Is Ealing a good place to stay in London?

Ealing is a good base if you want a calm, green part of London with an easy run into the centre and to Heathrow. Ealing Broadway station has the Elizabeth line, the Central line and the District line, so the West End is a direct ride with no change. It suits families, travellers with an early or late Heathrow flight and anyone who prefers a quieter room to being in the middle of things.

The area feels like a prosperous market town that London grew around. The centre is busy with shops and cafés around Ealing Broadway, while the streets behind it are lined with trees and Victorian houses. Walpole Park and Pitzhanger Manor are a short walk away, Ealing Common and Haven Green give you plenty of open space, and Ealing Studios, the oldest working film studio in the world, is on the edge of the park.

The downside is that you're a train ride from everything visitors usually come to London for. You won't walk to any of the big sights, and getting back late from the West End takes longer than from a central hotel. Evenings are quiet, and the choice of restaurants and bars is good for a suburb but small next to Soho or Covent Garden.

What makes Ealing worth considering is how easy it makes a London trip. Rooms cost much less than in the centre, the Elizabeth line gets you to the West End and to Heathrow quickly, and coming back to leafy streets and a proper local pub at the end of the day is a pleasant change from the crowds.