Premier Inn London Kings Cross or Victoria??

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

Which would be a better location for us in London, Kings Cross or Victoria? We want easy access to public transportation and would like to be safe walking distance to reasonably priced breakfast/dinner locations. Easy transfer to LHR at the end of our stay would be nice too. If we have to take a taxi to LHR, which location would be closer to LHR?

[nospringchick]

Both the Premier Inn's have easy access to the tube or train. Neither have easy access to LHR. You can take the tube to/from LHR to St. Pancress/ Kings Cross, but it has lots of stops, is hard to do with luggage and takes a long time. It is best to take the train to Paddington from LHR and catch a taxi to either hotel. They are about the same distance from Paddington. There is a service called Dot 2 Dot that will pick you up to/from LHR.http://********************************...telink_bus.htm The Premier Inn has a buffet for breakfast that is a bargain for London prices. For dinner either location is close to the tube so you can eat just about any where. Victoria may be closer for walking to tourist spots and there is lots of restaurants close to Victoria Station.

Hope this helps some
Donna

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

Thank you for your reply Donna. We will be staying 3 nights post cruise and will take a transfer/tour from Southampton to the hotel. With luggage it may be best for us to just use a transfer service to LHR after our stay in London.

We want to visit the Tower of London and see the Ceremony of the Keys one night. Will we have any problem getting back to either of these hotels? Our other plan is the hop on hop off bus and changing of the guard if possible. We'll only have 2 full days in London. Two grandsons will be with us, ages 15 & 13 so we'll be looking for things they will enjoy the most.

We live in TX near Houston. Public transportation is not available to us and I'm not sure how accessible we can expect it to be in London.

[nospringchick]

I live outside of Houston also. We have been to London twice and last May we took a Baltic cruise from Harwich. London is very easy for us Houstonians to navigate.

If you have not been to London you can get a tube map online to study before your trip.

The Premier Inn at Victoria Station was under renovation when we where there and it should be newly open. The other hotel at Kings Cross looked pretty good. I would say it is on our level of a Hampton Inn here. Both are an easy walk from the tube station. Victoria Station location is from what I can remember a block or two and the other hotel is just down the street from the tube.

You will not have any trouble getting to any of the places you mention. You may be closer to The Changing of the Guard and Tower of London from Victoria Station hotel, but you can still easily get to these places via the tube from the other hotel also. IMO, there is more places to eat at Victoria Station area. We ate some lunches at Mark and Spencers at Victoria Station. You can get a quick sandwich there.

The hotels can tell you where to catch the Hop on Hop off tour. I recall there was a pick up location near Victoria Station. There is probably a pick location close to the other hotel also.

You will do fine in London. They are Texas friendly.

If I can help any more just ask away.

Donna

[Mands&Ian]

Originally Posted by SeaTheWorldBySea

Our other plan is the hop on hop off bus and changing of the guard if possible. We'll only have 2 full days in London. Two grandsons will be with us, ages 15 & 13 so we'll be looking for things they will enjoy the most.

Changing the Guard is an alternate-day event for part of the year. You don't say when you are in London but it would be worth figuring out when it happens during your visit so you don't miss it.

This link should help;
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/de...article&ID=492

Mands

[handfordr]

Originally Posted by SeaTheWorldBySea

Which would be a better location for us in London, Kings Cross or Victoria? We want easy access to public transportation and would like to be safe walking distance to reasonably priced breakfast/dinner locations. Easy transfer to LHR at the end of our stay would be nice too. If we have to take a taxi to LHR, which location would be closer to LHR?

It dosen't really matter where you stay Victoria or Kings Cross. The Victoria Premier Inn has only just opened, its a refurbished hotel, was the Quality Hotel. The Kings Cross Premier Inn is the newer hotel but the Kings Cross area is not as nice as Victoria. Kings Cross is the wrong side of London for Heathrow, but there are London Underground trains direct every 5 minutes for maximum 4 GBP per peson.
Victoria Premier Inn is good if you get the inexpensive Greyhound or National Express buses from Southampton, they terminate within a couple of blocks of the Victoria Premier Inn.
If you go by rail from Southampton to Waterloo station, the Premier Inn County Hall is clsoe to Waterloo Station and is the best sited Premier Inn for tourists next to the London Eye and facing Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

It really dosen't matter where you stay in Central London, you will be using public transport as the preferred way to get around wherever you stay. If this was your second time and your anxieties about public transport were overcome, you may well opt for the Premier Inn Kensington by Earls Court Underground. You'll normally get a better rate here and Heathrow is 40 minutes away on the Underground with trains every 5 minutes.

[phabric]

We stayed in the Victoria area this year and again next year. We used www.justairports.com to take us to Heathrow airport. The cost was 28 GBP and the travel time was about 1 hour from hotel to the airport.

There were 2 HOHO buses companies that operate out of the area, regular buses, restaurants, stores, Victoria coach and train station are within walking distance.

We took the www.nationalexpress.com bus from Southamption and walked to our hotel from Victoria coach station. I waited until a couple months out and was able to get a funfare of 5 GBP for the bus fare. It was a 5-7 GBP from Princess terminal to the National Express bus station in Southampton.

Next year we are staying at the Thistle Westminster hotel, 40 Buckingham Palace Rd. I booked through www.bhrco.co. (British Hotel Reservation Centre). it was cheaper than going through the hotel website.

We found the Victoria area very convenient for us.

[Budget Queen]

I've stayed at Kings Cross, at a wonderful guesthouse. Very convenient for the train from Gatwick, but there aren't a lot of restaurants, and I didn't eat in that area. Very simple to get to your list using the tube.

[mcgorr]

I have just returned after staying in the Crowne Plaza Kensington which is steps from the Grosvernor Rd tube station. This is directly on the Heathrow tube line, pay about £7 for an all day off peak ticket which takes you anywhere. Remember you want the Tube from Heathrow, it takes about 40 mins. The hotel was lovely and £135.00 a night exc breakfast. Museums are near, Harrods a couple of stops away. I would highly recommend it. Tripadvisor link is http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...n_England.html

[cruiseandthensum]

without a doubt victoria is the place. Nicer area altogether and nearer the main tourist areas. There is a brand new Premier Inn there too.

http://www.milesfaster.co.uk/hotels/...n-victoria.htm

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

Thanks to all of you!

It looks like Premier Inn Victoria is the place for us.

Welcome to cruisecritic cruiseandthensum. Helping a fellow cruiser is a good reason for a first post.

[PennyAgain]

I have the ITube app for my IPhone which really helps with London planning. Lacking that there a dozens of online help sources for London travel.

As a North Texan I can testify that fine public transportation will spoil you.