Alexandra Palace sits on its hill above Wood Green like a great Victorian glasshouse that wandered out of the city, and between Christmas and New Year it fills with fancy dress and chanting for the World Darts Championship. The rest of the year, Ally Pally hosts big concerts, the Masters snooker, an ice rink, a restored Victorian theatre and one of London's largest firework displays. Minibus hire Wood Green customers book is often about getting a group up the hill and back down again, along with nights out on Green Lanes, family parties and runs to Stansted.
Wood Green is the shopping centre of Haringey, with the High Road, the Mall and the tube station at its heart, and Turnpike Lane, Harringay and Muswell Hill around it. From our base in SE1, it's about forty-five minutes to an hour outside the rush hour, up through Islington and Finsbury Park.
Minibus hire Wood Green for Alexandra Palace
The Great Hall holds around ten thousand standing, and the theatre about a thousand more. Gigs, comedy, the darts and the snooker draw groups from across London, Essex and Hertfordshire. The palace has car parks and a drop-off area at the top of the hill, but the roads up to it are narrow, winding and shared with walkers and buses.
When a big show finishes, thousands of people leave at once, and the queue of vehicles down Alexandra Palace Way can take a long time to clear. We'll agree a pickup point with you in advance, either at the palace or a short walk down the hill, depending on the event and the traffic plan. Walking ten minutes downhill to a pickup on the edge of the park is often quicker than waiting at the top.
The darts, the snooker and the fireworks
The World Darts Championship runs from mid-December into early January, with afternoon and evening sessions most days. Groups come in fancy dress, often for a Christmas party or a stag do, and the evening sessions finish late. The Masters snooker follows in January, with a quieter crowd and earlier finishes.
The fireworks festival in early November is one of the busiest nights of the year. Roads around the park close, the crowds are enormous, and getting a vehicle anywhere near the palace is very hard. For that night, we'll drop on the edge of the closures and agree a meeting point well away from the park for the return.
If your booking is for a darts session, tell us whether it's afternoon or evening, and we'll plan the pickup for when the session ends rather than when the last dart is thrown, because the exit takes time.
Green Lanes and nights out
Green Lanes, running south from Wood Green through Harringay, is lined with Turkish and Kurdish grill restaurants, bakeries and late-night cafés, and it's one of the best places in London for a big group dinner. Birthday groups, engagement parties and family celebrations book us to get there and home.
The road is busy, with buses and parked cars on both sides, so we'll agree a pickup point on a side road near the restaurant. The Wood Green High Road and the area around Turnpike Lane have pubs and bars for a night out, and Muswell Hill, up the hill to the west, has more restaurants and a cinema.
Family parties, schools and the Chocolate Factory
Wood Green has a large Greek and Turkish Cypriot community, and families from Caribbean, African and Eastern European backgrounds, and parties and weddings here often run to big numbers. We'll plan the runs between homes, the venue and the reception, and put on more than one vehicle if needed.
Schools book us for museum visits, swimming and sports fixtures. The Chocolate Factory, a former Barratt's sweet factory near the station, is now artists' studios and workshops, and the Alexandra Palace park has a boating lake, a pitch and putt course and wide lawns for a school picnic.
Flights from Stansted and Luton
Stansted is about forty-five minutes to an hour from Wood Green outside the rush hour, via the North Circular and the M11. Luton is about fifty minutes, via the A1 and the M25 or the M1. Heathrow is about an hour, and Gatwick an hour and a quarter or more.
For a family heading off on holiday, the Piccadilly line to Heathrow is a long ride with cases, and the overground connections to Stansted mean a change at Tottenham Hale. A minibus from the door with space for everyone's luggage is simpler. When relatives are flying in, we'll keep track of the flight and the driver will be at arrivals.
The High Road and the hill
Wood Green High Road is one of the busiest shopping streets in north London, with bus lanes, a large bus garage and a lot of pedestrians. Stopping on it is very limited, so pickups in the centre will be on a side road. The roads up to Alexandra Palace are steep and narrow in places, with tight bends, and they're the main constraint on any event night. Minibus hire Wood Green groups book for Ally Pally runs best when we know the event and the finish time well in advance.
For minibus hire in Wood Green, call 020 7183 0567.