Our Greater London Megathread

Louche Lad

Saint Sonner wrote: »

Just an update as the wife and I returned from a great trip to London.
Things we did that we enjoyed was Madam Tussards, Oxford Street shops, Walk around Harrods, Les Mis show and Coveant Garden.

Things that we weren’t too fussed on Bus tour (bit cold and slow if your hopping on & off), nightlife (but don’t think we picked correct places)
I would recommend getting the oyster card/travel card and taking the tube around any attractions as its quick and you pick which ones you want to go to and just go.

One particular tale of woe we had was on Friday night in Leicester Square. We had tried to get somewhere to have a few cocktails in a bar and had looked up a place online and realised that it had good reviews so went to it. Wasn’t much of a queue and the wife and I had just arrived after 1 or 2 drinks elsewhere. We had to line up at barriers where we were stared at up and down I presume to see if we were sober enough for entry (fair enough). Got past this check then I was frisked and wifes handbag was searched (fair enough). At this stage I thought we were good to go and got to door where we were going to have to pay £10 each in and I asked the doorman if it was a nightclub because we didn’t really want that and he informed me that it was a bar downstairs and nightclub upstairs but you had to pay for both. Wasn’t really in the mood to pay in to a bar but I was willing to give it a go. He then asked for ID and at this stage I’m getting severely pissed off at the whole thing but I thought fair enough if they need to verify our age.

So I take out my wallet and show him my license and then he said take it out I need to scan it – At this stage I asked him what he was scanning it for and he told me he needed it for their database. At this stage I told him I wasn’t comfortable with someone I didn’t know scanning my license for their database. I thought possibly we could have had some sort of agreement to just let my wife and I in. But he laughed and said whats wrong with you are you convicted criminal or what and his friends found this hilarious so as they were looking for £20 for the pleasure of our company I decided to walked away only be grabbed by what looked like the manager outside the door pleading with me to come back in. So we went spent our money elsewhere.

Maybe this is typical of London but I didn’t like it!

Definitely not typical of London, you were right to walk. Leicester Square is a notorious tourist trap - no real Londoners ever go there.

exiledelbows

Marcusm wrote: »

It does work for GAtwick Express but obviously ends up with the higher price!

I meant 'working' in terms of costing less. Anyway, tried it last night and worked a treat. £8 all the way home and no queuing

Saint Sonner

Louche Lad wrote: »

Definitely not typical of London, you were right to walk. Leicester Square is a notorious tourist trap - no real Londoners ever go there.

Just remembered the name of the place - Ruby Blue

schemingbohemia

Saint Sonner wrote: »

Just remembered the name of the place - Ruby Blue

Time Out seems to show your case is not the exception!

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/ruby-blue#tab_panel_2

Marks at Hix is a great speakeasy style cocktail bar in Soho, we really enjoyed it, very interesting cocktails and nice style - expensive, though worth it.

Saint Sonner

Should have planned better - we were just trying to find somewhere quick.

pudzey101

looking at going to london on march 23th-27th , would it be better book a package deal with flights + accommodation or book separately ?

Just for 1 adult

edeldonlon

I would just book flights online myself (Ryanair/aerlingus) then have a look at hotels on trivago/booking.com

pudzey101

cheers will do seperatly so thanks a million im useless witht his stuff

theflipdave

Ryanair I find tend to do the best flights

VG31

I highly recommend flying with CityJet to London City Airport. They are often the cheapest after Ryanair and LCY Airport is actually in central London unlike Standard/Luton/Gatwick. It is worth paying a bit extra to avoid the hassle of the train from those airports and LCY Airport is small and efficient. CityJet include a checked bag as standard.

British Airways also fly to LCY (along with LHR) but usually cost significantly more than CityJet.

pudzey101

going booking a travel lodge anyway , aerlingus to heathrow was my choice but it would be ideal to fly to LCY i must check out cityjet !! thanks lads

Fred Swanson

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LXFlyer

Again - it depends upon where in London you are going to.

You could end up with significant onward travel costs depending upon which airport you fly into.

Best to research hotels first, as this will be the biggest cost, and then select flights accordingly.

exiledelbows

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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They both fly to Gatwick. Fair enough Aer Lingus fly to Heathrow but the inevitable delays connected to that mean I tend to go to Ryanair. I'm also in a really weird part of London that makes flying from Luton, Stansted and Gatwick less hassle than Heathrow.

Fred Swanson

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turbodiesel

Hiya, I've been glossing over the last 15 pages back of comments but not found anything that suits 4 of us in one room except mention of hostels which my better half is against. Flying in to Gatwick. It'll be a tourist break so looking to spend the days in central london tues - Sat doing tower bridge/madame toussads etc with maybe one day in thorpe park. i'm thinking the time and cost of travel when comparing locations that are not quite so central (total cost around €700ish) is looking a little less attractive to paying a bit more for a central location (900 - 1000).

Any recomendations or places to stear clear of?

54and56

turbodiesel wrote: »

Hiya, I've been glossing over the last 15 pages back of comments but not found anything that suits 4 of us in one room except mention of hostels which my better half is against. Flying in to Gatwick. It'll be a tourist break so looking to spend the days in central london tues - Sat doing tower bridge/madame toussads etc with maybe one day in thorpe park. i'm thinking the time and cost of travel when comparing locations that are not quite so central (total cost around €700ish) is looking a little less attractive to paying a bit more for a central location (900 - 1000).

Any recomendations or places to stear clear of?

Try https://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/318/London-Central-Covent-Garden-hotel. That's where we're staying over Easter on a similar trip with two kids of similar age i.e. 11 and 15. We got a family room for three nights from Mar 24th to 27th for a total of £221 for the three nights including early checkin on the day we arrive and Wifi for the three days but no brekkie as I love going to genuine cafe's in London for breakfast

I'm not expecting it to be plush or anything but all we want is a clean safe place to crash, we'll really only be there from 9pm to 8am each day.

turbodiesel

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Try https://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/318/London-Central-Covent-Garden-hotel. That's where we're staying over Easter on a similar trip with two kids of similar age i.e. 11 and 15. We got a family room for three nights from Mar 24th to 27th for a total of £221 for the three nights including early checkin on the day we arrive and Wifi for the three days but no brekkie as I love going to genuine cafe's in London for breakfast

I'm not expecting it to be plush or anything but all we want is a clean safe place to crash, we'll really only be there from 9pm to 8am each day.

Thank Jean. We went with Premier Inn (Tower Bridge) staying Tues - Sat (4 nights) incl breakfast for 442gbp (356 for room plus another 84 for breakfasts). I think one of the beds in the Travelodge for one of the kids is a fold up one and my two are 13/15 and take after me in size (I'm 6ft 4) . Also the your travel lodge was booked out. I've used Tesco points for tickets for Madame Tausads and Thorpe Park so saved a few quid there at least. Have a good trip, Chris

batman1

Looking at a few days in London to break up a flight connection. Flying into stansted, few days in London and flying onward from stansted for a holiday in early July.

Would like recommendations for hotels around the centre so as to be easy to move around using the tube etc. Have already looked at premier inn and can't decide on which one is the best or most convenient. Just want to be easy and safe location for family. Access to the main attractions such as London eye etc.

Many thanks

Louche Lad

batman1 wrote: »

Looking at a few days in London to break up a flight connection. Flying into stansted, few days in London and flying onward from stansted for a holiday in early July.

Would like recommendations for hotels around the centre so as to be easy to move around using the tube etc. Have already looked at premier inn and can't decide on which one is the best or most convenient. Just want to be easy and safe location for family. Access to the main attractions such as London eye etc.

Many thanks

Well, how about the Premier Inn near Kings Cross Station? A whole lot of Tube lines there, and plenty of buses too. And in case you're worried about its reputation, the Kings Cross area has been transformed in the last 10-15 years and is upmarket/gentrified now. (Note: I've never tried the Kings Cross Premier Inn, so I can't vouch for that particular one.) Here's the link: http://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-kings-cross.html - looks good to me.

Strumms

Louche Lad wrote: »

Well, how about the Premier Inn near Kings Cross Station? A whole lot of Tube lines there, and plenty of buses too. And in case you're worried about its reputation, the Kings Cross area has been transformed in the last 10-15 years and is upmarket/gentrified now. (Note: I've never tried the Kings Cross Premier Inn, so I can't vouch for that particular one.) Here's the link: http://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-kings-cross.html - looks good to me.

I can personally give the thumbs up to this Premier Inn. It's one of the newer ones. Rooms are a good size and its very short walk ie. 3mins to the tube station. Lots of shops and restaurants around to.

batman1

I'll have a look at that.

I see citylink have a decent looking bus service direct from stansted to st pancras. Would this be better than going by train to liverpool street with luggage? A bit longer journey by bus than train but not much.

Looking at the map it may well tie in well with the premier inn kings cross

cocoman

batman1 wrote: »

I'll have a look at that.

I see citylink have a decent looking bus service direct from stansted to st pancras. Would this be better than going by train to liverpool street with luggage? A bit longer journey by bus than train but not much.

Looking at the map it may well tie in well with the premier inn kings cross

I'm flying to stanstead on Friday and have booked the terravision bus to Stratford (it also goes on to Liverpool St). £4 single which is a great price. Good links at Stratford into the city. It's fairly quick aswell from what I remember from getting it before.

Louche Lad

batman1 wrote: »

I'll have a look at that.

I see citylink have a decent looking bus service direct from stansted to st pancras. Would this be better than going by train to liverpool street with luggage? A bit longer journey by bus than train but not much.

Looking at the map it may well tie in well with the premier inn kings cross

Can't comment on the bus service - never used it.

However, a better option than going to Liverpool Street on the train might be to get off the train at Tottenham Hale, to get the Victoria Tube line to Kings Cross. Don't know it's like with a lot of luggage at Tottenham Hale - does anyone know if there are lifts there?

batman1

I have travelled via liverpool street before, staying near london bridge for work. I'd imagine with kids/luggage it would be a nightmare.

http://www.stanstedcitylink.co.uk/timetables?gclid=COyL57XD28oCFepz2wod_XMOkA

Looking at a map this bus service would be within walking distance of kings cross?

What tube lines are available from Kings cross? The tube map indicates the victoria line and possibly others but I'm no expert at reading the map.

Would it be suitable to then have reasonable access to the main areas of interest/attractions, both by tube/bus and within walking distance?

exiledelbows

http://londonist.com/2016/02/best-way-to-get-to-london-s-airports

Handy, even if it's primarily dealing with getting to, not from, the airports

rainbow kirby

batman1 wrote: »

What tube lines are available from Kings cross? The tube map indicates the victoria line and possibly others but I'm no expert at reading the map.

Northern, Victoria, Piccadilly, Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City and a pile of national rail lines, you're also only a short walk from Euston station. If transport links are your main priority it's a good area to stay in.

batman1

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Northern, Victoria, Piccadilly, Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City and a pile of national rail lines, you're also only a short walk from Euston station. If transport links are your main priority it's a good area to stay in.

Thanks. Transport isn't a priority although having the option for moving around easily is of benefit. The main thing would be to be able to access the main touristy places without too much hassle .

Louche Lad

batman1 wrote: »

Thanks. Transport isn't a priority although having the option for moving around easily is of benefit. The main thing would be to be able to access the main touristy places without too much hassle .

To get to the London Eye from Kings Cross, quickest way is to get the Victoria Line tube and change at Oxford Circus onto the Bakerloo Line - the platforms at Oxford Circus are next to each other - and then go to Waterloo. If you can find it, take the York Road exit from Waterloo Tube to avoid crossing busy roads.

mikedublin

Wondering if anyone knows Gatwick airport well and would know if it is possible to transit from the North to the South Terminal without going 'landside' and needing to re-enter.

I'm arriving on a real late night Easyjet flight that arrives into North Terminal and departing the next morning early on a Ryanair flight from South Terminal.

The hotels at the airport are pretty expensive for what would be only a few hours - plus there is the chance the easy jet flight might be late arriving anyway.

So I am wondering if it is possible to get into the South terminal departures area (after security) as soon as I arrive , or does it close for the night and will I have to wait outside until the security opens ?

Would be interested to know if there is any kind of airside transit lounge so I could have a snooze there. (I've been checking out sleepinginairports website but couldn't find any mention of such a thing)

Thanks if anyone has any information.