Day trip to London from Southampton

[GAscrapper]

We are a group of four adults with a cruise originating in Dublin. On the day we dock in Southampton, we would like to take a 1/2 day tour of London (we're docked 5 am to 5 pm).We know we will just be hitting the highlights, understanding that we can't possibly do London justice in the short period of time we're in port. Are there any tour operators that would pick us up at the port in Southampton, take us to London for a tour and then return us to the port? I've tried looking through TripAdvisor but have not had much luck. Princess offers us a transfer to London and back but it is quite pricey for 4 adults. Thanks for any suggestions!

[John Bull]

I used to drive tour coaches, including a few ships' day-trips from Southampton to London. Usually only a photo-stop at the Albert Memorial, 20 mins at St Paul's, and 20 - 30 mins at either Westminster Abbey or Tower of London. Everything else was a drive-by. The guides would reel off facts & dates (they have a thing about dates) faster than you could write them down, let alone take them in. And those tours included being able to use the bus lanes in the city.

 

Docked 5am to 5pm means disembarkation from about 7am and back-on-board by 4.30pm

Depending which day-of-the-week, the drive to London will be at commuter-time and will take up to 3 hours - ie arrive about 10 am 

No commuters for your return to Southampton (unless its a friday ), so it should take no longer than 2 hours. But you still need to allow another hour for any unexpected delays  (ie leave central London by 1.30 pm) unless you're prepared to swim to your next port-of-call 

So your time in London will be 3 1/2 hrs or less.

(BTW - and it's important - what date / day-of-the-week is this?)

 

If you still want to pursue the idea, get a quote from www.smithsforairports.com

They're frequently recommended by Cruise Critic members for transfers to London, and they'd put on a driver who knows his way round the sights in the big bad city.

More expensive, but tailor-made for this day-trip, try www.westquaycars.com

 

JB 

[GrJ Berkshire]

As mad as this sounds, it is as sensible as Florence or Sienna from Livorno, or going to Berlin from Warnamunde, both trips regularly advertised by cruise ship companies. It is far easier than Le Havre to Paris which many threads have discussed. As JB has said the day of the week is critical to how viable it is. 

[GAscrapper]

This would be on a Saturday. Hopefully that makes it more viable?

[GastroGnome]

It reduces the commuter traffic for the drive in which might now only take 2 instead of 3 hours.  But the rest of the timings still hold.

 

Yes its possible - and as GrJ says about as sensible as the other types of trips mentioned (or Rome from Civitavecchia to add another...).  With you don London "justice" - no.  You'll be on a coach stuck in traffic.  But you will see some of it.  If there is something specific you want to see or some particular aspect which really attracts you then you can home in on that.  But there are also some lovely places to go which are closer to Southampton.

[GAscrapper]

I'm with you GastroGnome. I wanted to spend time in Bath, maybe visit Stonehenge. However, my grown sons really want to "see" some of the sights of London so I'm trying to make that happen. Glad to get a little breathing room with the Saturday traffic. 🙂

 

 

[Blue and Green]

Just a thought--three years ago we took the ship's tour from Le Havre to Paris even though many on these boards advised against it due to the commuting time on the bus, and "Paris deserves so much more time than the 5 or 6 hours you will have to visit in a day trip." I could say the same about London...we spent 5 days there before our last cruise, and plan several more days in London before our upcoming cruise. HOWEVER, we are so grateful we took the Paris tour--we spent time inside the Notre Dame cathedral, had lunch in a lovely bistro, saw the Eiffel tower, and other Parisian landmarks. 

 

If there is something you want to see, and you don't know if you will have another opportunity to visit London, then go on a day trip. I would recommend using the ship's transfer  if you are concerned about getting back to your ship on time. Otherwise, we have been very happy with the service from Smiths for Airports, or West Quay cars as JB mentioned above.

 

If you decide against London for a day trip, I would recommend not staying in Southampton. Rather, take a tour into the countryside and visit places like Canterbury, or Salisbury, or Stonehenge.

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, GAscrapper said:

This would be on a Saturday. Hopefully that makes it more viable?

 

Yes, it does 

 

No commuter traffic heading to London on a saturday, and much less traffic on London's streets.

But saturday also means more traffic heading from London to Southampton (or more accurately, to the south coast resorts beyond Southampton), and that can cause log-jams, mainly for the last part of the journey (from Winchester onwards). Hopefully you'll be a couple of hours behind the peak, but you certainly need to allow a bare minimum 3 hours to get back to the ship.

I'd rather risk delays heading into London 'cos that only reduces the time available in the city, whereas a delay heading back to the ship can result in that long swim. 

 

A ship's bus tour has the advantage that if it's delayed the ship will certainly wait (there are no tidal or pilotage or berth-availability issues at Southampton). 

Private tour drivers have access to real-time traffic information and can divert to avoid log-jams, albeit at the expense of some of that wiggle-time - but there's no safety-net.

 

One alternative not discussed is the train to London Waterloo. 

Tickets bought 4 to 6 weeks out for suitably-timed trains (eg 8am from Southampton arrives 9.25, 2.35pm train back arrives Southampton 3.49pm) cost about £36 and the journey time is a reasonably-reliable 90 minutes. If you screw-up and miss your return train your pre-purchased ticket is trash and you'll have to buy another at the walk-up price of about £43 one-way, but there are 3 trains per hour.

There's a ho-ho stop near Waterloo station, ho-ho tickets cost about £26 and a round-trip on the major route takes around 2hrs 30. 

 

Yes, the distance & time are much the same as for Livorno to Florence, but Florence is much smaller, much more compact & has far far fewer iconic sights.

 

It bears more comparison with Warnemunde to Berlin (or Le Havre to Paris) - the basic travel time Warnemunde to Berlin is almost an hour longer, to Paris it's about the same as So'ton to London.

And all three are packed with iconic sights.

But importantly sailings from Warnemunde and Le Havre are usually about 8pm and from Livorno about 6pm.

Yours is 5pm 

 

I'm still dubious about the value, though I do understand those for whom its the only chance of visiting those places in their lifetime. And there's the risk of delay inherent with long drives back from big cities.

If you're .....errrr...."in your twilight years", I say "go for it".

If you're of significantly younger stock, I say keep London on your bucket-list until you have the opportunity to do it justice with a 2 / 3 / 4-day visit. 

Just MHO as always

 

JB  

 

Edited to add re blue & green's post. Yes Salisbury and Stonehenge is a very viable day-trip by train (£10 return), & ho-ho bus http://www.thestonehengetour.info/timetable

But B & G's geography is a little shaky on Canterbury, which is 140 miles / 3 hours away.

Perhaps confusing Canterbury with Winchester? Just 12 miles / 15 -  20 minutes away by train 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by John Bull

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, GAscrapper said:

However, my grown sons really want to "see" some of the sights of London so I'm trying to make that happen.

 

My advice: Buy them a ticket to fly to London (and one for yourself too, of course!). There are nonstop flights from Charleston, Charlotte and Atlanta, amongst other places. Making them waste half a day on a bus travelling on a boring motorway is a very poor second.

[sddsddean]

4 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

 

It bears more comparison with Warnemunde to Berlin (or Le Havre to Paris) - the basic travel time Warnemunde to Berlin is almost an hour longer, to Paris it's about the same as So'ton to London.

And all three are packed with iconic sights.

But importantly sailings from Warnemunde and Le Havre are usually about 8pm and from Livorno about 6pm.

Yours is 5pm 

 

 

 

 

When someone earlier mentioned its "like Warnemunde or Le Havre", I  immediately thought of this point. When we were in Warnemunde and Le Havre, the sailaway time was more like midnight. I just can't imagine, with such little time on your hands, why you would want to go to London...you will see naff all! (A British idiom😁). I think your time could be much better spent either in Portsmouth (historic dockyard, HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, Mary Rose etc) or do an easy cheapish trip to Salisbury (and include Stonehenge if you want...its a pile of rocks!). Just my twopennarth!

 

Simon

[GAscrapper]

Thanks for all the suggestions here. The family voted last night to go with the Princess day-long bus tour. I told them the ride would give them an overview of what they wanted to visit on another trip and they're okay with that. At least this way we know we won't be left standing on the pier watching the ship sail away without us!

[John Bull]

40 minutes ago, GAscrapper said:

Thanks for all the suggestions here. The family voted last night to go with the Princess day-long bus tour. I told them the ride would give them an overview of what they wanted to visit on another trip and they're okay with that. At least this way we know we won't be left standing on the pier watching the ship sail away without us!

 

It's one of a number of options, and best to do what you feel comfortable with.

 

Whenever I've driven port-of-call trips to London there have usually been half-a-dozen coaches doing that trip (don't worry - not in convoy ), so a good few hundred of your fellow-passengers will be making exactly the same decision.

 

Unless things have changed, cruise lines usually book at least one London-based coach. Blue-badge London guides come down to Southampton on that coach and go to their assigned coach at the pier. So you'll have your guide telling you about London etc on the way there. The guide then hops off in London at the end of the tour, and your driver brings you back to Southampton.

 

Whistle-stop, but the over-view that you want.

And no worries about a delay getting back to the ship.

Enjoy

 

JB 

[sddsddean]

13 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

It's one of a number of options, and best to do what you feel comfortable with.

 

Whenever I've driven port-of-call trips to London there have usually been half-a-dozen coaches doing that trip (don't worry - not in convoy ), so a good few hundred of your fellow-passengers will be making exactly the same decision.

 

Unless things have changed, cruise lines usually book at least one London-based coach. Blue-badge London guides come down to Southampton on that coach and go to their assigned coach at the pier. So you'll have your guide telling you about London etc on the way there. The guide then hops off in London at the end of the tour, and your driver brings you back to Southampton.

 

Whistle-stop, but the over-view that you want.

And no worries about a delay getting back to the ship.

Enjoy

 

JB 

 

That seems a bit of a bugger for the London based driver JB. He has to effectively do an extra roundtrip compared to Soton based drivers. Hope he gets a bit of bunce!!

 

Simon

[John Bull]

1 minute ago, sddsddean said:

 

That seems a bit of a bugger for the London based driver JB. He has to effectively do an extra roundtrip compared to Soton based drivers. Hope he gets a bit of bunce!!

 

Simon

 

Long day, hourly rate £££

Gets him out of the big bad city.

And the company of half a dozen young ladies all to himself on the way down, Simon. 

What more could a driver want? 

 

JB