Best area to stay in London

Any advice on best area to stay in London for 2 or 3 nights? We prefer not to spend much more than $200-$250/night. I’ve been told Mayfair is great, but most of the hotels I’m finding that have availability there are way more money. I have been looking at the Park Grand Lancaster Gate, but that’s a little far from the theater district, and now I am looking at the Z hotel in Piccadilly. Anyone familiar with those or have another recommendation?

Thank you!

Mayfair, like its namesake on the Monopoly board, is one of the most expensive areas in an expensive city.

 

You don't need to be in the West End to have easy access to the main tourist sights. If you are traveling to Southampton to start your cruise, I suggest that you stay either near Waterloo, for a direct train to the port, or Victoria to catch a coach. Victoria also benefits from good connections to Heathrow.

 

I am making a lot of assumptions here - if you give us more information, like which airport and which cruise port you are using, and any limitations like walking difficulties, you will get much better advice.

 

A read through some of the many other threads asking similar questions would also be useful.

 

edit: the Z hotel in Piccadilly gets good reviews but would be mostly popular with people visiting theatreland, rather than tourist sights like The Tower of London and Buckingham Palace.

We are flying in to Heathrow and leaving on a cruise from Southampton 3 days later. We are active seniors, but my husband does walk slowly and probably only a few blocks at a time. Thanks for responding so quickly!

Park Grand is in Paddington, an area I've stayed in many times. I like it because it is fairly quiet and residential, but still with very good transport links to the tourist areas.

 

The Z Hotel is in the heart of Picadilly, which is busy. Very, very busy. Very central, but you never escape the busyness.

 

Given the excellent public transport that London has, I would be considering anything within the Paddington-Kensington-Victoria-Waterloo areas

Then you will probably not want to be negotiating public transport until you have offloaded your luggage. A pre-booked car from LHR to your hotel would make sense after a long flight. Popular on this board are Premier Inns, but there is a wide selection to suit your budget.

 

Getting from London to Southampton on sail day is another consideration. You can choose to go (in ascending order of cost) by coach, train, or private car, as well as the cruise company coach, or a tour coach with a visit to Windsor or Stonehenge en route.

We were looking at smiths for transportation from hotel to ship, then ship to airport. There are 4 of us, so it seemed like a good price since we are sharing the cost. We've done the major tourist sites when in London years ago. I was thinking of the boat ride on the Thames to Greenwich one day, getting discount tickets to a play one night. That's why I wasn't sure which area we should stay in. I also would like to take a day to see the countryside, maybe Bath and the Cotswolds. Don't know if we should take a tour for that or attempt it DIY on the train.

Appreciate all the help!

Penny

We were looking at smiths for transportation from hotel to ship, then ship to airport. There are 4 of us, so it seemed like a good price since we are sharing the cost. We've done the major tourist sites when in London years ago. I was thinking of the boat ride on the Thames to Greenwich one day, getting discount tickets to a play one night. That's why I wasn't sure which area we should stay in. I also would like to take a day to see the countryside, maybe Bath and the Cotswolds. Don't know if we should take a tour for that or attempt it DIY on the train.

Appreciate all the help!

Penny

 

Simplest for you then would be to book the Heathrow Express train (geared to travellers with luggage) from LHR to Paddington station (but book several months ahead cos the price goes up closer to the date & is quadruple for walk-up tickets) and a hotel in the Paddington area.

Or the National Express bus (driver loads luggage) from LHR to Victoria coach station is frequent, simple & silly-cheap.

There's a very broad choice of lodgings in both Paddington and Victoria.

 

Or I rate the County Hall area (eg Hilton or Premier Inn) as being a great balance between cost and convenience to the sights. Convenient to the Greenwich ferries, convenient to walk to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey etc and along the river's South Bank. Also very handy to Waterloo station for direct trains to Southampton, but pretty inconvenient for LHR - best to book a private transfer from there, about £45 (but not smithsforairports, they're based at the Southampton end, great for transfers to/from Southampton but not LHR to central London).

 

Incidentally Victoria for Nat Express bus to Southampton. Or Paddington for train (with a change at Reading) though for four the cost won't be far off Smiths' private transfer price.

 

None of those districts are walkable to theatre-land (well, mebbe County Hall - about 20 mins) but as long as your London hotel is handy to a tube (metro) station it's only ten minutes from anywhere in central London.

 

Yes, get out of the big bad city & see more of England.:)

 

From London, Bath is very easy to DIY by train from Paddington station. Your destination station is Bath Spa, and the station is close to the sights, no need for transport.

 

But for the Cotswolds you need a car or a tour. Simplest is a coach tour from central London, there are plenty of choices. Or you could book a tour from Oxford & take the train (from Paddington station again) to Oxford & meet the tour there - tho that's not so simple.

 

Or take the train to Portsmouth Harbour. The historic dockyard & ships are a two minute walk from the station as is Gunwharf Quays retail & leisure complex, and just a short taxi hop or bus ride away are the myriad attractions of Southsea seafront.

You might even consider travelling to Portsmouth the day before your sailing (or even the evening before that, hotel prices are way lower than central London) then it's just 50 minutes by train or bus or private transfer to your ship on your sailing day.

 

https://www.heathrowexpress.com/

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

JB :)

-

 

But for the Cotswolds you need a car or a tour. Simplest is a coach tour from central London, there are plenty of choices. Or you could book a tour from Oxford & take the train (from Paddington station again) to Oxford & meet the tour there - tho that's not so simple.

 

 

JB :)

 

 

That’s certainly one option - there appears to be a company called Cotswolds Exploring running scheduled tours from Oxford now, departing from Broad Street, a 15 minute walk from the station.

 

Or my preference would be to stay on the train to Moreton-in-Marsh, in the heart of the north Cotswolds and pick up a tour there - Go Cotswolds and the Secret Cottage tours both run their tours to meet and drop off at the station, timed for the London train, or many private hire drivers will arrange to do the same.

 

Either way this could be combined with dinner and sightseeing in Oxford, before heading back to London late.

 

 

 

 

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My advice is to try to have more than three nights in England before your cruise. We spent three nights in London and one in Southampton last summer before ours. The first day we were too tired from the flight to do much--although we did manage to check in to our hotel (in Kensington) then take a double-decker bus to Trafalgar Square and walk down to Westminster Abbey in time for evensong. Day two was going to Kensington Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Harrods. Day three was the National Gallery and Buckingham Palace, tea at Fortnum & Mason (not as good and way more expensive than it was 34 years ago), and a musical (Half a Sixpence).

 

We're going back this September. I haven't booked our flights yet, but I'm thinking of four or five nights in London and one in Southampton. Things we'd like to do this time include the Tate Modern, a boat ride to Hampton Court, the Churchill War Rooms, and British Museum, and maybe even a trip up to my old haunts in Hornsey.

I have stayed at Premier Inn Waterloo and will again in July. The hotel is walking distance to Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey,Parliament, HOHO buses, regular bus, tube, Waterloo train station, pubs, restaurants.

 

I have used www.justairports.com a car service from/to LHR/London hotel, use hotel postal code to get a quote.

 

Buckingham Palace staterooms might be open when you are there.http://www.royalcollection.org.uk

We are looking at a hotel in Notting Hill, near the Notting Hill Gate station. Is that area very far away from a lot of the sights? Some of the

sights we are planning to visit are the Imperial War Museum, Tower of London and Trafalgar Square. We are grandparents with 2 teenagers.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

For grands with teens. Walking is likely going to be too much from one site to the next to choose a hotel close to all. And the some tubes (subway) entrances require up to 2 flights of stairs. We had some issues with my Mom and stairs. What works really well is taking a city bus. Including double deckers. You can let your teens pop up to the top. Westminster Victoria and Waterloo and tower bridge area will have good bus access to many sites if the tube proves too taxing. You teens can easily look up schedules. Plus you get to see London vs traveling underground.

There is a brand new Marriott residence inn at london bridge.

nottong hill gate is a bit far and not central at all.

Only take tube or train from airport or to cruise if you can manage stairs and luggage on your own.

We are looking at a hotel in Notting Hill, near the Notting Hill Gate station. Is that area very far away from a lot of the sights? Some of the

sights we are planning to visit are the Imperial War Museum, Tower of London and Trafalgar Square. We are grandparents with 2 teenagers.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Notting Hill is not convenient walking distance to any of those, but being close to a Tube station makes that OK. Staying there would put you less than a mile to Kensington Palace and less than two miles to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, and Harrods, so you might want to add those to your plans.

Elaine's point is a great one. When we were in London 2yr ago with my grandparents and children, the buses were a highlight. My wife and I were historically tube folks, but our younger daughter loved the doubledeckers better than some of the destinations. They aren't as fast as a well timed tube, but the buses let you see the city. Popping from sight to sight on the tube can leave you with less of a feeling of being there.

 

And yes, the tube stations can be byzantine; they come at it honestly. In fact, reading about the tune can tell you a ton about the history of London. For example, if the plans of ~1968 actually happened, you'd see no cars in Piccadilly circus. They'd all be in tunnels under it. But that never got built .

 

For grands with teens. Walking is likely going to be too much from one site to the next to choose a hotel close to all. And the some tubes (subway) entrances require up to 2 flights of stairs. We had some issues with my Mom and stairs. What works really well is taking a city bus. Including double deckers. You can let your teens pop up to the top. Westminster Victoria and Waterloo and tower bridge area will have good bus access to many sites if the tube proves too taxing. You teens can easily look up schedules. Plus you get to see London vs traveling underground.

There is a brand new Marriott residence inn at london bridge.

nottong hill gate is a bit far and not central at all.

Only take tube or train from airport or to cruise if you can manage stairs and luggage on your own.

And yes, the tube stations can be byzantine; they come at it honestly. In fact, reading about the tune can tell you a ton about the history of London. For example, if the plans of ~1968 actually happened, you'd see no cars in Piccadilly circus. They'd all be in tunnels under it. But that never got built .

 

If you look at this 3d representation of what is already under Picadilly Circus, you will see why.

 

Haha - that was indeed the view I was thinking of. I used to recommend the London Transport Museum to everyone as a "don't miss". I still recommend it highly, but only as a "don't miss" for folks with kids. We found in 2016 that the ~2014 redo had perhaps inched it a little too far in the kids direction to be a "don't miss" unless you 1) had kids or 2) were transport/engineering geeks (like us).

 

For any transportation geeks, I recommend "The Moving Metropolis" prior to a visit to London: https://www.amazon.com/Moving-Metropolis-History-Londons-Transport/dp/3823854860

 

Oh and to add value to this thread; where you choose to stay can also be affected by how long you are there. When we're in London for only 2-3 nights, we prefer to be _very_ central (Mayfair or Kensington if possible) and will trade off other things for that (read "Money"). When we've been there for a week, we prefer to feel "part of London", and will stay a little further out but on an easy tube station. In that case, we got a self-catered apartment in Vauxhall and fed ourselves from the local markets and Tesco.

 

One recommendation with seniors who might be iffy on stairs; avoid peak time if you can (e.g. eat a leisurely breakfast). We found that it was much easier for our senior companions to have a fall in peak time because of the hustle, the distractions, and their constant concerns with not wanting to be "rude" and hold up commuters.

 

If you look at this 3d representation of what is already under Picadilly Circus, you will see why.

There is a brand new Marriott residence inn at london bridge.

As this specific hotel has been mentioned, I should say that (a) it's nowhere near London Bridge station (or London Bridge itself, for that matter), and (b) you will want to think carefully about how you get there by public transport if you're going to be doing it later in the evenings, including which walking routes you'd be comfortable with.

 

If you look at this 3d representation of what is already under Picadilly Circus, you will see why.

For more 3D drawings of Tube stations, this site is very useful: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2015/07/12/3d-maps-of-every-underground-station-ab/ (the drawings are spread across five pages).

RE. Residence Inn Marriott London Bridge--yes, agree, name is a misnomer--is this an unsafe area to be walking at night?

RE. Residence Inn Marriott London Bridge--yes, agree, name is a misnomer--is this an unsafe area to be walking at night?

Personally, I wouldn't want to walk through the middle of the Kipling Estate at night. A more obvious route would be to get out of the Tube at Borough station and walk along Long Lane, which has the advantage of being a busy road, even if the Tesco Express opposite Tennis Street can attract some anti-social behaviour. The other alternative from London Bridge station is to walk down Bermondsey Street; but I think that at the moment you can't walk through the Bermondsey Street tunnel between Tooley Street and St Thomas Street, and I don't like doing that anyway because it's noisy and the air is filthy. Another alternative is to take a bus along Tower Bridge Road and get off at the junction with Abbey Street.

We are going to be staying in the Notting Hill area and will be visiting the Tower of London on Friday. Since all of the advice says to get there early, I think that's going to mean traveling in peak time. What is our best option for getting there, bus tube or ?. About how early should we plan on starting out to be at TOL at opening? Should we leave really early and plan on finding somewhere for breakfast after we get there?

 

We will have been in London a couple of days before going to TOL.

 

Thanks

 

Sandi

Notting Hill to the Tower is going to be fastest by tube at that hour. So indeed that might be a time to brave it for peak time. Indeed, being at the Tower for opening can make a big difference, esp w.r.t. seeing the crown jewels. And while I am so often a contrarian on "classic tourist stuff", the crown jewels are simply incredible. Leave yourself extra time, so that _you_ aren't feeling rushed. If you are starting from the Notting Hill station, then you can take the tube to the ToL without a train change.

 

We are going to be staying in the Notting Hill area and will be visiting the Tower of London on Friday. Since all of the advice says to get there early, I think that's going to mean traveling in peak time. What is our best option for getting there, bus tube or ?. About how early should we plan on starting out to be at TOL at opening? Should we leave really early and plan on finding somewhere for breakfast after we get there?

 

We will have been in London a couple of days before going to TOL.

 

Thanks

 

Sandi

We are going to be staying in the Notting Hill area and will be visiting the Tower of London on Friday. Since all of the advice says to get there early, I think that's going to mean traveling in peak time. What is our best option for getting there, bus tube or ?

Start from Notting Hill Gate station, and take the anticlockwise (possibly marked southbound) Circle Line via Victoria to Tower Hill station. Reason: air-conditioned trains, and no need to change.

 

What sort of time do you think you'd want to arrive at the Tower, in an ideal world? I don't know what time it opens, and with the ability to pre-book tickets if you have a plan to do it on a specific day, there's probably no need to queue very much when you get there. If you're on the Tube after 9.00 am, you'll have missed most of the peak; if you start at 9.30 am, you'll have missed pretty much all of it.

 

I'm also not sure why you'd plan to get there early, and then get breakfast before actually going into the Tower (if that's what you meant). You'd probably have to get on the Tube before 7.30 am to have much chance of missing the peak on that side of it. Is that the sort of thing you had in mind?

Thank you for instructions. Would have worked great except they were doing some work. A king lady took us under her wing and hot us on the correct train. Beautiful weather, lovely time at the Tower.

 

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If you are ok with very small rooms check Tune hotel near Westminster Abbey. Really close to everything.

My advice is to try to have more than three nights in England before your cruise. We spent three nights in London and one in Southampton last summer before ours. The first day we were too tired from the flight to do much--although we did manage to check in to our hotel (in Kensington) then take a double-decker bus to Trafalgar Square and walk down to Westminster Abbey in time for evensong. Day two was going to Kensington Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Harrods. Day three was the National Gallery and Buckingham Palace, tea at Fortnum & Mason (not as good and way more expensive than it was 34 years ago), and a musical (Half a Sixpence).

 

 

 

We're going back this September. I haven't booked our flights yet, but I'm thinking of four or five nights in London and one in Southampton. Things we'd like to do this time include the Tate Modern, a boat ride to Hampton Court, the Churchill War Rooms, and British Museum, and maybe even a trip up to my old haunts in Hornsey.

 

 

 

The boat from Westminster Bridge to Hampton is great. You pass all the boat clubs from mansions to sheds and go through the locks. One of my favorite things to do.

 

 

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