bug42362 Posted December 19, 2019 #1 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Hi! We are arriving in London on Tuesday May 12th our cruise leaves on May 15th out of Southampton . Just wondering if it would be better to spend all 3 nights in London and take the train from Waterloo on Friday morning or if it would be better to take a late train on the 14th to Southampton and spend the night there? My daughter has never been to London so she is looking forward to seeing as much as she can. Hotel suggestions would be welcome. Thanks. Renee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bull Posted December 19, 2019 #2 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Travelling from London to Southampton on cruise morning is perfectly normal. But as a country boy I do like to remind folk that London may be in England, but England isn't just London. I get the impression that you've been to London before, so have a pretty good idea of what you can achieve in the time. If you're happy that you'll have the time to spare, yes get out of the Big Bad City for that last night. Apart from anything else you'll save a good few bucks with a Southampton hotel for one night, a sensibly priced dinner with no add-on charges, and the confidence of being near the ship that night. Southampton's not a tourist city but it has more than enough handy historic sights like the Tudor Merchant's House, & museums like SeaCity which majors on Titanic and Solent Sky aviation museum which majors on the Southampton designed & built Spitfires and flying boats which used Southampton Water https://visitsouthampton.co.uk/southampton-city-history All of the hotels on this page https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm are only a short taxi hop from the station or to any cruise terminal, some are walkable to both. If your ship isn't yet listed on the port schedule http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/ we can hazard an educated guess which terminal - it might affect your hotel choice. If you do travel down on Thursday 14th bear in mind that kitchens in pubs & restaurants in Southampton stop taking orders around 8.30 to 9pm. But if you choose to stay in London I won't be offended JB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob++ Posted December 19, 2019 #3 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Stay in London. The train from Waterloo takes around 70 minutes, the fast train from Victoria takes a few minutes longer or the coach from Victoria takes around 2½ hours and all three services are fairly frequent and reliable. Ninja'd by JB but he is always banging the drum for his home town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bull Posted December 19, 2019 #4 Share Posted December 19, 2019 16 minutes ago, Bob++ said: Ninja'd by JB but he is always banging the drum for his home town. Nah, Bob. Not just for my home town, but for everywhere in England beyond the Big Bad City. Kinda like France is so much nicer than Paris, Scotland is so much nicer than Glasgow and America is so much nicer than NYC JB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob++ Posted December 20, 2019 #5 Share Posted December 20, 2019 No dispute there from me, but if they only have two or three days, and it's their first time, I guess London is the place to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted December 20, 2019 #6 Share Posted December 20, 2019 5 hours ago, Bob++ said: No dispute there from me, but if they only have two or three days, and it's their first time, I guess London is the place to go. London certainly is the place to go and go back to many many times.. In addition experienced travelers avoid one night stays as much as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbee Posted December 20, 2019 #7 Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) 16 hours ago, Bob++ said: Stay in London. The train from Waterloo takes around 70 minutes, the fast train from Victoria takes a few minutes longer or the coach from Victoria takes around 2½ hours and all three services are fairly frequent and reliable. Ninja'd by JB but he is always banging the drum for his home town. Fast Train from Victoria? No such thing. The [direct] train from London Victoria takes 2h29m. You could take a train from London Victoria to Clapham and join the faster train from Waterloo, but that will never be discounted as it's on two different operating companies; and you would have been better off just starting from Waterloo in the 1st place Take the train from London Waterloo, book about 8-9 weeks in advance; and you should see lots of trains around 9 pounds/ea. However, the one advantage in going to Southampton the night before (and don't leave London until well after 6 to avoid rush hour), would be hotel rooms will be cheaper in Southampton. Edited December 20, 2019 by scottbee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bug42362 Posted December 20, 2019 Author #8 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Do either of you know a way to search for hotels near tube stations so that we could easily go from the airport to hotel and then later make our way to Waterloo station to get to Southampton? Thank you for your suggestions. Also y’all said to buy tickets 8-9 weeks before for the trip to Southampton can you tell me the website? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newport dave Posted December 21, 2019 #9 Share Posted December 21, 2019 8 hours ago, bug42362 said: Do either of you know a way to search for hotels near tube stations so that we could easily go from the airport to hotel and then later make our way to Waterloo station to get to Southampton? Thank you for your suggestions. Also y’all said to buy tickets 8-9 weeks before for the trip to Southampton can you tell me the website? For train tickets use www.nationalrail.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted December 21, 2019 #10 Share Posted December 21, 2019 (edited) 8 hours ago, bug42362 said: Do either of you know a way to search for hotels near tube stations so that we could easily go from the airport to hotel and then later make our way to Waterloo station to get to Southampton? Thank you for your suggestions. Also y’all said to buy tickets 8-9 weeks before for the trip to Southampton can you tell me the website? Not sure I’m understanding your first question correctly, but an obvious way to look for hotels near a tube station would be to use one of the major online booking sites and use their map view. Or just ask here! To book your rail ticket, I’d suggest using the South Western Railway website (they are the company operating this service) - the National Rail site is good for checking options generally, but will redirect you to book in any case. I don’t recognise 8-9 weeks as a sweet spot for booking. Advance tickets (the cheapest, only valid for a specific train time) usually go on sale 12 weeks in advance. You can check here to see the exact current farthest out date you can book them on all train companies. Edited December 21, 2019 by Cotswold Eagle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bull Posted December 21, 2019 #11 Share Posted December 21, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said: Not sure I’m understanding your first question correctly, but an obvious way to look for hotels near a tube station would be to use one of the major online booking sites and use their map view. Or just ask here! To book your rail ticket, I’d suggest using the South Western Railway website (they are the company operating this service) - the National Rail site is good for checking options generally, but will redirect you to book in any case. For example go to https://www.booking.com/index.en-gb. Type in an area in central London, for instance Waterloo or Paddington or Victoria, add you dates, and hit "search" That brings up a list of hotels. Click on any hotel to bring up its details. Near the top of that page click on "show map". Zoom in - it will show the location of that hotel and other hotels in the area with the costs and review score. It will also show nearby tube stations - the logo is a red circle with a blue bar across it It will also show train stations - that logo is pair of opposing red arrows. Clicking on any hotel on that map will bring up its full details. You can move that map around, and it will show hotels etc in other parts of London. Again, zoom in to show all the hotel options Simplest and cheapest for your purposes on a short visit (1 or 2 nights) would be a hotel near Paddington station. Buy tickets for the Heathrow Express train - it's by far the quickest and simplest way to get from LHR to Paddington. But buy those tickets literally months in advance - at a quarter of the walk-up fare!! There's a direct tube line (Bakerloo line - dark brown on the tube map) from Paddington to Waterloo. No fun with luggage but importantly it involves no changes. There are more-convenient locations, worth considering for more than a couple of nights but more expensive. For instance around Green Park or Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square have direct tube lines from LHR and to Waterloo. Waterloo itself is a convenient location for the sights, but the best way from LHR is probably - tube to Green Park then hail a taxi - or tube to Barons Court, very simple change onto the District line to Westminster then walk over Westminster Bridge or hail a taxi. Victoria is popular with tourists - National Express bus from LHR. Then a couple of (slower) train options from Victoria to Southampton, or taxi to Waterloo for the faster trains. Or direct National Express buses from Victoria to Southampton You're never far from a tube station in central London, and its by far the quickest way to get around the city. But it's no fun with luggage so with luggage I'd advise only direct (no changes) journeys by tube. For trains I find the National Rail website easier to use and it includes options on all rail franchises, like Southern, South-western, etc. Train times, fares and discounts are the same as on franchisee's websites.. Tube map http://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf Heathrow Express https://www.heathrowexpress.com/#/ National Express buses https://www.nationalexpress.com/en Trains https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ JB Edited December 21, 2019 by John Bull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbee Posted December 21, 2019 #12 Share Posted December 21, 2019 10 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said: Not sure I’m understanding your first question correctly, but an obvious way to look for hotels near a tube station would be to use one of the major online booking sites and use their map view. Or just ask here! To book your rail ticket, I’d suggest using the South Western Railway website (they are the company operating this service) - the National Rail site is good for checking options generally, but will redirect you to book in any case. I don’t recognise 8-9 weeks as a sweet spot for booking. Advance tickets (the cheapest, only valid for a specific train time) usually go on sale 12 weeks in advance. You can check here to see the exact current farthest out date you can book them on all train companies. On Southwest it's certainly been that way for me. While tickets are released at 12 weeks, inexpensive tickets aren't often released until 8-10 weeks. The full fare is in the region of £46, whereas the cheapest tickets are £9. My point is more of a 'don't just book at 12 weeks exactly assuming that will be the cheapest'. Also generally the £9 tickets are only good for the slightly slower train (by 15 mins), which might add 15 mins to the journey A quick look for Saturday departures into the future (as of today), shows that while you can get a £9 ticket on Feb 22 (10 weeks) Feb 29 or Mar 6 (11-12 weeks) return only £46 tickets. So I'll stand by my 8-10 week statement. Also, while the train from London Victoria is a lot slower (by an hour), if you're staying right near Victoria station, not having to get to Waterloo could make up for that. So don't 100% assuming from Waterloo is the best. Pick your hotel, pick how you'll get around London, and make your decisions from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbee Posted December 21, 2019 #13 Share Posted December 21, 2019 7 hours ago, John Bull said: For example go to https://www.booking.com/index.en-gb. Type in an area in central London, for instance Waterloo or Paddington or Victoria, add you dates, and hit "search" That brings up a list of hotels. Click on any hotel to bring up its details. Near the top of that page click on "show map". Zoom in - it will show the location of that hotel and other hotels in the area with the costs and review score. It will also show nearby tube stations - the logo is a red circle with a blue bar across it It will also show train stations - that logo is pair of opposing red arrows. Clicking on any hotel on that map will bring up its full details. You can move that map around, and it will show hotels etc in other parts of London. Again, zoom in to show all the hotel options Simplest and cheapest for your purposes on a short visit (1 or 2 nights) would be a hotel near Paddington station. Buy tickets for the Heathrow Express train - it's by far the quickest and simplest way to get from LHR to Paddington. But buy those tickets literally months in advance - at a quarter of the walk-up fare!! There's a direct tube line (Bakerloo line - dark brown on the tube map) from Paddington to Waterloo. No fun with luggage but importantly it involves no changes. There are more-convenient locations, worth considering for more than a couple of nights but more expensive. For instance around Green Park or Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square have direct tube lines from LHR and to Waterloo. Waterloo itself is a convenient location for the sights, but the best way from LHR is probably - tube to Green Park then hail a taxi - or tube to Barons Court, very simple change onto the District line to Westminster then walk over Westminster Bridge or hail a taxi. Victoria is popular with tourists - National Express bus from LHR. Then a couple of (slower) train options from Victoria to Southampton, or taxi to Waterloo for the faster trains. Or direct National Express buses from Victoria to Southampton You're never far from a tube station in central London, and its by far the quickest way to get around the city. But it's no fun with luggage so with luggage I'd advise only direct (no changes) journeys by tube. For trains I find the National Rail website easier to use and it includes options on all rail franchises, like Southern, South-western, etc. Train times, fares and discounts are the same as on franchisee's websites.. Tube map http://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf Heathrow Express https://www.heathrowexpress.com/#/ National Express buses https://www.nationalexpress.com/en Trains https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ JB Not sure I would bother with Heathrow Express. For less money the TFL Rail service #purpletrain #elizabethline from Heathrow to Paddington is nearly as fast but half the price, plus the ticket (as a zone 1 TFL ticket) will allow you to transfer onto the tube to any Zone 1 tube station. All of this assumes of course you're coming from London's Heathrow airport. Generally the inexpensive tickets on carriers like Norwegian go into Gatwick airport, and that changes the train situation completely. From Gatwick, take the Thameslink train (not the Gatwick express) to Blackfriars, right in the heart of London. We did this, and stayed at the Mad Hatter on our last trip, which was excellent. It's a little walking to/fro, but I'm mid-50s, and really no big deal; as we're talkabout about perhaps walking 2 cruise ships in distance. The Mad Hatter is a 10-15 minute walk from Waterloo (trains to Southampton), a 5 minute walk to Blackfriars Stn (Gatwick Airport). If you wanted to get to Heathrow, it would be a 10 minute walk (far side of station) to Blackfriars Tube Station, then district to Barons Court and Picadilly out to Heathrow. But again, pick your hotel, and as long as it's in central London, there will be options. Again, it all depends on your hotel location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bug42362 Posted December 21, 2019 Author #14 Share Posted December 21, 2019 Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted December 22, 2019 #15 Share Posted December 22, 2019 (edited) 12 hours ago, scottbee said: A quick look for Saturday departures into the future (as of today), shows that while you can get a £9 ticket on Feb 22 (10 weeks) Feb 29 or Mar 6 (11-12 weeks) return only £46 tickets. So I'll stand by my 8-10 week statement. Exactly as shown on the link I shared. Weekend Advance fares are being released later than weekdays by South Western at the moment, which is probably linked to engineering works scheduling. And it it might be churlish of me to point out you said 8-9 weeks in your original post 🤣 But, yes, a good strategy if Advance fares are not showing at 12 weeks is to wait to see if they show a little later, because non-Advance fares are not going to go up. Or check the link I shared to see if they have been released! Edited December 22, 2019 by Cotswold Eagle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted December 22, 2019 #16 Share Posted December 22, 2019 20 hours ago, scottbee said: Not sure I would bother with Heathrow Express. For less money the TFL Rail service #purpletrain #elizabethline from Heathrow to Paddington is nearly as fast but half the price, plus the ticket (as a zone 1 TFL ticket) will allow you to transfer onto the tube to any Zone 1 tube station. - JB suggested buying HEX tickets well in advance, when tickets can be bought for around half the price of the TfL stopping service. The inclusion of the TfL fare in the daily cap can save money, though, depending on onward travel. - your use of hashtags suggests the TfL Heathrow line is using the new trains (it isn’t) and that it’s part of the Elizabeth line (it’s not yet open and won’t be until 2021) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbee Posted December 22, 2019 #17 Share Posted December 22, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said: - JB suggested buying HEX tickets well in advance, when tickets can be bought for around half the price of the TfL stopping service. The inclusion of the TfL fare in the daily cap can save money, though, depending on onward travel. - your use of hashtags suggests the TfL Heathrow line is using the new trains (it isn’t) and that it’s part of the Elizabeth line (it’s not yet open and won’t be until 2021) TFL Rail #purpletrain is £10.20 (anytime fare). HEX varies but cheap discount tickets are generally around £10, so not a big difference; but you need to buy 2-3 months out. #purpletrain - Definitely Purple, right down to a purple moquette. TFL to Heathrow (the old connect) is called "TFL Rail" in prep for it being Elizabeth Line, taking over the old Connect service May of 2018. TFL have also recently (a week ago?) taken over the Paddington to Reading stopping service too (also on new trains). For an example of TFL Rail to Paddington from Heathrow, Jeff sums it up nicely in this video: And the press release for the new service to Reading is here. https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2019/september/tfl-rail-to-operate-services-to-reading-from-15-december Edited December 22, 2019 by scottbee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caripoo Posted December 23, 2019 #18 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Stay in London......Even IF you have train interruptions, you can get a driver, cab....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted December 24, 2019 #19 Share Posted December 24, 2019 (edited) On 12/22/2019 at 8:56 PM, scottbee said: TFL Rail #purpletrain is £10.20 (anytime fare). HEX varies but cheap discount tickets are generally around £10, so not a big difference; but you need to buy 2-3 months out. #purpletrain - Definitely Purple, right down to a purple moquette. TFL to Heathrow (the old connect) is called "TFL Rail" in prep for it being Elizabeth Line, taking over the old Connect service May of 2018. TFL have also recently (a week ago?) taken over the Paddington to Reading stopping service too (also on new trains). For an example of TFL Rail to Paddington from Heathrow, Jeff sums it up nicely in this video: And the press release for the new service to Reading is here. https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2019/september/tfl-rail-to-operate-services-to-reading-from-15-december There’s a phrase about stopping digging.... Cheapest HEX tickets are £5-50 - the 90 day Advance. I am not disputing that the TfL purple trains exist. I am stating as a fact that they are not yet running to Heathrow. And it is a fact that the Elizabeth line will not open until 2021, so a video from when it was still expected to open in December 2018 needs to be watched in that context. I have no idea what the new Reading service has to do with options for getting to Heathrow. Nor why you insist on misleading people. I’m done with this thread 🤣 Edited December 24, 2019 by Cotswold Eagle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbee Posted December 24, 2019 #20 Share Posted December 24, 2019 8 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said: I am not disputing that the TfL purple trains exist. I am stating as a fact that they are not yet running to Heathrow. And it is a fact that the Elizabeth line will not open until 2021, so a video from when it was still expected to open in December 2018 needs to be watched in that context. I have no idea what the new Reading service has to do with options for getting to Heathrow. Nor why you insist on misleading people. I’m done with this thread 🤣 Given it's a "fact", can you answer Why there are plenty of videos on You Tube showing TFL Rail (#purpletrain) running from Heathrow to Paddington (having taken over the old Heathrow connect one year ago); or Why it shows on the latest TFL map as a purple service (see above) from Paddington to Heathrow; or Why you can download a schedule off the TFL website; http://content.tfl.gov.uk/tfl-rail-paddington-heathrow-reading-timetable-15-dec-2019-to-16-may-2020.pdf.pdf; etc etc While the 'crossrail' line isn't open between paddington and liverpool street in central london, and until the full line is open they won't brand it "Elizabeth Line"; the extremities of what will be the Elizabeth Line are already operating on the eastern and western ends (including heathrow), and are definitely 100% Purple trains.... As for cheap HEX tickets, sure they exist, but the convenience of the walkup for the TFL Rail (#purpletrain) service from Heathrow to Paddington (with including ongoing connections to anywhere in zone 1), makes it the better option in my opinion. Heck, I don't even have to buy a ticket, I have contactless on my credit card, and can just tap-in tap-out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shofer Posted December 25, 2019 #21 Share Posted December 25, 2019 We were in London prior to a TA cruise last year. Stayed in Victoria and took the National Express bus from Heathrow to Victoria Coach Station and walked the 0.3 mile to our hotel. Reversed it 2 days later and took the direct bus to Southampton. Two hours, 10 minutes and it was great! And it was only 5 GBP/each. Thanks to John Bull for the recommendation. Our kids wanted to purchase a private car to take us from LHR to hotel but we talked them out of it. Aside from the long walk in the airport to the bus station, it was so easy. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare geoherb Posted December 26, 2019 #22 Share Posted December 26, 2019 This fall, we had just two nights in England before our cruise. I chose to stay in London. We got to see two shows plus had a lovely morning at Kew Gardens and an afternoon at Covent Garden. My preference is always to have more time, but we couldn't leave until celebrating my mother-in-law's birthday. We took the National Express coach the morning of our cruise and had plenty of time. The two previous years, we spent one night in Southampton. The first time, we arrived early enough to visit the Tudor House and SeaCity Museum. Both are worth visiting. The second time, we just had enough time to pick up a few bottles of wine in Southampton and then a nice dinner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bug42362 Posted December 28, 2019 Author #23 Share Posted December 28, 2019 Thank you , I am still researching the best place to stay in London for convenience from airport and then later to Southampton. We have used trains in Europe in the past but I have never bought tickets in advance so I am trying to understand the best way! I,appreciate all the suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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