02 Arena London...

irishguy1983

Going there in November for the ATP World Tour Tennis.

What would be a good area to stay in close by?? Reasonably priced but don't want to have to travel too far to get too 02 Arena?

Should I fly into Gatwick or Stansted??? Is there much of a difference in terms of where I want to go (ie 02 Arena and stay in area close by)

Have ZERO knowledge on London and its geography.

Cheers in advance

Marcusm

Do you intend to do anything other than attending the tennis? The O2 is the former Millenium Dome on the Greenwich Peninsula which is basically a cleaned up oil storage depot. All the truly local venues will be less than 15 years old and not particularly interesting. It is, however, on the Jubilee tube line meaning you can get to Stratford (Olympic Park and shopping) within 10 minutes and the West end (everything you could possibly want to do in a city) within 20 minutes.

Decide what, if anything, you want to do apart from the tennis and then decide where to stay and which airport to fly into (London City is the closest) after that.

irishguy1983

Marcusm wrote: »

Do you intend to do anything other than attending the tennis? The O2 is the former Millenium Dome on the Greenwich Peninsula which is basically a cleaned up oil storage depot. All the truly local venues will be less than 15 years old and not particularly interesting. It is, however, on the Jubilee tube line meaning you can get to Stratford (Olympic Park and shopping) within 10 minutes and the West end (everything you could possibly want to do in a city) within 20 minutes.

Decide what, if anything, you want to do apart from the tennis and then decide where to stay and which airport to fly into (London City is the closest) after that.

Mainly there for the tennis really.

The ol Man was suggesting Canary Wharf and maybe take a stroll around there for shopping on the Monday night- going with the ol lade so she might like that. What you think of staying there??? Again just want to be within 15 minutes of the venue and be able to get there easily - not have to take 3 buses and swap 10 different tube lines if you get me!!!! The only free time from tennis in the Monday night so might be nice to stroll around somewhere.

Can only do Gatwick or Stansted - which is better for me and where I want to go?

Cheers.

Marcusm

irishguy1983 wrote: »

Mainly there for the tennis really.

The ol Man was suggesting Canary Wharf and maybe take a stroll around there for shopping on the Monday night- going with the ol lade so she might like that. What you think of staying there??? Again just want to be within 15 minutes of the venue and be able to get there easily - not have to take 3 buses and swap 10 different tube lines if you get me!!!! The only free time from tennis in the Monday night so might be nice to stroll around somewhere.

Can only do Gatwick or Stansted - which is better for me and where I want to go?

Cheers.

Canary Wharf has extensive shopping but it's aimed at those who work there meaning small versions of high street shops. I worked there for 8 years and it was great to bring people for targeted shopping there but it's not a browsing location. Additionally, the hotels (a poor Four Seasons, Hilton, Marriott) are business oriented and pricy during the week with few attractions other than being close to meetings etc.

The O2 is on the Jubilee line which is one of the best and most stable connections in all London. Whether the West End or Stratford, you can get there in 10-20 minutes without any changes. If you're not bothered with a London experience per se, there are a number of hotels within Westfield Stratford City which is the huge shopping and entertainment complex within the Olympic Park. The Jubilee line terminus is within the complex. The shopping is Dundrum style but with multiples of the numbers of shops (high street and upmarket like Prada) plus maybe 50-75 different food outlets to suit all budgets. It's a bit soulless but still miles nicer than staying at the O2 or Canary Wharf unless you have business there.

Gatwick is a 30 minute direct route to London Bridge which is on the Jubilee Line. A 10 minute trip to the O2 and 15 or so to Stratford (incl walking time). Stanstead would involve a number of changes unless you were taking a cab.

irishguy1983

Marcusm wrote: »

Canary Wharf has extensive shopping but it's aimed at those who work there meaning small versions of high street shops. I worked there for 8 years and it was great to bring people for targeted shopping there but it's not a browsing location. Additionally, the hotels (a poor Four Seasons, Hilton, Marriott) are business oriented and pricy during the week with few attractions other than being close to meetings etc.

The O2 is on the Jubilee line which is one of the best and most stable connections in all London. Whether the West End or Stratford, you can get there in 10-20 minutes without any changes. If you're not bothered with a London experience per se, there are a number of hotels within Westfield Stratford City which is the huge shopping and entertainment complex within the Olympic Park. The Jubilee line terminus is within the complex. The shopping is Dundrum style but with multiples of the numbers of shops (high street and upmarket like Prada) plus maybe 50-75 different food outlets to suit all budgets. It's a bit soulless but still miles nicer than staying at the O2 or Canary Wharf unless you have business there.

Gatwick is a 30 minute direct route to London Bridge which is on the Jubilee Line. A 10 minute trip to the O2 and 15 or so to Stratford (incl walking time). Stanstead would involve a number of changes unless you were taking a cab.

Cheers - sounds as though no matter what where I stay really in central London I should be able to get out too 02 easy enough.

1 cheeky request - if you know of a reasonable hotel that would be a good location for what I want please let me know

flyguy

As above, Canary Wharf nice to see and shops ok but better off going to Stratford. Greenwich would be a nice place to visit as well (and near). Shame you can't fly to London City as it's 5min from where you want to go.
There are some hotels in royal docks (like Novotel) and from there there's a cable cart direct to the O2 and for other places you can use the dlr/tube.
If you want to stay somewhere different you could try this: http://www.sunbornhotels.com/london (also in royal docks, not cheap I think. You can see a Novotel and ibis on the background of that pic).
Downside is there's nothing much to do near those hotels but since public transport is very good you can get anywhere in a few minutes. I'd advise you to get an Oyster card as well, even if you use it only for a few trips.

S.M.B.

Canary Wharf and Royal Docks are perfect if you are looking for convenience. Plenty of choice in terms of hotels and very close to the venue. Stratford is probably the closest area that would have a bit more activity but most of that would be shopping based.

If you want to try squeeze in a few sights I'd recommend somewhere around Southwark. You'd only be a few stops away from the O2 on the jubilee line while being within 20 minutes walking distance from the likes of Tower Bridge or the London Eye or Big Ben etc. Might not be as appealing in mid November but I'd be more inclined to take my chances on a walk along the river than strolling around the same high street shops you'll find in Ireland.

All depends on what you guys are into though.

theteal

As mentioned before Stratford would be a good base. ~15 mins on Jubilee to the O2. You're also on the Central line if you want to pop into Oxford/Regent Street. Westfield is a stupidly large shopping centre (hell on earth for me, she loves the place!) that has hotels, bars, casino etc all built in and it's next door to the Olympic Park which could be worth a visit. Also if you fly into Stansted you've got a choice of a train or 2 separate bus companies that'll drop you right at the door of Westfield (~40 mins from the airport). I will add though, that old Stratford town outside of the Westfield complex is not an attractive place to go on a trip!


The previous post has actually offered a great alternative imo. I work on the junction of Southwark Bridge/Street and there must be close to 10 hotels in a 200m stretch there. London Bridge tube is a 5 minute walk for your Jubilee train. You're on the south bank of the river, loads to do and see around e.g. 10 minute walk to St Pauls, Borough market is next door to LB station, pubs and restaurants everywhere.