Our Greater London Megathread

^Thirded, Gatwick Express is basically a scam to fleece the tourists. Leave plenty of time for the ticket machines at the airport though, a ridiculous number of people seem to lose around 50 IQ points when standing in front of one.

athtrasna wrote: »

This. The train company is Southern and you can often get discounts by prebooking online. I never take the Gatwick express.

Poochie05 wrote: »

Same here, take the Southern train (provided it's not affected by the engineering works).

Since 2008, GAtwick Express has effectively been a sub brand of Southern and has no priority in the event of engineering works or disuption. Personally, I would only use it if travelling at peak times with a lot of luggage.

As far as I know it will always be more expensive to buy tickets on the day of travel, so if you know when you're travelling it's better to buy in advance in terms of price.

For me the disadvantage of buying in advance is you have to pick a specific train time, so if you're not sure how long it will take you to get off plane, collect bags and get to station so you need to allow some leeway on time, which is a waste if you get out in jig time and could have been on your way earlier.

OP. mentions they have a quote of £22 return for advance purchase with Southern

tcooley wrote: »

Thanks all. Blackfriars station would be fine. I'm just hanging around for the day and leaving for the airport on Saturday evening. I'll book a ticket on Thameslink. Coming in at £18. Cheers.

Are you needing underground tickets in London? If so, you can get a ticket for £16.20 that covers all trains / buses, as well as the train fare.

tcooley wrote: »

I certainly do Sullivlo. Will be using the Tube quite a bit. Was just going to buy an oyster card over there. Where can I get this?

The £16.20 fare is a day return incorporating a one day zones 1-6 travelcard.


For your purposes, I would suggest that buying two single tickets on Thameslink to/from Gatwick, and purchasing an oyster card for use around London while over there would be better value, as you may not need the extent of a zone 1-6 card.


Oyster will cap your fares depending upon whatever zones you travel in.

lxflyer wrote: »

The £16.20 fare is a day return incorporating a one day zones 1-6 travelcard.


For your purposes, I would suggest that buying two single tickets on Thameslink to/from Gatwick, and purchasing an oyster card for use around London while over there would be better value, as you may not need the extent of a zone 1-6 card.


Oyster will cap your fares depending upon whatever zones you travel in.

Sorry but separate rail tickets + Oyster PAYG is not good value if all the OP wants is one day's travel.

Despite the publicity Oyster is not always the cheapest option especially for people making a day return journey from outside the Oyster zones.


OP the cheapest ticket for your journey would be a Super Off-Peak Day Travelcard route Thameslink Only at £12.00. Link

This ticket is essentially a day return from Gatwick to London zone 6 and a day ticket for all Rail, Tube, Bus, Tram, DLR in zones 1-6.

The only restriction is that the journey from Gatwick Airport to any station within the London zone area (for Thameslink trains this will be East Croydon). From there it is valid on all rail services of every train company.

For example if Victoria is better for you then you MUST use Thameslink from Gatwick to East Croydon but are free to change there to a Southern train to Victoria.

On the return the same applies so you may use any train as far as East Croydon but only Thameslink from there to Gatwick.

Currently the Saturday timetable for Thameslink are departures at xx.03, xx.08, xx33, xx38 from Gatwick Northbound (to London Bridge or Bedford)

From East Croydon towards Gatwick departures are at xx.25, xx.38, xx.55, xx.08

Those are the only trains you can use to/from Gatwick on that (or any other Thameslink Only ticket)

That fare is a walk-up fare so is the same price bought in advance or at the station from the ticket office or ticket machines. My advice would be buy at the station, pre-paid tickets need to be collected anyway so won't save you any time.

Despite all the different fares between different train companies Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express are all run by the same company,.

Thanks for this everyone , Keep it up guys , loving all this insider info , I travel to London a good bit but wasn't aware of all the options as above.

Its been a long time since I took the bus to London but could someone help me out?
When the bus gets to the ferry do you get off the bus & walk onto the ferry or does it drive onto the ferry first? & when the ferry gets to Hollyhead where do you reboard the bus? On the ferry or somewhere outside of the ferry?
I'm asking for an OAP who will be travelling alone

Help!!!! wrote: »

Its been a long time since I took the bus to London but could someone help me out?
When the bus gets to the ferry do you get off the bus & walk onto the ferry or does it drive onto the ferry first? & when the ferry gets to Hollyhead where do you reboard the bus? On the ferry or somewhere outside of the ferry?
I'm asking for an OAP who will be travelling alone

You get off the bus once it is on the ferry, then get back on before it leaves ferry and brings you to london

rainbow kirby wrote: »

+1, and I feel almost as much hatred for Luton. There's something about airports which almost exclusively handle low cost airlines that breeds absolute pig ignorance.

If you must do Stansted, try and book the train 30 days in advance because the fare will be £15 return then. Failing that, get the coach to Stratford and use the tube/DLR/national rail from there.

My pick of the airports is in general London City, but it can be very expensive. Zone 4 on the DLR though and as quick as Shannon to travel through.

Complete newbie to this - where can I book a train from Stansted, to get to the centre? £15 return sounds great :pac:

Techmaster wrote: »

Hi folks,

Myself and the father will be heading to London mid February for a three night trip.

any hotel recommendations at a good price in a good location? We are flying to Stansted.

You'll need to say what you're going for, what area you are likely to spend most of your time in,what a good price is for you and what you look for in a hotel.

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm heading to London Thursday March 24th back Sunday 27th, two adults and two kids aged 11 and 15. We're flying into City airport arriving @ 10am and would like to get the Thames Clipper service into Blackfriars (where we can hop in a cab) as we're staying in the Covent Garden Travelodge so the boat trip would double as both transport to the hotel and an immediate sightseeing trip on the way.

As the journey in will involve the DLR to Canning Town then Tube to North Grenwich Station and Thames Clipper services to Blackfriars is there a daily or weekly visitor (so not requiring photo ID or an account etc) travel/oyster card which will suit our needs most? From Thursday lunchtime to Saturday we'll be using the tube and possibly bus services as we explore London from Streatham in the South to Palmers Green in the North (so zones 1-3 needed) and then heading home via Gatwick Sunday morning so will be getting a train from Victoria.

Is there a sensible single card which will cover all that or do I need to get daily travel cards for us all while we're there plus a single fare for both the Thames Clipper on the way in and the train to Gatwick on the way out? It looks like the zone 1&2 daily travel cards have been discontinued in 2016 and replaced by a £12.10 zone 1-4 daily travel card. Are Oyster cards an "all you can eat" type deal i.e. for £x you can travel on as many journeys as you like or are they PAYG fare by fare?

Perhaps the £38 weekly travel card http://www.toptiplondon.com/transport/tickets/underground-tickets-travelcards for zones 1-3 from a Railway Station (so we can take advantage of the London 2 for 1 offers http://www.toptiplondon.com/places-to-visit/2-for-1-offers) would be the best solution for us? I wonder does City Airport DLR count as a "Railway Stations" for the purposes of qualifying for the 2 for 1 offer?

It's a pity there doesn't appear to be a way to get a cheap travel card for the kids (the kids Oyster card entitling them to half price fares has a £15 admin fee ) but I can see us visiting a few of the 2 for 1 attractions https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london so I guess the savings there might cancel out the full cost travel cards for the kids.

Hope that's not too headwrecking but I'm trying to stretch our weak Euros Vs Sterling as far as I can :mad:

That is not a particularly simple one to work out Jean, unfortunately. There is no single ticket that is at first glance obviously the cheapest for your needs.

There are a number of variables, I will try to work out the best options.

A few things to point out though; the 2for1 offer is a promotion from the National Rail companies, ANY rail ticket valid in or to London on the day you visit the attractions can be used. This includes paper (but not oyster) travelcards but only if they are bought at a rail station. Travelcards bought from London Underground or DLR offices or machines are identical in price and validity but are printed on different stock and are not accepted for the 2for1 deal.

London City Airport is DLR so tickets bought there would be no good for the offer.

Depending on how much you are likely to save on the attractions through the 2for1 the 7 day z1-3 at £38 adult and £19 child is an option, it will also allow you to save on the journey to Gatwick as you can combine it with a cheaper ticket for the full trip (without having to change trains). The problem is that you will have to buy a 7 day in person at a rail station and provide passport sized photos for the ticket office to make up (free) ID cards as all 7 day or longer rail tickets require them.

3 1-day travelcards (z1-4 anytime or z1-6 off-peak) would be slightly cheaper at £12.10 adult/£6.00 child per day and no ID card is needed for these. You could pre-purchase these online and get them posted so no worries about buying from a station. I am not aware of any rail ticket sellers that offer free postage to ROI so it would mean either using their international rate or cheaper/free postage to Parcel Motel and their charge.

Also worth noting is there is a discount on the Thames Clippers for Travelcards.

Paper travelcards for the kids as above plus oyster pay as you go and cheap single rail tickets for the 2for1 offer for the adults would be the cheapest option as far as I can see. Using the daily cap for oyster will be no more than £7.60 for z1-3 or £6.50 for z1-2 plus a smaller discount on Thames Clipper (about £1.50 more expensive than with a travelcard) and afair £2.30 for the cheapest valid day single ticket. About £10 per day for the adults with Oyster but more complicated as well as you would have to make sure you loaded enough credit onto the oysters and either keep them for use in the future or get a refund of the £5 credit + any remaining PAYG balance at a tube ticket machine.

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I think the above is the best option for us, particularly if the daily travel cards can be ordered in advance, posted to us and they qualify us for the 2for1 offer. This is the only place I can find selling them online - https://www.visitbritainshop.com/world/london-travelcard. Is that the right place to get them and if so do you kow if they are issued from a "Railway" station/on Railway ticket stock so they qualify for the 2for1 offer?

No. Unfortunately that is the TfL version that isn't valid for the 2for1 offer.

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Off peak zone 1-6 daily cards for the four of us will cost £36.20 so Thurs/Fri & Sat will cost £108.60 plus tickets on the Thames Clipper, a couple of cabs (including to Victoria Sunday morning) and the train to Gatwick. I'm guessing I need to budget £200 for transport for the four days which works out at £12.50 per person per day. Not too bad I guess.

I have come up with another option that will be cheaper, it may or may not suit you.

There is a "family and friends railcard" which costs £30. It isn't a ticket on it's own but it gives % discounts on rail tickets. The main condition is that at least 1 adult and 1 child must travel together. It would only really be of use if all 4 of you are going to travel as a group for the entire trip.

With the railcard your day z1-6 off peak travelcards would be reduced to £20.60 per day for the 4 of you. It will also give about £8 discount on your Victoria-Gatwick trip, the cheapest for Sun 27th will be £25.45 for 4 with railcard or £32.75 without, (these are day returns and discounts of various combinations which work out cheaper than singles (don't ask)).

In total with the railcard your full travel excluding riverboat and taxis would be just over £117 plus the cost of getting the tickets.

On that, the railcard can either be ordered online from http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/ for free UK only delivery so you would have to use Parcel Motel or bought in person at a rail ticket office.

The travelcards and tickets can be bought online.

I have used http://www.southernrailway.com/ to check the fares for you as they run the Victoria-Gatwick sevice and offer specific discounts other sites may not apply and also offer recorded UK delivery for £2 (Parcel Motel again required).

To get the Vic-Gatwick tickets just look up the day/time required and add in 2 adult 2 child, return for the same day (and railcard or not), you should select one of the xx.17 or xx.47 departures as on a Sunday these are the quickest and cheapest, it does not actually matter which one you select as the tickets are not tied to a specific service, if you want to get an earlier one on the day you can, just stick to direct Southern services NOT Gatwick Express, also add any return service that shows the same fare, you will not be using the return portion anyway.

To get the day Travelcards you need to look up a return journey between 2 stations within the zones (London Victoria and East Croydon will do to get z1-6 off-peak) remember to put in the correct dates and an outbound time after 09.30 for weekdays. Click on one of the options, this will be an ordinary return ticket, in the next pop-up scroll down and select "off-peak day travelcard" this should be at the fare as above, add these then repeat for the other days.

An option for not using post would be if you have 4 contactless debit cards (or 1 if you don't mind leaving the wife and kids behind for a bit), you could go 2 stops on the DLR to Woolwich Arsenal (at £1.60 each plus any fees your bank charges for £ transactions) and buy the tickets (and railcard) from the rail ticket office which is right next to the DLR entrance. Alternatively you could select collection from the station when buying online and collect all the booked tickets from the ticket machine in the rail station, if you want it you can then purchase the railcard from the ticket office.

Plenty of head-wrecking options there for you!

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

FYI there is a new competitor service to Parcel Motel called Parcel Wizard who are amazing. Same concept and for the same price as Parcel Motel (€3.80 which might actually be 5c cheaper) they will deliver your parcel to your house/office at a schedule that suits you e.g. they'll hold onto it and deliver it Friday if that suits best. I set my schedule up for delivery everyday so providing there is someone home it's the same as having An Post deliver but better in that Parcel Wizard will come back with it if you're not there the first time!! Check out https://www.dpdparcelwizard.ie

At the risk of drifting off topic (and being accused of advertising!), thanks for the Parcel Wizard thing - very useful. As DPD are one of the better delivery services (in the UK, at least), this sounds promising.

It depends what you define reasonably priced and what your budget is. Quality London accommodation I feel has skyrocketed in price over the last 5 years or so and I struggle often to find somwhere comfortable and a reasonable price. I can give you a list of hotels that I have stayed in that at the time were value for money and nice hotels and you can price them up yourself.....

Premier Inn - Kings Cross
Holiday Inn - Camden
Jury's Inn (may now be a Doubletree??) - Islington
Hilton - Islington
Mercure - Paddington
Ibis - Euston Station
Premier Inn - Euston Road

Generally as you can see I try and stay close to tube stations so transport is on your doorstep... Any of those areas are good, central and with good bus and tube connections.

I got a good rate at the Apex Temple Court - very handy for the Borough Food Market, perhaps not brilliant for Tube connections but don't forget the Bus in London. You can get decent rates for weekends as it tends to be used more by business people but it's a quirky hotel and really comfortable.
https://www.apexhotels.co.uk/apex-temple-court-hotel
I stayed a fair few times at the Copthorne Tara hotel in Kensington, very handy for the tube and I usually got decent rates, though prices seem to have increased a bit lately.
http://www.millenniumhotels.co.uk/copthornetarakensington/
For somewhere decent you're looking at between €150-200 a night.

Hi all. Great sticky. Going to be heading to London shortly for a conference and some meetings. Flying into Stansted and most likely spending all of my time within Zone 1 & 2. Whats the best / most cost effective ticket to get? Stansted express and a top up Oyster card or should I look at a daily ticket? I will be there for 3 days. Thank you.

Stansted Express is worth it if you book a 30 day advance fare. £15 return last time I used it. Hate absolutely everything about flying in or out of STN though.

rainbow kirby wrote:

Stansted Express is worth it if you book a 30 day advance fare. £15 return last time I used it. Hate absolutely everything about flying in or out of STN though.

Oh dear... never been in Stansted before. Forwarn me please ☺. Only reason I booked it is because of the choice and variety of very cheap Ryanair flights.

oakshade wrote: »

Oh dear... never been in Stansted before. Forwarn me please ☺. Only reason I booked it is because of the choice and variety of very cheap Ryanair flights.

This is the classic mistake that people make.

Flying to and staying in London you need to factor in three elements:

1) Location of hotel
2) Cost of flights
3) Cost of airport transfers

What may appear to be the cheaper option based on flight prices alone isn't always the best one to choose.

You need to do research on all three before making a decision.

Stansted is awful. Gatwick is my airport of choice for London. Cheap and convenient to get into the city and back to the airport. Also you have healthy competition and many flights per day between Ryanair and Aer Lingus so you can get some very good pricing on that route.

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Stansted Express is worth it if you book a 30 day advance fare. £15 return last time I used it. Hate absolutely everything about flying in or out of STN though.

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Strumms wrote: »

Stansted is awful. Gatwick is my airport of choice for London. Cheap and convenient to get into the city and back to the airport. Also you have healthy competition and many flights per day between Ryanair and Aer Lingus so you can get some very good pricing on that route.

Is Stansted really that awful? I quite liked it last time I went through (though it was a few years ago and maybe I was there at a quiet time of day).