Some questions about southampton to london and some stops in between

[stiej]

My family and I are doing the 14 day Baltic Scandinavian cruise this June and are staying over 2 nights before returning back on the QM2. We wanted to see Stonehenge when we get back to southampton and then go to London and stay the next 2 nights. We will then have to return to Southampton to get on the QM2.

1.) Should we just take the cruise tour and transfer to Stonehenge and Heathrow and just take a cab to a hotel?

2.) What hotel would be good for a family of 4 (kids age 12 and 9)? We wanted to do like the hop on/hop off probably since we really will only have that one full day. We would like to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Eye, Tower of London.

3.) What would be the best way to get back to Southampton? Take the Cunard transfer? Or private transportation. We will have a fair amount of luggage since we have over 3 wks of travelling involved.

 

We have never been to Europe, so we are deer in the headlights with most of these things. Thank you for any input.

[John Bull]

For ship to central London:

A cruiseship tour/transfer by International Friends is your best bet. This is seat-on-bus with plenty of luggage capacity, from pier to central London hotel with the options of a morning transfer via Stonehenge, or an all-day transfer via Salisbury + Stonehenge + Windsor, or Stonehenge + Bath + Windsor.

See the bottom of this page http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_from_london_shared_bus.html

(lots of other good info about Southampton travel options & London sightseeing etc elsewhere on that London Toolkit site)

The service only started last summer, but is organised by an established & reputable tour operator & has been well-received.

The same system, but via Stonehenge only due to time constraints, is available in the opposite direction, central London hotel to ship.

 

Alternatively a private transfer can offer the same options. A direct transfer to a central London hotel will cost around £130 for the car with www.westquaycars.com or www.smithsforairports.com

Adding an hour at Stonehenge is likely to cost mebbe £40 more, but adding Bath or Windsor is likely to be considerably more. (on reflection, you'd need a larger car, costing a little more)

 

Public transport options are a short £5 to £7 taxi from ship to Southampton central rail station or National Express coach station, then:

Direct train to London's Waterloo station every 20 to 30 minutes, cost about £35 pp, journey time 90 minutes, no luggage restrictions that'd concern you, no pre-booking required - just buy at the station.

There is also an hourly option to London's Victoria station, but it takes a slow & laborious route, journeytime about 3 hrs.

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

Or

Direct coach to London's Victoria coach station, a service roughly every two hours, cost about £16 pp but often silly-cheap promo prices, journey time 2hrs+. Luggage limited to two x 44lb (or thereabouts) cases plus hand luggage per person, booking is essential, or you could be well fouled-up if the coach is fully booked.

http://coach.nationalexpress.com/

(ignore the "cruise terminal" option, it doesn't apply to your ship & will show "no service". Your pick-up is Southampton coach station)

http://www.greyhounduk.com/ offer an almost identical service/terms/prices. Their pick-up is Southampton Town Quay.

Because of luggage, you'll need a london taxi for the last hop of your journey, to your hotel. They're quite expensive. So your public transport choice mightdepend tosome extent on the location of your hotel.

 

The ship-sponsored transfer via Stonehenge to Heathrow is of no use to you. Heathrow is 16 congested urban miles from central London, a pre-booked car will be £40+, a London taxi from the rank almost double that.

Most ships offer a transfer coach from ship direct to central London, but I rate this expensive & not particularly convenient.

 

For central London to Southampton, broadly the same options.

But by train you can pre-book for as little as £4 pp with http://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspxon the route from Waterloo station.

You travel on the regular trains, but limited to a choice of a few trains per day, must be pre-booked, no amendments or cancellation.

Didn't mention it earlier, because the megatrain option is not available mornings in the Southampton to Waterloo direction.

 

A hotel in the Westminster/City Hall/Victoria/Buckingham Palace area is convenient to those travel options. Try to book one that's handy to a tube station & a ho-ho route.

 

JB :)

[John Bull]

ooops, typo.

Megatrain is http://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx

 

JB :rolleyes::)

[stiej]

Thank you for the advice! Any hotel recommendations off the top of your head for a family of 4?

[John Bull]

Thank you for the advice! Any hotel recommendations off the top of your head for a family of 4?

 

There's thousands of hotels in London, you'll need to look for those with family rooms.

One such is Premier Inn County Hall. Premier Inns is a well-respected affordable chain, you can't go too far wrong with any of their properties. Their County Hall hotel is brilliantly situated, right by the River, the London Eye, Westminster Bridge, & a short walk across Westminster Bridge to Big Ben/Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, Churchill War Rooms, etc.

Ho-ho bus stop nearby for

http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/london/

and

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

And a 5 to 10 min walk to Waterloo tube station & its train station for Southampton. Or over the bridge to Westminster tube station. http://www.tubemap.com/

2 to 3 miles from Victoria coach & train stations (no direct tube route, with luggage best done by taxi)

 

Never stayed there, but well-received on CC & Trip-Advisor.

If not this hotel, then another between it & Victoria (Buckingham Palace) would be well-placed. www.booking.com is great for placing hotels on a map - type in Premier Inn County Hall, when it opens click on the map. The smaller older hotels tend to be at the Victoria end, and many are not listed on booking.com.

No doubt you'll get suggestions from others.

Also try searching this Britain forum using the keywords "London hotel", or perhaps by posting another question specifically about London hotels ( it's not mentioned in the title of this thread)

 

JB :)

[stiej]

Thank you! I scanned the forums and looked at a couple of recommended properties and several are already booked for our dates (all the way out in June) or cannot accommodate 4. I will check into the Premier chain.

[KirkNC]

We did what you are trying but a little different. We arrived a day early and rented a car, drove to Bath, spent the night. The next morning we drove to both Stonehenge and the Sailsbury Cathederal. We left the rental car at the Southampton airport and then took a taxi to the ship.

[stiej]

just tried booking two nights with premier and it wont take any of my credit cards?? Is there a difference in entering card numbers US vs UK? They dont have anything on their site about it and contacting them is difficult. I shot them a customer service email, but I wanted to see if anyone here knew why it might not take.

[phabric]

just tried booking two nights with premier and it wont take any of my credit cards?? Is there a difference in entering card numbers US vs UK? They dont have anything on their site about it and contacting them is difficult. I shot them a customer service email, but I wanted to see if anyone here knew why it might not take.

 

You might want to contact your credit card company and tell them you are trying to book in the UK. Sometimes, credit card company think it is fraud or stolen cards if your card number shows up outside the country. I have had my card frozen when I have used it in the States from Canada without informing them.

 

Always inform the credit card company before leaving the country with your dates and countries visiting.

[loma linda ca a & j]

just tried booking two nights with premier and it wont take any of my credit cards?? Is there a difference in entering card numbers US vs UK? They dont have anything on their site about it and contacting them is difficult. I shot them a customer service email, but I wanted to see if anyone here knew why it might not take.

 

i tried a couple of days ago w/ 3 diff cards - it must be their website:eek:

[John Bull]

You might want to contact your credit card company and tell them you are trying to book in the UK. Sometimes, credit card company think it is fraud or stolen cards if your card number shows up outside the country. I have had my card frozen when I have used it in the States from Canada without informing them.

 

Always inform the credit card company before leaving the country with your dates and countries visiting.

 

I've heard of this happening quite often - even for just a few pounds for tickets on the Nat Express bus.

So yes, phoning your card company will most likely resolve the problem

 

JB :).

[Richard12345]

The Greyhound bus service mentioned above no longer operates between southampton and london. They phased it out a couple of months back.

 

Megatrains are great and cheap but you have NO flexibility. The earliest megatrain available from Southampton to London arrives in London at 14:34 - which is rather late for a day of sightseeing.

 

My advice would be to either go with the tour bus option or just pay full whack for the train tickets. There is not a great deal of space for big luggage on a SouthWestTrain (the service you'll be using between Southampton and London). If the train is busy, it may be a nuisance having to lug stuff around.

 

I echo the sentiments about hotels. There will be endless places to stay. The landmarks you mentioned and wish to visit are all extremely central but you needn't feel like you have to stay centrally as tube travel is easy.

 

I don't intend to check back on this post as I came across your post by accident - but here's my thoughts! Hopefully the others can help you further.

 

 

 

Good luck with your journey.

[John Bull]

The Greyhound bus service mentioned above no longer operates between southampton and london. They phased it out a couple of months back.

 

Megatrains are great and cheap but you have NO flexibility. The earliest megatrain available from Southampton to London arrives in London at 14:34 - which is rather late for a day of sightseeing.

 

My advice would be to either go with the tour bus option or just pay full whack for the train tickets. There is not a great deal of space for big luggage on a SouthWestTrain (the service you'll be using between Southampton and London). If the train is busy, it may be a nuisance having to lug stuff around.

 

I echo the sentiments about hotels. There will be endless places to stay. The landmarks you mentioned and wish to visit are all extremely central but you needn't feel like you have to stay centrally as tube travel is easy.

 

I don't intend to check back on this post as I came across your post by accident - but here's my thoughts! Hopefully the others can help you further.

 

 

 

Good luck with your journey.

 

Thanx for the update on the Greyhound service, Richard.

"And another one bites the dust".

 

Yep, as my post no megatrain tix for mornings Southampton - Waterloo (it's peak time & direction).

But great for Waterloo to Southampton all day. Worth buying even if you're none-too-sure you'll make the specified train - risking about £4 to save about £36

 

JB :)

[mauimary]

We were also looking for two rooms at one of the recommended hotels near Buckingham Palace for June. We were unable to book the second room after getting the first. We ended up getting one room directly through the hotel website and the other one from the booking.com website.

[ANGELS56]

JB What is the easiest and less expensive way to get from Heathrow to Waterloo? After reading all of your great points I think it would be cheeper to take the megatrain to SH and stay overnight (before the cruise) instead of staying in a Heathrow hotel (rewards pts) and take Princess bus or private transfer to SH. Thank you for all the va

luable information you provide everyone on this site. Very much appreciated.

[tecunuman]

Take the underground. By far the best way to get to waterloo from heathrow.

[John Bull]

JB What is the easiest and less expensive way to get from Heathrow to Waterloo? After reading all of your great points I think it would be cheeper to take the megatrain to SH and stay overnight (before the cruise) instead of staying in a Heathrow hotel (rewards pts) and take Princess bus or private transfer to SH. Thank you for all the va

luable information you provide everyone on this site. Very much appreciated.

 

Various options LHR to Waterloo.

Tube is cheapest at around £6pp but involves one change, at Green Park or Piccadilly or Leicester Square - with luggage you need a Londoner to advise which is easiest. Or more accurately, which is least-difficult.

Or Nat Express bus to Victoria coach station, then 2 - 3 mile taxi ride to Waterloo. Bus about £6 each, taxi mebbe £10.

Or pre-booked private transfer LHR to Waterloo, about £45 the car.

Heathrow Express isn't ideal for this journey.

 

But for LHR to Southampton, going via Waterloo or anywhere else in central London doesn't make sense, unless you want to spend the day seeing the city's sights.

 

You'll be going 16 miles to central London, then returning broadly the same way on your way to Southampton. In fact, the National Express coach from central London's Victoria coach station to Southampton picks up at LHR on its way through.:rolleyes:

Much more sensible to take the Nat Express coach direct from LHR to Southampton, journey time about 2 hours, cost about £17 pp.

Or the train from LHR to Southampton for about £37 pp (no Megatrain tix on this route), This involves a dedicated RailAir shuttlebus from LHR to a mainline station, usually Woking, & direct train from there to Southampton. That'll be a train which started at Waterloo, and there may be folk on that train who only paid £4. But hey, that's life.

From LHR the savings by pre-booking Megatrain & travelling to Waterloo really aren't worth the grief. In fact, the Nat Express coach direct from LHR is almost as cheap.

 

Plenty of Southampton hotels near the train & coach stations, city centre & cruise terminals.

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_map.htm

And enough in the city to amuse you for a few hours

http://www.visit-southampton.co.uk/

 

JB :)

[Cotswold Eagle]

Various options LHR to Waterloo.

Tube is cheapest at around £6pp but involves one change, at Green Park or Piccadilly or Leicester Square - with luggage you need a Londoner to advise which is easiest. Or more accurately, which is least-difficult.

Or Nat Express bus to Victoria coach station, then 2 - 3 mile taxi ride to Waterloo. Bus about £6 each, taxi mebbe £10.

Or pre-booked private transfer LHR to Waterloo, about £45 the car.

Heathrow Express isn't ideal for this journey.

 

Heathrow Express isn't a bad option - 15 minute direct tube from Paddington to Waterloo on the Bakerloo, escalators both ends. Significantly more expensive than the tube only option, of course.

 

But I agree, it seems moot in this instance, central London need not be part of it.

[Globaliser]

Tube is cheapest at around £6pp but involves one change, at Green Park or Piccadilly or Leicester Square - with luggage you need a Londoner to advise which is easiest. Or more accurately, which is least-difficult.

I'd recommend two options.

 

Option A

1. Piccadilly Line from Heathrow to Green Park.
   
2. Lift (elevator) up.
   
3. Walk along connecting passage.
   
4. Lift down.
   
5. Jubilee Line to Waterloo.
   

Option B

1. Piccadilly Line from Heathrow to Barons Court.
   
2. Cross-platform change to District Line (about 10 feet to walk).
   
3. District Line to Westminster.
   
4. Lift up.
   
5. Cross hall.
   
6. Lift down.
   
7. Cross hall.
   
8. Another lift down to Jubilee Line.
   
9. Jubilee Line to Waterloo.
   

The advantage of taking the Jubilee Line to Waterloo is that there is step-free exit to street level via lifts. I think that using the Northern or Bakerloo Line to Waterloo results in having to use stairs and/or escalators.

 

Personally, I would use option B, because I've had too many bad experiences with the lifts not working at Green Park. But if you do Green Park and the lifts are out, the thing to do is:-

1. Follow Way Out signs up the escalator to the booking hall level.
   
2. Do NOT go through the ticket barriers.
   
3. Instead, find the signs for the Jubilee Line and take the escalators down to that.
   

But for LHR to Southampton, going via Waterloo or anywhere else in central London doesn't make sense, unless you want to spend the day seeing the city's sights.

I agree with this, but I would also say this: Spending 24 hours cooped up in an airport hotel, just for reasons to do with how to transfer to Southampton, makes no sense either.

[John Bull]

Spending 24 hours cooped up in an airport hotel, just for reasons to do with how to transfer to Southampton, makes no sense either.

 

 

Hi G,

No, I think you've got your wires crossed.;)

I believe the OP's intention is to travel to a Southampton hotel on the day of arrival, not to overnite at LHR :eek:.

 

But was considering going via Waterloo, due to cheap Megatrain tickets. Which, if done by tube & things worked out could save about £8 per person compared to Nat Express LHR to Southampton. A lot of time & grief for a paltry saving.

 

JB :)

ps just learned, Saints' manager Nigel Adkins has been sacked. :mad: After two back-to-back promotions & just 2 premiership defeats in the last 12 games including a draw at Chelsea on Wednesday. Unbelievable.

[Globaliser]

Hi G,

No, I think you've got your wires crossed.;)

I believe the OP's intention is to travel to a Southampton hotel on the day of arrival, not to overnite at LHR :eek:.

I hope I haven't misread the post.

 

We were both giving advice about how to get to Southampton on the day of arrival.

 

But the alternative plan that was being contemplated by the poster was:-

... I think it would be cheeper to take the megatrain to SH and stay overnight (before the cruise) instead of staying in a Heathrow hotel (rewards pts) and take Princess bus or private transfer to SH.

And it's that alternative which I think makes no sense when the poster has just arrived at one of the greatest cities on earth. Going straight to Southampton on the day of arrival has more merit, although obviously my first recommendation would be to stay in central London overnight and take the train to Southampton on the day of the cruise.

[stiej]

We ended up booking the Premier Inn County Hall through Booking.com. The kids are excited about being able to walk out to the London Eye and walk to so many close attractions. We only have a day and a half, so we are going to try to get as much out of London as we can! Thank you for the recommendations.

[stingraylagoon]

I would recommend Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum. It's in Kensington, near Glouster Road tube stop. Easy walk to Victoria and Albert Museum and Natural History Museum. Restaurants, grocery store and shopping nearby. Taxis always available. The hotel will have info about HOHO buses.

[Mickie]

i tried a couple of days ago w/ 3 diff cards - it must be their website:eek:

 

Just noticed your postings re making reservations on Premier Inn website (or other booking sites for that chain).

 

I had the same issue using my Capital One credit card and even checked with credit card company - issue was not my credit card - but with the hotel chain's computer system and US credit cards.

 

Eventually someone on Trip Advisor (do a search) gave me the email of someone in their "Social Media" department, who was wonderful and helped me get the credit card to work.

 

I think the email was--(and I don't know if Cruise Critic will allow this - something like "welisten@premierinn.com"

[loma linda ca a & j]

Just noticed your postings re making reservations on Premier Inn website (or other booking sites for that chain).

 

I had the same issue using my Capital One credit card and even checked with credit card company - issue was not my credit card - but with the hotel chain's computer system and US credit cards.

 

Eventually someone on Trip Advisor (do a search) gave me the email of someone in their "Social Media" department, who was wonderful and helped me get the credit card to work.

 

I think the email was--(and I don't know if Cruise Critic will allow this - something like "welisten@premierinn.com"

 

thanks for getting back to me - it ends up we are not going to chester after all -

going to cotswolds instead

had previously booked premier inn in southampton with no problem

but will keep that email for future needs !!