Our Greater London Megathread

Raoul

Im flying to London Stansted next week with Ryanair. Just wondering do ryanair offer a discount for the express train into london? and how much??

gebbel

May I ask anybody where the best area for nightlife in London is? Heading over next week with 2 mates and haven't a clue where to go. Lively places would suit us the best.

Thanks.

OPENROAD

gebbel wrote: »

May I ask anybody where the best area for nightlife in London is? Heading over next week with 2 mates and haven't a clue where to go. Lively places would suit us the best.

Thanks.

You could say the west end area of Covent Garden/Leicester Square, plenty of pubs and clubs.

My own personal preference would be for the Fulham road and Kings Road, but depends on your age and type of club you want.

The safe bet would be the West End, start drinking in Covent Garden bars and move onto Leicester Square.

As a matter of interest what area are you staying in?

zagmund

Quick question - I bought a ticket in Waterloo to Luton airport last weekend. It was marked "London Terminals" as the origin and Waterloo is nothing if not a terminal. The guy behind the ticket desk reckoned I would need a tube ticket to get across to St Pancras, but I wasn't so sure.

If the "London Terminals" doesn't include tube across London does this mean it's valid from Waterloo to somewhere like Clapham Junction, then Clapham Junction back across to St Pancras ? What if I was going to somewhere from Paddington or somewhere that's not as easy to get a rail link across London ?

z

gebbel

OPENROAD wrote: »

You could say the west end area of Covent Garden/Leicester Square, plenty of pubs and clubs.

My own personal preference would be for the Fulham road and Kings Road, but depends on your age and type of club you want.

The safe bet would be the West End, start drinking in Covent Garden bars and move onto Leicester Square.

As a matter of interest what area are you staying in?

Hi openroad we are staying in Russel Square. We are 3 blokes heading over next weekend, taking in a game at the Emirates and then want to head out for a lively night. Could you recommend any good bars please?

OPENROAD

gebbel wrote: »

Hi openroad we are staying in Russel Square. We are 3 blokes heading over next weekend, taking in a game at the Emirates and then want to head out for a lively night. Could you recommend any good bars please?

I'm an Arsenal supporter also

I think your best bet as you are staying in Russel Square is to head into the West End, to be honest its a few years since I headed out in the West End , normally stay around Fulham rd myself, so maybe someone else might specifically name some places to go to.


Covent Garden/Leicester Square/Haymarket, you will find a lot of late bars. Sports Cafe is in Haymarket and is always a lively place. Zoo Bar is also quite lively from what I remember.

http://www.zoobar.co.uk/location/

http://www.thesportscafe.com/brand.aspx

Trampas

Flying into Gatwick on Sunday and want to head to Wembley on the underground.

What is the best way to make it onto the underground without spending a fortune on a train ticket?

I heard the express isn't worthe cash

el rabitos

Trampas wrote: »

Flying into Gatwick on Sunday and want to head to Wembley on the underground.

What is the best way to make it onto the underground without spending a fortune on a train ticket?

I heard the express isn't worthe cash

just get the 1 day pass, cheaper than the express and get the train to victoria station and get the tube to wembley from there.

Fratton Fred

Trampas wrote: »

Flying into Gatwick on Sunday and want to head to Wembley on the underground.

What is the best way to make it onto the underground without spending a fortune on a train ticket?

I heard the express isn't worthe cash

Get the train to either waterloo or london Bridge and the Piccadilly Line from there. I did it a while back and it was cheaper to get a return ticket than it was to get a single, even though i was only going one way.

OPENROAD

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Get the train to either waterloo or london Bridge and the Piccadilly Line from there. I did it a while back and it was cheaper to get a return ticket than it was to get a single, even though i was only going one way.

Do you mean the Jubilee line

Waterloo is the handiest.

From Waterloo, jump onto the Jubilee line, direct to Wembley Park.

Fratton Fred

OPENROAD wrote: »

Do you mean the Jubilee line

Waterloo is the handiest.

From Waterloo, jump onto the Jubilee line, direct to Wembley Park.

three years of travelling up and down it and i forget what it's bloody called:o

When i last went to wembley from Gatwick, the train for london Bridge left a lot earlier and it worked out quicker for some reason. there are also some very nice pubs around the market there for a pre-pre game drink

scruff321

i know the same questions are probably been asked, but could someone please tell what is the cheapest way to get from stansted to piccadilly circus?

OPENROAD

scruff321 wrote: »

i know the same questions are probably been asked, but could someone please tell what is the cheapest way to get from stansted to piccadilly circus?

I'm not sure about the coach option but you could take the Stanstead Express to Tottenham Hale, jump on the tube (Victoria Line) to Green Park(six stops) and either walk fro Green Park to Piccadilly circus or take the Piccadilly line from Green Park to Piccadilly Circus(one stop)

Fratton Fred

Easybus to Baker Street and then Bakerloo line to Piccadilly Circus is the cheapest. depending on the time you want to go, your ticket to Baker Street could be as little as £2.

Easybus.co.uk is your friend.

Furp

scruff321 wrote: »

i know the same questions are probably been asked, but could someone please tell what is the cheapest way to get from stansted to piccadilly circus?

Or you could take the First Capital Connect Bedford train platform 4 at Gatwick this will bring you to St pancreas where you can change to Underground picadilly line to Picadilly circus this will take approx 10 minutes.

The train ticked is £17 return and only 6 minutes longer then the express one.

metrovelvet

Can anyone recommend a decent, clean, simple and not expensive hotel in London? Thanks.

Random

i stayed in ibis earls court. managed to get a twin room for 2 nights at the weekend for 2 people for 150 euro total. nothing fancy but does the job. it's right on the overground and underground (about 1 min walk) and it's on a nightlink bus out of london too (the n97 iirc).

OPENROAD

metrovelvet wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a decent, clean, simple and not expensive hotel in London? Thanks.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=59595655&highlight=kensington+forum#post59595655

metrovelvet

What is better stanstead or luton?

OPENROAD

metrovelvet wrote: »

What is better stanstead or luton?

Where are you going to stay?

metrovelvet

Can I get on a London bus with a buggy? Im not even going to try dealing with the tube.

Also- Im planning my visit around my morning return dash to the airport, which means I cant be too far from Liverpool station to get the train back to Stanstead.

I was thinking of staying around Victoria or Kensington. Which one is more convenient and more gentrified?

OPENROAD

metrovelvet wrote: »

Can I get on a London bus with a buggy? Im not even going to try dealing with the tube.

Also- Im planning my visit around my morning return dash to the airport, which means I cant be too far from Liverpool station to get the train back to Stanstead.

I was thinking of staying around Victoria or Kensington. Which one is more convenient and more gentrified?

Firstly, I would stay in Kensington, easy choice imo. Any specific part in Kensington, I can give you some more advice, Kensington is a lot nicer anyway

The tube is not as bad as you might think, obviously rush hour can be much more tricky to negotiate but not impossible, the tube is so frequent, I find the back carriages can be that bit quieter.

If its Stanstead or Luton, I would go with Stanstead, have you checked out Heathrow though? bmi British Midland and Aer Lingus

metrovelvet

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/LONKEN/london-kensington-earls-court

I was going to stay here.

As for the underground, I just cant carry a three year old and a stroller down all those steps so Im going to stick to buses and cabs.

I already booked flights to stanstead. I'll have to get a cab from the hotel to liverpool when its time to leave. Can you get a normal train from stanstead or do you have to take the express?

Much appreciated.

Fratton Fred

It is much cheaper to get into London from Gatwick, unless you do the coach, which takes a lot longer.

Esto Fidelis

Hi,

I am looking for a bit of help, i am flying into Gatwick. I will be staying in the St Giles Hotel Tottenham Court. I have seen there is a tube station in Tottenham Court. Can you help with offering advise getting from Gatwick to the hotel, it does not have to be the quickest option as long as it does not take all day as long as it is a reasonable price. Also any advice on traveling around while there, are there tourist discount cards or similar. We will be there for 4 days and would like to see as much as we can. Also any reccomendations on places to go and a bit of nite life and so on would be great. Thanks in advance.

bamboozler

you need to pay £3 deposit and £2 credit initially for card, so £5 to start wit. you can top by as much as you want at the oyster top up points or in the shops who top the oyster.

in general i would say kensington would be better than canary wharf.
i know from people who stayed in canary wharf they felt it was very much out of the way and bit too quiet to stay in.
kensington is a more upmarket part of london and is nearer to central london with better transport links

Cunning Alias

Iv organized a trip to london for 2 days for my mum and sisters. We are going to see Wicked on the night we are there and the day after the girls are going to go clothes shopping.

While they are off shopping I was thinking of catching a Matinee of another musical. The tickets are pretty expensive at this stage and I was wondering if it would be worth my while waiting till I am there and getting a ticket at the last minute.

Since I will be on my own, I am guessing I should be able to get a decent seat. Will I be able to get it at a reduced price, since I will be getting it right before the show?

bamboozler

you are automatically capped. you just buy the card and i'd put another few £ credit on top of the £2 already. the amount depending how long your there. its very easy to top up again and check you credit so no need to put too much on it. the deposit is a write off anyway, hassles gettin money back and i just reuse same card when im over anyway.

ive had my oyster for few years now and use it to stay over for weekend or day trips for Arsenal matches. I normally jus top it up to £15 on it to start with and jus check in station or in the top up shops outside every once while how much credit ive left. normally does me for weekend and hav some leftover for my next trip.

ive never used the £7.20 in one day unless i forgot to scan back out my oyster but depends how much you're in and out of tube. peak times are only from mon to fri and between times 0630 - 0930 and 1600-1900. therefore if you there for the saturday sunday should be cheaper at £5.60 cap for zone 1-2.


main advice would be to make sure you scan in and out of the tube stations. most have physical barriers but some smaller ones you have to remember to scan yourself on a scanner attached to the wall on your way out. If ya dont they charge maximum fare for the day as a penalty.

PrettyBoy

Looking to rent an apartment in London for four nights, 8 of us staying. Preferably somewhere central enough. Any recommended websites I should look at?

shano_88

http://www.clinkhostels.com/

Anyone have any experience with this hostel? Going over to London in a few weeks on a lads weekend trip so basically only want a place to get a few hours sleep and have a wash.