Where to Stay and What to Do?

[mnh]

I will be in London for 2 nights prior to a cruise. I have never been to London (or Europe) and of course want to see the usual....Changing of The Guards, Big Ben, Tower of London, Trifalgar Square, Westminister Abbey, Harrods etc.

 

Thoughts on what else I should not miss and the best section of town to stay in that would be central....we will really only have 1.5 days to sight see.

 

Looking for a moderate priced hotel as well as information on tour companies.

 

I am 61 and will be bringing my 13 year old granddaughter....I am fairly active but really do not want to walk miles and miles at at time!

 

Thanks

[iancal]

London is very large and there are lots of good areas to stay.

 

My best advice would be to buy or borrow a travel guide for London...something like a Rick Steves. There are so many options for all kinds of tastes. We have been to London four or five times, once for an extended period. We still have not seen or done everything we want to. It is all about priortization.

[soccerref]

The 'hop on hop off' busses are a very useful way of seeing lots of sights. Just google HOHO London.

[phabric]

I like the Victoria area of London. It is close to Buckingham Palace, The Mews, The Royal Gallery, the 2 Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) buses have stops, regular bus, tube, stores, grocery store, pubs, restaurant, National Express Coach and Train stations.

 

Here are some websites to check out -

http://www.theoriginaltour.com

http://www.bigbustours.com

http://www.bhrc.co.uk

http://www.london-hotels.co.uk

http://www.justairports.com

http://www.simplyairports.co.uk

http://www.royalcollection.org.uk

http://www.londoneye.com

http://www.londonpass.com

http://www.nationalexpress.com

 

The HOHO bus is a great way to see the city. It lets you get on and off when you want to. The tickets are good for 24 hour period. There are 3 routes and includes a canal boat tour.

 

If you are in London when you can view the staterooms of Buckingham Palace, it might be something to see, we interested it. Check http://www.royalcollection.org.uk for the dates.

 

Some people on this thread have stayed at Luna & Simone. It is in the Victoria area. It is a family run hotel.

 

We stayed at the Rubens at the Palace and Thistle Westminster. They are right across from Buckinham Palace.

[Giantfan13]

It is hard to offer you a place to stay that is perfect for all conditions. If you search thru this board you will soon see that many sections of London are a good value if you are near a Tube Station. That will assure you of getting to where you want to be with minimum effort and the hotels will become much more moderately priced.

You might try the section around Tower Bridge as this is very close to the Tower of London.

 

As for things to do, London is a wealth if things to do. If you just want the major touristy things, take one of the two HoHo buses tours. They are the Big Bus Tour or the Original Tour Company. Both are about the same price, do basically the same routes and you can be shown most of London in 1/2 a day. You can get off when you want to see things close up, then hop on the next bus that comes along. As was said, it will pass all the main sights of London and most have some sort of running commentary on it. That will save you from walking a lot and getting the best bang for your dollar, or pound, whichever you are spending.

 

With such a short time there, I would not try and do the Changing of the guard, as that will make you lose a few hours, just waiting.

With the bus tours, you will also get a free Thames River cruise. Wait till you are tired, like at night, then take the river crusie to see London as it gets dark and things get lit up. A very relaxing 1/2 trip.

 

If you want to ride the London Eye, you can prebook tickets online for a specific date and time, and you can avoid most of the lines.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Len

[sunsetbeachgal]

We did three days pre=cruise last Fall, and stayed in the Victoria area and felt that it was very convenient. You have only enough time on your trip to get a taste of London, so as others have said you want to be convenient to transportation, which Victoria is. We did the HOHO bus, primarily for the benefit of traveling companions who had never been to London and it was a nice way to get around and see lots of sights on your list, and the included boat tour was very nice too. Both HOHO companies have locations by Victoria.

 

We stayed at the Victoria Park Place, which was very convenient, and which we got on Priceline (name your own price option). Good luck!

[azcruiser64]

We recently stayed at the Premier Inn close to Victoria Station. It was one of the least expensive hotels in that area. I believe it was completely renovated in 2009. It looked fairly new and was very neat and clean. The rooms are kind of small compared to U.S. standards but it was fine for just the 2 nights. With only one full day there as you, we took a full day tour of london that took in all the sites including changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace from Evans Evans Tours. The tour departed from the Victoria Coach Station which was only about a 5 minute walk from Premier Inn.

[mnh]

Thanks everyone....lots of good thoughts....the planning for a short stay can be overwelming to say the least!

[cdngrl]

i agree. i'm only in london a day and a half before my cruise also. i have been researching like crazy, and have huge lists--where to stay, what to do with absolutely nothing confirmed yet--which is causing me some stress! i don't even know if i'm brave enough to take the tube alone. i thought the first half-day if jet lag hasn't set in, i'd do the hoho tour to get an overview. the full day, i have no idea--kickin' around the idea of going to stonehenge. i haven't even left yet and am dreaming about staying in london longer 'next time'!

[pkamison]

A very good hotel - close to Victoria Station - is The Rubens at the Palace. The HoHo bus is right there as well as Buckingham Palace....they also do a very nice high tea...we have enjoyed staying there - sometimes there are good packages through luxurylink dot com

[cdngrl]

A very good hotel - close to Victoria Station - is The Rubens at the Palace. The HoHo bus is right there as well as Buckingham Palace....they also do a very nice high tea...we have enjoyed staying there - sometimes there are good packages through luxurylink dot com

 

i'm glad you recommend it, i reserved a room at the rubens last night!

[John Bull]

....... the full day, i have no idea--kickin' around the idea of going to stonehenge. !

 

Stonehenge is 80 miles from central London. :eek:

Whether you did it by tourbus (usually combined with other places) or by public transport it'd cost you the whole day - and most folk rate it worth an hour.

 

Mebbe on your way to/from Southampton if that's where your cruise starts, cos by road it would only increase your travelling time by about 45 minutes.

 

But unless you've already been to London & seen all you want to see there, don't take that full day out of London.

Even if you wanted out of the city, there's stax of places much more accessible by train & much more worthy of a full day.

 

 

JB :)

[cdngrl]

thanks for the input john. i feel like cc royalty has responded!

 

i am researching ways to go to southampton via stonehenge, that don't cost the earth. i am traveling on my own. any ideas?

 

the more i research, the more there is i want to see in london. i am going to have to come back for sure!

[John Bull]

thanks for the input john. i feel like cc royalty has responded!

 

i am researching ways to go to southampton via stonehenge, that don't cost the earth. i am traveling on my own. any ideas?

 

the more i research, the more there is i want to see in london. i am going to have to come back for sure!

 

 

Train from London Waterloo (WAT) to Salisbury (SAL), mainly half-hourly service, journey time up to 90 minutes, regular fare about £33, buy ticket at the station

 

There are bucket fares from London to Salisbury (Megatrain) from as little as £1, using the same trains, must be pre-booked & non-amendable/non-refundable, and much less frequent, though includes a reasonably convenient train 8.20am Waterloo arrives Salisbury 9.43 am.

If a £1 fare is available on your date, I suggest you buy. If you change your plans (eg decide on an earlier train to get the most out of your day, or even if you abandon plans to visi Stonehenge) you've only wasted about $1.60

 

Train times/frequencies quoted for a random weekday, sundays its a much more limited service, and no Megatrain tickets on saturdays or sundays.

 

You can leave luggage at the Cat Tavern, a pub on the rail station forecourt approach (address is 115 South Western Road, Salisbury SP2 7RR) at a charge of £2 per piece.

This info is on the web, for example at http://www.salisburyguidedtours.com/stonehenge-2.htm

but the pub itself has no website or e-mail. Their phone number is 01722 327955

 

Ho-ho bus from Salisbury station to Stonehenge (don't pre-book, just buy ticket from the driver), service is half-hourly in summer, hourly the rest of the year. The round-trip takes an hour (excluding hopping off), cost about £11.

Most folk hop off at Stonehenge for 60 to 90 minutes.

Hop off at Salisbury city centre for as long as your schedule allows - its worthy of an hour or two - then ho-ho bus or 10 min walk to station, collect luggage, train to Southampton.

 

Trains to Southampton central (SOU) mainly half-hourly, journey time 30 mins, cost about £8 (no bucket-price option)

 

Taxi to pier £5 to £7, walkable to City pier, tolerably walkable to Mayflower pier, not walkable to Ocean or QE11 pier)

http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/cruise_ship.asp

 

So, as a very vague example, to take advantage of megatrain prices, leave from London Waterloo 8.23 am, arrive Salisbury 9.43, stash luggage (bit of a rush to stash luggage if you're to catch the 10am ho-ho), 90 mins at Stonehenge, back in Salisbury about 12.30. 90 mins iin Salisbury, train to Southampton about 2pm, arrive 2.30, at the pier about 2.45pm.

 

If you miss that 10 am ho-ho and its only an hourly service on your date, switch your day around.

Stash luggage at The Cat, 10 min walk into the city centre to explore (incl Cathedral), pick up the 12.10 ho-ho from the city centre bus station, 60 mins at Stonehenge, ho-ho back to rail station to collect bags & train to Southampton, arriving before 3pm.

 

Regular train fare London Waterloo to Southampton about £34, Megatrain fare from £1.

Total regular train fares Waterloo-Salisbury-Southampton £41 (Megatrain to SAL from £1 + SAL to SOU at £8), so going via Salisbury only costs about an extra £8, and if you buy Megatrain you'll be paying a great deal less than many folk pay for WAT direct to SOU.

 

Regular train timetable http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

 

Megatrain

http://uk.megabus.com/default.aspx

 

Stonehenge ho-ho

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

 

Brew a large pot of coffee, check the websites for times etc on your date, & work out the combinations :)

 

JB :)

[cdngrl]

my goodness! this is too much for my brain to absorb at 6am. it seems a bit overwhelming! i will re-read this later today when i'm not so foggy. thank you so much for the detailed information. i appreciate you taking the time to lay this out for me. :)

[John Bull]

Quick edit.

Got it wrong.

Megatrain tickets are available on a saturday (just sundays that you can only book a regular ticket).

Megatrain tickets can only be bought from about 8 weeks out, and like lo-cost airlines prices tend to rise as the date draws nearer.

 

JB :)

[Mooloo]

Try signing up for travelodge (uk) sites for very cheap hotels. I walked past the one in Grey's Inn Rd today and it was a lovely building and less than 3 mins from Kings Cross rail adn tube stns.

 

Have a look at:

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1446774

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1438360

[Morgans]

Can recommend Club Quarters St Pauls for a good, decent hotel. It is right on the doorstep of St Pauls (hence the name) and very easy to cross the Thames to Tate Modern, Globe, London Bridge etc.

[cdngrl]

thank you for the advice everyone! and john bull, now that i've had time to absorb and read the links, this seems do-able. even for a scaredy-cat like me. (i'm trying to convince myself here!) it'd be easier if i didn't have a suitcase to lug around.

 

i'm thinking to take the train to salsbury and instead of the hoho take a taxi to stonehenge. would that make sense? any idea how much for the taxi to wait an hour or so, and how plentiful they are? good plan, bad plan?

[John Bull]

thank you for the advice everyone! and john bull, now that i've had time to absorb and read the links, this seems do-able. even for a scaredy-cat like me. (i'm trying to convince myself here!) it'd be easier if i didn't have a suitcase to lug around.

 

i'm thinking to take the train to salsbury and instead of the hoho take a taxi to stonehenge. would that make sense? any idea how much for the taxi to wait an hour or so, and how plentiful they are? good plan, bad plan?

 

Taxi instead of ho-ho will work, though I doubt it'd make sense to your bank manager ;)

 

There are no taxis available at Stonehenge, so you'd need to keep your taxi waiting for the return - and in any case I guess you'd need to keep your luggage in the taxi.

 

There'll be metered taxis at Salisbury rail station. Stonehenge is 7.5 miles e/w so if he waits an hour for you, according to this table the cost will be in the order of £45.

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/licensing-south-zone-table-of-fares-fare-tariff.pdf

£2.50 to drop the flag + £1.80 per mile x 13 + £15 for one hour waiting (charged by the minute) + 40pence for using the boot (trunk) for luggage.

Would almost make financial sense for 3 or 4, but it's an expensive option for a singleton.

If you want to look round Salisbury as well, add the charge for the waiting time there - but the mileage charge will only be pennies more. So an hour at Stonehenge and an hour in Salisbury should be around £60.

 

A pre-booked private hire car would be cheaper, though I don't know by how much. You would need one based in Salisbury - sorry, don't know any of them but there's plenty if you google "private hire Salisbury"

 

Taxi or private hire car means you don't have to store your luggage, but unless you paid for waiting time in Salisbury you'd not have the opportunity to take a look round the city, which would be a shame.

 

I really do think that storing your luggage at the Cat Tavern on the station approach & taking the ho-ho is the way to do it - it's simple & cost-effective.

 

At the very least, make your mind up when you get there & see the lie of the land.

When you get to Salisbury, store your luggage at the Cat Tavern & take the ho-ho.:)

Or decide then to chicken-out & take a taxi from the rank.:rolleyes:

 

JB :)

[cdngrl]

hey JB, what are you doing november 4? ;)

 

again, thank you so much for all of your time and detailed information.

[jtamchay]

We stayed 2 nights post cruise at The Rubens Hotel...very conveniently located in SW1 Westminster...it was a 2 minute walk to the Buckingham Palace area...it was 1/2 block to the hop on hop off bus route.It is also very close to Victorasi Station.The area is safe and friendly. We rode a full loop of the bus to get our bearings and then struck out on our own. For instance on one day we actually took a taxi from the hotel to Westminster Abbey as the hop on hop off bus doesn't start on that corner til later and we wanted to be at the Abbey when it opened. The cost was 5 pounds...we visited the Abbey....there is one line for cash admission and one line for credit cards...both move very quickly. We purchased the audio guides and struck out on our tour. We were in the Abbey about 2 hours and the crowds were huge, this was a Tuesday. It's not many stairs but alot of walking.

Next we went to find the hop on hop off boat( Westminster Pier), about 2 blocks walk. Rode the boat, very good commentary and arrived at The Tower of London in about 20 minutes....visited there for about 2 hours, saw The Crown Jewels, had ice cream and walked back to the boat. Rode it back to Westminster Pier and caught the hop on hop off bus to our hotel.

We purchased the boat and bus tickets at our hotel concierge...upgraded the ticket during our first ride so it was good for 2 days...

I am not a hearty walker and stairs are very difficult...but doing this transportation style allowed me to see so much and expend the least energy.

We loved London. We took an evening tour of the Palace and that was excellent.

[John Bull]

hey JB, what are you doing november 4? ;)

 

 

 

Just noticed your post.

 

Bored out of my skull since retiring.:rolleyes:

 

November's a long way off, but just mebbe Julie & I could give you a bit of a guided tour Salisbury onwards, if we're not off cruisin' or other commitments (Eastern Med with RCI in October, so I doubt we'll be cruising November).

No promises, but post closer to the date if you'd like an ex-coach driver's take on Salisbury, Stonehenge & Southampton.

 

JB :)

[cdngrl]

We stayed 2 nights post cruise at The Rubens Hotel...very conveniently located in SW1 Westminster...it was a 2 minute walk to the Buckingham Palace area...it was 1/2 block to the hop on hop off bus route.It is also very close to Victorasi Station.The area is safe and friendly. We rode a full loop of the bus to get our bearings and then struck out on our own. For instance on one day we actually took a taxi from the hotel to Westminster Abbey as the hop on hop off bus doesn't start on that corner til later and we wanted to be at the Abbey when it opened. The cost was 5 pounds...we visited the Abbey....there is one line for cash admission and one line for credit cards...both move very quickly. We purchased the audio guides and struck out on our tour. We were in the Abbey about 2 hours and the crowds were huge, this was a Tuesday. It's not many stairs but alot of walking.

Next we went to find the hop on hop off boat( Westminster Pier), about 2 blocks walk. Rode the boat, very good commentary and arrived at The Tower of London in about 20 minutes....visited there for about 2 hours, saw The Crown Jewels, had ice cream and walked back to the boat. Rode it back to Westminster Pier and caught the hop on hop off bus to our hotel.

We purchased the boat and bus tickets at our hotel concierge...upgraded the ticket during our first ride so it was good for 2 days...

I am not a hearty walker and stairs are very difficult...but doing this transportation style allowed me to see so much and expend the least energy.

We loved London. We took an evening tour of the Palace and that was excellent.

 

jo, thank you for the information. i am planning on doing the hoho bus as well. i like the idea of doing a whole loop to get my bearings and taking it from there. i am gasping a bit (a lot) at the prices in london. i could almost stay a week somewhere local for the cost of 2 nights in london!

 

Just noticed your post.

 

Bored out of my skull since retiring.:rolleyes:

 

November's a long way off, but just mebbe Julie & I could give you a bit of a guided tour Salisbury onwards, if we're not off cruisin' or other commitments (Eastern Med with RCI in October, so I doubt we'll be cruising November).

No promises, but post closer to the date if you'd like an ex-coach driver's take on Salisbury, Stonehenge & Southampton.

 

JB :)

 

darn! i committed to a private tour this morning. i should have checked this thread at work! at least i am sharing so it won't cost an arm and a leg...just an arm i think, or my first-born!

 

next time (and there will be a next time) i am in the area, i would love to meet with you and julie. thank you for the offer. the same goes if you ever find yourselves in my part of the world, i will be your tour guide.

annemarie

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

HoHO first ,Than pic a few places we spent 7 days there and did half