Our Greater London Megathread

coylemj

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Pick the airport closest to you of Gatwick, Stansted or Heathrow.
Go there with a credit card.
Get on a flight.
There won't be a problem, there are so many flights from each of those three, you'll always get a seat.

If he goes to Stanstead he is completely at the mercy of Ryanair who are currently quoting £254.

Kooli

Thanks for the advice folks, that's really helpful.

Stinicker

Eurolines bus or Sail Rail will be the cheapest last minute but will takes several hours. I got caught in 2011 when I flew over to the UK specially to buy a car, the deal fell through and I refused to give Ryanair nearly €300 for a one way flight home so instead I came home by Eurolines on the ferry but it took nearly 20 hours!

anne burnell

there is a bus that goes from outside the airport to liverpool st station for approx 15 STERLING return ... have a look at terravision.eu.

megaten

Anyone know a decent cheap hotel near the Barbican Centre?

jamesbil

Hi,

Planning 2/3 nights in the city with the wife in June (or whenever I can get €40 pp/rtn)
Will be ryanair from Knock to stanstead.
Just having trouble working out best place to stay, looking for central (for a show or 2 and drinks), easy access to tube for getting around, maybe Camden markets, Hyde pk etc. Needs to be good price hotel but nice enough for a romantic w/end.

Any suggestions, hotel or area?

Thanks

cson

Just as an fyi for yourself; in June you're unlikely to get nice, cheap and romantic in the one sentence for a London hotel. You could probably get a Days/Holiday Inn/Premier Inn/Menzies for €250 for 2 nights for 2 people.

athtrasna

Check out the Tune hotels for nice, and cheap - not very romantic. Just make sure you book a room with a window Check in is late and check out is early but you can pay to extend. Still a bargain for the locations!

http://www.tunehotels.com/microsite/uk/hotels/?s_kwcid=TC|1028434|tune%20hotels%20london||S|e|22482567060&gclid=CKX8krK-kLcCFc8W2wodvGMAZQ

dropinthocean

I need to get from Ireland to London next week, this Tue or Wed, for as cheaply as possible ideally without flying.

Does anyone have any good ideas?

The morning ferry is difficult for me to get cos I can't get transport to Dublin that early in the morning.

Has anyone ever gotten the bus from Busaras to Victoria before? If so, what is it like? comfortable/packed/sweaty etc.

Thanks

Lapin

dropinthocean wrote: »

Has anyone ever gotten the bus from Busaras to Victoria before? If so, what is it like? comfortable/packed/sweaty etc.

Thanks

Often. Although its been a few years.

It was never uncomfortably packed and never sweaty.

Its not a bad journey at all. Dual carriageway and Motorway all the way so its a nice smooth trip.

I never had a problem sleeping through the journey. Bring some music to listen to and a good book.

okiss

If you look up the http://www.buseireann.ie, click on services and destinations, then click on eurolines services, then click on bus eireann/eurolines timetable you will see the following Table 871/861 Dublin - Birmingham - Milton Keynes - London.

If you live outside Dublin go down towards the bottom of this page and you will the cost of going from your local bus stop to London.

The check in time is Busáras is 19.15. You will arrive in London Victoria at 8.15 in the morning.

On the eurolines services page you can buy a single or return ticket which can include the cost of travel from you local town.

jc2008

As I'm a bored and thrifty student, I'm wondering if it's possible to get much of London done in one day? I'm going to go alone so don't think it's worth my while staying overnight.

My plan is to use Ryanair airports as it's a lot cheaper than the other airports. It would be on a Saturday.
Outgoing flight:
Dublin 06:25 arriving Stansted at 07:40

Return flight:
Gatwick 21:25 arriving Dublin at 22:45

Won't have any bags so either train/EasyBus/bus, I could be in London itself around 9-9.30am.

I would have a good while to see the sites, before I need to check in at Gatwick around 9pm (so say, leave city centre 7.30pm to be safe).

Of course the morning flight may be delayed, but I imagine it's unlikely for the first flight of the day to be delayed.
Is this doable or is there any obvious things I'm missing?

PhilMcGee

jc2008 wrote: »

As I'm a bored and thrifty student, I'm wondering if it's possible to get much of London done in one day? I'm going to go alone so don't think it's worth my while staying overnight.

My plan is to use Ryanair airports as it's a lot cheaper than the other airports. It would be on a Saturday.
Outgoing flight:
Dublin 06:25 arriving Stansted at 07:40

Return flight:
Gatwick 21:25 arriving Dublin at 22:45

Won't have any bags so either train/EasyBus/bus, I could be in London itself around 9-9.30am.

I would have a good while to see the sites, before I need to check in at Gatwick around 9pm (so say, leave city centre 7.30pm to be safe).

Of course the morning flight may be delayed, but I imagine it's unlikely for the first flight of the day to be delayed.
Is this doable or is there any obvious things I'm missing?

I do this for work all the time. Its easily doable.
You might be better doing a week day if you arent at work.
Cheaper fares and less crowds at the sights

HeidiHeidi

I went to London for lunch a while back

It was shockingly bad value time-wise - I think it was about five hours door to door for a 3.5-hour lunch (I didn't go for the super-early flight that you're planning) (and I live in Dublin), but it's perfectly doable.

You'll be knackered after it!

Bannasidhe

jc2008 wrote: »

As I'm a bored and thrifty student, I'm wondering if it's possible to get much of London done in one day? I'm going to go alone so don't think it's worth my while staying overnight.

My plan is to use Ryanair airports as it's a lot cheaper than the other airports. It would be on a Saturday.
Outgoing flight:
Dublin 06:25 arriving Stansted at 07:40

Return flight:
Gatwick 21:25 arriving Dublin at 22:45

Won't have any bags so either train/EasyBus/bus, I could be in London itself around 9-9.30am.

I would have a good while to see the sites, before I need to check in at Gatwick around 9pm (so say, leave city centre 7.30pm to be safe).

Of course the morning flight may be delayed, but I imagine it's unlikely for the first flight of the day to be delayed.
Is this doable or is there any obvious things I'm missing?

Get much of London done? No.
It's a big city with many things to see and sometimes large distances between them.

Get a section of London done? Yes.

Depends on what you want to see really.

Rascasse

My Mrs does this all the time too. Use Luton or Gatwick airports. Stansted only has the Stansted Express train which costs a fair bit (single is £24, a return to Gatwick is £12 or £14.40 with travel card) and takes 45mins+ where as trains to Gatwick take 30mins and Luton 20 to 30mins (but you have to get a shuttle to the train). You can book your train tickets online (including adding on a travelcard) at nationalrail.co.uk to save time when you land.

Mrs usually arrives at Gatwick 75mins before flight is due to depart and never had any problems (although it is always midweek).

theteal

Rascasse wrote: »

My Mrs does this all the time too. Use Luton or Gatwick airports. Stansted only has the Stansted Express train which costs a fair bit (single is £24, a return to Gatwick is £12 or £14.40 with travel card) and takes 45mins+ where as trains to Gatwick take 30mins and Luton 20 to 30mins (but you have to get a shuttle to the train). You can book your train tickets online (including adding on a travelcard) at nationalrail.co.uk to save time when you land.

Mrs usually arrives at Gatwick 75mins before flight is due to depart and never had any problems (although it is always midweek).

I use the terravision bus to Stansted when not driving, it takes 10 minutes longer than the express train (i.e. 50-ish mins to Stratford) and costs £6 one-way, £11 return

theholyghost

Absolutely do able. Me and my mate did this when were in college! Flew to Stanstead at roughly the times you are talking about. We walked around and got to see a load of sites though we didnt really go in to any museums, had a nice lunch, went to some shops and flew home.

jc2008

Thanks for the answers. I know there's a lot to London which can't be done in one day, what I meant is that would one day good value timewise - I'd rather not spend the full day travelling!

I see that Stansted may not be the best airport to fly into but it has the best flight times - the earliest flight to Gatwick isn't as early!

Ideally Heathrow + Heathrow Express train would be the most time efficient but it costs so much I think I'll stick with Ryanair!

Edit: I've been to London before so I'd be fairly efficient once I get there. I have an Oyster card and everything so that'll eliminate queuing somewhat.

Can I ask why a weekday would be better than a Saturday? I work Mon-Fri so was aiming for the weekend (in keeping with trying to keep it cheap by not taking a day off work!)

mlumley

Im not sure what number it is, but there is a bus that goes right through London, and passes most of the tourist attractions. Google it.
Dont forget to get an Oyster card for your travels, and make sure it covers all the zones. Hope you enjoy my home town.

Locker10a

I'm doing this on Monday Leave Dublin at 7:15am and leave london around the same time pm !

Lapin

jc2008 wrote: »

I would have a good while to see the sites, before I need to check in at Gatwick around 9pm (so say, leave city centre 7.30pm to be safe).

You'll have time to see a lot of sights but not much time to visit them.

If you don't have any specific plans, an open top bus tour might be an idea when you get there. Then you can go back and visit one or two places that caught your eye.

The main attractions like the London Eye will have queues even if you have a prebooked ticket. Avoid the Madame Tussauds tourist trap.

The museums of South Kensington won't have problems with queues but to do them justice, you'll need to spend half the day visiting them. Likewise with The British Museum.

If you can strech it to an overnight stay, it would be well worth it.

If not, the 19.35 First Capital Connect train from Blackfriars gets into Gatwick at 20.11.
Perfect timing for a 21.15 flight.

Its half the price of a journey on the Gatwick Express from Victoria and only takes about 5 minutes more.

Enjoy the day !

Lapin

mlumley wrote: »

Im not sure what number it is, but there is a bus that goes right through London, and passes most of the tourist attractions. Google it.

Thats the Number 11 bus which runs from Liverpool St to Fulham Broadway.

It passes by some of the most famous sights in the world.

Well worth doing to save on a tour bus.

Rascasse

jc2008 wrote: »

I see that Stansted may not be the best airport to fly into but it has the best flight times - the earliest flight to Gatwick isn't as early!!

Just check to see what time you'll get into the city compared with Luton. The travel will be up to 30mins less and I would imagine most of the sights will only open at 10. Its much cheaper (well, £35ish) and easier to come and go from the one airport.

jc2008 wrote: »

Edit: I've been to London before so I'd be fairly efficient once I get there. I have an Oyster card and everything so that'll eliminate queuing somewhat.

Unless TfL have changed it, the Oyster card will be no use as one day travel cards still use the cardboard tickets (unless you take advantage of price capping, which you won't).

jc2008 wrote: »

Can I ask why a weekday would be better than a Saturday? I work Mon-Fri so was aiming for the weekend (in keeping with trying to keep it cheap by not taking a day off work!)

It's just that there should be much fewer tourists. Makes it far more enjoyable, particularly if you are going to galleries or museums.

Lapin

Rascasse wrote: »

Unless TfL have changed it, the Oyster card will be no use as one day travel cards still use the cardboard tickets (unless you take advantage of price capping, which you won't).

Eh

The OP would be better off with the Oyster if he doesn't reach the fare cap, (8.40 in Zones 1 & 2)

Why fork out 7.30 for a one day travelcard if you're only going to use it for a couple of journeys when you already have an Oyster ?

vinylbomb

If you fly to Gatwick you can get a Southern Trains combined return ticket to/from the airport and 6 zone travel passs for £28 (sterling).

Its better value if you go one day and return the next as the days travel pass is valid for one day one each leg, ie airport to city + travel pass, the next day travel pass + city to airport train.

Rascasse

Lapin wrote: »

Eh

The OP would be better off with the Oyster if he doesn't reach the fare cap, (8.40 in Zones 1 & 2)

Why fork out 7.30 for a one day travelcard if you're only going to use it for a couple of journeys when you already have an Oyster ?

I'm assuming op just has an old oyster card without credit or a travelcard attached (why would you keep a card with credit if you don't know when you'd use it next? ). If they have a card with credit use it. If not, it's not unreasonable to expect to use public transport 4 times in one day In London and it saves messing around with guessing how credit much to load the Oyster with etc.

Also you can get a zones 1-6 travelcard for a couple of pounds when add it to a return ticket from Gatwick which is a great deal.

Edit:vinylbomb is that peak? My last receipt is for 14.40 for return +1-6. Op would be using off peak (Saturday).

athtrasna

I've done it several times, last time was Thursday. 7.40am flight to Gatwick, Southern Train in (£14.50 return), tube to South Kensington. Science museum, tube to Picadilly circus, shopping & lunch. Matinee show (Merrily We Roll Along), tube to Victoria. Dinner in restaurant across the road (catch up with friend), train to Gatwick, 9.25 flight home. Return flights €51

jc2008

Thanks for the answers everyone! I booked the flights yesterday, I'm actually flying into Stansted and flying home from Gatwick. This was before I read replies saying that it would be cheaper to fly from the one airport.

My flight arrives into Stansted at 07.40. There's a Terravision bus at 08.00 and 08.40. Is it possible to make the 08.00 bus? I've flown into Stansted before so know how to get to the bus stops, but as I'm flying with Ryanair I'm no doubt going to have to walk from the farthest away gate!

Starting to think this two airport thing may not have been my most thrifty choice

athtrasna

jc2008 wrote: »

Thanks for the answers everyone! I booked the flights yesterday, I'm actually flying into Stansted and flying home from Gatwick. This was before I read replies saying that it would be cheaper to fly from the one airport.

My flight arrives into Stansted at 07.40. There's a Terravision bus at 08.00 and 08.40. Is it possible to make the 08.00 bus? I've flown into Stansted before so know how to get to the bus stops, but as I'm flying with Ryanair I'm no doubt going to have to walk from the farthest away gate!

Starting to think this two airport thing may not have been my most thrifty choice

It's not always cheaper to fly in and out of the same airport. For any of the recent day trips I've done I've always seen better deals into one and out of the other. But for onward connections and return transport it's easier and often cheaper to be able to buy a return ticket.