London Hotels and Tours

[Phd4Fun]

Booked the British Isles trip for next summer. Going to fly into London a few days before departure and tour the area. Need suggestions for hotels in London and the best ways to tour (by cab, tour companies, the tube or other train), also the best method of getting from London to pier.

[Spideysmum]

How many days is a "few"? What are you interested in ? The major attractions can be easily accessed by the tube. The HOHO buses run regularly and have two or three different directions. I'm assuming that you haven't visited London before.

 

We've been regular visitors to the UK for many years and have booked the BI cruise for next spring. We could find all sorts of ways to get to Southampton from London but have chosen the Princess transfer from Victoria Coach for the convenience.

 

Have a great time planning London. You will get lots of help and imput from CC members. [emoji2]

 

 

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Edited November 1, 2016 by Spideysmum

[WatchHill]

That depends on your travel comfort level with doing tours with an agency or on your own. For us, we tend toward doing most on our own, starting with taking LHR Express into Paddington and booking a hotel within a few blocks of the rail station.

The past two trips, and our upcoming next June, will be at a Shaftsbury Paddington Hotel - boutique, nice rooms at club level, include breakfast. Register online for their membership program for complimentary upgrades, then book. Lots of reasonable places to dine in the immediate area.

From that location we are able to use both the Tube and opt for an organized full day tour through Premium Tours. That company has a US 800 number - be sure to mention your are from North America - for an added discount. Morning pick-up was at a nearby hotel and return is usually at a central location with access to the Tube.

If you are Ok with US chain hotels, there are numerous ones throughout London.

After a few days in London, we then rent a car and head to the countryside. We have driven through Wales, to York, traveled to Cornwall and Devon. With a friend in Bournemouth, we always spend the last few days in that town, and then get a ride to the ship in Southampton. You can take a coach [bus] from Victoria Coach Station to Southampton to met the ship, rail is also another option.

Honestly, the more time you can spend in England, the better - there's so much to see and do. Oh, we did the BI Cruise last year - great trip! Suggestion: avoid the Princess big bus tours and find others who are on your roll call to book more persoanlized trips, much less $$ and so much better quality.

 

Darcy

Edited November 1, 2016 by WatchHill

[sbflcruiser]

We just did this trip in August 2016' it was a fabulous trip, we did time before and after the cruise. We booked a private car with blackberry (cost was 37£)from the airport to our hotel, we stayed at the Grange Wellington, really enjoyed our stay. We then booked National Express bus from Victoria station for transfer to ship, very easy (28£ for 2). While we were in London, we did do the hop on tour, just to see some sights, but we pre-purchased Oyster cards, which you can refill. Had an absolutely fabulous time. Took a cab a couple of times, but walked or used public transportation most of the time. We went to Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath for several days after the cruise. Again, took the bus from Bath back to London, then the tube to catch the Eurostar to Paris, for more adventure.

 

 

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[Phd4Fun]

Thanks for the great responses. Looking forward to planning the trip and seeing London.

[Phd4Fun]

Thanks for the great responses. Looking forward to planning the trip and seeing London.

[recyclelady]

We just did this trip back in August. We stayed at the Premier Inn at Waterloo. It was very close to the tube and easy walking distance to Big Ben (also the Eye--although we didn't go there).

 

We used a transfer company (I think it was something like International Friends) for our transfer to Southhampton. They picked us up from the hotel lobby that morning. We had a very nice stop at Stonehenge before getting us to the ship in the early afternoon.

[WatchHill]

Just a thought for adding in another side tour while on your trip....

 

If you book your return flight to the US for the late afternoon, you will be able to book a Princess transfer with tour, to take you back to LHR. We did this last year, and it was probably one of the best deals by Princess. We were off the ship shortly after 7: and with our luggage loaded onto a very comfy coach, we were on the road going through New Forest [quaint, wild animals, thatched roof homes], onto the motorway, off through a few small villages, and a pre-reserved tour at Stonehenge. I had been there a number of years ago, before the new approach was constructed, but DH had not been. Ample time to visit the stones, listen to the audiovox info, wander the replicated village, tour the museum and stop in the gift shop.

From there, we meandered through Salisbury, quick "pit-stop" by the River Avon, and then back on the road, going through Windsor Great Park, drive-by Ascot, and dropping us at the terminal for our flight back to the US. The guide provided by Princess was by far the best we have ever had on a cruise line tour. He was non-stop with history and knowledge of the region.

These particular tours with transfer do not show up immediately on your personalizer, but do closer to the cruise date. It's either Stonehenge or Windsor, though there are others that include the tour/transfer to a London hotel.

 

Hope this helps with your planning....

 

Darcy

[Spideysmum]

Ps to my note. We are staying at the Green Park Hilton (we stayed there years ago before we started renting Apts). It's a block from the Piccadilly line green park tube station. The beauty of this is that the Piccadilly line runs from Heathrow. No tube changes and that line is so deep that there are lifts and escalators at all stations. Very convenient if you are schlepping luggage.

 

Green Park is right in the heart of Buckingham Palace and the Strand area with some historic pubs as well.

 

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Edited November 1, 2016 by Spideysmum

[Bruin Steve]

Booked the British Isles trip for next summer. Going to fly into London a few days before departure and tour the area. Need suggestions for hotels in London and the best ways to tour (by cab, tour companies, the tube or other train), also the best method of getting from London to pier.

 

We have done several cruises out of the UK--both from Southampton and from Dover (yours goes from Southampton, I believe)...and we always spend anywhere from 3-10 days pre-cruise and/or post-cruise either in London or elsewhere in the UK.

 

So, I have lots of questions:

 

How many nights do you plan on staying?

When you say "tour the area", do you mean just London or do you want to visit other places in England?

What level of hotel are you looking for?

 

In the meantime, here are some thoughts:

London has a LOT of hotels...and in all price ranges. And in all parts of the city--which is quite large.

My wife prefers 4 and 5 star hotels, so most of the time, I've looked for deals in nicer hotels...and have been often able to find them using various websites (start with Tripadvisor.com). I typically look to stay in areas of London walkable to a lot of sites...though most is easily accessible using the Underground or taxis. In recent visits, I've stayed at the Rubens, the Mayfair and the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge...all very convenient. My wife's favorite, by far, was the Park Plaza--it is right across the Bridge from Big Ben and we walked everywhere.

 

To travel between London and Southampton, we have usually used Southern Railway--which is almost ridiculously cheap if booked in advance. There are also bus tours that will take you from London to Southampton with a stop at Stonehenge.

 

Since the trip from London to Southampton is a fairly long one, I usually prefer to stay in Southampton itself the night before the cruise. We always stay at the Holiday Inn on Herbert Walker--directly adjacent to the port and just across the highway from a large shopping mall and near the old historic part of town.

 

You can take day trips out of London to visit places like Stratford-upon-Avon or Oxford if you'd like--there are some agencies with packaged bus tours--but we've usually rented (or "hired" as they call it in the UK) a car and driven the area on our own--staying in hotels out of the City (which are always less expensive than London hotels). Other towns we've enjoyed visiting include Canterbury and Bath...and my wife really liked Cornwall (Falmouth, etc.)...Those usually make some sense if you have several days and have hired your own car (one visit we only flew in to Heathrow, then hired a car and visited Stonehenge then continued out to Falmouth and worked our way back through Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, ending in Southampton, saving London for the post-cruise...Of course, for that one, we had 10 days pre-cruise).

 

If it is your first visit to the UK, you might just want to concentrate on London--as there is plenty there to fill several days (See a show in the West End, Visit and tour the Tower of London, British Museum, Changing of the Guard, National Gallery, London Eye, etc.). For reasonably priced group bus tours to Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, etc., check out Viator...

 

Good luck...

[jm485]

The last few times I've been in London, I have been there for work. We've been put up at the Tower Bridge Hilton, located very near London City Hall. The location of the hotel is at one end of most of the "sights" in London, but you're right along the river edge, so it's easy to walk to most to them or get to transport. The London Bridge train and tube station is about 2 blocks away, or you can walk across either Tower Bridge (to the Tower of London, where you can get the Hop On, Hop Off bus or a river boat trip) or across London Bridge, which puts you near the London Fire Memorial in the City.

 

There are some inexpensive restaurants, if you eat early (there were a pub and a French restaurant that had 3 courses for either 12 or 15 pounds, depending on the choice of entrée). There is also a Marks & Spencer Simply Food right outside the hotel, where you can pick up items for a quick breakfast or supper in the room and plenty of pubs and restaurants (ranging from cheap to quite expensive) in the area.

 

I'd also highly recommend just about any of the walks that interest you at Original London Walks. I've done about 6 or 7, and they were all terrific.

 

London is one of my favorite cities. I'm sure you'll have an amazing time no matter what you do.

[pandora518]

We love London! Can't wait to go back. After our last TA we stayed in London for 5 nights. We chose the Park West hotel in Kensington after getting recommendations from one of my cousins who used to live in the UK. The hotel is just a block from the tube station, and there are lots of good restaurants and even a small grocery store nearby. It's a Shaftsbury property and if you join their loyalty program you'll get a room upgrade. You can buy an option to get a free full British breakfast, which was well worth it to us.

 

We also bought London City Passes. The price includes many attractions as well as free bus, tube, and local rail service. We had no problem navigating the city to see the things we wanted to see. We even saw the queen while waiting for the changing of the guards ceremony!

 

We shared a private car from Southampton to our hotel with 2 other couples. They made the arrangements before the cruise. I think the company is called Smiths. You can take the tube but we had a lot of luggage and felt the cost was worth it.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[jsmac3]

I recommend you buy a London tour book and map, determine what you want to see each day and then select a hotel location that supports your plan. Research the hop on hop off bus routes and the rail/tube routes and station locations.

 

There is so much to see and do in London - don't do like we did our first trip there - wake up in the morning and then decide what to see.

 

You can also arrange for a car to take you on a bit of tour from the airport into the city and you can also arrange for a car to take you to Stonehenge or some other site and on to Southampton.

 

Have a great trip!

[scottbet]

Booked the British Isles trip for next summer. Going to fly into London a few days before departure and tour the area. Need suggestions for hotels in London and the best ways to tour (by cab, tour companies, the tube or other train), also the best method of getting from London to pier.

 

We booked a 12 day British Isles next summer. I have been doing research obsessively for a couple of weeks. Using the search function on the "Britain" thread under "ports of call" has been a great resource.

 

We reserved the Waldorf Hilton pre-cruise, and the Westminster Doubletree post-cruise.

 

One thing I did right away was reserve tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. They are booked through July 2017, but if you are going in August you could reserve...tickets are free with a 1GBP handling fee.

 

Most people seem to recommend Blackberry Cars or Smiths for Airports for a straight airport transfer. Years ago, we used the tube, and trains for transfers...now--we don't want to drag our luggage so the door-to-door transfer is our preferred method.

 

For the London to Southampton transfer (and back) there is the option of using International Friends. We are planning to use them post cruise, booking the touring option that stops at Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Windsor Castle on the way back to London or the airport.

 

Some recommend using londontoolkit.com for information, however others caution about actually booking through them

[Go-Bucks!]

I enjoyed the Lime Tree Hotel, near Buckingham Palace. Great small hotel and location. We took taxis so we could visit many areas in as little time as possible, but walked around the different areas. Have a meal in Harrod's; visit the British Museum; ride the Eye; go to Westminster Abbey. Those are just a couple of my favorites. Day trips from London are also great (Windsor, Salisbury, Bath, Stonehenge, etc.)

[2theship]

We've stayed at the Imperial Hotel in Russell Square a few times. It's nothing fancy but it's got a great breakfast. At Heathrow, you just hop on the tube and take the Picadilly to Russell Square. You will need to lug your suitcases up one flight of stairs but it's an elevator from there and you're two blocks from the hotel. It's very near the British Museum and the British Library and everything else you do by bus or tube. Be sure to buy an Oyster Card before leaving the US and have it ready when you arrive.

 

We've used Woodford Chauffeur Cars from London to Southampton and shared the cost with others on our roll call. They will pick up at more than one hotel. There are also bus trips that will pick you up at your hotel, take you to Stonehenge and on to Southampton.

 

On our last trip we decided to tour the country rather than the city and rented a car from Europe by Car. The car was fine and the price reasonable but their directions to their return location in Southampton were crap. We wasted a lot of time on that process and the free shuttle they promised was non-existent.

[eandj]

You'll find info here that will help.

 

http://londontoolkit.com

 

Head over to the Europe ports of call here on cc too for tons of recs.

[phabric]

Check out Cruise Cruise - Port of Call - Britain for great information.

 

I have stayed at Premier Inn Waterloo. You are walking distance of the London Eye, Big Ben, Thamas River, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Hop On Hop Off bus, regular bus, tube, restaurants, pubs.

 

I have used http://www.justairports.com a private car service from LHR to my London hotel.

 

National Express Coach http://www.nationalexpress.com from Victoria Coach Station to Southampton Coach Station and then a short taxi ride to the dock is a cheap way to get to Southamptom.

 

International Friends go to Southampon/London on embarkment and disembarkment days. They pick up/drop off at certain London hotels.

 

Buckingham Palace is open to the public during the summer http://www.royalcollection.co.uk.

 

There are two Hop On Hop Off bus companies, both do the same routes.

 

If taking your BI cruise, during August the Edinburgh Tattoo is a must.

 

Join your Cruise Critic Join Call, great place to meet and join and share private tours with others.

 

Read past/last year Roll Calls to get information on private tours.

Edited November 2, 2016 by phabric

[2theship]

If you're heading straight to Heathrow after your cruise, a Princess transfer is the way to go. The price is very reasonable and it's the simplest way to do it.

 

Whenever I consider how I'm getting from one point to another, I think about how many times I'll have to maneuver my luggage and choose the one where I can sit back and relax.

[DisneyExpat]

We are also going on that cruise this summer :)

 

If you want a budget place to stay that is in central London and includes breakfast, London School of Economics is the best deal around. We stayed there a week last summer. If you just want a place to sleep and no luxury, it's perfect.

 

We got the London Pass. There is so much to see in London you really have to pick and choose. My family's favorite was the Transportation Museum and going to a really nice Afternoon Tea.

[leavesofapple]

If you like to walk around with a guide "London Walks" is great. We tried several walks (St Paul´s, Kensington and others), all excellent. Knowledgeable guides, interesting itinerarys. You get to see places you would not have found on your own. And you don´t have to make reservatiions and pay in advance, just turn up.

 

http://www.walks.com/

 

And for afternoon tea I really recommend the Orangerie at Kensington Palace.

Wonderful ambiance.

 

http://www.orangerykensingtonpalace.co.uk/afternoon-tea/

[crows nest club]

Don't forget the iconic London Black cab. They are licensed to take up to five passengers and the driver has done the "Knowledge". This can take up to five years and each driver has a wealth of information about London and up to date news and gossip.