Eeyoredagreat

I am reposting my forum and hoping somebody can suggest anything.

I was able to book some tours form Tours by Locals Istanbul and Kusadassi.

It is my second time in Kusadassi, so we booked a tour to Pamukkale. It is a 9 hour tour but since this is our private group tour we can pick and choose how long we are going to be. Is it reasonable to go to Pamukalle? anyone have done it?

Athens, I have two days. Easy to do DIY?

I  have 10 ports to visit but I know most of these ports does not need tours. We can DIY. I need major help for any shore excursions or no need to do shore excursions. Just taxi around?Need recommendations on tour groups because we know ship's excursions are always more expensive. So here are my ports:

I have 10 ports to visit but I know most of these ports does not need tours. We can DIY. I need major help for any shore excursions or no need to do shore excursions. Just taxi around?Need recommendations on tour groups because we know ship's excursions are always more expensive. So here are my ports:

It all depends where you want to go or do and how much you like walking. If it is a single ride yes buy tickets each time. If you use tram or bus about 4 times a day or more buy a day or multi dayticket ticket for bus and trams, more here: https://en.gvb.nl/gvb-dag-meerdagenkaart

Be aware again trams are cashless, so you need a creditcard or bankcard that works if you buy single tickets. From Amstel station to the centre is 2 zones. http://maps.gvb.nl/en/zones

Thank you for the info. Some members of my group bought the I Amsterdam Card and their pass includes all GVB. Does it cover the Amstel station to the center or do they need to purchase tram tickets to connect to the center.

I bought the museum card for Amsterdam and it includes the round trip ticket from Airport to Amsterdam and back. I am staying in Amsterdam for 3 days and my hotel is near the Amstel station.

My question is, is it worth buying the all in one Amsterdam Travel ticket which covers 3 days of unlimited use of the trams and round trip to airport.

I already have the round trip covered all I need is the ride around Amsterdam and from hotel near Amstel station to Amsterdam.

Somebody told me its cheaper to buy the 2.50 one way train since Amsterdam is walkable that I don't need to use the train that much. 3 days is 26.00 Euro unlimited

Amsterdam is very compact with excellent public transport. Nothing is realy far apart. You can check google maps and see where the cruise terminal, Dam, Museums etc. are located.

I bought the museum card for Amsterdam and it includes the round trip ticket from Airport to Amsterdam and back. I am staying in Amsterdam for 3 days and my hotel is near the Amstel station.

My question is, is it worth buying the all in one Amsterdam Travel ticket which covers 3 days of unlimited use of the trams and round trip to airport.

I already have the round trip covered all I need is the ride around Amsterdam and from hotel near Amstel station to Amsterdam.

Somebody told me its cheaper to buy the 2.50 one way train since Amsterdam is walkable that I don't need to use the train that much. 3 days is 26.00 Euro unlimited

Try Pret A Manger instead of MacDonalds....great fast food option instead we thought.

Thank you!

As popular as Indian food is (given that it is no longer regarded as foreign cuisine - nor is Chinese food), I would hazard a guess that Indian restaurants account for fewer than 1 in 20 restaurants in London. Possibly far fewer.

 

People will routinely have a curry precisely because it's not foreign food any more. Like chop suey is to the US, there are plenty of dishes on the menus of Indian restaurants in the UK that simply cannot be found on the Indian subcontinent because they are unknown there.

 

Give us a clue, perhaps, as to what you do like rather than what you don't?

I really have no clue what your typical English food is other than fish and chips. That is the reason why except for Indian food, I wanted other recommendations. But please , That is fine. when we get there, we will eat whatever that will fancy us, since London is an international city when it comes to gourmet among other things, I am sure we will find something interesting other than Indian food.

If you want traditional London fayre then http://www.goddardsatgreenwich.co.uk/ (Pie, mash and liquor) might be worth a visit (I have not been there myself).

Thank You! It looks delicious. May have to visit Greenwich

From Piccadilly Circus it is a short walk up Shaftesbury Avenue then turn right into Wardour Street to get to Chinatown (IMHO the better restaurants are in Lisle Street rather than Gerrard Street).

Thank you so much.

What an odd thing to say [emoji846] There are dozens of good restaurants in London, only some of which serve Indian food. I recommended Mint to the other poster for the long cocktail bar, not the restaurant.

 

 

 

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My apologies. I knew it will come out as an odd comment. What I meant was I heard that London is a mecca for Indian Restaurants. I am just not fond of Indian food. Just asking for recommendations for other food place If all else fails, pretty sure there is a MacDonalds around the corner.

The Mint Leaf towards the bottom of Haymarket has a long cocktail bar - http://www.mintleaflondon.com/piccadilly/cocktailbar Or there is, of course, the Rivoli Bar at the Ritz if you want to dress up and spend £20+ per drink [emoji846]

 

My favourite pub round there would be the Red Lion in Duke of York Street (just off Jermyn Street), which is tiny so be prepared to stand outside if the weather is good. Also the Chequers in Duke Street St James’s.

 

I can’t think of anywhere in the area I would describe as a gastropub, but maybe you mean good pub food? Either of the above, if you can get a table, or the Clarence in Dover Street maybe.

 

 

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This maybe sacrilegious to Londoners but I don't like Indian food and I heard that most of the popular restaurants serves Indian food. I would rather settle for fish and chips. I was thinking if going to Covent Garden or Burrough market would be the best places to try other popular dishes. Am I right?

If it's any consolation, Megatrain don't even offer the Southampton route now.

The South-west train operator, which was a partner in megatrain/megabus, lost the franchise about a year ago & the new operator apparently didn't want to take over the megatrain involvement.

 

Southeastern operate London / Dover trains - like most routes in/out of London the advance purchase fare varies widely according to the time of day - broadly £10 to £40 pp one-way. So even for 7 pax it might be cheaper than a van if the timing is right & if your destination is near

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

By bus is always cheaper on this route - £5 to £9 pp one-way.

(nearest pick-up in Dover is Pencaster Road. But for journeys to Dover, the driver usually offers to drop cruisers at the cruise terminal)

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

The location of your hotel in London will affect your choice of transport, for both cost & convenience.

 

JB :)

We are coming from Paddington. Victoria Coach is the nearest for the National express bus. I think its better to taxi or Uber to Victoria Coach to catch the bus. In London Toolkit, there is this taxi company thru the website http://www.taxireservations who will offer a van for us door to door that will come out like 26GBP per person. I thought this was perfect but after reading the reviews here, I am having second thoughts or am I just being paranoid.

So my question is in your honest opinion, is it safer to take the National express bus, Train from Victoria Rail (how much is it?) or taxi website to Dover. Which would YOU take as a choice. Don't worry, it does not mean I will follow your choice because I have to present this to the rest of my party and majority always rules.

Other than a private transfer, three main choices..................

 

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

Direct National Express bus.

They leave from Victoria Coach Station, a short walk down the road from Victoria Rail Station.

Destination is Southampton Coach Station.

Broadly an hourly service, journey time about 2hrs 15, fare £8 to £10.Booking is strongly recommended because the buses don't have elastic sides.

 

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Direct train service.from London Victoria train station to Southampton Central.

Broadly an hourly service, journey time about 2hrs 20, fare about £30.

I'm not sure if the walk-up fare is a little higher, but an advance ticket is good for any of those direct trains.

This is an unusually slow route (trains from London Waterloo are about an hour quicker), because instead of the obvious bee-line route it goes two sides of a triangle - south past Gatwick airport to the coast, & then west to Southampton. No change of train, and an attractive route - but a slow one.

There are plenty of other (and quicker) trains from London Victoria but they're more expensive and include at least one change of train, so best avoided.

 

Direct train service from London Waterloo

Broadly three trains per hour, journey time about 1hr 30, fare about £40.

First you'll need to travel from your Victoria hotel to Waterloo by a tube (or, with luggage, preferably a taxi costing around £12 to £15), so although it's a frequent service it's quite expensive.

BUT.......

If you book in advance through

www.megatrain.com

tickets only cost between £1 (not a typo) and £10.

Megatrain is a trusted website, set up by a consortium of travel operators (including SouthWest Trains, which operates this route) to sell bucket-price tickets on under-utilised trains.

The bucket-price fares come with restrictions

- must be pre-booked. Tickets available from about 6 weeks out, prices are fluid so earliest booking gets the best price. If your date is too far out, use a dummy date to see times & prices.

- only available on a few trains each day, but two or three of those trains suit a cruiser's timetable.

- ticket is valid for the booked time only. If you miss that train you'll have to throw away the ticket & buy a regular ticket at walk-up fares (£40) - but of course you can then take any of the three trains per hour.

- no Megatrain tickets on the London Victoria trains, or on sundays, or in the Southampton to London direction until the afternoon.

(remember, from a Victoria hotel you'll need the tube or a taxi to London Waterloo)

 

From Southampton Coach Station or Central Rail Station you'll need a taxi to the pier - £5 to £10 depending which cruise terminal.

 

You also have options of

- ship's transfer bus, Most cruise lines offer a bus transfer from central London to the ship, usually from Victoria coach station. Might not be available unless you take their pre-cruise hotel package. Ships' transfer buses tend to be over-priced, so a Nat Express bus from the same place plus taxi to the pier will be a lot cheaper.

- CruiseTour bus service from your hotel to the ship via a stop at Stonehenge. Operated by International Friends, a respected London coach tour operator. £84 pp including Stonehenge admission.

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_from_london_shared_bus.html

That London Toolkit website is an excellent source for logistics in London and at London airports and seaports - check out their other pages. But, as per posts on this thread, be aware that some of their private transfer offerings are seriously over-priced.

 

JB :)

Hello

I am looking for transport to Dover Cruise terminal for party of 7. Too bad Mega trains does not offer to Dover

It’s tough until you actually get here and start to see how it works in practice! I think London’s system is actually quite a lot easier to navigate than NYC. And there are usually a bunch of alternatives, which is good for when things break down.

 

Those of us who have lived and worked in London carry a mental map of the Tube around. I spend much of my time in the Cotswolds these days and am thoroughly ashamed when I have to pause to consult an actual map (which, unlike my experience in NYC, you will find in every carriage and on every platform)!

 

Most of tourist London is inside or just outside the Circle line, the yellow line that forms a ‘bottle on its side’ shape in the centre of the map. That’s the bit you’ll really need.

 

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I know what you mean, From my experience, European rail systems are so organized and easy to follow and on time to top it off!

I will blindly trust you all Londoners because you know your city by heart;p;p

You mentioned earlier in this thread using the TfL tool, so I am surprised you didn’t look at the Maps section on that website, which has all the maps you could need and more!

 

This is the standard Tube map. Victoria line light blue, Bakerloo in brown.

 

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf

 

 

 

 

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Yes I did see that map and my eyes glazed. It's as complicated as the NY subway. I will look at it more closely now since you have given me where to go.

Thank you!

That information is all in the ‘About Us’ section of the website that you recommended yourself...

 

“The volunteers of the Forth Bridges’ Tourist Group provide a warm welcome to cruise ship passengers for Edinburgh arriving at Rosyth, South Queensferry , Newhaven and Leith.

 

In March 2015 we were winners of the Visit Scotland Thistle Awards in the Warmest Welcome category

 

Our main interest is to promote the many local visitor attractions for those visitors who are looking for something different to do.

 

On some occasions we come on board ship with maps and local visitor leaflets to provide a Hospitality Desk. At Rosyth and Leith you will find us in the terminal building, and in South Queensferry we look forward to welcoming you as you arrive by tender from your ship. At Leith we are in the cruise terminal building. At Newhaven you will find us on the quayside. Look out for our purple uniforms and a sunny Scottish smile.”

 

 

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Thank you so much. Your Website has helped me a lot. I will definitely will meet and greet just to thank you personally. Can you confirm what the taxi company has recommended:

Taxi will pick us up from the port - we are a party of 7. Baxter cabs is offering:

Aug. 23

Rosyth to Hop on Hop hop off to pick up tickets - £45.00

They suggested to purchase ticket of Hop on Hop of tickets with skip the line entry for Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood and Britannia

Doable we can do all this for one day?

Edinburgh to Rosyth - £45.00

Aug. 24

Rosyth Roslin chapel and return - £140.00

Yes, of course, you can take a taxi to Paddington.

 

By tube, take the Victoria line to Oxford Circus and change there to the Bakerloo line for Paddington. This is a famously easy change of lines, the two platforms are adjacent through a short passageway, follow the signs for Bakerloo northbound.

 

I am visual person. Is there a way I can see a tube map showing what lines you are telling me to take?

 

I will throw a wrench here. I thought I was settled and ready to book a taxi service from London Toolkit for my party. It was a door to door service from our hotel to Dover. But I read some reviews and they are mixed.

 

I know there is a train that you catch at Victoria Station or national express bus. Any suggestion?

Yes, of course, you can take a taxi to Paddington.

 

By tube, take the Victoria line to Oxford Circus and change there to the Bakerloo line for Paddington. This is a famously easy change of lines, the two platforms are adjacent through a short passageway, follow the signs for Bakerloo northbound.

 

 

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will it be easy taking that train with a luggage?

Thank you for recommending cruise forth. We are volunteers and will be at the port (in our purple uniform) when you arrive. Are you sure you mean Rosyth castle and not Rosslyn Chapel? Rosyth Castle cannot be visited because it is in a dangerous condition.

When you say you are volunteers wearing purple uniforms what do you mean by that. What do you service?

Thank you for recommending cruise forth. We are volunteers and will be at the port (in our purple uniform) when you arrive. Are you sure you mean Rosyth castle and not Rosslyn Chapel? Rosyth Castle cannot be visited because it is in a dangerous condition.

I am getting confused! yes Roslyn Chapel - Dan Brown's Da Vinci code

I did mean a taxi to the airport. It isn't cheap, but lots of people do it, and also in the reverse direction: that is why there are hundreds of taxis queued up at Heathrow airport waiting to take people into town, and for the most part that is how the hundreds of taxis got to Heathrow to begin with.

 

Which option is right for you depends in large part on how much you want to spend, how much comfort you want to do it in, how much flexibility you want, and what you think of the alternative options. If you are near the Tube at Victoria, then that is an obvious option at the opposite end of the cost spectrum.

How about connecting to Paddington and taking the HEX? is that doable? if so, ride a taxi to Paddington?

Thanks Eeyore! I will check out the cruiseforth site for sure. We are in Newhaven port, will probably go with the Majestic HOHO which actually does a stop there. As well, NCL is now offering a transportation bus into the city and back again . Expensive but would work out to the same a taxi with the exchange...so another option I guess.

Good luck on your search. I have yet to check with Princess Pacific if they offer shuttle to the city. Anyways, we want to go Roslyn Chapel and we are using Taxi all the way as it is cheaper than taking the ship's excursion.

Gatwick Express is a train, so it will go to the railway station.

 

"Westminster" is meaningless in this context. It's an administrative area, and it would probably take about 90 minutes to walk from one side of it to the other, depending on your speed.

 

Everywhere in central London is walkable, if you like walking and you have the time for it. I reckon that walking from Victoria to the British Museum would probably take about 60 minutes.

 

I think we will do a leisure walk to the British Museum because there so much to see on the way there and back. We are in no hurry.

 

If your hotel is near Victoria coach station, then the coach could be a good idea; Sunday morning traffic is light. If your hotel is near Victoria Tube station and you can carry your luggage down stairs equivalent to about one storey, then District Line Tube to Barons Court (or Hammersmith in inclement weather) and cross-platform change to the Piccadilly Line. Or get a car transfer or a taxi.

 

what do you mean take a taxi? Taxi to airport? Won't that be expensive? Or taxi to Picadilly line. We are near the Tube rather than the coach.

All these talk about HEX is confusing me. I need help connecting to the airports, so here goes:

1. Ariving in August and landing in Gatwick Airport. I need to take the Gatwick Express to get to my hotel for an overnight stay near the Victoria Station. Which Victoria station do I go down? TFL always ask if its Victoria Rail or Victoria Coach. So where do I end up if I take the Gatwick express

2. I want to go to British Museum. Is it walkable from Westminster Borough where my hotel is?

3. Next day, need to catch a plane at Heathrow airport for Geneva. Best way to get there if your Hotel is near the Victoria Station. London Toolkit website also suggested the National Express bus. Is that a good suggestion. Leaving for Heathrow on a Sunday.

4. I will be back in London 10 days after. Arriving from Heathrow. Taking Heathrow express to Paddington. we have purchased the 90 day advance ticket. Our hotel is walking distance from the Paddington Station. Yes, we tried to book our hotels near major stations. Staying in London for 3 days before catching our cruise from Dover. We are planning to purchase the 3 day London Pass for sightseeing and are booking the door to door taxi service from Hotel to Dover Cruise Terminal. That London Toolkit website is a big help.

My question is one of my party is not joining the cruise. He needs to catch the flight back home at Gatwick airport. Best way to get to Gatwick Airport from Paddington area? Flight is in the morning on a weekday.

Does anyone know if taxi's are abundant at the Newhaven Pier, Holyrood and at the Royal Yacht? I thin they are not too expensive as the distances between these places is not too great?

Hi Cleobella

Which Port are you landing in Edinburgh? My cruise is in August and taking Pacific Princess my port will be Rosyth.

Check this website big help on all info and excursions http://www.cruiseforth.com

I was able to arrange for Taxi pickup for party of 7. Taxi company suggested I take the hop on hop off with skip the line entrances for Edinburgh Castle, Britannia and Holyrood Palace. They will pick us from the port and drop us off where we pick up the hop on hop off tickets and will pick us up at the end of the day.

I have 2 days port stay in Edinburgh. I have arranged to go to Rosyth Castle on one of those days.

I try not to take the excursions offered by the cruise line as I find them too expensive.