Taste of London

We (2 of us) are flying post cruise from Rome and arriving LHR 1910 on Sunday July 2. We depart 1400 on July 3 for the USA.

After researching the board, we are staying at the Hilton - Paddington Station. My hope is that our checked bags will be checked through and we will just have a light carry-on.

I am thinking that we could see Buckingham Palace and get dinner that night.

The next morning get up early to see Parliament, Big Ben, London Bridge etc (I am thinking those are pretty close together) and other things in that area.

Returning to the airport at noon.

Is this doable? Any suggestions for a change?

Is the tube the best way to get around?

Our cruise stops at Gibraltar, should we get our GBPs there?

Thanks in advance :-)

Hi,

Your luggage will not be checked through, you'll need to bring it with you to the hotel. Wondering if you can change to an airport hotel and then consider taking the Heathrow Express *into* Paddington, then catch the tube to wherever you'd like to be in Central London. Managing luggage on the tube can be a challenge but is doable. Leaving it at a hotel near the airport might leave you feeling freer to enjoy London.

Was thinking a Hop On/Hop Off bus might be a better option for you to see the highlights of the city - it goes by at a leisurely pace all of the things you mention (by London Bridge did you mean Tower Bridge? It's the more scenic of the two...) such as the Houses of Parliament and clock tower where the bell called Big Ben is housed, and also there is Westminster Abbey. Not far from there is Buckingham Palace and the Tower and Tower Bridge...this is just a small sampling of course.

There are two different routes on the HoHo bus, one is about 90 mins/2 hours and the other is about 3 hours, both have audio commentary describing everything you are seeing. It's quite a great way to see the city for the first time. You can get off/on at any point along the route - so there are options for walking around or just sitting too - Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, depends upon your interests.

There are many UK natives and London locals on this board that I'm sure will pop in with ideas and suggestions too as well as others that have also visited numerous times. I'm suggesting the bus only because you don't have a lot of time but the ride shows you most of London and you can take great photos - probably plan for a longer visit in the future and see more, visit museums, maybe take in a West End show etc.

Enjoy your London preview and your travels beyond this incredible city :)

I think you are overly optimistic. If you land at 1910, you will be lucky get to your hotel before 2130 (9pm) with the sun already setting. You will want to find some dinner and I would have suggested a cruise on the river, but you are too late for that. Frankly, on a Sunday evening in Paddington, you would probably do best to eat in the hotel restaurant.

You will need to be at LHR for 1200 at the latest so that means leaving your hotel by 1100 which gives you only a short time to see any sights. Most places don't open before 10am and the hoho tour that passes through Paddington would take too long.

I suggest that you should have a rethink and maybe stay near the airport and visit Windsor Castle in the morning.

Would suggest you rethink your timing. LHR is one of the busiest airports in the world and has a much higher security level than most. I would suggest you get there 3 hrs pre departure for a flight to the US. Thus you would need to be there by 11:00AM. If you add another hour for your travel from central London you would have to depart London at ten. That does not give you much AM touring time. You might want to stay near the airport and do some closer sightseeing like Windsor and Eton. Your flights are not optimal for seeing much of London itself and you would just be rushing past things.

If London is a must then the hoho as noted would be your best bet. If you elect to stay near the airport at least find a nice Pub and meet some Brits

Another option for you might be to store your luggage overnight at Heathrow airport. We did this once & it ran about $20 USD for 2 bags. Only problem is the storage place is at one side of the terminal, all the way to the very end. I can recommend a close hotel to Heathrow the Ibis. They are very clean, very comfortable & highly reasonable. You can jump on the Hoppa shuttle to any hotel in the area for about £8-10, roundtrip. There is a fabulous English pub very close by from the Ibis called The Pheasant Inn. It's family owned, clean, reasonable & you'll eat some tasty authentic British food. Hope this helps! Enjoy!

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We (2 of us) are flying post cruise from Rome and arriving LHR 1910 on Sunday July 2. We depart 1400 on July 3 for the USA.

 

After researching the board, we are staying at the Hilton - Paddington Station. My hope is that our checked bags will be checked through and we will just have a light carry-on.

Would suggest you rethink your timing. LHR is one of the busiest airports in the world and has a much higher security level than most. I would suggest you get there 3 hrs pre departure for a flight to the US. Thus you would need to be there by 11:00AM.

Which airlines? That can affect the answer to your question/hope.I don't think that this is necessary. But again, advice may depend on the airline concerned.

We are flying on an award ticket BA-AA

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It is recommended that you be at the 3 hours before your departure. You might be able to do it at 2 if there are no security delays. I missed my flight as I arrived at the airport 2.5 hours before flight but there was issues at security and the whole line was backed up and spent over an hour in line. The plane was so far away from security check that buy the time we got to it the gate was closed and they wouldn't let us on.

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Regarding purchasing GBP in Gibraltar. Gibraltar has its own pound, which isn't the same as UK pound. You would just be stuck with Gibraltar pounds and nowhere to spend them.

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Regarding purchasing GBP in Gibraltar. Gibraltar has its own pound, which isn't the same as UK pound. You would just be stuck with Gibraltar pounds and nowhere to spend them.

 

 

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Thanks for that info :-)

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Two hours before the flight time is sufficient if there are no security alerts, strikes, etc on the day. Check in the morning on the day.

You won't need many GBP. Almost everything you need can be paid for by credit card. If you decide to take a taxi from your hotel, be sure to make it clear in advance that you will be paying by card.

Two hours before the flight time is sufficient if there are no security alerts, strikes, etc on the day. Check in the morning on the day.

 

You won't need many GBP. Almost everything you need can be paid for by credit card. If you decide to take a taxi from your hotel, be sure to make it clear in advance that you will be paying by card.

Thank you :-)

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We (2 of us) are flying post cruise from Rome and arriving LHR 1910 on Sunday July 2. We depart 1400 on July 3 for the USA.

 

After researching the board, we are staying at the Hilton - Paddington Station. My hope is that our checked bags will be checked through and we will just have a light carry-on.

Which airlines? That can affect the answer to your question/hope.

We are flying on an award ticket BA-AA

This assumes that both flights are on the same booking, which seems almost certain if you booked it as one award. However, the fact that you're on an award ticket makes no difference to baggage handling.

I assume that (like the person who started that thread) you are aware that you will arrive at LHR Terminal 5, but your AA flight will depart from Terminal 3.

For an AA departure from LHR, I too think that two hours is enough.

We did something similar to what you're planning 4 years ago when coming home from our Med cruise - flew BA FCO-LHR(overnight)-YUL. Here's how it worked for us:

-We checked in at FCO for our first flight more than 24 hours before our second flight, so we couldn't officially check in for the LHR-YUL flight and get our boarding passes - however they were able to check our luggage through to YUL. We were able to then check in online that night in London and pick up our boarding passes at LHR the next day;

-Took the HEX to Paddington, then cab to our hotel, Grosvenor House. We stayed there 'cause we had Marriott points, but your plan of staying at the Hilton at Paddington is sound. We were on the earlier flight than yours, and can't tell you the exact timing, but I do know that we were scheduled to arrive at LHR at about 17:15, and we were in our room no later than 19h;

-Next day, did our planned shopping, were at Paddington a little after noon, got on the next HEX to leave and were at T5 in plenty of time to pick up boarding passes, pass security and wait a comfortable amount of time to board our 15:00 flight. Logistically, it's quite easy.

Now, you have a bit less time either side than we, but still I feel your plan is quite doable, especially as you should be able to check in for both flights at FCO (you can only check in 3 hours before your flight on BA, and that will put you within 24 hours of your second flight). Planning is key, and I would familiarize yourself with London's transport system. I do recommend using buses, as this will enable you to see more than if you were riding the underground all the time :).

Hi,

 

 

 

Your luggage will not be checked through, you'll need to bring it with you to the hotel. Wondering if you can change to an airport hotel and then consider taking the Heathrow Express *into* Paddington, then catch the tube to wherever you'd like to be in Central London. Managing luggage on the tube can be a challenge but is doable. Leaving it at a hotel near the airport might leave you feeling freer to enjoy London.

 

 

 

I'm afraid our assertion about the luggage is incorrect, as others have pointed out, and I am struggling to follow the logic of spending perhaps up to an hour going to and from an airport hotel on the Hoppa or by cab and then taking the HEX to where the OP is planning to stay anyway? Have I misunderstood your suggestion?

If one is prepared to use the HEX to/from, the Hilton at Paddington (entered directly from the station) is to all intents and purposes an airport hotel, with considerably more convenient transport options than almost all those actually at the airport :)

OP, your plan is pretty sound. I wouldn't leave Paddington (on the Express) more than three hours before your flight, especially if you have got boarding cards along the way.

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Well, I admire the optimism of my friends on this thread. :)

But I'm afraid I don't share it.

Your flight arrives 7.10pm on the sunday. You'll be in the arrivals hall about 8.30pm, and even if you take the HEX and book a Paddington hotel (yes, that's the most time-efficient option) by the time you've registered at your hotel it'll be gone 9pm, you'll be hungry as horses, and it'll be deep into twilight time. Ho-ho buses will have finished for the day even before your flight has landed. So your "evening" in London is likely to be a dinner and a cab ride at best.

Next day you'll need to collect your bags from your hotel & be at Paddington station by 11am, and although that time is OK it's actually later than the airport recommends for a 2pm flight and you certainly don't want to cut it finer.The ho-ho's don't start until around 9am and you won't even have time for a full round-trip.

So to see enough to be worthwhile you'll need a private taxi-tour for, say, 8.30am thru 10.30am.

Even an airport hotel (ugh) or a Windsor hotel ($$$$) and Windsor Castle won't work well. The castle opens at 9.30, and you'd need to leave Windsor by cab by 11.15 am at the latest to collect your bags from the hotel and get to your terminal by about noon.

What a spoilsport I am for this festive time of year.:rolleyes:

But I say it as I see it

JB :)

John, I am saying that given the time available and a desire to see something ( a"taste", as per thread title) of London, the plan is about as good as it can be.

Do you have a better option?!

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John, I am saying that given the time available and a desire to see something ( a"taste", as per thread title) of London, the plan is about as good as it can be.

 

Do you have a better option?!

 

 

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Nope.:p

'Cos I think it's a hopeless task.

Unless the OP can change their travel plans & give themselves at least 24 hours longer, I don't see central London as remotely worthwhile in the time-span..

Best I can suggest is a Windsor or airport hotel, dinner in Windsor or the Pheasant pub mentioned by donan, an early-morning stroll around Windsor, into the castle at 9.30 and out again by 11.15, taxi to hotel & on to the airport terminal.

JB :)

We are planning to take the HEX to/from Paddington.

We know that we will not do London justice in our site seeing. We just want to see a few of the famous sites. I am defining "see" as just photo opportunities. :-)

We just want a taste to get motivated to find a way to go back and give London a proper visit :-)

Are Pubs open Sunday evenings?

I read where there are night buses so we could ride those into the evening. It will be a summer evening and I think others may be out & out also. :-)

Thank you everyone for your help. I have gotten some out of everyone's posts :-)

Pubs mostly shut a 10:30 on Sunday and very few will offer any food beyond snacks.

Since you have made up your mind, I suggest that you book a tour in advance. You need a driver who does tours rather than one who just takes people from A to B. This one looks ok, though I have no personal experience. http://www.londoncabtours.co.uk/

No need for a tour. London is one of the world's great walking cities. The view along the river from Waterloo Bridge is spectacular at night - I'd jump on the tube down there, walk along the river a bit, round Parliament Square, through St James's Park to the Palace, up through Green Park to Piccadilly - a great evening stroll.

OP, don't let the others put you off!! I lived and worked in central London for 20 years and still spend half my time there. I understand what you are suggesting and your plan works within the constraints you have.

Night buses are really to get people home to the suburbs late at night. I doubt you'd need to use one - the daytime services run pretty late anyway.

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Pubs mostly shut a 10:30 on Sunday and very few will offer any food beyond snacks.

 

 

 

Many pubs in central London will be open until 11 pm on a Sunday evening and will serve a full menu until 10 pm.

It's not the 1980s anymore :)

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Many pubs in central London will be open until 11 pm on a Sunday evening and will serve a full menu until 10 pm.

 

It's not the 1980s anymore :)

 

 

 

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Thank you very much. :-)

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Happy New Year!!

I do want to make sure I understand the lingo for HEX tickets - single means one way and return is round trip.

I think buying single tickets for each direction is the cheapest since Sunday I could get a 90 day weekend saver...

Thank you :-)

Happy New Year!!

 

I do want to make sure I understand the lingo for HEX tickets - single means one way and return is round trip.

 

I think buying single tickets for each direction is the cheapest since Sunday I could get a 90 day weekend saver...

 

Thank you :-)

Yes, you are correct about the single and return tickets. No idea about the HEX tickets though.