Traveling from Heathrow to Harwich

[scoob]

Our ship leaves on Sunday, July 17th. What is the best and least expensive way to get to the Harwich port? There will only be 2 of us.

[John Bull]

Heathrow to Harwich isn't the easiest journey, even at the best of times. There is no direct public transport.

 

With luggage, usually the best compromise between cost & convenience is to take the fast & frequent Heathrow Express train to central London's Paddington Station, then a cab about 3 miles to Liverpool Street Station, from where you catch the hourly train, or the cruise-special train, which takes you to the quayside at Harwich

 

But the Liverpool Street to Harwich rail line is suffering serious restrictions this summer due to long-term engineering works to upgrade the line & there will be no regular direct train service that day. :eek:

 

The rail company is operating a dedicated coach service for your cruise instead of the cruise-special train. It operates from Liverpool Street station at the same time as the cruise-special. But you need to check your flight time to see if it arrives in time for you to make the connection. I'm no London expert, but I guess you'll need at least 2 hours between your scheduled flight arrival at Heathrow & the cruise coach departure from Liverpool Street, which I think is 12.26.

Details at : http://www.harwich.co.uk/cruise_trains.asp

 

Alternatively, you can take a limited number of trains from Liverpool Street station to Manningtree station, where you switch to a dedicated connecting rail-replacement bus (included in your rail ticket cost) to the cruise terminal.

Details at http://www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com/

 

note: Liverpool Street station has no connection with "Liverpool", which is hundreds of miles way. Don't get confused between the two.;)

: these and other convoluted arrangements only on specific dates during this summer.

: there are various other options Heathrow to Liverpool Street - the Underground isn't luggage-friendly, the bus takes you to Victoria which is very inconvenient for Liverpool Street, taxi or pre-booked private transfer to Liverpool Street are more expensive & probably slower.

 

Alternatively you could bite the bullet & arrange a private transfer by road Heathrow to the ship. This avoids going into central London & out again.

I'd guess at around £120 to £130 for the vehicle, but you could find sharers.

There's a similar thread - and possible sharers - at http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1373105&highlight=harwich+train

 

John Bull

[John Bull]

Dammit, too late to edit :rolleyes:

I'm guessing that the cruiseline offers its own transfer bus service from Heathrow direct to the quayside. Cruise transfers are usually poor value, but even without the temporary rail grief, Heathrow or Gatwick to Harwich (and Heathrow or Gatwick to Dover) are worth consideting.

JB

[LindaAndBillTravel]

Hi Scoob -- come join us on our roll call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1237215. I think there are some others going from the airport directly to Harwich.