transport from london to Southampton

[goalman]

What is the best transport from Heathrow to cruise port in Southampton and cost

[koalapanda]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php/t-1287767.html

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Our experience -

Smiths for Airports

Tel: 023 9283 1111

bookings@smithsforairports.com

 

Travelled -2012

$AU70 chauffer driven - comfortable, good value. No waiting, Driver will be waiting inside terminal to help with luggage.

Nice chill out ride through country after 20+ hours travelling.

Edited January 28, 2014 by koalapanda
interpretation

[insidecabin]

$AU70 sounds low more like £70-£80

 

Cheapest is likley to be National express but requires taxi/walk at southampton

 

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

[John Bull]

$AU70 sounds low more like £70-£80

 

Cheapest is likley to be National express but requires taxi/walk at southampton

 

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

 

Yep. £80+

 

And yep. Around £17 per person, plus a £5 to £8 taxi ride from coach station to ship.

NB - Ignore the "cruise terminal" option on the Nat Express website, that applies only to Fred Olsen Cruises.

 

The train is an unpopular option. Quite expensive at around £36 per person and includes a 20-30 minute shuttlebus from Heathrow to a main line station (usually Woking) where you switch to a direct train. No quicker than by coach.

But frequent service (2 or 3 per hour) & no need to pre-book, so it's a useful Plan B if other arrangements go belly-up.

 

JB :)

Edited January 28, 2014 by John Bull

[braxx20]

Can anyone help us on this? Looked at National Express from LHR to SH airport - no terminal in the city??

Fare was unbelievable at 125 Pounds per person

 

I thought there was rail service to SH city center. Is there another rail line or bus line?

 

Not Cruising til October but need to book Mileage Award travel while it is available.

 

Thanks for any help.

[Twickenham]

Can anyone help us on this? Looked at National Express from LHR to SH airport - no terminal in the city??

Fare was unbelievable at 125 Pounds per person

 

I thought there was rail service to SH city center. Is there another rail line or bus line?

 

Not Cruising til October but need to book Mileage Award travel while it is available.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

What exactly did you search for? I just ran a search on the National Express website, and got a fare of 20 pounds for next October, Heathrow to Southampton Coach Station.

[braxx20]

I guess I chose the wrong SH option.

 

How about taxis or busses?

Thanks

[John Bull]

I guess I chose the wrong SH option.

 

How about taxis or busses?

Thanks

 

SH airport?

According to the web, that's the code for Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

So a train journey from London Heathrow for £125 would be both a bargain - and a miracle :D

 

If you mean Southampton, the airport code is SOU, the rail code for Southampton central is SOU and the rail code for Southampton airport is SOA

 

For whatever reason the national rail website currently isn't showing all the options, so here's the website of the train operator:

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/

Your start point is Heathrow (your terminal) Bus.

Your destination is Southampton Central.

Trains call at Southampton Airport on the way through.

 

Fares from around £30.

There's no direct rail link from Heathrow to Southampton, the options include into London & out again, or a series of train changes, or a shuttlebus (included in the fare) to a mainline station (Reading or Woking) where you transfer to a direct train to Southampton.

That shuttlebus + direct train is the quickest & easiest, but journey time is something over two hours. About the same journey time as a National Express coach direct from Heathrow to Southampton, which at £18.30 is almost half the cost and oh-so-simple .

 

So most folk use the Nat Express coach, though I don't know if that ties in with your Mileage Award.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

Just like the rail shuttlebus, your start point is Heathrow bus station (a short & well-signed walk from T's 1-3) or the coach lane on the concourse outside T4 or T5.

Your destination is Southampton coach station. Don't select "cruise terminal", which only applies to Fred Olsen sailings.

Booking is pretty essential.

 

Southampton rail & coach stations are a short distance apart, each has a taxi rank, and all cruise terminals are a £5 to £8 taxi ride.

 

A taxi from the rank at Heathrow to Southampton would be horrendously expensive.

A pre-booked private transfer would be £80+ for a regular sedan.

Try http://www.smithsforairports.com or http://www.westquaycars.com

Both are based at the Southampton & regularly used by happy CC members.

 

JB :)