The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden was the first traditional Hindu stone temple in Europe when it opened in 1995. Thousands of tonnes of Bulgarian limestone and Italian marble were shipped to India, carved by hand and brought back to be assembled like a giant jigsaw, without a single piece of structural steel. It draws worshippers, tourists and school groups from all over Britain and the world. Minibus hire Neasden customers book is mostly about the temple, with group visits, festival days and tours, along with family events and airport runs.
Neasden sits in the middle of Brent, between Willesden, Dollis Hill, Wembley and Kingsbury, with the North Circular running through it. From our base in SE1, it's about forty to fifty minutes outside the rush hour, through Marylebone and up the Edgware Road or along the Westway and the North Circular.
Minibus hire Neasden for temple visits
The Mandir is open to visitors most days, with the main shrine, the haveli with its carved wooden halls and an exhibition about Hinduism. The Shayona restaurant and shop across the road sell vegetarian food, and many groups eat there after the visit. School groups, faith groups, community associations and tour parties visit, and the temple runs guided tours for groups booked in advance.
Visitors are asked to dress modestly, remove their shoes and leave bags at security, and photography isn't allowed inside the Mandir. For a group visit, book with the temple first, then tell us the time. The driver drops at the temple's visitor entrance on Pooja Close or at the point the temple gives you, and collects at the end of the visit.
Festival days at the Mandir
Diwali and the Hindu New Year, Annakut, bring tens of thousands of visitors to the Mandir over a few days, with fireworks, special displays and long queues. Other festivals through the year, including Janmashtami and Ram Navami, draw large crowds too. The Annakut display, with thousands of vegetarian dishes offered to the deities, is a sight in itself.
On festival days, the roads around the temple are busy, parking is restricted and the temple runs its own traffic arrangements. We'll drop at the point the temple directs coaches and minibuses to, and agree a meeting point for the return. Minibus hire Neasden families book for Diwali usually means an evening visit and a late return.
Tours that combine Neasden and London
Visitors from outside London often combine the temple with other sights in a single day, such as Wembley Stadium, the Brent Cross shops, or central London's landmarks. Tour groups from India, East Africa and North America book us for the full day, with the temple as one stop. Wembley Stadium tours run most days, and a morning tour followed by an afternoon at the Mandir suits a school group.
We'll plan the order of the stops, the timings and the drop-offs at each one. For a group arriving at Heathrow and visiting the temple before going to a hotel, the driver can collect at arrivals and take the group straight there.
Gujarati and Tamil family occasions
Neasden and the surrounding area have large Gujarati, Tamil and other South Asian communities, along with Irish, Caribbean and Eastern European families. Weddings, engagements and religious ceremonies bring big families together, and banqueting halls in Wembley, Kingsbury and along the North Circular host many receptions.
Guests are collected from homes across Neasden and Dollis Hill, taken to the ceremony and on to the reception, and brought home at the end. Temple weddings and religious ceremonies often begin in the morning, so the first pickups can be very early.
The Welsh Harp and the parks
The Welsh Harp, or Brent Reservoir, north of Neasden, has a busy sailing centre, a nature reserve and walks along its shores, and it suits school science trips and youth groups. The reservoir is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its wildfowl, and the local conservation group runs open days. Gladstone Park, to the south, has a café, a walled garden and wide lawns. IKEA and the retail parks on the North Circular are a few minutes away for shopping trips, and so are the Brent Cross shops.
The North Circular junctions
The North Circular runs through Neasden past several busy junctions, including the Neasden roundabout area and Staples Corner to the north-east, where the North Circular meets the M1 and the Edgware Road. These are some of the slowest junctions in London at peak times, and an incident can bring the whole stretch to a halt. Heathrow is about thirty-five to forty-five minutes from Neasden outside the rush hour, and Luton about forty minutes. For early flights and festival evenings, we'll allow a margin for the North Circular.
For minibus hire in Neasden, call 020 7183 0567.