Our Greater London Megathread

Southern Rail is cheaper than Gatwick Express, and only 5 minutes longer. And they often have money off if you book in advance on the net.

Aylesbury is do-able from either LGW/LHR.

From Gatwick:
Southern train to Victoria. Victoria Line to Oxford Circus; change onto the Bakerloo Line to Marylebone - Chiltern Railways to Aylesbury

From Heathrow:
Heathrow Connect to Paddington (much cheaper than Heathrow Express) then Bakerloo Line to Marylebone. Then Chiltern Railways to Aylesbury.


In both cases you can book through tickets which include the tube transfer.

Times and tickets here:

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/planjourney/query

Piko wrote: »

Looking at the site for the london underground, http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/by-date.aspx?offset=weekend , it seems like they're closing the entire Circle like and most of the District line this saturday and sunday. Do they really close down so much of the underground at once or am i reading it wrong? I'm going over on Friday and our hotel ("Apex city of london") is near Tower Hill station which is on both these lines

Does anyone know how far a walk Bank Station on the Central line is from Tower Hill station and what would now be the best way to get to Gatwick from our hotel on sunday?

Yes, TfL do shut down parts of lines at weekends to facilitate track replacement works, station repairs, etc.

To get from Gatwick to Bank station, first take the Southern train into Victoria (it's much cheaper and only 5 minutes slower than the Gatwick Express). At Victoria station, go down the stairs to the underground and take the Victoria line northbound to Oxford Circus (2 stops) where you can catch a Central line train eastbound to Bank.

Tower Hill station is about a 15 minute walk from Bank station. Below I have posted a link from Google Maps showing directions from Bank to Tower Hill:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=King+William+St&daddr=A3211%2FTower+Hill+Terrace&hl=en&geocode=FeAFEgMdxKb-_w%3BFbT6EQMdgNv-_w&mra=cc&dirflg=w&sll=51.514966,-0.082483&sspn=0.013701,0.032744&ie=UTF8&ll=51.512749,-0.079823&spn=0.013701,0.032744&z=15

Hope this answers your question! London is one of my favourite cities

have you got a budget in mind for the hotel?

being london you can spend from €100 to €1000 a night, there is a Holiday Inn in Kensignton that's in a brilliant location and is very reasonable circa £100, it's clean and decent. If you are looking for something a bit more romantic I suggest giving an idea of you budget that'll help folk to recommend appropriate spots

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/lonhi?&stopredirect=true

tommy21 wrote: »

Hey all, hope my query is not too repetitive but I can't get what I need from the search function (though I am now aware of the less social side of London )I want to take my gf to London next month as an anniversary present. Planning to get her tickets to Les Miserables also in the Old Queen's Theatre (I think that's what its called!). Can anyone give me some advice on accomodation or know any nice spots, or along the lines of what the going rate for a decent hotel is? Is it better to get something in the city centre close to everything or a bit outside (surely the latter with the way the tube is now?)?

If anyone has seen Les Mis I'd love your feedback too and suggestions for the top sights to see in London. Going to be there I guesttimate 3-4 days.

In terms of flights, Aerlingus are charging 160 return for us both on the dates I want to Heathrow. Ryanair are doing it for 80 in total to Stanstead. Is the money saved worth the hassle of getting to London from Stanstead? Haven't considered Gatwick but I imagine this would be the most hassle of all?

Many thanks:o

i fly with aer lingus and ryanair to those airports regularly and have with both carriers since xmas. I would recommend choosing the flights based on the times that suit you more than anythin and then price.

i takes me over an hour sometimes to get the tube from heathrow to north london or round 45 mins to central london, however it comes every few mins at heathrow so u shouldnt be waitin round for it to arrive. costs round £6 with an oyster card and that also covers any other travel for the day cos it is the maximum.

stansted express runs every 30 mins and takes either 36 mins to totteham hale tube ( north london) or 45mins to liverpool street (central london). buy your return stansted express ticket on the plane and you save a few pound, it works out then at £22 return.

Considering you will probably have to pay for the tube anyway on top of this, when pricing ryanair jus consider an extra €20-25 euro for stansted express on top of your travel costs.

stansted is a bit of hassle to get back to if ur gettin an early mornin flight (6-8am) and need to be on the before totteham hale is open for instance and you may need to get a bus to liverpool street. but i get the feelin heathrow may be awkward to get to too at this time in the morning also depending on tubes

In general, timewise you are not inconvenienced that much from either airport and works out the same.

In regards to gatwick it is €30 (£26 return), trains goes into central london (victoria) and only takes half hour as well. as far as i know this option is fine too, my brother used it and no probs.

so once again timewise not much difference.


spoilt for choice really, as i said though i choose by flight times and price, for instance i choose aer lingus last time cos i needed a later return flight so i could see avatar in the imax (i definitely recommend the bfi imax, 26x20m screen, to anyone who is interesting in seeing any 3d film) and they were more or less cheaper than ryanair anyway on that occasion

finaly, whatever you do you should buy an oyster, saves money and time and can be used on buses tubes and even the thames clippers.

Hope this helps your travel arrangements anyway, no info on the theatre (the only one i visit is the emirates stadium).

bamboozler wrote: »

In regards to gatwick it is €30 (£26 return), trains goes into central london (victoria) and only takes half hour as well.

That's right, Gatwick Express is that expensive. It is a terrible rip-off. If you get a normal train, the ticket is £10.50 I think and also includes a one-day Travelcard. So £10.50 gets you from the airport into the city and also covers you for a whole day's travel. This is only a few quid more than what you would pay if you flew into Heathrow... and it still takes just 35 minutes into town.

bamboozler wrote: »

is the stansted express not a direct train link?

it also stops at the overground section of two city tube stations with interchanges

That's right. Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted all have direct rail links with central London. Luton has an indirect link - you have to take the shuttle bus to Luton Airport Parkway and train from there.

London City is served by the Docklands Light Railway,

Regular trains run every half hour from the same train station as the Express. I always take the train into London Bridge but there are other options as well of course. Trains are run by Southern and First Capital. If you know in advance which train you want to take, Southern have £2 fares when you book early enough. Otherwise, just buy a single ticket and make sure to ask for the Travelcard option as well. It costs maybe a couple of quid extra but gives you a zone 1-6 Travelcard for the day.

I'm booked on a flight landing in Heathrow in a few weeks. From there I need to book a cheap flight back to Dublin. Ryanair only fly from Luton, Standstead and Gatwick.
So my question is, whats the easiest of these 3 airports to get to from Heathrow?

Definitely Gatwick. Train/Tube to Victoria, (Piccadily Line - Change to Circle Line at Gloucester Rd) switch at Victoria for Southern Line?? to Gatwick. Entire journey should be about an hour and a half give or take a few minutes.
Check Aer Lingus.com for flights from Heathrow first though. Might not be that much of a difference by the time you take into account the train, I'd be guessing at about £18 - 20 (Stg), and the hassle of dragging your bags across London - not to mention the Ryanair baggage fees.

By the time you have paid for any train to Stanstead / Gatwick or wherever the flight from Heathrow will look cheap

Check the Aer Lingus website ( or possibly BMI although recently they seem to be a little pricy )

To be honest I fly to London on a regular basis , Heathrow is not as expensive as you expect , if you factor in the costs of landing at a airport 30-50 miles from London and getting a train.

Shuttle bus to Gatwick is definitely the way to go if you must fly from another airport.

You will find the prices of train transfers to the other airports fairly steep, combine that with the inconvenience, time etc of transfer and really a few extra euro to fly Aer Lingus or BMI may be worth considering.

Also remember the baggage allowance with Ryanair will be 15kg whereas you will probably fly into Heathrow on an airline with 20kg (Aer Lingus/BMI also have 20kg) - will 15kg be enough - not to mention only 1 item of hand baggage (so no duty free on way home?).

Finally with Aer Lingus/BMI you have virtually hourly flights from Heathrow so getting a decent connection should not be an issue (just make sure you allow time for any luggage collection/terminal transfer/check in).

For rail fares check out www.nationalrail.co.uk