London???

[cruisergrandma]

Our flight home from transatlantic has a layover in London. We will be there from 8:30 p.m. one day to noon the next. Any advice on what can be seen during these hours? Anyone know of a private driver who might do an evening tour? Any hotel advice? What is must see?

[Globaliser]

Which airlines and airports are involved, and routes? And are those the arrival and departure times of your flights?

 

If your flight is scheduled to arrive at 8.30 pm and your next flight is to the US and scheduled to depart at noon the next day, my advice would be to find a nice airport hotel and relax in it.

 

If you were to try to come into town from either Heathrow or Gatwick from an 8.30 pm arrival, you're unlikely to be ready to go sightseeing anywhere much before 10.30 pm as you'd probably want to check in to your hotel first. The airline would probably suggest that you be back at the airport by about 9 or 10 am the next morning to check in for your onward flight, which would probably involve you leaving your hotel between 7.30 and 8.30 am.

 

You might be able to shave off a little time if you were able to through-check your luggage so you didn't have to claim it in London, and simply carry on the essentials for your overnight stay, but even so you'd probably only gain about 30 minutes or so. It's just not worth the hassle.

[cberge]

I agree with Globaliser..stay at the airport,and relax.Coming into London at that time and then having to get back to the airport the next morning will really not allow you to see much at all.You can save London for another trip when you can really get to enjoy the city and environs.

[wesp]

Here's an interesting tour item in London. Try to get tickets for the "Ceremony of the Keys" at the Tower of London. This is a brief ceremony to lock the Tower each evening. My wife and I attended the Ceremony when we were in London a few years ago.

 

Here is a link with information on ordering free tickets. You will need an international return postage coupon to send with your request. You can buy this at any US Post Office.

 

http://www.londontown.com/London/Ceremony_of_the_Keys/

 

Wesley

[Globaliser]

It's a great idea, but I just don't think that the OP could make it to the Tower of London by 2130 if the inbound flight only arrives at Gatwick or Heathrow at 2030.

[cruisergrandma]

Hi Globaliser. Thanks for your reply. Flight arrives at Heathrow at 20:30 and leaves Gatwick at 12:20 next day. We weren't sure we would check into a hotel at all. None of us have ever been to London and have no idea if we will ever make it back. Want to see as much as possible while we are there. Have been told by a friend that London is like Las Vegas - it never sleeps. He grew up 120 miles from London and he is the one who suggested we do night sightseeing. Unfortunately, he no longer knows anyone who could show us around. How do you 'through check' your luggage?

[aqua]

cruisergrandma, My rational side thinks you are crazy, but I admire you for what you want to do! We would probably try to do the same thing if we didn't expect to return to London. I imagine that you can find a limo service that will do a tour for you if you do a search on this board. Perhaps Londontowne.com has some suggestions also. Good luck and start resting up now! You're going to be exhausted, but smiling!

[lisiamc]

Hi cruisergrandma,

 

It very much depends on what you want to do in London. You could just about make dinner in a nice restaurant, and if you want to go clubbing, then your friend is right, those places are open into the early hours. If you want to do anything like shopping, seeing a show, going to a museum/art gallery/famous building, then you will be out of luck. For example, Harrod's closes at 8 p.m. Most West End shows start around 7.30 or 8 p.m. The London Eye closes at 10 p.m. in July and August, and earlier during the rest of the year. London is a wonderful city, but most things do close earlier than will be convenient for you.

 

Lisa

[Globaliser]

We weren't sure we would check into a hotel at all. None of us have ever been to London and have no idea if we will ever make it back. Want to see as much as possible while we are there. Have been told by a friend that London is like Las Vegas - it never sleeps.

For London, I think that's a bit exaggerated. It might be true at the weekends, but during the week you'll have a hard time trying to find things that truly are open all night.

 

Even if you do (whether midweek or weekend) they're likely to be places that you really don't want to go into - for example, nightclubs full of drunk under-20's and the latest tuneless dance music, plus all the drugs that money can buy. Even if you were to find a late night showing of a good movie at a cinema, that would only take you to about 2 am and still leave you with the dog hours to fill.

 

The other thing is that if you were to find someone who was prepared to drive you around all night, it'll probably cost you an arm and a leg - ironically, possibly rather more than a decent room in a decent airport hotel with all the facilities that they offer!

 

One hint, BTW, if you do go the route of staying at an airport hotel. If you are in one of the two at Gatwick that are actually on the airport (each of them is connected to a terminal by walkway), you can take your luggage over and check-in early - then come back to the hotel and check-out of the hotel later on, just in time for you to go back over to catch your flight. Unless you have access to a decent airline lounge at the airport, you might as well do this to make the most of the hotel.

How do you 'through check' your luggage?

It's just the same that happens on any ordinary connection - you don't claim your baggage at the connection point but let the airline transfer it from one flight to the next. If your connection is less than 24 hours, some airlines will treat it as a connection for these purposes and transfer it on without making you reclaim it - but not all airlines will do this where there is a clear overnight stop in between, and you'd need to check with your airline whether this would be permitted.