Our Greater London Megathread

Fred Swanson

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gizmo81

andrew1977 wrote: »

gizmo81 wrote: »

No worries, you won't be fleeced as it only takes per journey up to the cap.

You need a minimum of £14.20 to go from Gatwick into London. That first day just have £20 on. Then the next day just check your balance on the machine, there's these big yellow pads where you can tap and find out balance, top up etc.

Anything you don't spend you can get back under £!0 at machines, or via post, visitor centre refund not available at Gatwick.

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card#on-this-page-4

Great information and help, really appreciate it.
A tenner a day for each of us on the non airport days will get us around London on tubes no hassle? What about buses ? This cover us also if we need it?
The main journies we will be doing is out to millwall for the game and Wembley and it looks like the tube covers us for both journies.
I enjoy walking around cities exploring so I guess when we get towards the sights and tourist areas, we will wander from place to place.

Yeh the buses are covered too. £10 will be plenty, Wembley will be in zone 4 so the max fare cap that day is £9.50.

Also check out

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/visitor-new-latest.pdf

From what I see The Oyster card will have some special offers, not sure what kids are into but like Planet Hollywood Ripleys Believe it or not, and M&M World are listed

I like to get a Shake Shack Burger when I'm over, one in Covent Garden, new one Leicester Square. Not fancy but a bit of a novelty.

Afroshack

He would love Camden so bring him there for sure.
Also consider the natural history museum, its got dinosaurs, big animals, volcanoes, earthquakes, outer space, its a savage place for a wander and totally free. One of the boat tours down the Thames could be fun too.

rossie1977

Wembley stadium tour, London dungeon, Madame Tussauds

Vic_08

If going to any of the major paid attractions and theatre shows it may be worth using the 2for1 offer for rail ticket holders.

https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london

You need to have a valid rail ticket for the day you visit. This can be a Travelcard (unlimited ticket for a day for £12.30, same validity as oyster on all Underground, Rail, Buses, Trams but a bit more expensive) but it must be bought at a Rail station not Underground station or ticket machine.

Alternatively keep using oyster for travel and buy a cheap Rail ticket just to get into the 2for1 offers. I think it is around £3.50 for the cheapest ticket available with a London destination.

gizmo81

Have a 7:30 am flight to London this week, is it safe enough to arrive at Dublin Airport at 6am?

I know they were advising 3 hours in advance a couple of weeks back.

nc6000

gizmo81 wrote: »

Have a 7:30 am flight to London this week, is it safe enough to arrive at Dublin Airport at 6am?

I know they were advising 3 hours in advance a couple of weeks back.

I would personally say that's a bit tight especially if you are delayed at all. Are you driving to the airport?

gizmo81

nc6000 wrote: »

I would personally say that's a bit tight especially if you are delayed at all. Are you driving to the airport?

No a taxi from City Centre at 5.30am.

Fred Swanson

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theteal

gizmo81 wrote: »

No a taxi from City Centre at 5.30am.

Without bags to check in, that's loads of time

gizmo81

Thanks all, no bags, do this trip frequently just the recent news thought i better double check.

Padraig Mor

gizmo81 wrote: »

It is confusing tbh. Don't get the Gatwick express, you arrive at 9am so make your way to the train station in Gatwick, top up and you'll arrive into London after 9.30 so it's off-peak. I always do this and it's grand, there's frequent trains direct into Victoria in around 35 minutes.

For the rest of your trip just keep it topped up, the biggest fare will be on the day into london and on the return, the rest it'll be a much smaller Daily Cap.

Day one daily cap including Gatwick £19.30 (A single ticket on southern is about £15 no tube)
Day two you'll probably stay within zone 1-2 so the day off peak cap is £6.60 (Millwall FC is near Canada Water or South Quays both in zone 2)

On the return day then the £19.30 to get back to Gatwick depending on flight time.

CityMapper is a great app for getting around London.

I do things a bit differently - and cheaper. Use a contactless bank card to pay for the Gatwick - London rail journey (touch in and out) and then top up and use the Oyster for all the running around - then use bank card again for trip back to airport. Doing it this way avoids the ridiculous £19 cap and also means you don't have to join the normally enormous ticket queue at Gatwick. Cap instead will be £7/8 (depending on zones used), plus £8.10 each way for the airport rail.

Was at the Sky Garden recently and would highly recommend it - being free it sure beats paying £25 for the same thing at the Shard!

Vic_08

Padraig Mor wrote: »

I do things a bit differently - and cheaper. Use a contactless bank card to pay for the Gatwick - London rail journey (touch in and out) and then top up and use the Oyster for all the running around - then use bank card again for trip back to airport. Doing it this way avoids the ridiculous £19 cap and also means you don't have to join the normally enormous ticket queue at Gatwick. Cap instead will be £7/8 (depending on zones used), plus £8.10 each way for the airport rail.

If you are not in a massive rush and want to save a fiver then take the first fast train to East Croydon, exit the station barriers, re-enter and catch the next train.

Gatwick - East Croydon is £3 off peak or £5.20 Peak (Mondays-Fridays 0630-0930 and 1600-1900) on Oyster/contactless.

It should add that on as a single journey to the zone 5 cap if you do it on one ticket but there are some oddities with Gatwick so I'm not 100%, better to use the two cards if you're likely to go over the regular zone cap in the same day.

Muahahaha

Is this possible? To arrive into Stanstead Train Station at 06.00 on a Monday morning and make a 06.45 flight? No bag and online check-in and a fair jogging pace.

Also anyone got any tips on cheaper tickets for West End shows, everything Im looking at is over 100 euro which is pretty pricey.

gizmo81

Muahahaha wrote: »

Is this possible? To arrive into Stanstead Train Station at 06.00 on a Monday morning and make a 06.45 flight? No bag and online check-in and a fair jogging pace.

Also anyone got any tips on cheaper tickets for West End shows, everything Im looking at is over 100 euro which is pretty pricey.

TKTS which is known as the 'half-price ticket booth' on Leicester Square, an actual hut on the green.

http://www.tkts.co.uk/whats-on-sale/

They will have tickets for the majority of shows.

If you tell me what shows your thinking of, I've seen a fair few, some will have day seats if you go to the box office from 10am and some will have lotteries.

Cocobongo

Muahahaha wrote: »

Is this possible? To arrive into Stanstead Train Station at 06.00 on a Monday morning and make a 06.45 flight? No bag and online check-in and a fair jogging pace.

Also anyone got any tips on cheaper tickets for West End shows, everything Im looking at is over 100 euro which is pretty pricey.

Could be tricky with the security, although there is a different security checkpoint entrance for fast track that you can pay a fiver for

gizmo81

I stayed in YotelAir in Gatwick the other night. Funny little hotel, no windows, so air con was a bit smelly at first, only there 5 hours so was grand.

I walked out of the hotel by the arrivals hall up an escalator and through security in 5 minutes at 7am. Couldn't believe it.

Quintis

Hey, looking to get in and out to Wembley from Dublin on the same day, which London airport would be the best/easiest for getting to Wembley?

MTIA!

schemingbohemia

have a look in the London mega thread stickied above it was referenced there.

Quintis

schemingbohemia wrote: »

have a look in the London mega thread stickied above it was referenced there.

Cool, thanks!

whomitconcerns

Luton is the closest (well Heathrow is closer but you will have more changes and more expensive and you only Dave 10 mins anyway). Luton airport parkway, London bound train to West Hampstead parkway. 3 stops. Then jubilee line 5 stops to Wembley.

Or £40 or so with an uber

nc6000

Quintis wrote: »

Hey, looking to get in and out to Wembley from Dublin on the same day, which London airport would be the best/easiest for getting to Wembley?

MTIA!

What about flying into London City then you can get the DLR and switch to the Tube? Takes about an hour to get to Wembley.

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

whomitconcerns

nc6000 wrote: »

Quintis wrote: »

Hey, looking to get in and out to Wembley from Dublin on the same day, which London airport would be the best/easiest for getting to Wembley?

MTIA!

What about flying into London City then you can get the DLR and switch to the Tube? Takes about an hour to get to Wembley.

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

That is the best option if you can get cheap flights. DLR from airport to canning town (2 stops) and then jubilee line all the way to Wembley.

whomitconcerns

nc6000 wrote: »

Quintis wrote: »

Hey, looking to get in and out to Wembley from Dublin on the same day, which London airport would be the best/easiest for getting to Wembley?

MTIA!

What about flying into London City then you can get the DLR and switch to the Tube? Takes about an hour to get to Wembley.

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

That is the best option if you can get cheap flights. DLR from airport to canning town (2 stops) and then jubilee line all the way to Wembley.

highlydebased

For where you are most likely to find the cheapest flights to....

Luton - bus to airport parkway then train to West Hampstead Thameslink (fast trains are approx 25 mins journey), then cross the road to the Jubilee line station and 10 min to Wembley Park, fastest option.

Stansted - Stansted Express to Liverpool St (1 hour) then Metropolitan line from there to Wembley Park, (20 odd min)

If you fly to LCY as mentioned above, change from Jubilee to Metropolitan line at Finchley Rd (it's a cross platform change) to save around 5 mins (metropolitan runs fast from Finchley rd to Wembley Park)

andrew1977

Back again looking for more London fare/travel advice on public transport.

Arrive Gatwick Saturday morning, going to take the southern rail train into Victoria, might take the tube then to oxford circus etc, then in the afternoon going to Millwall to take in a game, back to the Victoria that evening and train back out to Gatwick for flight option.

I have 2 oyster cards from previous trip, I know with " daily caps " etc there is a cap, will 20 quid on each card ( two of us travelling ) do us for the train return and some tube journeys for the day ?

Thanks

highlydebased

andrew1977 wrote: »

Back again looking for more London fare/travel advice on public transport.

Arrive Gatwick Saturday morning, going to take the southern rail train into Victoria, might take the tube then to oxford circus etc, then in the afternoon going to Millwall to take in a game, back to the Victoria that evening and train back out to Gatwick for flight option.

I have 2 oyster cards from previous trip, I know with " daily caps " etc there is a cap, will 20 quid on each card ( two of us travelling ) do us for the train return and some tube journeys for the day ?

Thanks

Might have to put a fiver more on each to be safe. It's £8.10 single to/from Gatwick offpeak (inc sat)

However, you could potentially have much less on the card when you are travelling back to Gatwick as it would let you through the barrier at Victoria with probably the minimum Z1-2 fare. The card would go into minus when you exit at Gatwick and you could just top it up next time/get a new card. It's a little bit sneaky!

andrew1977

highlydebased wrote: »

Might have to put a fiver more on each to be safe. It's £8.10 single to/from Gatwick offpeak (inc sat)

However, you could potentially have much less on the card when you are travelling back to Gatwick as it would let you through the barrier at Victoria with probably the minimum Z1-2 fare. The card would go into minus when you exit at Gatwick and you could just top it up next time/get a new card. It's a little bit sneaky!

Thanks for the help, southern railway customer service told me today I can purchase a travel card
Off peak day return ticket for £15.80 which will get me unlimited travel on trains buses and tubes , zones 1 to 6.

Does this seem right? I have my doubts and went back to their customer service a few times to confirm it and they assure me it's fine. (I don't have a travel card, but they said I don't need one, it's just called that fare type for off peak Saturday option?
Seems very cheap for whizzing round London for the day ??
The fare is there alright on the southern railway website , just strikes me as very cheap.

Fred Swanson

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whomitconcerns

Train to Gatwick won't fall under the daily cap. Your tube journeys all will but your zone 1 and 2 so it's 6/7 quid. Your Gatwick train will be at least a tenner each way.