an airport car service which should charge about a hundred dollars for such a trip, one way.

Do visit my almer mater www.stowe.co.uk - one of the finest Palaces in the world, once owned by the Dukes of Buckingham while you are there.

Your conference will probably have organised somewhere for you to stay; if not I can recoomend

You really think it would be that cheap? I think closer to a hundred pounds, no?

Well, you may be right, but I am sure a local Buckingham firm would collect for around that - remember it is only use Londoners who tolerate being ripped off!

I suggest you call Buckingham Car Hire, Buckingham, Tel: +44 (0)1280 812038 just asked about a collection from Terminal 4 and they quoted GBP75, with around GBP10 for parking on top of that, obviously no parking charge of they just drop you off on your return journey. Man who answered phone was not terribly helpful though.......

Thank you for the depth of information. While I'm a New Yorker, I do reside on Long Island and am certainly familiar with high volume driving. My particular problem is that I need to be in Central London after the Silverstone meeting, so the thought of driving into Central London is not a welcome one. In addition, my only experience with driving on the left side of the road occurred in relative anonomity in Queensland. Greater London promises to be a bit more stressful. I will look at car service options from LHR--that seems to be the most convenient, if expensive, option.

Thanks.

I think it is very sensible to NOT want to drive on the wrong side of the road in an unfamiliar area immediately after an overnight long-haul flight,

There is one other option. You can take a coach (bus) from Heathrow to Milton Keynes. The timetable can be found on this web site. Unfortunately it is not a very frequent service.

Could you rent a car, take it to Silverstone, drop it back at LHR and then take the HEX in for your central London meeting?

I do get rather perturbed by this idea of the "wrong side" of the road.

Language is a powerful tool and should be used with respect and care. In the UK we drive on the left. This is neither wrong side, nor indeed the “right” side.

Australia and Japan are two major countries which also drive on the left. By stating the "wrong" side (whilst I understand your meaning) I would respectfully suggest that it would be more sensitive and appropriate to use the term left side rather than "wrong" side.

Having said that, I agree with Aviatrix if you are not familiar with driving abroad that you may not want to drive after a flight. However as long as you stay off the free drinks on the plane, it is after all only NYC from which you are coming which really is not all that long a flight.

And if you can handle Long Island driving, UK motorways should be a breeze, particularly if you get SatNav and an automatic transmission. It is mostly motorways and country roads to Silverstone; very easy to navigate out of Heathrow and you can always drive the car back to the airport (exactly the way you came), drop it off there and train into London the rest of the way after your conference. At least then you have mobility near Silverstone so you have an option of eating elsewhere than the hotel restaurant and can get out in the evenings.

Although helpful I would not recommend the coach - if you on expenses and need to get somewhere to have a proper rest after your flight you are likely to fin the bus times obstructive; there is a whole load of schlepping over to the bus stop with luggage, and you are still landed with a cab cost the other end.

Well, the last time I was Aviatrix's neck of the woods, they still drove on the same side as we did in London - so I think that what she meant was the "wrong" side for the OP, which in a very real sense it is.

I would, however, say this: I think that the dangers of driving on the other side of the road can be overstated if (a) the person has done it before, in whatever traffic circumstances; (b) the person is reasonably well rested when starting the journey; and (c) the person is familiar with driving in heavy traffic, whatever the rules of the road.

It would probably help the OP to specify an automatic transmission if that's what they're used to (and, possibly, even if it isn't, as changing gears will be one less thing to have to think about - the indignity of the poor driving technique imposed by most automatic transmissions is a small price to pay).

But the single most helpful thing is that they will be getting a car which has the steering wheel on the correct side of the car for the traffic conditions - I find that this helps enormously with my mental "picture" of where all the traffic should go on the road, and therefore where I need to steer towards.

Silverstone is deep in the country, and local taxis in such places (which are just standard 4-door cars) are way cheaper than in London. Adjacent small towns are Brackley and Buckingham. Just put "Taxi Brackley" or whatever into Google and you will see a couple of companies. Phone them up the day before (they're not high-tech website operations) and book the driver to meet you at Heathrow. It will be a common run for them.

Sorry if I've offended people by using the term "wrong side of the road" - a term I hear people use regularly when talking about driving on the side of the road that is the opposite from the one they are used to driving on. It never occurred to me that anyone could take offence at such a commonly-used expression.

If you're used to driving on the right then the left is the wrong side for you, and vice versa. And after flying overnight, and being kicked out of my seat at 3 or 4 am body time, I would not wish to drive on the other side. (In fact I wouldn't even want to drive any distance on "my" side of the road... I've driven home from NWI after an overnight flight, I would not drive home from LHR)