Salisbury - on way from Southampoton to Heathrow?

[acctgtogo]

Has anyone ever stopped at Salisbury on the way from Southampton to Heathrow? We have a late afternoon flight. This gives us free time after the cruise and before our flight leaves. The normal stops seem to be Windsor Palace or Stonehenge, but we will have visited both of them before we sail, so were looking for something different.

 

Thanks for any information about Salisbury or other ideas of what we could do rather than sit at the airport.

[Turtles06]

Last spring, on our way from Southampton to London using a private driver, we stopped at both Salisbury and Stonehenge. Depending on when you can get off the ship, when your flight is, and, probably most important of all, what the traffic is like (which of course you won't know in advance), you might be able to do it. (I'm the worrying type who might not want to chance the traffic.) All that said, we met our driver around 9:30am, maybe closer to 10am, made those two stops, and were at our hotel in central London pretty late in the afternoon. Heathrow won't be as far, but of course you'll need to leave yourselves plenty of time to check in.

 

You might want to email the folks at West Quay cars and Smiths for Airports (private drivers whose names pop up a lot on this board) with your time frames and see what they think. And, hopefully, someone like John Bull will weigh in here with how do-able this would be.

 

Salisbury Cathedral, of course, is magnificent (I'd been there before, but my partner hadn't), and I truly loved standing in front of the Magna Carta and listening to a wonderful docent who I think had been around for the signing. Here's the inside of the Cathedral:

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

[acctgtogo]

Thanks for the information and the beautiful picture.

 

We have no problem getting off the ship as early as possible. The "cruise ship bus" (London Toolkit) leaves around 8:15AM so I imagine that we would be allowed to leave at least that early. Our flight leaves at 4:20PM so we have time, but not unlimited time. We didn't know how much time we needed to see Salisbury properly. Would two hours be enough to see it and not be overly rushed? We will be there on a Saturday if that makes a difference.

 

I will contact the driver services but thought it best to get opinions here first.

 

Thanks again.

[Turtles06]

Thanks for the information and the beautiful picture.

 

We have no problem getting off the ship as early as possible. The "cruise ship bus" (London Toolkit) leaves around 8:15AM so I imagine that we would be allowed to leave at least that early. Our flight leaves at 4:20PM so we have time, but not unlimited time. We didn't know how much time we needed to see Salisbury properly. Would two hours be enough to see it and not be overly rushed? We will be there on a Saturday if that makes a difference.

 

I will contact the driver services but thought it best to get opinions here first.

 

Thanks again.

 

Yes, I think that would be sufficient. And the Cathedral's own web site (link below) says "we recommend you allow 1-2 hours to fully enjoy your visit." You'd have time to see the exterior of the Cathedral and walk through the interior on your own (but note that it doesn't open until 9am)....

 

I hope others will chime in in terms of the potential traffic issues en route to Heathrow.

 

http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/visitor.opening.php

[John Bull]

A couple of hours is fine for a visit to Salisbury.

 

The Friends International tour-transfer on London Toolkit's site involves only a photo-stop in Salisbury and drops at Heathrow (hotels. not terminals) way too late for your check-in.

 

There's no suitably-timed National Express oach from Salisbury to Heathrow.

 

By train is possible if you 're counting the pennies, but you'd need to take the train from Southampton central station to Salisbury (train every half-hour, journey time about 30 mins, about £10 pp), leave your bags at the pub by the station (about £4 per bag), then take the train from Salisbury to Heathrow (actually train to Woking then included RailAir transfer bus from Woking to Heathrow, train every half-hour, total journey time about 2 hours, cost including the bus about £31 pp).

It's awkward & time-consuming. Details at

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

 

Your best bet is a private transfer. A direct transfer ship to airport is about £95, going via Salisbury would add about £30 plus waiting time, if you e-mail www.westquaycars.com and www.smithsforairports.com they'll quote you a price.

 

Saturday traffic in your direction should be OK.

Unassisted disembarkation usually starts around 7am, or an early regular slot should put you on the quayside before 8.30.

It's a 35 to 40 minute drive to Salisbury. If you ask the driver to cut across the New Forest from Bramshaw or Nomansland to Fordingbridge it's a more picturesque route & avoids the "A36 crawl" into Salisbury.

Salisbury to Heathrow should be comfortably under 90 minutes on a saturday, but leaving Salisbury about 11.30 will give you a comfortable margin.

Salisbury is a compact, attractive & laid-back city - I like the place.

 

Alternatives?

The direct route from Southampton to Heathrow takes you past Basingstoke. Pretty ghastly modern town, but http://www3.hants.gov.uk/milestones/inside-milestones.htm may interest you if you're into late 19th & early 20th century history / machinery etc.

Beautifully laid-out & well worth an hour or more & keeps your transfer costs down.

 

Closer to Heathrow,

http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/ and adjacent http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc/mercedes-benzworld/home/what_is_mercedes-benz/attractions.html

 

or

 

http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/

 

 

 

 

JB :)

[sddsddean]

Oh, you're back then JB (bang goes the peace and quiet:rolleyes:). How

was "err...the USA"?

 

Simon

[John Bull]

Oh, you're back then JB (bang goes the peace and quiet:rolleyes:). How

was "err...the USA"?

 

Simon

 

Hi Simon,

Yep -I thought it'd be a nice break.

For everyone :D

 

The US of A was "ahhhhsome"

 

Toured Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah. Big country in those parts, spectacular scenery. From hot hot desert to deep deep snow. From the sweeping coastal drive down Highway One to the 22 miles of rocky unmade Apache Trail past Superstition Mountain, a road travelled only by 4x4s & by Brit tourists in rented Chrysler convertibles :rolleyes:. From majestic Monument Valley to tacky fun Vegas, where our motel balcony overlooked a wedding chapel. And yes, Elvis was in the building.

 

Gas was ridiculously cheap at $3.25 - $4.00, even though US gallons are short-measure :rolleyes:.

But next time I'll take my own breakfasts :D

 

JB :)

[acctgtogo]

Thank you so much for the information John Bull. We planned on taking private transportation. I looked at some of the other things in the area using the links you provided. My husband would absolutely love Milestones - but he would want to spend the day there. The Mercedes Benz exhibit is also tempting. I will look once again at opening times, etc to see which is our best option.

 

Thanks again. Also, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to the States.

[MVPinBoynton]

acctgtogo,

We will be going to Salisbury before the cruise after we visit Stonehenge on the way to our B&B in Southampton. I am looking forward to visiting there as well as Wells earlier in our trip to see two of the churches used for filming Pillars of Earth. I will let you know how we like Salisbury when we see you on the ship for our Meet & Mingle.