Knightsbridge Chauffeur Hire

Along the southern edge of Hyde Park runs Knightsbridge, from Hyde Park Corner heading west towards the Brompton Road. Denser and rather more international than Belgravia next door, it carries more people on foot than almost anywhere else in SW1. Behind it the residential streets, Lowndes Square, Montpelier Square, Wilton Place, fall quiet within a minute's walk of that crowd. Passengers here are generally shopping, meeting somebody for lunch, or staying in one of the hotels along the park and moving between the two.

Stopping restrictions cover most of Brompton Road and Sloane Street, and the pavements are far too crowded for any unhurried loading of bags. Hans Crescent and Basil Street suit a discreet set-down much better, while Hans Road takes a saloon without complaint. Knightsbridge falls just outside the congestion charge zone, whose edge starts at Grosvenor Place a few hundred metres east, so a day spent locally often attracts nothing at all. Carriage drives through the park shut for events and make no dependable shortcut.

The reasons for travelling here are plain enough: department stores on Brompton Road, the fashion houses lining Sloane Street from the Knightsbridge end down to Sloane Square, and the smaller boutiques of Beauchamp Place and Walton Street. Put a shopping chauffeur on the day and its whole shape alters. Purchases ride in the boot between stops instead of being carried, and the car appears at the door when you have finished rather than needing to be hunted down on a wet pavement.

Out of Knightsbridge, Heathrow normally takes 40 to 70 minutes, running the Cromwell Road westbound on to the M4, which counts among the more direct journeys from any central address. Gatwick generally comes to 65 to 100 minutes. London City wants 40 to 65 minutes, either across the river or through Westminster. Flying privately from Farnborough, the A3 and M3 route often treats a weekday morning better than anything pointed west.