Trains and hotel

we have never been to London and are not familiar with the train system. Does it make a big difference which part of London we get a hotel in? Are most of the major attractions a quick train ride away? We don't mind spending a little more time on the train if it will save us enough money on the hotel. We only have 2 days pre-cruise. Thanks!

Which attractions do you wish to see? Do you mean overground trains or the underground/tube? Are you getting the train to the port after?

we have never been to London and are not familiar with the train system. Does it make a big difference which part of London we get a hotel in? Are most of the major attractions a quick train ride away?

It does sound like you're referring to the Underground (aka the Tube). The main thing to remember is that the "major attractions" are not all in the same place. Even those which are in central London are spread across a wide area, and it would take you 30-45 minutes to cross from one side of that area to the other by public transport.

 

If you have a selection of "major attractions" that you want to see and they're all in the same area, then choosing a hotel in that area would make sense. If you want to see places that are all over central London, then you're going to have to use public transport (including buses) to get to some of them anyway.

 

Remember that if you only have two days in London, you're only going to be able to see a small handful of the main sights.

Do you mean overground trains or the underground/tube?

Everyone needs to be careful with the word "overground". That can mean the set of railway lines called the Overground, which are operated by Transport for London (which also operates the Tube) as an integrated part of the TfL system; or it can be used more loosely to refer to mainline or National Rail trains, which are separately run and are less tightly integrated into the TfL system (not least because many parts of those companies' routes do not participate in the TfL system at all).

Thank you for the clarification of the underground and over ground trains. We have not prioritized our main attractions yet. At least we know to allow at least 30 minutes for transportation. We were not sure of the distances or time allowances. Thank you!:)

All public transport (trains, tube, bus, dlr, etc) is incorporated into Google maps, together with walking distances and times.

 

So locate the places of interest and your possible hotels, and choose the public transport option to see the timescale.

 

Personally whenever I am staying in a new city for a short time, I try and stay as central as possible. I then know if I start to flag, I can head back to the hotel, but when energy has come back, I only need to step out of the front door to be back in the centre of everything.

If you are travelling to the port by train this may swing your decision on location

Thank you for the clarification of the underground and over ground trains. We have not prioritized our main attractions yet. At least we know to allow at least 30 minutes for transportation. We were not sure of the distances or time allowances. Thank you!:)

 

We have been to London many times. I would recommend you doing the Hop on Hop Off bus with LIVE narrator, not recorded. They will help with your questions, you get off and go to a site or sites, then gat back on and something new.

I've been to London twice (and going back this fall). Pick the sights you really want to see, as you won't see it all. I've stayed near Earls Court and Russell Square. This next time is between Victoria and Sloane Square.

We have been to London many times. I would recommend you doing the Hop on Hop Off bus with LIVE narrator, not recorded. They will help with your questions, you get off and go to a site or sites, then gat back on and something new.

We did the Original Big Bus HOHO (the red one) and it was a combination of "recorded and live"...great way to see an overview of London...and we easily hoho at many places.

I would suggest staying somewhere in the area around Victoria Station. This is easy to get to from Heathrow (Direct by coach or change at Hammersmith on the tube) and central for Buckingham Palace (Changing of the Guard), Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and the River with boat trips to The Tower and Tower bridge.

 

Hotels do get cheaper outside London, but with only two days, you really don't want to spend a lot of time travelling. Time spent on the tube is time wasted because you will see nothing.

I would worry less about how claoe you are to the attractions and concentrate on the price you want to pay, how good the hotel is and how safe is the area in which the hotel is located.

 

You could stay outside London, say Harpenden, St Albans or Luton and still have a great time in London with just 30mins travel each way.

 

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I would worry less about how claoe you are to the attractions and concentrate on the price you want to pay, how good the hotel is and how safe is the area in which the hotel is located.

 

You could stay outside London, say Harpenden, St Albans or Luton and still have a great time in London with just 30 mins travel each way.

 

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Sorry but I disagree. You have to factor in the time taken getting to the station and waiting for the next train. Even 30 minutes each way is two hours lost from a very short stay. There is also the added journey time and cost, arriving and departing.

 

The OP needs to make a decision about which six attractions are the important ones and plan around that. I would also suggest a West End show on the middle night.

I agree, don't visit London without seeing at least one show. We have been going for 35 years just for theatre. We also recommend a hotel in the SOHO, Trafalgrr Square, Covent Garden area where you can walk to many tourist sights. There are at least four underground lines right there as well as hundreds of restaurants. It may cost slightly more but worth it. There is even a Premere Inn which we have never stayed in but it seems to many to be a cheaper choice.

Edited May 26, 2015 by orchestrapal

You could stay outside London, say Harpenden, St Albans or Luton and still have a great time in London with just 30mins travel each way.

I'm with Bob++ on this.

 

Travel from any of those places is not 30 minutes each way. That may be the time the train takes from departure from platform to arrival at platform. But there's still the time taken to get from hotel to station, to wait for the next train, and then to get from the London terminus to the actual destination in London.

 

I've done a lot of travel for work between central London and Luton / St Albans), and a realistic timescale for an undisrupted journey would be 75-90 minutes each way.

I have haunted these boards for months...and have decided on staying in the Victoria area. Our "must sees" are St Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, British Museum. The Victoria area is close to the District / Circle Line Tube stations and will get us where we need to go easily. We will be doing the HOHO bus one day, and one of the stops is in the Victoria area as well. Then when time to go to Southampton for the cruise, the train leaves from that area as well.

I'm with Bob++ on this.

 

 

 

Travel from any of those places is not 30 minutes each way. That may be the time the train takes from departure from platform to arrival at platform. But there's still the time taken to get from hotel to station, to wait for the next train, and then to get from the London terminus to the actual destination in London.

 

 

 

I've done a lot of travel for work between central London and Luton / St Albans), and a realistic timescale for an undisrupted journey would be 75-90 minutes each way.

 

 

I agree with the guys.

 

Last time we stayed at Earls Court on the Piccadilly and circle line. It was great for access too and from Heathrow and the city. The tube here comes about every 3 mins. Fantastic service, really quick and access to everywhere. You can also walk to a lot of places in London from various tube stations. The hoho buses and regular buses tend to be held up by traffic a lot. Whereas the tube has no problems. Once you use it once you will be sold on it!

 

Next time we are staying near kings cross station for access to Eurostar and city and Victoria station for bus to Southampton. It's cheap around Kings Cross.

 

This year the London premier inns are expensive and unless you get a sale there is better value elsewhere.

Edited May 29, 2015 by paddingtonbear

Last summer we stayed in London 2 days pre-cruise. After months of research, we decided to stay in a hotel that was convenient to the Big Red Bus Hop-on Hop-off route. I bought discounted 48 hour tickets at home before we left for London and we used that exclusively for our transportation in London. If we couldn't get there by the bus, we didn't go. There are two routes and your pass is good for both with a transfer point somewhere along the way. Yes, there's traffic and its not as fast as the tube, but the weather was great and we enjoyed the people watching as we inched along.

Last summer we stayed in London 2 days pre-cruise. After months of research, we decided to stay in a hotel that was convenient to the Big Red Bus Hop-on Hop-off route. I bought discounted 48 hour tickets at home before we left for London and we used that exclusively for our transportation in London. If we couldn't get there by the bus, we didn't go. There are two routes and your pass is good for both with a transfer point somewhere along the way. Yes, there's traffic and its not as fast as the tube, but the weather was great and we enjoyed the people watching as we inched along.

 

Which HOHO bus company did you use?