Good transport from London to Harwich

[gottogocruisin]

Has anyone gotten a really good deal for transportation from London to Harwich? It seems to be really expensive unless you take the train. Any ideas other then Silver Fleet. There are two of us flying in to Heathow and needing to get to Harwich that day. We arrive real early 6:30 in the AM so we want to get to the ship early. Any ideas from anyone would be helpful. This is May 31st. Thanks.

[scottbee]

Has anyone gotten a really good deal for transportation from London to Harwich? It seems to be really expensive unless you take the train. Any ideas other then Silver Fleet. There are two of us flying in to Heathow and needing to get to Harwich that day. We arrive real early 6:30 in the AM so we want to get to the ship early. Any ideas from anyone would be helpful. This is May 31st. Thanks.

 

It's well over 100 miles. What did you expect?

 

Heathrow express to Paddington, cab across London, Train from Liverpool St Station to Harwich International.

[handfordr]

Has anyone gotten a really good deal for transportation from London to Harwich? It seems to be really expensive unless you take the train. Any ideas other then Silver Fleet. There are two of us flying in to Heathow and needing to get to Harwich that day. We arrive real early 6:30 in the AM so we want to get to the ship early. Any ideas from anyone would be helpful. This is May 31st. Thanks.

 

The underlying sentiment of your post is that the train is somehow a second rate option, perhaps thinking of road v rail experiences in the US.

Train has more room, you can walk round unlike a vehicle and luggage is only limited by your ability to carry it.

If you are coming in at 06:30 by vehicle you'll be going around London's infamous orbital motorway midweek where severe traffic congestion is routine at the height of the commute

 

The rail option using Heathrow Express every 15 minutes and hourly Harwich trains Heathrow - Paddington - Liverpool Street - Harwich Iiternational is under 3 hours so if your flight is at 6:30 a.m you'll get to Harwich just about the earliest time for check-in by train.

Current single fare is 45.70 GBP adult, fares go up Jan 2nd though.

 

You can save a few pounds by getting the London Underground from Heathrow to Liverpool Street currently 4 GBP then the train £26.20 to Harwich, still 3 hours or less for trip.

The train station at Harwich is immediately adjacent to the Cruise Terminal at Harwich. See image below

[uppitycats]

Has anyone gotten a really good deal for transportation from London to Harwich? It seems to be really expensive unless you take the train. Any ideas other then Silver Fleet. There are two of us flying in to Heathow and needing to get to Harwich that day. We arrive real early 6:30 in the AM so we want to get to the ship early. Any ideas from anyone would be helpful. This is May 31st. Thanks.

 

Transportation is pretty expensive. The train is a good option if you're entirely mobile and can manage your own luggage.

 

We hired a car from airport-connect.org Now, we haven't used the service yet, but were pleased with the very quick communication (by e-mail) and quick response to a series of questions we had. We were communicating with someone who signed off as "Jeff" who assured us that a driver would meet our plane, help with luggage, help with my manual wheelchair, and get us to our destination (in our case, Dover), quickly and efficiently. And they were somewhat less expensive than some other similar services we checked. So they might be an option to explore. They do transportation to any of the major ports, so I'm sure they'd go to Harwich.

 

Have a great cruise!

[gottogocruisin]

Appreciate the fast responses.

Scottbee if I knew what to expect I wouldn't waste my time or your time posting.

handfordr the train is not a second rate option at all, just perhaps not doable for us. Appreciate the info and picture.

uppitycats thanks for the web site. I will check into that too.

With all that said, we have considered the train and also Silver Fleet. We do know how far away Harwich is and just want to start off our cruise on a positive note. Again thanks.

[scottbee]

Appreciate the fast responses.

Scottbee if I knew what to expect I wouldn't waste my time or your time posting.

handfordr the train is not a second rate option at all, just perhaps not doable for us. Appreciate the info and picture.

uppitycats thanks for the web site. I will check into that too.

With all that said, we have considered the train and also Silver Fleet. We do know how far away Harwich is and just want to start off our cruise on a positive note. Again thanks.

 

Starting a thread that "it seems to be really expensive" is not the way to do this in these forums. People are willing to help, but expect the OPs to have put in some research first.

 

Had you;

 

• opened an atlas
  
• looked a map/map website
  
• done a search in this forum for people who have done the same thing
  

You might not have ended up where you're at now.

 

Given your constraints; arriving day of cruise; unable/unwilling to take trains; I would stick to the cruiseline transfer, that's mostly likely the easiest.

 

In closing, I'm guessing a transfer from JFK/New York to the docks in Philadelphia would also be expensive, a very similar distance to what you're trying to do in the UK.

[celle]

Has anyone gotten a really good deal for transportation from London to Harwich? It seems to be really expensive unless you take the train. Any ideas other then Silver Fleet. There are two of us flying in to Heathow and needing to get to Harwich that day. We arrive real early 6:30 in the AM so we want to get to the ship early. Any ideas from anyone would be helpful. This is May 31st. Thanks.

 

Arriving at Heathrow at 6.30 AM will not get you to the ship in Harwich early, no matter what transport choice you make.

 

1. Your plane may not arrive on time.

2. You should allow about 1.5 hours to get from your plane, through immigration, baggage collection and customs.

3. Heathrow is not London. It is west of London, and any route to Harwich from Heathrow will have to take you either through London or (if going by road) along motorways that have a reputation for being clogged and will be even more so with rush-hour traffic.

4. Harwich is some distance north-east of London.

 

There are several posts on this forum that list, price and explain options for getting from Heathrow to Harwich. If you search the forum, you may find much more information.

 

Basically, you have 3 options:

1. Public transport - Heathrow Express to Paddington (London) station, cross London by tube (subway) to Liverpool Street station, train from Liverpool Street to Harwich International station. The least expnsive option, but you need to be able to handle all your own luggage.

2. Private car/limo hire - like Silver Feet - expensive, but efficient. Not really that expensive when you consider the time, distance and convenience to you.

3. Cruise line transfer - you may have to hang around and wait for other travelers. Ido not know the cost.

[gottogocruisin]

Thanks celle that is exactly the information I was looking for. Appreciate the fact that you took time to respond. I most likely will stay with Silver Fleet even though the train is less expensive.

[celle]

Thanks celle that is exactly the information I was looking for. Appreciate the fact that you took time to respond. I most likely will stay with Silver Fleet even though the train is less expensive.

 

You're welcome! :)

 

That's the option I would choose, if I did not know the country.

 

We will be doing a cruise out or Harwich in July 2010, but we will be taking the train. We have family in the UK and will be staying with them for a couple of weeks pre-cruise.

 

The night before the cruise, we're going to stay in London and take in a show.

 

The day of the cruise, we will get to Liverpool Street station by tube and then take the train to Harwich. That works well for us, because we are used to nipping around London on the tube and we have used the trains frequently.

[scottbee]

The underlying sentiment of your post is that the train is somehow a second rate option.....

 

Way too far from the pier for my liking :D:D. Looks like it's about 'one cruise ship' in distance.

[gottogocruisin]

Celle nice to know you are going on a cruise like we are traveling on. I appreciate the fact that you will enjoy the train, but we are in our 70's and although very mobile it is not an option for us. We have good friends here in FL that are from London and they have actually been talking to us to. Would love to share our info once we cruise. Unfortunately Scottbee has a negative gene. I loved the picture of the train and the cruise terminal because it put it in perspective. Thanks.

[celle]

Celle nice to know you are going on a cruise like we are traveling on. I appreciate the fact that you will enjoy the train, but we are in our 70's and although very mobile it is not an option for us. We have good friends here in FL that are from London and they have actually been talking to us to. Would love to share our info once we cruise. Unfortunately Scottbee has a negative gene. I loved the picture of the train and the cruise terminal because it put it in perspective. Thanks.

 

Yes, the train is not for everyone and I would have made the same choice as you, in your circumstances. We are in our late 60s and still pretty mobile, and we will have minimal luggage (wil leave some with the UK-based adult kids). As well, we are familiar with the UK and train and tube travel.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise - we're looking forward to ours.

 

Before we get to the UK, we will be having a few days post-cruise (an earlier cruise, to South America) in Florida. That cruise ends in Fort Lauderdale.

[tally10]

We have always used Woodford Chauffeur Cars to get to the various ports from Heathrow/London/Gatwick. They are very reliable and a family owned business. Email them for a quote: cherylfinch4@aol.co.uk. We will use them this monday again to get from Heathrow to Southampton. If you post on your roll call, you may find someone to share the ride/cost as we have.

[tally10]

We have always used Woodford Chauffeur Cars to get to the various ports from Heathrow/London/Gatwick. They are very reliable and a family owned business. Email them for a quote: cherylfinch4@aol.co.uk. We will use them this monday again to get from Heathrow to Southampton. If you post on your roll call, you may find someone to share the ride/cost as we have.

[tally10]

Sorry for the double post.

[gottogocruisin]

tally10 we will check out the web site so thanks.

Celle your upcoming cruises look interesting. Hope you have a great time on all those cruises.

[gottogocruisin]

tally10 I tried the web site and it would not go through. I copied it as you had it in your post. What did I do wrong?

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

Not tally10 here - but it looks like what was posted is an e-mail address. Try www.woodfordchauffeurcars.co.uk

 

I am also researching transportation in the UK

[tally10]

tally10 I tried the web site and it would not go through. I copied it as you had it in your post. What did I do wrong?

 

Just use Cheryl Finch's direct email address for a quote and any questions you might have. We have used her for so long that I don't have the website's address handy. We just email Cheryl when we want their services again. By the way, they have cars, vans, buses, etc. and can transport large groups as well as the individuals who book. A lot of people on our April transatlantic decided to use them as well and were quite pleased by the email responses Cheryl received. We leave for our flight across the pond in a few hours.

[gottogocruisin]

Thanks again for the email info. I did realize that she was with Woodford Chauffeur's and put that in, but neglected to put in cars so thanks for posting that.

[agyoast]

handfordr,

 

You appear quite knowledgeable in the operation of the National Express East Anglia train #11 between London and Harwich. From their web page it appears that they provide no service between London and Harwich on Sundays. If we desire to spend the night in Dovercourt prior to the May 31, 2010 departure, will we have to fly into London on the 29th so as to be able to obtain train passage to Harwich and spend Saturday and Sunday night there?

I also read on other posts that the train company sets up special cruise trains to shuttle passengers to Harwich and back for the cruise. Do these trains run on Sundays or only on the day of the cruise departure? Thanks for any info!

[scottbee]

handfordr,

 

You appear quite knowledgeable in the operation of the National Express East Anglia train #11 between London and Harwich. From their web page it appears that they provide no service between London and Harwich on Sundays. If we desire to spend the night in Dovercourt prior to the May 31, 2010 departure, will we have to fly into London on the 29th so as to be able to obtain train passage to Harwich and spend Saturday and Sunday night there?

I also read on other posts that the train company sets up special cruise trains to shuttle passengers to Harwich and back for the cruise. Do these trains run on Sundays or only on the day of the cruise departure? Thanks for any info!

 

The rail schedules only go 4 months out, so it's really impossible to say, but National Express East Anglia do point out there is trackwork on Sundays on that route, and it's replaced with bus service.

http://www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com/train_times/train_service_alterations/liverpool_street_to_harwich_town_and_norwich__2

 

However, that is 6 months away, it's entirely possible this will all be done with by May

[gdayhoff]

We used Woodford Chauffer three times last July for our Baltic cruise.First class operation all the way and a pleasure to work during the planning.Very please with them.

[gottogocruisin]

Thanks gdayhoff we are still checking all sites so will definitely check that out.