Dover Port Stop ??? Train into London Visit ???

[bobnsofi]

Hi All, we are porting in Dover from 8am to 7pm, Sept 7, 2013, a Saturday

 

We have never visited London, a 1-2 hour train ride away

 

??? What would you all suggest ???

[Cotswold Eagle]

Despite the impressive number of question marks used, it's not really clear what you are actually asking :)

 

Do you mean is it possible or desirable to do a trip to London? Or looking for directions how to do the trip to London? Or asking for things to do in London?

[Bob++]

You can get a train from Dover Priory to Charing Cross (near Trafalgar Square etc), Victoria (best for Buckingham Palace) or St Pancras (not so convenient). Best choose a journey without changes.

 

Once there you could walk around for a while, and then catch a hoho bus tour.

[John Bull]

You'll need a short £10 taxi hop between cruise terminal & rail station (Dover Priory).

A day-trip on the train from Dover Priory to central London's Victoria or Charing Cross will cost from £21.80 return, & take around 2hrs. Trains to St Pancras are much quicker but about £15 more expensive &, as Bob's post, St Pancras is less-convenient. There are several trains each hour.

Being a Saturday, you've lucked-in on both the day-return train fares & the lower level of traffic in London.

 

You'd need to leave London about 4pm, giving you around six hours. This would give you time for an approx. 2hrs 15 min full circuit on the ho-ho, plus about 30 mins to see Buck Palace (buses not allowed past the front, you get off, walk round to the front, walk back, catch the next ho-ho) plus a boat cruise between Westminster Bridge & Tower Bridge included in the ho-ho price. If convenient, you can stay on the boat & return to where you boarded it. Allowing for joining the line etc, the boat will cost you about 45 mins one-way, 90 mins return.

You'll probably have time in hand for a beer & a snack, and a bit of souvenir-shopping.

 

There are ho-ho stops close to Victoria & Charing Cross stations, and London Bridge station (a calling point on the Victoria trains).

A connecting ho-ho route serves St Pancras, or you can take the tube from St Pancras to a ho-ho stop on the main ho-ho route.

The yellow route has a live commentary in English & IMHO it's the one you should use, the others have multi-language recorded commentaries.

If you board the ho-ho at London Bridge, you will find that a lot of people get off about 10 mins later at Tower Bridge - so if the bus is crowded you can find better seats before others get on at that Tower Bridge stop.

 

This is very much a whistle-stop tour of London - to do the city justice needs several days, but you'll get a good overview.

 

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

 

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

 

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/UserFiles/OriginalLondonTourMap(2).pdf

 

JB :)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Do a hoho bus tour.

[BlueVinney]

Just to add to JB's response, there is a rail ticket offer which will give you travel at half the cost. The charges only apply to 'off-peak' trains - but that is ALL trains at a weekend. You'll also need another 2 people to join you. For the rail journeys themselves you'll need to travel as a party of 4 as you're given one ticket for four people rather than one for each individual traveller.

 

When you book your ticket at the station you should ask for a 'Groupsave 4 Super Off Peak Day Return' (quite a mouthful). That ticket costs £43.60 for FOUR people and provides a round-trip from Dover to London - £10.90 per person but does'nt include travel on the 'high speed' service to London St Pancras station. If you want to include that train service as well you would need a 'Groupsave 4 Off Peak Day Return' which will cost £75.00 and again covers the cost for 4 people travelling together. Note that this ticket has no more restrictions than the deal JB mentions above and the cost is the same for 4 as you would pay for 2.

 

Slightly more trouble to organise another 2 people but a good cost saving for everyonel if you can work things.

[Bob++]

Slightly more trouble to organise another 2 people but a good cost saving for everyone if you can work things.

 

Just bear in mind that you all have to be together on the way back as well.

[cakey]

Hi All, we are porting in Dover from 8am to 7pm, Sept 7, 2013, a Saturday

 

We have never visited London, a 1-2 hour train ride away

 

??? What would you all suggest ???

 

Ignore on ship advice to book a coach trip, there are lots of taxis outside who will take you to Dover Train Station for £8 for your group as apposed to double that EACH for the organised transfer.

[BlueVinney]

Thanks Bob++ for emphasising that everyone must travel together on every part of the rail trip, travelling in to London or returning to Dover.

 

Just to run through how it works:

 

1. You will (normally) be given one ticket for the trip to London and one ticket for the return journey.

2. There are 2 types of group tickets you can buy. A Groupsave 3 ticket is for a group of 3 and a Groupsave 4 is for a group of 4. Either costs less than buying individual tickets for that number of people.

2. The ticket covers everyone travelling TOGETHER on all elements of the rail journey. Theoretically the ticket is invalid if the party splits.

3. A Groupsave ticket is only valid for trains which are classed as travelling outside PEAK times. For trains from Dover it is valid on all trains at weekends and those leaving after 9:30 am for week days (Monday to Friday).

4. Tickets do not need to be pre-purchased and are available from the ticket office at the station. No ID is needed.

5. Groupsave tickets are available for most rail journeys in the southern part of England, not just Dover to London.

6. If you want to check the available trains for any journey you can do a 'test on-line purchase'. (On some booking sites need you to click that you have a 'Railcard' and select 'Groupsave 4', the pleasures of our convoluted rail ticketing system although some good cost savings if you have the time to investigate)

7. There doesn't seem to be any way of enforcing that the people in the group leaving Dover are the same as the group returning, they just need to have the ticket.:D

 

Hope I've not made things even more confusing.

 

Just realised that I've used £ rather than GBP for the currency. Hope it shows like that for US forumites, don't mistake it for USD.

[Sequim88]

We will also have a port stop in Dover, next year. Last time when we stayed post-cruise in Londom we were fairly close to St. Pancras station and one it was convenient to (walking distance) was the British Museum. I was considering fast train to London just to have another crack at the museum but have now opted for train (still researching) to Canterbury in morning and Dover Castle in afternoon as a better use of our time.

[feathersandnananose]

Canterbury's a good alternative for a day trip. It's very walkable, has a big pedestrian shopping area, good food, lovely river-side paths, and the glorious Cathedral. Less travel time, too! We loved it.

[nybumpkin]

I think I'd opt for a trip to Canterbury and, if time allows, a trip to Dover Castle. We've visited Canterbury twice and there's more than enough to take up a day. Canterbury is easily toured on foot from the train station. Dover Castle is well worth visiting - we did it the afternoon before our Baltic cruise in July. Given the travel time, I wouldn't try for London.

[Cshgrand]

Canterbury is really worth a visit. Although its a city, it's a small one with lots of pedestrianised areas and very geared to tourism.

Getting there early before the shops open at 9 would be my tip to walk a bit and admire the cathedral area and the city walls before the views are spoiled with people.

If you want a good lunch stop on your way back to Dover Castle I would recommend going via the small town of Sandwich where there are some great restaurants (George and Dragon pub would be my favourite).

[Di Princess]

I think I'd opt for a trip to Canterbury and, if time allows, a trip to Dover Castle. We've visited Canterbury twice and there's more than enough to take up a day. Canterbury is easily toured on foot from the train station. Dover Castle is well worth visiting - we did it the afternoon before our Baltic cruise in July. Given the travel time, I wouldn't try for London.

 

I totally agree. I have been to London 3 times and stayed a week each time. It is far to large & Confusing to do in just a day. I am sailing the 7-days British Isles cruise on Crystal Symphony, Dover to Dubln, next August and ready to book my open-jaw air. I wish I could fly directly to Dover. I am going to try to get out of LHR without going into London and go 3 days early to stay in Dover for the Castle and Canterbury

 

You can get a city bus directly to Dover Castle that comes right to the port. I will probably stay there all day. Look at their great website:

http://www.toastofdover.com/LocalAttractions.html

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/dover-castle/wartime-tunnels/

White Cliffs of Dover & other scenic walks

Western Heights - Drop redoubt fort & Grand Shaft

Dover Museum & Bronze Age Boat

Roman Painted House

Dover Transport Museum

Kent Battle of Britain Museum

Dover Sea Safari

Dover Sea Sports Centre

[Cshgrand]

 

I totally agree. I have been to London 3 times and stayed a week each time. It is far to large & Confusing to do in just a day. I am sailing the 7-days British Isles cruise on Crystal Symphony, Dover to Dubln, next August and ready to book my open-jaw air. I wish I could fly directly to Dover. I am going to try to get out of LHR without going into London and go 3 days early to stay in Dover for the Castle and Canterbury

 

You can get a city bus directly to Dover Castle that comes right to the port. I will probably stay there all day. Look at their great website:

http://www.toastofdover.com/LocalAttractions.html

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/dover-castle/wartime-tunnels/

White Cliffs of Dover & other scenic walks

Western Heights - Drop redoubt fort & Grand Shaft

Dover Museum & Bronze Age Boat

Roman Painted House

Dover Transport Museum

Kent Battle of Britain Museum

Dover Sea Safari

Dover Sea Sports Centre

 

You can't quite fly direct to Dover but KLM fly internationally to Manston which is 10 miles away. You have to go via Amsterdam though but what we have booked so far has been time efficient and really good value. There is almost 100% guarantee of no traffic hold ups and airport transfers at a fraction of the price.