Our Greater London Megathread

angeldaisy

We are heading to the UK next week and plan to spend a day in London. It's just myself, hubby and our 11 yr old son.
He wants to do the Shrek adventure and we all want to go to Harrods (toy dept!).

But what else should we be doing, we've been before so have done a lot of the big tourist sites. I'd like to keep it low key and possibly a little different or unique if possible.
Also if someone could suggest something to do in the early evenings, walks and somewhere to eat possibly.
We are travelling into and out of Waterloo and will be doing either Monday or Tuesday in London.
Thanks

rainbow kirby

Weather forecast isn't too bad into next week, not quite as hot as this week though - if you and your son like to swim maybe one of the outdoor lidos? Parliament Hill Lido at Hampstead Heath is really nice, London Fields is heated.

Kobe248

So guys heading to london for a two day trip

Have booked Harry Potter tour for first day

And bus tour around the city for second

Is there anything I simply must do

shrapnel222

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Weather forecast isn't too bad into next week, not quite as hot as this week though - if you and your son like to swim maybe one of the outdoor lidos? Parliament Hill Lido at Hampstead Heath is really nice, London Fields is heated.

if you're not there by 10am, expect a minimum of an hour queue though.

A walk up hampstead heath or primrose hill is always lovely in the evenings though, even after dinner to watch the sun set.

wolfmoon87

Kobe248 wrote: »

So guys heading to london for a two day trip

Have booked Harry Potter tour for first day

And bus tour around the city for second

Is there anything I simply must do

Sky Garden is great, and it's free.

mahamageehad

Hey travel boardsies!

I was hoping some of you might be able to help me out with storage in London! I'm flying from Frankfurt to Heathrow tomorrow at lunch, and from there I'm heading to Chessington for family reasons for the night. On Saturday at lunch I'll be heading back to London for the weekend. I'm staying at a hotel at Westminster.

I'll have a big suitcase with me as I'm heading to Ireland for a fortnight (:)), but I really don't want to have to drag my bag on public transport all the way to and from Chessington when I'm only going to be there a night. I imagine that hotels at the best of times would be wary of taking suitcases in advance and especially with the current climate that's a no-go. Can anyone recommend large storage lockers that are easily accessible and secure? I've seen that some of the train stations have storage facilities and there are some private ones, but do I need to worry about availability? Would appreciate some advice from anyone on the ground there!

Thanks a million!

whomitconcerns

Have you called the hotel? No use imagining they won't allow it?

mahamageehad

whomitconcerns wrote: »

Have you called the hotel? No use imagining they won't allow it?

No, I haven't. They're a budget hotel that charges for early check in so I can't imagine they'd take the bags. I also thought with the whole red alert on terror thing, places would be a bit more wary of accepting a bag in this way. I can give them a call sure, I just assumed that storage at a station or something like that might be easier.

whomitconcerns

Hotel deffo easier and budget hotels do it too. There is no alert in London. All grand here. Don't mind them feckers

Vic_08

mahamageehad wrote: »

No, I haven't. They're a budget hotel that charges for early check in so I can't imagine they'd take the bags. I also thought with the whole red alert on terror thing, places would be a bit more wary of accepting a bag in this way. I can give them a call sure, I just assumed that storage at a station or something like that might be easier.

There are no storage lockers at train stations, they were taken out due to the IRA and were never put back in.

The main stations have manned left luggage facilities with full security checks. Beware the opening hours as you cannot access them 24/7 although most are open 7am-10/11pm.

Both Paddington (Heathrow Express, Heathrow Connect) and Waterloo (Chessington) have facilities as does Heathrow itself in all terminals.

Excess Baggage operate all these and most others. They aren't the cheapest though, around £10/day.

emerald27

Hi there,

My mum and I are planning on visiting London for a few days. Just wondering what's the best sightseeing group to go with? I've looked mainly at Londontours.ie, 2 for 1 London Tours and Viator. Has anyone had any experience of going on tours with these companies? Or would anyone recommend any other company which does organised tours? The main places we'd like to see are Buckingham Palace, the London Eye and Madame Tussauds. Also, does anyone know of any nice, reasonably priced places to stay near Gatwick?

Thank you.

Deise_2012

Hi all,

I'm going to London for 3 days with my girlfriend in 2 weeks but we haven't booked any accommodation yet. I haven't been to London before so I was wondering, where would be the best area to stay? We're flying into Gatwick.
We'd like to be close to central London as we're planning to see the museums, Westminister Abbey etc etc
If you could give any suggestions it would be great, Thanks!!

finbarrk

This place isn't too bad. Premier Inn.
http://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-city-tower-hill.html?cid=GLBC_LONCIT

WindfarmLad

Passenger numbers at Gatwick grew to 41.7 million paseengers up to July 2016 in 12 month figures. I saw this on the website but I can not post a link yet. Which is the better opition a 3rd runway at Heathrow or 2nd runway at Gatwick?

coylemj

WindfarmLad wrote: »

Which is the better opition a 3rd runway at Heathrow or 2nd runway at Gatwick?

That's a matter for the UK government and possibly a discussion thread in the Aviation forum.

If you are flying to Gatwick DO NOT get the Gatwick Express or indeed any Southern Trains service if you can avoid them. The 'Express' is not much faster to Victoria than Thameslink is to London Bridge, and about three times the price! Plus you can use Oyster on Thameslink if you have one which makes it super easy.

Southern Trains in general are a joke of a 'service', regular cancellations and over-crowded trains are a constant issue.

athtrasna

[Deleted User] wrote: »

If you are flying to Gatwick DO NOT get the Gatwick Express or indeed any Southern Trains service if you can avoid them. The 'Express' is not much faster to Victoria than Thameslink is to London Bridge, and about three times the price! Plus you can use Oyster on Thameslink if you have one which makes it super easy.

Southern Trains in general are a joke of a 'service', regular cancellations and over-crowded trains are a constant issue.

I've been using southern trains to and from Gatwick for years and never had a problem yet.

athtrasna

athtrasna wrote: »

I've been using southern trains to and from Gatwick for years and never had a problem yet.

You've been extremely lucky.

http://www.southernrailway.com

Plenty of service disruption to read about there, including a temporary timetable that means no more Gatwick Express every 15 minutes. And that's if they stick to it.

Locker10a

athtrasna wrote: »

[Deleted User] wrote: »

If you are flying to Gatwick DO NOT get the Gatwick Express or indeed any Southern Trains service if you can avoid them. The 'Express' is not much faster to Victoria than Thameslink is to London Bridge, and about three times the price! Plus you can use Oyster on Thameslink if you have one which makes it super easy.

Southern Trains in general are a joke of a 'service', regular cancellations and over-crowded trains are a constant issue.

I've been using southern trains to and from Gatwick for years and never had a problem yet.

I've had the punishment of using them recently, absolute chaos is the only way I can describe their operations

Shint0

Locker10a wrote: »

I've had the punishment of using them recently, absolute chaos is the only way I can describe their operations

How recent was this? I've had to use it a few times this year and no problems. Next month I will be over twice so I might need to rethink if people are experiencing problems lately.

Locker10a

Shint0 wrote: »

Locker10a wrote: »

I've had the punishment of using them recently, absolute chaos is the only way I can describe their operations

How recent was this? I've had to use it a few times this year and no problems. Next month I will be over twice so I might need to rethink if people are experiencing problems lately.

I last used them a matter of days ago, their issues are ongoing, AVOID is all I can say!!

Padraig Mor

Deleted User wrote: »

The 'Express' is not much faster to Victoria than Thameslink is to London Bridge, and about three times the price! .

It's actually 1 minute slower than Thameslink IIRC!

Oyster fare off peak from Gatwick to central London (Thameslink / Southern) is good at £8. Problem is it triggers a very high daily cap on your Oyster (£19!!!) so, if you're going to be using your Oyster card the same day in London, you're better off paying the Gatwick fare using your contactless debit card (same price as Oyster).

coylemj

There is an ongoing industrial dispute at southern trains so the issues mentioned above may not be a permanent feature of their service.

Vic_08

Padraig Mor wrote: »

It's actually 1 minute slower than Thameslink IIRC!

Gatwick Express is a ridiculous price, both on paper tickets and Oyster. Not only that but the new trains they are bring in are less comfortable than the old ones and many of the Southern trains.

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Oyster fare off peak from Gatwick to central London (Thameslink / Southern) is good at £8. Problem is it triggers a very high daily cap on your Oyster (£19!!!) so, if you're going to be using your Oyster card the same day in London, you're better off paying the Gatwick fare using your contactless debit card (same price as Oyster).

For that situation as long as you are not in a rush the cheapest would be to use contactless Gatwick to East Croydon, go to barriers tag out, tag in with Oyster card and use as normal with the standard cap.

Gatwick - Croydon on oyster/contactless is £3 plus whatever rates your bank charges (a contactless Revolut card works on TfL as long as you have at least £10 on it).

mikedublin

Hi, would anyone know if there is a minimum amount to top up an oyster card by ? And do the top up machines tell you the balance before hand ? Wanted to top it up at Heathrow by just 5 pounds for the one way journey into zone 1, thanks,

rainbow kirby

No minimum top-up. Topping up by a fiver is pretty standard. They do display a balance.

Padraig Mor

I think (wrongly?) there is a minimum top up of £5 if paying bay card, but you can load on any amount of cash.

Jamie2k9

If I want to purchase a regular oyster card can I use my Irish address or can I just make one up in London. Frequent traveler in London and fed up of queuing for tickets.

Poochie05

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

If I want to purchase a regular oyster card can I use my Irish address or can I just make one up in London. Frequent traveler in London and fed up of queuing for tickets.

I used my regular address but put in the Belfast post office postcode as you needed a UK postcode to view my account online.

Fred Swanson

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