Bath instead of London

We are sailing the Anthem Transatlantic in October. Having been to London several times, we thought we would stay in Bath for 4 nights and day trip from there. We do want to go to London for the day to see the Churchill War Rooms and sail the Thames to Greenwich.

 

While in Bath, we would like to day trip to Stonehenge. Does anyone have any ideas to share regarding these plans? We are wide open to suggestions.

 

Do you think getting to Bath from Heathrow will be expensive and difficult? I believe our traveling companions found a train to get us from Bath to Southampton that appears to be easily done.

To get to Heathrow from Bath you can use train (fastest) or coach. The train involves a change at London Paddington and the Coach involves a change at Bristol.

 

To get an idea of prices and times check these websites:

 

http://www.thetrainline.com/destinations/trains-to-bath

 

http://www.nationalexpress.com/wherewego/airports/index.aspx

 

The easiest way to travel would be to book a private taxi.

 

This is one company: http://www.abbeytaxis.co.uk/

 

Stonehenge would be out of the question by public transport, but no doubt, for an extra charge, a taxi would take you there on your way to Heathrow. If you haven't been there, Windsor Castle would be a more convenient place to visit. For some strange reason they built it right under the main flight path to Heathrow.

Edited January 20, 2015 by Bob++

A number of local bus companies do tours to Stonehenge from Bath eg Madmax Tours, Scarpa Tours, Lion Tours, so you can easily do it as a day trip.

Oops - I was looking at it as a side trip on the way to Heathrow.

 

In my humble opinion, Stonehenge is not worth the time and expense. There is a lot to see and do in Bath itself which is more interesting and entertaining than a stack of old stones that you look at through a fence from a distance.

We are sailing the Anthem Transatlantic in October. Having been to London several times, we thought we would stay in Bath for 4 nights and day trip from there. We do want to go to London for the day to see the Churchill War Rooms and sail the Thames to Greenwich.

 

While in Bath, we would like to day trip to Stonehenge. Does anyone have any ideas to share regarding these plans? We are wide open to suggestions.

 

Do you think getting to Bath from Heathrow will be expensive and difficult? I believe our traveling companions found a train to get us from Bath to Southampton that appears to be easily done.

 

We spent three days in Bath on a recent trip to England and loved staying there. We took a day tour to Stonehenge, Avebury and a couple of villages in the Cotswolds with Mad Max tours and had a wonderful day. They are highly rated on Trip Advisor and also by Rick Steves--highly recommend them! You can take a direct bus from Heathrow to Bath, but we took the train and got along fine. Another great day trip from Bath is to visit Wells Cathedral--easy to do by public bus from Bath. The Cathedral is amazing! Salisbury is also an easy day train trip from Bath if you want to visit Salisbury Cathedral. Go on market day for a fun experience.

Wonderful replies.

 

I totally agree about Stonehenge, but traveling companions have a great desire to see it. Maybe DH & I will do a separate tour with MadMax to somewhere else. I love castles and cathedrals and quaint villages.

 

Is the train doable from Bath for a day trip to London?

Is the train doable from Bath for a day trip to London?

Yes, but it'll be a waste of your precious sightseeing time to do this.

 

Personally, I'd simply leave the War Rooms and the river trip until the next time you're in London.

 

If there's some reason why you must do them this time, do them on the day that you arrive. Stay overnight in London and then head off to Bath the next day.

The rail links from Bath to Salisbury are excellent. You can go there direct in under an hour and they are fairly frequent Le aving around every hour. At the Salisbury station catch a "Stonehenge tour" bus. Train tickets are cheaper if you buy early but less flexibility obviously.

 

Look into prebooking tickets to Stonehenge because prebooking is now required.

http://m.nationalrail.co.uk/pj/home

 

Use this site for train timetables and tickets.

 

The train line site is a third party ticket seller and they charge a fee. They also have horrific prices above and beyond the fee.

 

Lots of people do London to Bath day trips so the reverse is possible by train. It beats carting your luggage around! But, if you can organise your luggage I can see the advantage of doing London on the day you arrive.

Edited January 21, 2015 by paddingtonbear

We arrive LHR on a Friday morning and I think we should go into London and spend the night. We could go to Bath on Saturday and leave there early Tuesday morning to travel to the port and board the Anthem.

 

I will check on the day tours y'all have mentioned and the transportation ideas.

 

Is our Thames ride to Greenwich worth doing?

Is our Thames ride to Greenwich worth doing?

To be honest, it's better if you're planning to go to Greenwich anyway. Personally, I wouldn't do this as an activity on its own.

To be honest, it's better if you're planning to go to Greenwich anyway. Personally, I wouldn't do this as an activity on its own.

 

Is it worth sailing on the Thames at all?

Is it worth sailing on the Thames at all?

 

It's nice seeing the city from the water and it was great getting a commentary along the way of all the buildings and things of interest. Great view of the London Eye. We chose a sunny day and spent the day in Greenwich seeing the Greenwich Observatory, the GMT line, the National Maritime museum etc. We had a nice pub lunch.

 

You can now see the Cutty Sark which was closed when we were there.

 

I don't know if you would consider it worthwhile if you didn't go to Greenwich for the day.

I would do anything on water in preference to seeing the interior of buildings but I am a bit weird. : )

 

You don't have to go all the way to Greenwich. You can just do a cruise between the bridges.

We had the opportunity to use 2 for 1 tickets.

Edited January 23, 2015 by paddingtonbear

Globaliser is probably right if you aren't going to spend the day in Greenwich it's probably not worthwhile doing the whole cruise.

 

The best of the sights are definitely in the first half of the cruise, the rest is good to orient you in London. It was great to see the Tower of London from the water and both the bridges. Maybe just go part of the way, if you like river cruises, to maximise your time in London.

Is it worth sailing on the Thames at all?

Yes, absolutely, if you're going that way anyway. If the weather's nice, for example, you can sit outside on the aft deck of the Clipper and watch the scenery recede behind you. Or (on most of the boats) you can sit in the front and watch through the forward windows.

 

But (as I said) not as an end in itself. After all, at the end of the day we are talking about half an hour's worth of a commuter ferry.

Yes, absolutely, if you're going that way anyway. If the weather's nice, for example, you can sit outside on the aft deck of the Clipper and watch the scenery recede behind you. Or (on most of the boats) you can sit in the front and watch through the forward windows.

 

But (as I said) not as an end in itself. After all, at the end of the day we are talking about half an hour's worth of a commuter ferry.

 

Your signature is quite interesting. I especially like the comments about the HoHo busses and the Qantas spelling.

 

As far as this 4-day London/Bath pre-cruise trip, I am a bit perplexed as to what makes the most sense. Having been to London many times, we are taking the backseat to our traveling companions. My cousin's husband has absolutes that he wants to see and we don't. We usually have our own lists of things we must see, but not this time. We are most interested in the Anthem even with the many Quantum complaints that have been written on here.

 

I do like Paddingtonbear's side trip down the Thames to Greenwich to visit the maritime museum and lunch in a pub. Should we take the train back to London instead of a roundtrip on the boat?

 

Going to Bath on Saturday and staying there for 3 nights offers us some day trips of our choosing while they go off to look at Stonehenge.

Your signature is quite interesting. I especially like the comments about the HoHo busses and the Qantas spelling.

;) :D

I do like Paddingtonbear's side trip down the Thames to Greenwich to visit the maritime museum and lunch in a pub. Should we take the train back to London instead of a roundtrip on the boat?

That's not a bad idea. In fact, what I'd recommend is that you take the DLR from Cutty Sark to Bank (or change at Shadwell for a Tower Gateway train if you need to end up there). Sit at the very front of the train - you can usually sit in the driver's seat unless someone's got there before you, so you get a great view forwards. This will give you a different perspective on the Isle of Dogs and the Canary Wharf area as you pass through it.

If you're looking at

• Heathrow
  
• Bath
  
• London
  
• Salisbury (Stonehenge)
  
• Southampton (departure)
  

 

I'm not convinced Bath would make the most sense as a place to stay, as it's the most western of all of them. You might want to consider somewhere that's more equidistant from all of them and with good access to trains/coach; to cut down on travel, perhaps Winchester (which has lots of the same sort of charm that Bath does)??

If you're looking at

• Heathrow
  
• Bath
  
• London
  
• Salisbury (Stonehenge)
  
• Southampton (departure)
  

 

I'm not convinced Bath would make the most sense as a place to stay, as it's the most western of all of them. You might want to consider somewhere that's more equidistant from all of them and with good access to trains/coach; to cut down on travel, perhaps Winchester (which has lots of the same sort of charm that Bath does)??

 

That's an interesting idea. When we left London for our Indy TA, my brother asked our driver to stop in Winchester. It was a charming town. I will share that with our traveling companions as another option. Thank you.

Another new idea from my cousin. You would think we were doing a world tour with the questions I am asking on here. It's 4 days!

 

First night in London then off to Salisbury for the remaining 3 in a B&B. Vic's Taxi reports they can give us tours of Old Sarum (?), Woodford Valley (?), Stonehenge, Avebury(?) and Bath. What do y'all think?

 

Nancy