Do I need a car seat for London?

[booksie]

We're bringing our three year old and hoping to take trains/buses wherever we go. Do I need a car seat?

[basketcase]

I lived in England for a year and never once saw a car seat on a train or bus. I'm not sure about taxis. My gut feeling tells me that you probably *should* have a car seat if you ride in a taxi, but whether the cabbies are patient enough to wait for you to install one everytime you take a ride is another matter.

If you rent a car you will definitely need one.

When we go to London this summer we are taking the car seat for our two-year old, mainly for the plane ride since it's a long one (9 hours) and he is used to sleeping in his car seat. After we get to London, the car seat will probably stay in our room for the duration of our stay since we'll be walking and taking the Tube everywhere. For the one or two times we take a taxi, I will probably just hold DS on my lap (unless I hear otherwise that it's against the law).

HTH!

[basketcase]

One more thing. I just reread your post that you are flying into Gatwick (so are we).

What we usually do to get into town from the airport is take the Gatwick Express into London Victoria Station; then from Victoria Station we take a cab to our hotel/destination. The Gatwick Express is very easy, about a 30 minute ride, and costs about 15 pounds for a one-way ticket from what I remember (I think children under age five ride free).

Gatwick is pretty far out from London and a taxi ride from the airport to central London is very expensive (and might take a *very* long time depending on what time of day and if there's traffic).

Just an FYI. ;)

[booksie]

Hey thanks, Femmie! The Gatwick Express sounds perfect.

I think we might go ahead and get this Sit & Stroll carseat/stroller. The point about it being easier to sleep on the plane is a good one.
But I heard London isn't very stroller-friendly.

[tlew12778]

Hm... well you know... I don't think there are *that* many tube stations that don't have an escalator or a lift. In fact, only one comes to mind right now and I think that is the earl's court (might be notting hill gate though) stop on the circle/district lines. I stick to zones 1&2 mostly so I don't know about the stations in the other zones. Some stations have loooooooong escalators and others require you to take the lift, like the bayswater stop on the central line. Sometimes if you are switching lines there are a few stairs to navigate but not long flights really.

Remember to stroll on the left side of the sidewalk ;).