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Our Greater London Megathread
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mikedublin wrote: »Hi
Just wondering if anyone would recommend the best of the 3 Ryanair served airports in London (Luton, Stansted or Gatwick) to use for a cheap day trip from Dublin to London. I've been trying to work out which is the cheapest airport which I can get on into Central London from ?
My plan is to do a day trip on a weekday, taking a early morning flight - then get bus / train / coach into central London (somewhere like Oxford Street, Marble Arch, or anywhere on the central line. Then back to the airport in the early evening.
I'll also need to pay cash for any train or bus ticket, so I won't be able to book any of the on-line fares.
Would welcome any suggestions on which airport to use, esspecially from anyone that does the trip often. Thanks , Mike
Connections from all airports into Central London will get you on to the Central Line within minutes.
There are cheaper bus options from from Stansted, Gatwick and Luton into town but they take longer and might not be feasable for a day trip if time is tight. Also, paying on the day will cost more than advance booking online and for the sake of an extra few shillings, the train is probably better value.
If Flying from Luton, note that trains serve Luton Airport Parkway station which is a couple of miles from the terminal building, so allow at least an extra half an hour to get from here to the check in desk. It is served by a regular shuttle bus which operated every ten minutes in each direction with a journey time of 5 minutes.
Below is a response I gave to to a similar question a few months ago.
Hope it helps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Petca4
Can anyone tell me what is the cheapest way to travel to London and return on the same day. Thanks
There is no copperfastened cheapest way.
It involves a bit of homework when booking flights to find what is cheapest on a given day although Ryanair usually win out, but not always.
The earlier you book in advance the better most of the time.
Don't limit your search to one airport or airline. You'll often find it might be cheaper to fly into Luton with Ryanair and use Gatwick with Aer Lingus or Ryanair for the return leg.
Don't forget to weigh up the costs of travelling from the airport into Central London. If an Aer Lingus flight to Heathrow costs €20 more than a Ryanair flight to anywhere, take it. The extra cost is cancelled out by savings made from travelling from Luton, Gatwick or Stansted.
I do this trip regularly (going this Friday) and find in most cases Ryanair to Luton works out marginally better, but Luton also suits me for the part of London I go to.
Flights to Heathrow and London City airport are always more expensive than the other 3 airports.
Aer Arann use Southend but I wouldn't find this practical for a day trip.0 -
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lennyloulou wrote: »Hi everyone, I would appreciate some help please.
Thinking of visiting London for 3 days at the end of July with hubbie, no kids, we are in our 30's.
Our interests are a West end musical, Natural museum of history, Madame Toussauds, London Eye, a snoop around Harrods, A Thames River boat tour, Buckingham Palace (maybe), London Bride & The Tower, Portrait Museum ( Supposed to be amazing?), Somewhere busy& nice cafes that wont break the bank to eat out in !
I know that's a good lot of places! would appreciate any advice on
1. What location to stay in? - so that we could get to these places easy& without too much hassle
2. what website to book with? - I looked up Londontown website ( confusing) and Skyscanner- don't know what area to book under so no wonder I am confused still!
3. to reduce time travelling from the airport to the city, I looked up Londoncity Airport... Airfrance 134e each return from Dublin. I am thinking by paying the little bit extra we would be directly in the city on arrival, thus saving on time spent travelling??? Also save some money on the express airport trains in from Heathrow/Gatwick??
Any ideas and advice would be gratefully appreciated
Lets start with the airports.
€134 return is actually quite good for London City Airport. Flights to there often cost about that in each direction. You mightn't save a huge amount of time getting from there into The West End as you would from Heathrow, but getting through the terminal itself is a lot less hassle when arriving and departing. Its a good airline too with assigned seating and complimentary service in flight. I'd take that fare while its going and forget about the rest.
Now for the sights.
Madame Tussaud's is one of the most overpriced and over hyped tourist traps anywhere on the planet. Its a long time since I was there so maybe it has improved since, but I sill cannot understand why people will pay up to £30 and queue for ages to look at wax statues of celebrities, while real London is outside waiting to be explored.
The other attractions you mention are all worth seeing but some of them are very time consuming. (The Buckingham Palace State Room and Garden tour takes 3 and a half hours). Also at the time of year you are going there are likely to be queues for the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, (not to be confused with London bridge, a boring concrete structure 300 yards upstream).
Here is a reply I gave to a similar post some time back. -
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It really depends on where your interests lie and how long you'll be staying as there is something for everyone in London and you'll never get to pack everything in over a weekend, or even a week.
One suggestion would be to begin with an open top bus tour when you get there. As they take in most of the famous sights, you can decide which ones you'd like to see more of as you pass them and visit them later. There are a number of companies offering these tours each with different packages so its worth shopping around to see which suits you the best.
Big Ben, The London Aquarium and the London Eye are all located close to each other and can be done in a couple of hours. Although its worth noting that there is no public access to Big Ben, (unless you can get an MP to show you around !) Even at this time of year The London Eye will be busy so be sure to get tickets in advance and turn up at least half an hour before your alloted time.
Tower Bridge is a good bit further downstream and the most scenic way to get there is by Riverbus from Westminster pier. The trip will take you past some of the best known landmarks in London.
I'd also recommend a few hours in South Kensington to take in the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum nextdoor, and if you have time, the V&A across the road. While in the area you should drop into the world famous Harrod's Department Store nearby. Even if you don't intend doing any shopping the place is well worth a look around.
On a different planet from Harrod's but only a short journey away by Tube is Camden Town. No young person on trip to London should come home without a mooch around the markets, shops, cafés and bars around here !
As I said, its hard to advise on where to go and what to see without knowing what you're into but Visit London is an excellent website to help you plan your trip. For listings of whats on when and where and how much, Time Out is your bible.
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I don't know too much about hotels so maybe someone else can help out there.
One other thing, when buying tickets for any of the major attractions, book them direct with the museum, palace, etc.
Middleman sights like Londontickets.ie and visitbritain.com charge their own commission.
Enjoy your trip.
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