Croydon is a mid-sized town in South London, with a rich history dating back even before 1086 and the Norman conquest of England. It is located approximately 9.5 miles south of the centrally located Charing Cross. Croydon is ideally located a short distance from central London, but also has easy and fast roadways to popular south coast locations like Brighton, Eastbourne and Bournemouth.
The city has long been a commuter town given its very convenient location for commuting into and out of London. It pioneered the first horse-drawn railway in 1803 and later became a centre for metal working and car manufacturing.
Today, there is plenty to see here in the arts, including the Croydon Clocktown arts centre, Fairfield Halls which houses a theatre, a BBC recording studio and Arnhem Gallery, and several comedy and youth theatre organizations around the city.
As a city, Croydon is well developed as an enjoyable location to spend time outside of the hustle and bustle of central London. Traffic is mostly redirected to the outskirts of the city, making it more pleasant for local residents to enjoy the highlights of the city.
Croydon has really opened up since the 1990s with the introduction of two new major shopping centers, the older Whitgift Centre and the more modern Centrale in North End. In fact, there are over 2.5 million square feet of retail space in Croydon, as well as the Purley Way/Valley Park out of town shopping centre on the A23 main road. All the usual British and Internationalretail brand names are represented here to keep shopoholics happy all day.
Croydon is quite a large city in its own right and has great transport links as well as a major airport at Croydon Airport on Purley Way, which was actually the main InternationalLondon airport prior to the development of London Heathrow airport and London Gatwick airport. The size of the city and the number of things to do in the surrounding area make hiring a car a good idea. Car hire in Croydon is easy to obtain, but for the most competitive prices try Tripindicator.com. Different car rental prices are compared to find you the best offer to suit your needs.