Our Greater London Megathread

anne burnell · 15-09-2014 8:53pm

check out the premier inns.... they are super, and if you book well in advance you can get rooms for 4 people for £29 for the room....I'm heading next friday and staying in the Premier Inn at Wembley stadium for £200 for 4 nites....there are 2 of us, so thats only £25 per nite each...

ultraman1 · 22-09-2014 8:53pm

What's the minimum connection time in stanstead,..leaving Dublin on Ryanair at 06:35,,,,to connect with Ryan air leaving stanstead at 08:45.....enough time? Thanks in advance

kerry4sam · 22-09-2014 10:10pm

ultraman1 wrote: »

What's the minimum connection time in stanstead,..leaving Dublin on Ryanair at 06:35,,,,to connect with Ryan air leaving stanstead at 08:45.....enough time? Thanks in advance

A quick search tells me your flight over will be approx, all-going-well, 1hr 15mins giving you 55mins roughly.
Are you checking in luggage?

Thanks,
kerry4sam

athtrasna · 22-09-2014 10:53pm

ultraman1 wrote: »

What's the minimum connection time in stanstead,..leaving Dublin on Ryanair at 06:35,,,,to connect with Ryan air leaving stanstead at 08:45.....enough time? Thanks in advance

There's no connection as such, Ryanair are a point to point airline meaning you need to exit arrivals and then go to Departures and go through security and head to gate. You're treated like any other departing passenger, no allowances for flight being late or security queue being too long.

I wouldn't allow less than two hours at Standstead, got stuck behind two flights going to Israel at security once, queue was 90 minutes.

Marcusm · 22-09-2014 11:18pm

athtrasna wrote: »

There's no connection as such, Ryanair are a point to point airline meaning you need to exit arrivals and then go to Departures and go through security and head to gate. You're treated like any other departing passenger, no allowances for flight being late or security queue being too long.

I wouldn't allow less than two hours at Standstead, got stuck behind two flights going to Israel at security once, queue was 90 minutes.

+1 on this; there is no MCT (minimum connection time) because there are only separate tickets and you are not protected even in the event that the inbound aircraft is late.

jrar · 28-09-2014 8:26pm

Hi, heading to London for 3/4 days for mid-term with wife and 2 girls (11 & 14) and looking at booking apartment rather than a hotel room because of cost (and would give us some flex to even in once or twice rather than dining out every lunch/dinner etc.)

Trying to work out what's our best option for travel each day - don't fancy paying per trip but the multi-trip options are a bit confusing. There's a Travel Card option and an Oyster Visitor Card option - wouldn't be travelling extensively every day but being a large city, we'd certainly be hopping on and off the odd tube or bus.

The oyster card option seems to imply that once you've swiped £8.40 worth of trips, that's the max you will be charged i.e. all further trips that day are "free". Am I being naive to think that one person could have a card and "swipe" for travel for all 4 or would each of us require one i.e. over £30 sterling per day min. to cover travel ?

Visitor cards can only be bought outside of the country so I need to get this element of the trip sorted before we go (especially as buses are all cashless now)

Anyone used any of these tourist/visitor cards recently who can recommend the best way to get max. value from them ? Not interested in discounts from the various museums as we've visited a lot of those on previous trips, so it's for travel only. Hoping to stay in Zone 1/2 territory so not looking for something to cover the LHR to city element - will just buy a reg. tube ticket for that journey each way.

athtrasna · 28-09-2014 8:30pm

jrar wrote: »

The oyster card option seems to imply that once you've swiped £8.40 worth of trips, that's the max you will be charged i.e. all further trips that day are "free". Am I being naive to think that one person could have a card and "swipe" for travel for all 4 or would each of us require one i.e. over £30 sterling per day min. to cover travel ?

You use the card to tag on at the start of your journey on the underground and tag off at your destination. Every passenger needs their own card

Fred Swanson · 28-09-2014 10:04pm

This post has been deleted.

anne burnell · 29-09-2014 8:31pm

buy a day ticket... £8.90 to go as far as zone 6... it can be used onthe tubes and the busses... used it last week and found it super.... also we ate it a lot of the JD weatherspoon bars.... super chep... a chicken fillet burger, salad or chips ,which includes a pint of beer a spirt or a glass of wine for £6.39....

Sala · 30-09-2014 1:03pm

My friend lives in London and is supposed to be flying to holidays with us end of next week but has lost her passport. She needs to get her long form birth cert from here and apply, but her drivers licence was Australian (I don't know if it's just expired, or expired and mislaid). Is there any way to fast track an application or is there no hope, given she needs to order the birth cert and has no id

munchkin_utd · 30-09-2014 1:14pm

bit of a vague post.
Is your friend Irish/ British/ from Australia or somewhere else?
Is "holidays", a holiday Ireland, Europe or somewhere far away?
If flying to Ireland, are they flying with Ryan air (who ALWAYS require a passport) or aer lingus etc who are grand with a valid id of some sort, so long as youre irish/ british ?

tenifan · 30-09-2014 1:21pm

Sala wrote: »

My friend lives in London and is supposed to be flying to holidays with us end of next week but has lost her passport. She needs to get her long form birth cert from here and apply, but her drivers licence was Australian (I don't know if it's just expired, or expired and mislaid). Is there any way to fast track an application or is there no hope, given she needs to order the birth cert and has no id

It doesn't sound like she'll be going anywhere.

if she lives in London her best bet is to contact the Irish embassy. She'll need that birth cert and proof of address. Not sure what they do about photo ID if she doesn't have any.
I wouldn't rely on them to fast-track it for her.

Sala · 30-09-2014 1:42pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

bit of a vague post.
Is your friend Irish/ British/ from Australia or somewhere else?
Is "holidays", a holiday Ireland, Europe or somewhere far away?
If flying to Ireland, are they flying with Ryan air (who ALWAYS require a passport) or aer lingus etc who are grand with a valid id of some sort, so long as youre irish/ british ?

Sorry. Irish passport holder and lives in london. Flying to Portugal

Vic_08 · 30-09-2014 4:57pm

jrar wrote: »

Hi, heading to London for 3/4 days for mid-term with wife and 2 girls (11 & 14) and looking at booking apartment rather than a hotel room because of cost (and would give us some flex to even in once or twice rather than dining out every lunch/dinner etc.)

Trying to work out what's our best option for travel each day - don't fancy paying per trip but the multi-trip options are a bit confusing. There's a Travel Card option and an Oyster Visitor Card option - wouldn't be travelling extensively every day but being a large city, we'd certainly be hopping on and off the odd tube or bus.

The oyster card option seems to imply that once you've swiped £8.40 worth of trips, that's the max you will be charged i.e. all further trips that day are "free". Am I being naive to think that one person could have a card and "swipe" for travel for all 4 or would each of us require one i.e. over £30 sterling per day min. to cover travel ?

Visitor cards can only be bought outside of the country so I need to get this element of the trip sorted before we go (especially as buses are all cashless now)

Anyone used any of these tourist/visitor cards recently who can recommend the best way to get max. value from them ? Not interested in discounts from the various museums as we've visited a lot of those on previous trips, so it's for travel only. Hoping to stay in Zone 1/2 territory so not looking for something to cover the LHR to city element - will just buy a reg. tube ticket for that journey each way.

Working out what exactly is best for visitors to London can be complex.

For the 2 adults I would suggest you get 2 Oyster Cards before you board the tube in Heathrow. It requires a £5 refundable deposit and then enough credit for your travel needs. Any excess credit and the deposit cab be refunded at Heathrow on your way back or you can hold onto them for any future travel in London by you or anyone else, the credit does not expire.

It would be cheaper to use them for your trips to and from Heathrow as well Heathrow - zone 1 is £5.70 cash, £5.00 oyster peak, £3.00 oyster off peak.

For the children there are 2 options.

You can apply online and get a zip oyster for 11-15 year olds. It costs £10 and you need to apply 4 weeks in advance of collecting them. You can collect them from the Heathrow travel centre. With a zip oyster they can get very cheap fares, tube single is £0.80 peak, £0.75 off peak, daily cap is £4.20 zone 1-2 peak or £1.50 all zones off peak and buses are free.

It would be worthwhile getting it if your children are likely to be going back to London again before they are 16.

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/students-and-children/11-15-zip-oyster-photocard

If that is not an option or too much hassle then paper child day travelcards (£3.60 off peak zones 1-6) for each day would be the best option and avoid traveling before 09.30am Mon-Fri. Child single to/from Heathrow is £2.80 so if taking no other trips that day buy single otherwise get day travelcard for those days too.

JohnMearsheimer · 01-10-2014 1:28am

There is an Irish passport office in London. If she has lost her passport she will be treated as a first time applicant again so I'm not too sure she'd get a passport by the end of next week.

She can order her birth cert from certificates.ie

killer007 · 02-10-2014 7:20am

We have 2 9 year olds travelling with us in London. I know that they are free on tube etc but do we need a separate ticket for them or do they go through the barriers with us on our adult tickets?

Vic_08 · 02-10-2014 11:28am

killer007 wrote: »

We have 2 9 year olds travelling with us in London. I know that they are free on tube etc but do we need a separate ticket for them or do they go through the barriers with us on our adult tickets?

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/students-and-children/5-10-zip-oyster-photocard?intcmp=1777

Adamocovic · 23-10-2014 10:01pm

Going to London this weekend and was wondering what are the tubes and buses like? I imagine very hectic, are they easy to manoeuvre around and buy tickets for?

Also I assume it's too late to get an oyster card for travel yes? Would we be able to get an oyster card in the airport and top it up there or do you have to set up online and then get them delivered to your home? Thanks.

Fred Swanson · 23-10-2014 10:19pm

This post has been deleted.

Adamocovic · 23-10-2014 10:24pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Thanks, do you just top them up straight from a machine there? also how much is it for the card alone?

Fred Swanson · 23-10-2014 10:34pm

This post has been deleted.

Adamocovic · 23-10-2014 10:41pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Thanks a million!

exiledelbows · 23-10-2014 11:19pm

As you're here for the weekend, check for service disruptions here as it always catches people out that they do work at weekends: http://tfl.gov.uk/tube-dlr-overground/status/?startDate=2014-10-25T00:00:00&endDate=2014-10-26T23:59:59

Luckily not a whole lot to worry about, just a central part of the Circle/District Line

zagmund · 24-10-2014 9:30am

As above, it's a very good idea to check the line closures for any weekend you are planning on being in London. I've seen some great deals in the past for hotels which at first glance look to be accessible (a minutes walk from a tube station), but on checking the line closures found out that the line the hotel is on is going to be closed for the weekend . . . hence the low room rate.

Bus substitutions tend to be pretty good, so it's not like you will be stuck in the middle of nowhere (in London terms), but it will just not be as easy as jumping on a tube at the end of the day and arriving at your hotel.

z

cao93 · 07-11-2014 7:57pm

Hey guys,
Myself and my boyfriend are going to London at the start of December for a weekend away. We're staying in the Kingscross area and flying into Stansted so looking for the cheapest easiest way into the Kingscross area?
Thank you in advice for the help :-)

macker64 · 07-11-2014 8:08pm

Overhead train runs from Stanstead Airport to Central London.

You will get off the train @ Tottenham Hale, go down the escalator to Tottenham Hale tube station and hop on a tube to Kings Cross St. Pancras.

Very easy and convenient.

Enjoy your weekend, Lots to see in London!!!

grimm2005 · 08-11-2014 11:52pm

You've several options, one would be to get the Stansted Express train option. This is the fastest option (but not by a huge amount). This will cost £8 each way if you book online more then 30 days in advance, £12 each way if you book more then 7 days in advance or £33 return if you book within a week or at the station. These are open tickets that can be used on any service. This takes 47minutes to Liverpool St. which will leave you 4 stops on the tube to Kings Cross.

Another option is the terravision coach service which can take you to Victoria for £15 return if booked online at any stage, £14 return to Liverpool St. or to Stratford for £11 return. The latter option leaves you a few extra stops on the tube to Kings Cross. These services take between 50 and 75 minutes depending on destination. They all leave you at tube stations so any would be suitable.

By far the cheapest option is easyBus which will drop you to Baker st or Old st depending on which service you choose. The Old St. service takes around 60mins and the tube here is 2 stops away from Kings Cross. The Baker St. service is around 70mins and leaves you 3 stops from Kings Cross. Both these services cost anything between £4 and £10 return depending on which time you book but will rarely go higher unless you leave it till last minute.

Personally I'd go for easyBus since it's much cheaper then the train and only slightly longer service but if you want to splash out and have the added comfort of the train, by all means go for it, but personally I'd only consider if I was within the 30+ day advance booking window as anything more then £16 return would be pushing it (otherwise it defeats the point of flying cheaper to Stansted!)

Alanbyrne88 · 15-11-2014 12:40pm

Hi I'm planning on taking my girlfriend and two young children to legoland windsor for our first holiday kids are aged 3 and 4 months. Looking to stay for 2-3 nights, the legoland hotel looks great but for the price is it worth it even for one night. Also I would like to travel to London for the day.where is the best place to stay where there is public transport to London and legoland.

garbanzo · 15-11-2014 12:45pm

Kids at those ages are a bit young for Legoland IMHO. Sorry to be negative.

coylemj · 15-11-2014 2:19pm

You get to Windsor by mainline train, to either Windsor & Eton Central (from Paddington, change at Slough. 30-40 minutes) or Windsor & Eton Riverside (direct from Waterloo but stopping at lots of small stations, 56 mins). It's outside the Oyster area so you have to buy tickets in the railway station. Not sure about Waterloo but Paddington is usually full of tourists as it's the departure station in London for Oxford, Bath and Bristol so there's usually a decent queue in the ticket office. I suspect people travelling on the Heathrow Express buy their tickets from machines, the tourists usually end up in the queue!

http://www.legoland.co.uk/Plan/Directions/By-Rail/

Our Greater London Megathread

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