Arrive Southampton-Tour of London-Airport

[ladysail2]

I will be arriving in Southampton from a cruise..and would like to take a tour of London before flying home.

 

Is this possible? I've tried to research tour companies, but can't seem to find anyone who does just a day tour.

 

Has anyone done this? Does anyone know if Royal Caribbean offers ship tours of this nature?

 

Thank you for any help. My cruise isn't until April 2009 so I do have a bit of time to plan.

[cruiseryyc]

Try Harry Norman, really wonderful tour guide. http://www.cruising-america.com or email harrystours@aol.com.

[ladysail2]

Thank you cruiseryyc....I've saved that site and will pursue it a little closer to sailing! :D

[cruiseryyc]

Don't wait too long, Harry gets booked up months ahead. We booked him January for our June cruise.

[Twickenham]

I will be arriving in Southampton from a cruise..and would like to take a tour of London before flying home.

 

Is this possible? I've tried to research tour companies, but can't seem to find anyone who does just a day tour.

 

Has anyone done this? Does anyone know if Royal Caribbean offers ship tours of this nature?

 

Thank you for any help. My cruise isn't until April 2009 so I do have a bit of time to plan.

 

Are you thinking about taking a tour of London, then fly home the same day that you disembark from your cruise? Then I can tell you right away, you don't have time. Indeed, as the only direct flight from LHR to YOW that I can find leaves at 1pm, it would be touch and go just to make this flight from Southampton - I would in fact strongly recommend staying an extra night, as you will need to check-in at least 2 hours before the flight (and preferably 3), thus you would need to be at LHR by 11am, and that would be waay too tight for my comfort. This of course opens up your tour possibilities considerably.

[handfordr]

In terms of logistics you'll normally disembark at Southampton about 08:00 to 08:30. You have two options, hire somebody to meet you and do a private tour or do the whole thing independently.

 

Having somebody to meet you will take another couple of hours to get to Central London, mid-week slightly longer so you'll get to Central London mid morning about 10:30.

A panoromic tour of the main sights with no stops takes about 90 minutes and its another 45-60 minutes back to Heathrow. So a best case scenario is that you'd be at Heathrow about 13:00

People like Harry Norman, Eddie Manning and if you have a group of 6 or more FCMBS do this routinely.

 

You could feasably do this independently by public transport. Get the train to London Waterloo from Southampton, arriving about 10:30 and store your luggage at the left luggage office at waterloo. The 2 hop on, hop off tour buses pick up outside Waterloo on their tours covering all the main sights.

You could then take the Dot 2 Dot shuttle to Heathrow.

Alternatively get the cruise ship bus to say London Victoria, there are left luggage facilities at both rail and coach station.

You'd need to allow a little longer, earliest you could get back to Heathrow would be 15:00.

[ladysail2]

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. I have decided, afterall, to stay in London for 3 nights. Quite a change...LOL

 

So far, I have two hotels booked in the Earl's Court area. Trouble is....no hotel is getting all-favourable reviews. The one I like the best is the Rushmore Hotel, but it has 4 floors and no elevator. It got mostly good reviews. But, no elevator.

The other hotel is Garden View, but it has terrible reviews..bedbugs, non-working TV, hairdryer, etc. I will be cancelling that reservation.

 

I'm not looking at spending a fortune on a hotel....it looks like I will have to spend about 80-100 pounds per night for something decent.

 

Has anyone stayed in the Earl's Court area in a clean, hotel, with private bathroom, hairdryer. It need not be fancy or have lots of frills...just the basics...cleanliness, somewhat quiet for sleeping, I don't even need breakfast.

 

Any suggestions would be very welcome....

Thank you...:D

[Twickenham]

I think you've made the right decision. It seems such a shame to be going all that distance and not spend some time in London!

The Rushmore looks nice, and it's right beside Earl's Court underground station, with a direct link to LHR by tube as well as most of central London. I remember staying near Earl's Court years ago. I remember it as being vaguely shaby, but acceptable. Actually, the same can probably be said for most areas in London with budget accommodation - as you've seen, London is an expensive city to stay in! I personally usually stay in the Paddington area, not saying that it's better than Earl's Court but I know it and am comfortable there. If you're interested, last spring we rented a flat there: http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p94127, a 5-10 minute walk to Paddington Station, and very comfortable. Paddington has lots of services, a mini-supermarket, restaurants, and of course is the terminus for the Heathrow Express/Heathrow Connect. The advantage of the flat is of course space (London hotel rooms are notoriously small) and having your own kichen (although I think 'bijou' is the best way to describe the kitchen in this flat...;) ).

You can also get some deals at Travelodges (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/) and Premier Inns (http://www.premierinn.com/pti/home.do) in Central London. If you're just after a room, some wicked deals can be had, especially at the Travelodges where they have advance-purchase deals as low as 19 pounds/night.

[handfordr]

In the 80-100 GBP range I would suggest the benchmark hotel in Earls Court Kensington is the Premier Inn Kensington. My personal favourite would be 1 Lexham Gardens.

Others you might look at are the Ibis Earls Court, Henley House Hotel, Barkstone Gardens and City Contniental (was a Comfort Inn), Bestw Westen Burns as well as the Rushmore.

 

Earls Court is a good location if you are on a budget. Unusually for the centre of London there are two full size supermarkets (tesco's which is 24 hour opening and Sainsburys). Earls Court is a public transport hub which will get you anywhere in Central London in 20-30 minutes. It is safe and clean too.

[ladysail2]

Thank you, Twickenham and handfordr, for all your information and suggestions.

I changed hotels again, but feel that I'll stick with this one in Kensington...Searcy's Rooftop Garden Rooms. It looks better than the other two that I had chosen and received better reviews. I'm still in the same neck of the woods.

Now to figure out the difference between an Oyster card and a Travelcard...LOL...good thing I have lots of time!!

Thanks again!!! :D

[Twickenham]

That hotel looks lovely - in a fabulous location. 5 minutes walk from Harrods, and much nicer for walking around.

Oyster card - that's a whole other thread! You can read up about it, both here and on the London Transport website, and all that, but I can tell you now - you want a pay-as-you-go Oyster card, loaded with enough money for 3 days' travel in Central London. Just go to a ticket booth at any Underground station, and the attendant will be more than happy to figure out how much money you need to put on it - they're really very friendly and helpful.

[handfordr]

Now to figure out the difference between an Oyster card and a Travelcard...LOL...good thing I have lots of time!!

 

Thanks again!!! :D

 

You might save yourself a lot of time by reading this article on Travelcard v Oyster

[ladysail2]

Again...thank you so much for all your help!!! It's getting easier to figure out what I need and what I have to do! :D

 

Joyce

[ladysail2]

That hotel looks lovely - in a fabulous location. 5 minutes walk from Harrods, and much nicer for walking around.

 

Oyster card - that's a whole other thread! You can read up about it, both here and on the London Transport website, and all that, but I can tell you now - you want a pay-as-you-go Oyster card, loaded with enough money for 3 days' travel in Central London. Just go to a ticket booth at any Underground station, and the attendant will be more than happy to figure out how much money you need to put on it - they're really very friendly and helpful.

 

The hotel does look lovely, doesn't it. It's kind of unusual and that's what I like. A rooftop garden is going to be great...if it's not raining....and if it is raining..well, I'll have raindrops on my umbrella.....LOL