Our Greater London Megathread

overthebridge

overthebridge wrote: »

I'm going to london in mid october and am going to go on the london eye.
I looked up the website and it gave me an option of buying a normal ticket or a fast track ticket - which avoids the queue. normal ticket is 17.50 and fast track is 24.50
Has anyone any experience of this, is it worth my while paying for fast track or are the queues manageable ?

Hi,

Anyone got advice on the above ?

claralara

Is it relatively common and or easy to take a day trip to Thorpe Park when in London? Going for 4 full days and want to have an action packed itinerary. Have never been before and want to do all the touristy things but also want to cater for the thrill seeker part of us that's going!

Fratton Fred

there is a shuttle bus from Staines Station to Thorpe park and there are about 5 trains per hour to staines from Waterloo (journey is about 35 minutes) so it can be easily done.

Elphaba

Hi all,
Myself and my mam and aunty are heading to London for a weekend in Dec. We'll be arriving in Stanstead at 9.25 on a Friday morning. I was just wondering what the best way is to get to the city centre? We're staying near enough to Liverpool St. I know there are loads of different options, just wondering if anyone here could recommend the best one?
Thanks in advance

Fratton Fred

Elphaba wrote: »

Hi all,
Myself and my mam and aunty are heading to London for a weekend in Dec. We'll be arriving in Stanstead at 9.25 on a Friday morning. I was just wondering what the best way is to get to the city centre? We're staying near enough to Liverpool St. I know there are loads of different options, just wondering if anyone here could recommend the best one?
Thanks in advance

the stansted express is the easiest and quickest, but you can get a bus with easybus and a few others as well for 1/3 of the price but they take twice as long (off the top of my head, you are looking at 50 minutes for the train, 90 minutes for the bus.

If you book online, the stansted express is £26.80 open return, i would go for that myself

metrovelvet

Which is easier to get to Surrey, stanstead or luton?

Fratton Fred

metrovelvet wrote: »

Which is easier to get to Surrey, stanstead or luton?

by train, about the same tbh, you will need to go into London and back out with both airports. If you are driving luton would be better, but Gatwick or Heathrow would be better still.

JuJuBean

Hi there
Hope someone can help and that I've posted in the correct place.
Going to London next month, and will be then flying on to Madrid. Can only fly to Madrid at a reasonable cost from Luton or Gatwick. Gatwick has better options in terms of not having to get up at ungodly hours.
Can stay in Twickenham or Hammersmith. Can anyone advise which would be the most convenient place to stay and then fly from taking public transport into account?
Like, should we stay in Hammersmith and fly from Luton? Or would either be better for Gatwick?
Thanks in advance!

BuffyBot

Neither is ideal - but at Hammersmith you can get the District line to Victoria, and change there for trains to Gatwick.

You could also get the Piccadilly line to Kings Cross/St Pancras and change for trains to Luton Airport Parkway.

Neither is particularily ideal, and timewise Luton may be just a little longer, but there won't be much difference in overall journey time really.

JuJuBean

BuffyBot wrote: »

Neither is ideal - but at Hammersmith you can get the District line to Victoria, and change there for trains to Gatwick.

You could also get the Piccadilly line to Kings Cross/St Pancras and change for trains to Luton Airport Parkway.

Neither is particularily ideal, and timewise Luton may be just a little longer, but there won't be much difference in overall journey time really.

Thank you Buffybot
I actually looked up the National rail site, and it said that it would take approx an hour to get from Twickenham to Gatwick including one change at Clapham Junction, so we'll go for that.

Fratton Fred

JuJuBean wrote: »

Thank you Buffybot
I actually looked up the National rail site, and it said that it would take approx an hour to get from Twickenham to Gatwick including one change at Clapham Junction, so we'll go for that.

That's what I would do personally. One hour is quite generous and would be a nice easy journey. There are a lot of platforms at Clapham but it is quite an easy station to find your wat around.

Miskatonic

overthebridge wrote: »

Hi,

Anyone got advice on the above ?

I would recommend paying extra for the fast track tickets. We went on it recently when we had vistors and had no complaints at all. Got there at the allocated time and were shown straight on.

We went in the evening though so the queue wasn't too bad anyway, but any time I've been around there in the day there are hundreds of people in line.

metrovelvet

Is 40 minutes enough time to change for a connecting flight at Gatwick. Same airline.

McNuggy

Hi guys... heading over t london to do a bit of shopping on the 13th October.. getting the first flight over with ryanair that day so will get a full day of shopping, bitta sight seeing too in and staying in a hotel that night.
Problem is that im not flying back to Dublin till the last flight back that night of the 14th at 10 o clock..
so considering il hav a suitcase and hav a full day in london im just wondering does anyone know of any hotels that offer rooms to rent for a few hours during the day for after i check out of my hotel? iv heard of it before i just cannot rememebr for the life of me where i read it.. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions about what to do or even if anyone knows if yu pay a bit extra could there be a chance your hotel would let you stay on a few extra hours??

thanks in advance

overthebridge

Miskatonic wrote: »

I would recommend paying extra for the fast track tickets. We went on it recently when we had vistors and had no complaints at all. Got there at the allocated time and were shown straight on.

We went in the evening though so the queue wasn't too bad anyway, but any time I've been around there in the day there are hundreds of people in line.

cheers for that - we decided to book a package with madame tussauds after all. We got entry to both (london eye + wax museum) for 35 sterling each. Which isn't so bad !

Fratton Fred

McNuggy wrote: »

Hi guys... heading over t london to do a bit of shopping on the 13th October.. getting the first flight over with ryanair that day so will get a full day of shopping, bitta sight seeing too in and staying in a hotel that night.
Problem is that im not flying back to Dublin till the last flight back that night of the 14th at 10 o clock..
so considering il hav a suitcase and hav a full day in london im just wondering does anyone know of any hotels that offer rooms to rent for a few hours during the day for after i check out of my hotel? iv heard of it before i just cannot rememebr for the life of me where i read it.. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions about what to do or even if anyone knows if yu pay a bit extra could there be a chance your hotel would let you stay on a few extra hours??

thanks in advance

The major stations in London all have a very secure left luggage facility so you could dump your suitcase at Liverpool Street or Victoria or which ever station you will be heading back through.

most hotels will do a late check out service, but this usually gives you until about 2pm, if you want a room until 7pm or so you will probably have to book another night. However, the hotel itself might have a left luggage facility.

finbarrk

McNuggy wrote: »

Hi guys... heading over t london to do a bit of shopping on the 13th October.. getting the first flight over with ryanair that day so will get a full day of shopping, bitta sight seeing too in and staying in a hotel that night.
Problem is that im not flying back to Dublin till the last flight back that night of the 14th at 10 o clock..
so considering il hav a suitcase and hav a full day in london im just wondering does anyone know of any hotels that offer rooms to rent for a few hours during the day for after i check out of my hotel? iv heard of it before i just cannot rememebr for the life of me where i read it.. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions about what to do or even if anyone knows if yu pay a bit extra could there be a chance your hotel would let you stay on a few extra hours??

thanks in advance

Some of the airport hotels would do that all right. Not sure about the others though.

Fratton Fred

There are probably hotels around Kings Cross that rent rooms by the hour, but you really really don't want to go there

ncmc

My family are looking to book 4 nights in London for my parents for my mum's 70th birthday. I have been to London before, but normally stay in bargain bucket places, so want something a bit nicer for my folks. Our budget is €100-€150 per night for midweek, probably some time in February. I'd like it to be in a nice area, close to a tube. My mum is a light sleeper, so it has to be quiet hotel. They aren't going to be out raving so it doesn't have to be bang in the heart of the action. Other than that, as long as it's clean and comfy, they should be happy enough. One other thing, a good brekkie and tea making facilities in the room would be a plus. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

cson

Check the London megathread stickied above.

cson

For someone who's familiar with London;

Which would be a better base: Jurys Inn Chelsea or Devonport House Greenwich?

OPENROAD

cson wrote: »

For someone who's familiar with London;

Which would be a better base: Jurys Inn Chelsea or Devonport House Greenwich?

I would go with Chelsea, though think you are about 10-15 mins from a tube station, depending on your budget, I would try and get something closer to South Kensington/Earls Court, if you have a tube station virtually on your doorstep it is a big plus imo. If you want to post your budget per night I can reccomend a couple of places.

cson

Staying 3 nights so I'm hoping to do it for €300 or less. Basically €100 a night, now I wouldn't mind stretching to £100 a night as it'll only be €30ish more with the exchange rate (£300 = €330). Jurys Chelsea is £250 for 3 nights including breakfast which isn't too bad plus its pretty highly rated on tripadvisor.

Cheers for the help/advice too OPENROAD, you can always trust a fellow gooner

ZOLTAN28

Jurys South kensington is lovely and a short walk to the tube.

peustace

I'm flying back from London to Galway in October. There is a train from the the St. Pancras to Luton right? Does anyone know what operator is it? Dont know London at all... is it difficult to get to St Pancras station? Thanks!

BuffyBot

Train from St. Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway where you get on a shuttle bus to the door of the aiport.

First Capital Connect run the trains, and St. Pancras is easy to get to from pretty much anywhere in London by bus or Tube (Kings Cross St. Pancras is the stop you need).

bamboozler

Hi, going over to London for 2 nights (Fri & Sat) and an Arsenal match soon and looking for good reasonably priced hotel in Central London near nightlife. Stayed in citadines trafalgar square for 60euro a night with 3 in a quad apartment last year, would of stayed again but it is booked out.

Any advice on hotels, best website to book with and nightlife would be appreciated?

oh yeah and after reading through the megathread i am wondering if anyone took a gamble on the lastminute.com secret hotels and how accurate their descriptions are for these

OPENROAD

bamboozler wrote: »

Hi, going over to London for 2 nights (Fri & Sat) and an Arsenal match soon and looking for good reasonably priced hotel in Central London near nightlife. Stayed in citadines trafalgar square for 60euro a night with 3 in a quad apartment last year, would of stayed again but it is booked out.

Any advice on hotels, best website to book with and nightlife would be appreciated?

oh yeah and after reading through the megathread i am wondering if anyone took a gamble on the lastminute.com secret hotels and how accurate their descriptions are for these

I would check out the prices on the hotel below that I mentioned earlier, very handy for Arsenal, direct tube to the ground takes less than 20 mins, you are also close to the likes of Leicester Sqaure and Coven Garden for night life, again direct tube link approx 14 mins to Leicester tube station. Alterantively you can take a 10 or 15 min walk to the Fulham road, some good pubs there, their are also several really nice pubs in the area, and the hotel bar is excellent imo.

As for where to stay, as I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread I would go for the Kensington area, I have mentioned a hotel already which I feel offers excellent value in a very nice area. You can get a room which fits 2 comfortably for £80-£100 including full English Breakfast. The hotel which mentioned tube station is Gloucester Road(Zone 1) served by the Piccadilly line and also the Circle and District lines is two stops from Knightsbridge and is direct to Heathrow airport 40 mins. The area as said is excellent and has plenty of restaurants/coffe shops a Waitrose/Tesco and huge Sainsbury and Boots.


Hotel Website:

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/lonhi

You can get better rates for this hotel on website below but is bit more difficult to navigate, click on bed and breakfast logo on this site which should bring up all Holiday Inns, if anyone needs more info please pm and I can guide you through if you can't find them.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/925/en/home

bamboozler

Thanks for all the info OPENROAD i think you've pretty much listed all that i require in my stay so it ticks all the boxes. Cheers +


Update: Just had look at there website. For my dates, the special internet rate at £90/night for 2 people was cheapest (next cheapest £100), but it was advanced purchase, didnt include tax, they want a deposit for the entire stay and also said on the internet rate booking they could not guarantee the bedding arrangements. Also most rooms non-smoking and some of my party smokers, all these factored together have kind of ruled it out anyway. I did also look at a later weekend and the cheapest room was £100.

Thanks anyway

PS: I gave up looking cos didnt get match tickets in the end so i'm waiting until after christmas.

jane86

Hey,

I'm looking to stay in London (Easy access by tube to SoHo area) for a week and I was wondering if anyone knows of any affordable hotels or accomodation that offers a week stay at a low price?

Thanks!