Southampton to London tour and transfer

Can anyone recommend a company for a post-cruise transfer from Sounthampton to London that will include stops at attractions such as Stonehenge and Windsor Castle? I believe I recall reading about a company that does this, but can't seem to find any specifics. Mahalo!

And Mahalo to you, too :) (Hawaii?)

The cruise tour-transfers are run by International Friends,

a well-known & respected coach tour operator.

https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/southampton-cruise-tour-transfer-to-london.html.

They offer other tour-transfer options too, in both directions & from other ports - click on the "shore excursions & transfers" header.

Those from London & Heathrow hotels to Southampton are marginally cheaper, but don't include Windsor because of the constraint of early pm registration times at the port. In your direction - ship to London - it's a longer & more-comprehensive day and better value, because there's no red line for arrival time & you're dropped at your hotel early evening.

Most folk know & book them through the well-known & respected booking agency,

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_london_transfers.htm

For whatever reason the prices through that agency are about £10 cheaper.:)

Prices don't include entrance fees to Stonehenge & Windsor Castle, these are optional extras. But other than for those with special deals such as English Heritage members, I believe their add-on prices are the same as prices at the gate.

Important - If you want to go into Stonehenge (and you'll be wasting 90 minutes sat in the coach if you don't) it's important that you buy at least those tickets with your booking - Stonehenge limits its numbers and you need timed tickets in order to avoid being denied access at the gate. Buying with your coach ticket gets you through without delay.

BTW, the London Toolkit website has stacks of info about London and the cruise ports and airports on other pages, including public transport, sights, hotel locations

Bookmark that website, you'll frequently find it very useful.

(but the private transfers they advertise are over-priced)

JB :)

And Mahalo to you, too :) (Hawaii?)

 

The cruise tour-transfers are run by International Friends,

a well-known & respected coach tour operator.

https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/southampton-cruise-tour-transfer-to-london.html.

They offer other tour-transfer options too, in both directions & from other ports - click on the "shore excursions & transfers" header.

Those from London & Heathrow hotels to Southampton are marginally cheaper, but don't include Windsor because of the constraint of early pm registration times at the port. In your direction - ship to London - it's a longer & more-comprehensive day and better value, because there's no red line for arrival time & you're dropped at your hotel early evening.

 

Most folk know & book them through the well-known & respected booking agency,

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_london_transfers.htm

For whatever reason the prices through that agency are about £10 cheaper.:)

 

Prices don't include entrance fees to Stonehenge & Windsor Castle, these are optional extras. But other than for those with special deals such as English Heritage members, I believe their add-on prices are the same as prices at the gate.

Important - If you want to go into Stonehenge (and you'll be wasting 90 minutes sat in the coach if you don't) it's important that you buy at least those tickets with your booking - Stonehenge limits its numbers and you need timed tickets in order to avoid being denied access at the gate. Buying with your coach ticket gets you through without delay.

 

BTW, the London Toolkit website has stacks of info about London and the cruise ports and airports on other pages, including public transport, sights, hotel locations

Bookmark that website, you'll frequently find it very useful.

(but the private transfers they advertise are over-priced)

 

JB :)

Thank you, John, for the excellent information! It sounds like the transfer with tour stops is a great deal. I'll be looking into this further.

And yes, I live in Hawaii. :)

I would recommend New Forest Platinum Tours. I have used him three times. Nice guy, knows the area between southampton and london.

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I did the International Friends tour and transfer from Southampton to a London hotel this past Spring, and it was excellent. I would not hesitate to recommend them, as everything about it was very well planned and executed, the bus was comfortable, and the driver and guide were both very good. I felt it was a good value for the type of services included.

Question for the seasoned vets. We are cruising into Southampton on Princess this June. Our flight out of Heathrow is at 2:00p. Since we can get off the ship sometime around 7:30 or maybe earlier, would we have time to do a tour (Stonehenge for example) and make the flight? Conversely, we arrive in London at 9:00am and would have to be onboard until around 3:00p would that be a better option. IIR Heathrow is pretty difficult to navigate, but it has been years since I have had to travel there. Any advice would be awesome.

Cheers

Question for the seasoned vets. We are cruising into Southampton on Princess this June. Our flight out of Heathrow is at 2:00p. Since we can get off the ship sometime around 7:30 or maybe earlier, would we have time to do a tour (Stonehenge for example) and make the flight? Conversely, we arrive in London at 9:00am and would have to be onboard until around 3:00p would that be a better option. IIR Heathrow is pretty difficult to navigate, but it has been years since I have had to travel there. Any advice would be awesome.

 

Cheers

Princess MAY offer a disembarkation tour to Stonehenge for passengers flying out the same day. I recall it, and one to Windsor Castle, being offered on the cruise I did in the Spring. If available, I imagine the timing of your flight would be a deciding factor as to if it could work for you.

Princess MAY offer a disembarkation tour to Stonehenge for passengers flying out the same day. I recall it, and one to Windsor Castle, being offered on the cruise I did in the Spring. If available, I imagine the timing of your flight would be a deciding factor as to if it could work for you.

Princess will only sell the transfer with tour for those who have flights leaving AFTER 4:PM. We did this last year with a stop at Stonehenge as we had not seen it since the entry was updated. While not a fan of cruise line tours, I had to admit this one was excellent, primarily due to the fantastic tour guide.

This coming June we are doing a similar transfer, though with entry to Windsor Castle and onto LHR. Our flight back to BOS leaves about 4:45PM - I book my own air.

Darcy

Question for the seasoned vets. We are cruising into Southampton on Princess this June. Our flight out of Heathrow is at 2:00p. Since we can get off the ship sometime around 7:30 or maybe earlier, would we have time to do a tour (Stonehenge for example) and make the flight? Conversely, we arrive in London at 9:00am and would have to be onboard until around 3:00p would that be a better option. IIR Heathrow is pretty difficult to navigate, but it has been years since I have had to travel there. Any advice would be awesome.

 

Cheers

Because of the time-scale you'll need a private tour-transfer whichever way you do it (though for post-cruise you could try your RollCall for any sharers with similar plans).

You should be able to disembark around 7am unassisted, or blag your way onto the first assisted time-slot about 7.30.

Stonehenge is about an hour, probably a little longer that time of day. Pre-purchased tickets for 9am to 9.30 should do the job - you'll probably be allowed in earlier if you arrive before 9am, subject to demand..

Aim to leave Stonehenge by 10.30, that should get you to Heathrow before noon. 2 hours before your flight is fine, & you'll have about 45 minutes leeway before you need to get out the worry-beads.

Or from Heathrow, a landing time of 9am means you're likely to be in the arrivals hall about 10.30.

Something under an hour to Stonehenge, leave Stonehenge by 1.30 for a 3pm registration. So in theory you have an hour to spare, perhaps leave Stonehenge about 12.30 / 1pm, stop off at Salisbury cathedral, & leave there by 2pm.

The only difficulty going from Heathrow is the business of timed Stonehenge tickets, because of the potential for flight or airport delays. I guess book Stonehenge for 11.30 to noon, or more reliably noon to 12.30. Again, if you arrive outside the booked 30-minute window you'll just have to try using your charm.

You also have the options of ............

Winchester & its cathedral. Close to Southampton & close to the direct Southampton/Heathrow route which will save you over half an hour on the road. If going from Southampton bear in mind the cathedral isn't open to visitors until 9.30 mon thru sat, and not til 12.30 on sundays. You'd need to leave Winchester by about 10.30 - 10.45 for Heathrow. Better for pre-cruise because it's only half an hour from your ship so less risk of a delay.

Windsor & its castle. Under half an hour from Heathrow, about 80 minutes from Southampton. Altho more prone to traffic delays from Southampton because of the time of day, possibly better for post-cruise because it's so close to the airport, I guess you'd have 60 to 90 minutes there. Pre-cruise you'd likely have more time at Windsor, but it's about 75 minutes from the ship so you'd need more wiggle time for delays.

Day of the week comes into it a lot.

Monday (and especially Monday) thru Friday there's always the potential for delays Heathrow-bound as you'll be mixing it with commuters.

Summer Saturdays Southampton-bound you'll be mixing it with Londoners heading for the coast, which can also mean delays.

Tell me that one of your days is a sunday & we'll all be happy ;)

Get quotes - and opinions - from http://www.smithsforairports.com and http://www.westquaycars.com and http://www.aquacars.co.uk

JB :)

Because of the time-scale you'll need a private tour-transfer whichever way you do it (though for post-cruise you could try your RollCall for any sharers with similar plans).

 

You should be able to disembark around 7am unassisted, or blag your way onto the first assisted time-slot about 7.30.

Stonehenge is about an hour, probably a little longer that time of day. Pre-purchased tickets for 9am to 9.30 should do the job - you'll probably be allowed in earlier if you arrive before 9am, subject to demand..

Aim to leave Stonehenge by 10.30, that should get you to Heathrow before noon. 2 hours before your flight is fine, & you'll have about 45 minutes leeway before you need to get out the worry-beads.

 

Or from Heathrow, a landing time of 9am means you're likely to be in the arrivals hall about 10.30.

Something under an hour to Stonehenge, leave Stonehenge by 1.30 for a 3pm registration. So in theory you have an hour to spare, perhaps leave Stonehenge about 12.30 / 1pm, stop off at Salisbury cathedral, & leave there by 2pm.

The only difficulty going from Heathrow is the business of timed Stonehenge tickets, because of the potential for flight or airport delays. I guess book Stonehenge for 11.30 to noon, or more reliably noon to 12.30. Again, if you arrive outside the booked 30-minute window you'll just have to try using your charm.

 

You also have the options of ............

 

Winchester & its cathedral. Close to Southampton & close to the direct Southampton/Heathrow route which will save you over half an hour on the road. If going from Southampton bear in mind the cathedral isn't open to visitors until 9.30 mon thru sat, and not til 12.30 on sundays. You'd need to leave Winchester by about 10.30 - 10.45 for Heathrow. Better for pre-cruise because it's only half an hour from your ship so less risk of a delay.

 

Windsor & its castle. Under half an hour from Heathrow, about 80 minutes from Southampton. Altho more prone to traffic delays from Southampton because of the time of day, possibly better for post-cruise because it's so close to the airport, I guess you'd have 60 to 90 minutes there. Pre-cruise you'd likely have more time at Windsor, but it's about 75 minutes from the ship so you'd need more wiggle time for delays.

 

Day of the week comes into it a lot.

Monday (and especially Monday) thru Friday there's always the potential for delays Heathrow-bound as you'll be mixing it with commuters.

Summer Saturdays Southampton-bound you'll be mixing it with Londoners heading for the coast, which can also mean delays.

Tell me that one of your days is a sunday & we'll all be happy ;)

 

Get quotes - and opinions - from www.smithsforairports.com and www.westquaycars.com and www.aquacars.co.uk

 

JB :)

John, thanks so much for this info. I will continue to research. This is a great starting point. - Cheers!

John, thanks for all the info.

We will be in London a couple nights pre-cruise the beginning of July and was trying to figure out how to see Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. Your details are very helpful.

The cruise departs on a Friday so we may be better off doing Stonehenge on the way to port. I was thinking of having a have a private car pick us up at 8:30 AM (we are 5 adults), and pre purchasing tickets for Stonehenge at 10:30 AM. From my research it seems like it's about 2 hours to Stonehenge from center London (near Big Ben). Then it's another hour to port. This should enable us to get to the port in plenty of time.

We will be returning to Southhampton on Saturday. Since Windsor Castle is close the Heathrow we are probably better going there on the way to the airport. Our flight isn't until 4 PM. Do you know if I need to purchase tickets in advance for Windsor?

Again thanks for all your info.

John, thanks for all the info.

 

We will be in London a couple nights pre-cruise the beginning of July and was trying to figure out how to see Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. Your details are very helpful.

 

The cruise departs on a Friday so we may be better off doing Stonehenge on the way to port. I was thinking of having a have a private car pick us up at 8:30 AM (we are 5 adults), and pre purchasing tickets for Stonehenge at 10:30 AM. From my research it seems like it's about 2 hours to Stonehenge from center London (near Big Ben). Then it's another hour to port. This should enable us to get to the port in plenty of time.

 

We will be returning to Southhampton on Saturday. Since Windsor Castle is close the Heathrow we are probably better going there on the way to the airport. Our flight isn't until 4 PM. Do you know if I need to purchase tickets in advance for Windsor?

 

 

Again thanks for all your info.

Yes, your timings are fine.

And with that flight time, Windsor castle before the flight home makes perfect sense - only 15 - 20 mins from the airport, so no need for a huge amount of wiggle-time

No, no need for timed tickets at Windsor castle though buying tickets in advance will avoid a line for tickets on the day

After Stonehenge it's marginally quicker to go to Southampton thru Salisbury rather than the A303/A34/M3 loop.

It's well worth a stop of at least a half-hour to visit.Salisbury cathedral.

And after Salisbury, if your driver's a local he'll know the B3078 across a corner of the New Forest from Fordingbridge to Cadnam rather than the main A36. Adds 15 mins to the journey but well worth it in good weather.

JB :)

We are also looking for transfer from Southampton port to a TBD London hotel in late April of 2018. Ideally, the transfer would include tour stops (e.g., Stonehenge, Windsor). We had originally arranged to do the International Friends transfer/tour, but a change in ship itinerary has forced us to arrive two days later. Our back luck is such tours are not available from that operator on our new date. We are researching alternatives but would welcome any expert thoughts here. Thanks!

Several alternatives .................

1. Consider a private transfer (recommendations elsewhere on this thread) which takes you to your London hotel via Stonehenge. You need about 90 minutes at Stonehenge. You are strongly advised to pre-purchase timed tickets to Stonehenge - you choose a half-hour window & if you arrive outside that time window entry may be delayed if the place is up to max numbers. Disembarkation (not to be confused with ships arrival time) is usually around 7am to 9am but I'm guessing that if Int. Friends don't offer a service you're on a small ship, so those times may not apply.

The drive to Stonehenge takes 60 to 90 minutes, depending on route, time of day and day of the week, but be guided by your transfer operator on pick-up time and Stonehenge booking time - they know the routine better than I.

You can add Windsor to that transfer, but although it's not far off-route you need a couple of hours or more there, and that will jack up the transfer cost.

There's an excellent rail service between Windsor and central London and I would have suggested that your driver drop you there and after visiting Windsor you hop on a train. BUT unfortunately I don't know of any luggage storage facilities in Windsor, and it's something frequently asked on CC and T/A without success.

2. Alternatively take the train (half-hourly service) from Southampton to Salisbury, about 40 minutes / £10. Drop your bags at the nearby Black Cat pub (about £4 per item) & take the Stonehenge hop-on bus from Salisbury station.

Buy your Stonehenge entry tickets from the driver - just like Int Friends & other tour operators their tickets aren't timed, they're anytime tickets. When you get back to Salisbury you can spend time in the city, visit the cathedral, then head for the station, pick up your bags, & jump on a direct train to Waterloo station in central London.

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

There's no sensible way to visit both places by public transport on that transfer day, or to substitute Windsor for Stonehenge.

3. Windsor is very easy to visit by cheap, frequent & fast trains from London Waterloo, if you can spare one of your "London" days.

4. Windsor is close to Heathrow. If you're flying out of Heathrow late in the day / early evening you can do that same-day. I can give you more detail if that's an option.

5. Again if you can spare one of your "London" days, there are plenty of tour buses operating from central London to a variety of places - including Stonehenge and including Windsor and including Stonehenge AND Windsor. Buy your "anytime" Stonehenge admission tickets with your tour tickets, or the tour price may include admission.

That would probably be the simplest and the most cost-effective option.

Here are a couple of well-known operators, google "coach tours from London" for others.

https://www.goldentours.com/windsor-castle-tours?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIprPRrPH61QIVr7ftCh2Nww27EAAYASAAEgKIiPD_BwE

https://www.premiumtours.co.uk/category/stonehenge-tours

You might find more options on

https://www.londontoolkit.com/

Hope this helps

JB :)

Several alternatives .................

 

1. Consider a private transfer (recommendations elsewhere on this thread) which takes you to your London hotel via Stonehenge. You need about 90 minutes at Stonehenge. You are strongly advised to pre-purchase timed tickets to Stonehenge - you choose a half-hour window & if you arrive outside that time window entry may be delayed if the place is up to max numbers. Disembarkation (not to be confused with ships arrival time) is usually around 7am to 9am but I'm guessing that if Int. Friends don't offer a service you're on a small ship, so those times may not apply.

The drive to Stonehenge takes 60 to 90 minutes, depending on route, time of day and day of the week, but be guided by your transfer operator on pick-up time and Stonehenge booking time - they know the routine better than I.

..

 

JB :)

Whew! Thanks! Lots of important details. Greatly appreciated. According to the published itinerary, our ship "arrives" at 8:00am. It is the NCL Breakaway, which is not at all small. :D The way I think I understood International Friends was that they can serve either embarkations or debarkations on any given day, but not both. Whatever the reason, our arrival is on a wrong day for them as they are "not operating any tours on this date". They did offer that we could join the tour the next day if we could stay overnight in Southampton. Unfortunately, we are on a very tight schedule and have to come up with some other plan that will get us from port to London hotel by that evening.