Our Greater London Megathread

Lapin

maximo31 wrote: »

Should I book train / tube tickets in advance?

Definitely book the Stansted Express. You'll save almost £10 per ticket by booking more than seven days in advance and time queueing at the ticket desk in Stansted which is always busy. Don't worry about booking tube tickets in advance and don't buy an Oyster card at the airport. They charge more for them there.

maximo31 wrote: »

Would we need to leave much time for the return journey?

I'd aim to be walking out the hotel door around 13.15. This will get you to Liverpool Street in good time to catch the 14.10 train to the airport which arrives at 14.55 giving you plenty of time to check in and relax.

maximo31 wrote: »

Would an Oyster card be handy for us for the 2 day trip?

Probably the handiest method to get around. Buy them at the ticket office in the tube station at Liverpool Street. They cost £5 (returnable deposit). So I'd just throw a tenners worth of credit on to it there and top up as I go along for the next day or two.

spurious

Was recently in London and found the easyjet buses to and from Gatwick (we used them to Earl's Court/West Brompton tube) seriously good value.

Lapin

spurious wrote: »

Was recently in London and found the easyjet buses to and from Gatwick (we used them to Earl's Court/West Brompton tube) seriously good value.

They're good value but tediously slow in my experience and an awful waste of precious time if you're only going to be in London for a couple of days.

Took us two and and half hours to get to and from Gatwick to VCS earlier this year. Never again after that.

spurious

Lapin wrote: »

They're good value but tediously slow in my experience and an awful waste of precious time if you're only going to be in London for a couple of days.

Took us two and and half hours to get to and from Gatwick to VCS earlier this year. Never again after that.

Yes, I suppose if you're in a rush they can take a while. We took 75 minutes in (leaving airport 10am) and 80 minutes out in rain (leaving Earls Court 9.30am).

Lapin

spurious wrote: »

Yes, I suppose if you're in a rush they can take a while. We took 75 minutes in (leaving airport 10am) and 80 minutes out in rain (leaving Earls Court 9.30am).

Mind you, 75 mins to Earls Court is actually quite good from Stansted, especially for someone like Maximo31 a few posts back with a hotel Near Gloucester Road. Worth considering.

Although for such a short stay, I'd still recommend the reliability of the train. Especially for the journey back.

maximo31

Thank you all for your advice here. Very helpful! Now to get booking....

rockwell

All

I've two return tickets for the Stansted Express train that I'm willing to give away free My travel arrangements have changed and these tickets are non-changeable. The outbound journey must be made tomorrow 17th Dec. The return journey must be made within 30 days of the outbound travel date. PM me your email and I'll send them on.

Phantasos

Hi all,

I plan on going to London via Knock in January for 3-4 days, and will be going via Stansted. I will probably take the train into Liverpool Street. It's my first time in London, and I'm alone, so I'd like to stay in a relatively cheap hotel somewhere on the tube line that is within easy access of the sights and nightlife.

There seems to be a few different tube lines from Liverpool Street, but I am clueless about the best location to look. I'm a mid-20s male, if that makes any difference.

who the fug

Phantasos wrote: »

Hi all,

I plan on going to London via Knock in January for 3-4 days, and will be going via Stansted. I will probably take the train into Liverpool Street. It's my first time in London, and I'm alone, so I'd like to stay in a relatively cheap hotel somewhere on the tube line that is within easy access of the sights and nightlife.

There seems to be a few different tube lines from Liverpool Street, but I am clueless about the best location to look. I'm a mid-20s male, if that makes any difference.

Just get something in Zone one or two, you should be fine after that

Phantasos

who the fug wrote: »

Just get something in Zone one or two, you should be fine after that

I know my question is like London 101 for Dummies, sorry! Are the Travelodge/Premier Inn type hotels the best value one can hope for in those zones? Should I expect to pay ~€100/night?

who the fug

Phantasos wrote: »

I know my question is like London 101 for Dummies, sorry! Are the Travelodge/Premier Inn type hotels the best value one can hope for in those zones? Should I expect to pay ~€100/night?

Play around here for the best deal, they are all handy for what you want

Louche Lad

Phantasos wrote: »

I know my question is like London 101 for Dummies, sorry! Are the Travelodge/Premier Inn type hotels the best value one can hope for in those zones? Should I expect to pay ~€100/night?

Could look at Airbnb or similar. I've used services like Airbnb about 20 times in London to date, and all but one have been good experiences. (The only one that wasn't good, was OK - room hadn't been swept.)

spurious

Phantasos wrote: »

I know my question is like London 101 for Dummies, sorry! Are the Travelodge/Premier Inn type hotels the best value one can hope for in those zones? Should I expect to pay ~€100/night?

Look at Hotel Lily in Earl's Court. VERY basic, but can have deals. Got it for £65 in November, for a double room, including a cooked breakfast.

RnR

Hiya,

I'm planning a trip for October 2015.
Two children with two adults.

Aer Lingus is €754 r/t Heathrow
Ryan Air is €283 r/t Gatwick

Has anyone any advise re Gatwick?
How long is the drive likely to be arriving on a Thursday morning? Contemplating renting a car....

Thanks

mfceiling

RnR wrote: »

Hiya,

I'm planning a trip for October 2015.
Two children with two adults.

Aer Lingus is €754 r/t Heathrow
Ryan Air is €283 r/t Gatwick

Has anyone any advise re Gatwick?
How long is the drive likely to be arriving on a Thursday morning? Contemplating renting a car....

Thanks

You're €471 up in profit. Will easily cover your hire car and at least a night or 2 in a hotel. Roads are good in England so i'd take the extra money even if it takes an extra hour's drive!!

purple cow

RnR wrote: »

Hiya,

I'm planning a trip for October 2015.
Two children with two adults.

Aer Lingus is €754 r/t Heathrow
Ryan Air is €283 r/t Gatwick

Has anyone any advise re Gatwick?
How long is the drive likely to be arriving on a Thursday morning? Contemplating renting a car....

Thanks

Hi,

Went with 3 kids and 2 adults in August. Flew to Gatwick with Ryanair. No problems. Rented a car in Gatwick. We went from the airport to the hotel. Hilton St. Anne's Manor. That drive took about an hour at 5pm on the M25. Hotel to the park is about 15 mins. Booked the hotel through Legoland holidays website. Got a free days entrance to the park by doing this. Kids eat dinner free at the hotel. Overall the whole trip went without a hitch. Kids loved it

RnR

Hiya,

Thanks for the Gatwick info. Will also look at Hilton St. Anne's.

Just realised Legoland to Luton is 45 min drive (according to LL website) so may book that route. Slightly cheaper.
Car hire is €220 for the week!

Hi, I'm flying into Gatwick airport in January for 3 nights in London.
I intend to get the train from the airport to the city, Victoria I think?
I'm just wondering where the best place to stay is? I'm thinking around the Paddington or Kensington, Hyde park areas? Is this sensible?

I'm a solo female so want to stay somewhere safe, easy to sightsee, and reasonable, I would hope to get somewhere for 100 euro or less a night.
Or would I be safe enough to get a cheaper private room in a hostel? I'm not really looking to hang out with others & I'm in my late 30s, so not looking for wild nights. Just somewhere safe and easy to go to see all the sights?
Any recommendations appreciated.

HeidiHeidi

bubblypop wrote: »

Hi, I'm flying into Gatwick airport in January for 3 nights in London.
I intend to get the train from the airport to the city, Victoria I think?
I'm just wondering where the best place to stay is? I'm thinking around the Paddington or Kensington, Hyde park areas? Is this sensible?

I'm a solo female so want to stay somewhere safe, easy to sightsee, and reasonable, I would hope to get somewhere for 100 euro or less a night.
Or would I be safe enough to get a cheaper private room in a hostel? I'm not really looking to hang out with others & I'm in my late 30s, so not looking for wild nights. Just somewhere safe and easy to go to see all the sights?
Any recommendations appreciated.

Try this site

http://www.universityrooms.com/en/city/london/home

I've used it before, but during term holidays - we got rooms for half nothing in Imperial College in Sth Kensington - you couldn't beat the location! Depending on when you're travelling you'll have more or less choice of locations - but it's cheap, cheerful, very safe, and for London it's incredible value.

keano25

I'm going to bring herself to London for a weekend.

Neither of us have ever been, can anyone recommend things to do?

And if possible places to stay?

Thanks

coylemj

There's a vast amount of things to do and see in London but if you're asking for recommendations then you really need to say what things you're interested in - theatre, music, science, sport??????

ProudDUB

The hop on hop off tour buses are a good thing to do for someone making their first trip to London imo. They aren't cheap, but they cover a lot of ground & most of Londons tourist hot spots in a relatively short amount of time. You can then decide for yourself where you want to get off and spend more time.

But yeah, as coylemj says, you aren't giving us much to go on as to the kinds of things you are into. Do you want to shop, take in a West End show, a Premier League game, see the traditional touristy things like Madame Tussauds & the Tower of London etc etc. You can probably get more useful info, if you aren't so vague as to your intentions. It's a very large & varied city.

Richard tea

Im going to book legoland soon. It will be 2 adults and 3 kids (3,7 & 8 ). Im liking the suggestions so far. Flying to luton or gatwick seems right up my street with car rental. As far as I know summer holidays start on the 11 th of july over there so I want to travel by the end of june or start of july.

Never rented a car before so im apprehensive about this. How do you go about it? Also what would be the average cost for say 5 days rental?

purple cow

Hi Richard Tea,

I hired my car through Ryanair when I was booking flights to Gatwick. We had the car (a Ford Focus) for 2 days. That cost £79.

Car hire is all fairly straightforward - just don't forget to bring your drivers licence!

Richard tea

purple cow wrote: »

Hi Richard Tea,

I hired my car through Ryanair when I was booking flights to Gatwick. We had the car (a Ford Focus) for 2 days. That cost £79.

Car hire is all fairly straightforward - just don't forget to bring your drivers licence!

Thanks Purple cow. Its just that I have read some horror stories about car hire places. As in your given a price but its nearly double that when you go to finalise things. I will need 2 booster cushions and 1 booster seat so I know this will add to the cost. That seems a good price from ryanair:)

Stojkovic

Phantasos wrote: »

I know my question is like London 101 for Dummies, sorry! Are the Travelodge/Premier Inn type hotels the best value one can hope for in those zones? Should I expect to pay ~€100/night?

Travelodge in Covent Garden.
€80 per night double that on a Sat night.
Basic but safe and clean.

Went to the Imperial War Museum just Sarf of the river few months a go which was fantastic. Allow 3-4 hours.

Lilywhite21

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me out. I'm goin over to London for a weekend in March, flying into stansted but don't know what area in London I should be booking to stay. I would love to be as close to some of the tourist attractions as possible but don't mind a bit of travel. What area would be best and cheapest?? Any help is really appreciated. Thanks.

ProudDUB

Have a read of the London Mega thread. Lots of good info there, especially on accommodation options.

ardle1

London is in no way shape or form similar to Dublin, so don't be to worried about being to far away from lets just say the West End.. Check out the underground map online, book somewhere within zone 1 or 2 if needs be even zone 3! the transport system is probably the best in the World, so just look for value for money in your choice of accommodation. Don't ever worry about getting lost in London, you could walk for miles and still feel comfortable and safe. Also transport in London is great value.>> http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/tube-dlr-lo-adult-fares.pdf

Lilywhite21

Great will do that. Might get a better sense of where im goin with that too. Thanks