Need advice on distance from Heathrow airport and getting to Dover

[mafiadon]

I have never been to the British Isles and was wondering if it is difficult getting from the airport in London to Dover where the ship sails. What is the distance and can you get transfers from one place to the other or will I need to take an uber or some other form of transportation

 

[PhilbeachTraveller]

I live near Dover and it takes us 2 hours door to door on public transport. London Underground from Heathrow to Kings Cross, then train from St Pancras (next door to Kings Cross) goes to Dover, where there are usually taxis waiting around to take you where you need to go. We don't have any problems with this, although we don't take loads and loads of luggage. Otherwise, there is the National Express coach from Heathrow to London Victoria then change to the Dover coach. Takes about 4 hours. Of course there are taxis you can book which will cost between about £130 and £220 (Blackberry Taxis are recommended on this site but there are loads of others but you need to book in advance). Search this site as I'm sure there are lots of posts about getting to Dover.

[Cotswold Eagle]

2 hours ago, mafiadon said:

getting from the airport in London

Rather crucially, which airport? 

[PhilbeachTraveller]

1 hour ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Rather crucially, which airport? 

Clue is in the title 😊

[ontheweb]

When we sailed from Dover, we stayed in London the day before. I found it interesting that though there is a transfer from airports to Dover from Princess, there is not one from London. (At least there was not one a few years ago.) OTOH, they do offer that transfer from London to Southampton. From London, we took the National Express to get to Dover with no problem.

 

Getting back to Heathrow, we took a Princess excursion that included Canterbury and truly enjoyed it. It almost felt like we were still on part of the cruise instead of just the bus back. 

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, PhilbeachTraveller said:

Clue is in the title 😊

When I am on my phone, while I see the titles on the list of topics, once I am looking at the posts within a topic the title doesn't show. If I am looking at half a dozen threads with new posts, I have forgotten the titles before I finish reading all the new posts.

[John Bull]

There's no direct public transport between Heathrow & Dover - bus or train or tube to central London,  bus or train from London to Dover, broadly as Phil's post.

Easiest are

- Direct tube to Kings X and train to Dover, then a £10 taxi from "Dover Priory" station to ship. Train ticket-pricing is complicated, there are cheap advance tickets but they're only good for the actual train time that you book and because of flights, airport formalities, tube to central London, and crossing to St Pancras  you can't be sure of your timing, so you'd pay the "off-peak" fare of about £35

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

-  Or National Express bus Heathrow to London Victoria & change there to a bus to Dover. Very simple, and very cheap (about £13 pp total journey). But very time-consuming - over 4 hours total, depending on connection times at Victoria. No official bus stop at the cruise terminal, but usually the driver offers to swing by there "for your convenience" (translates to " a £5 tip per couple would be nice" )

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

This is one of the very rare occasions that I recommend taking ship's transfer bus from Heathrow to ship.

So very very much quicker and easier

 

JB 

[phabric]

I took National Express www.nationalexpress.com from Heathrow (LHR) with a bus change at London Victoria Coach station to Dover Ferry Terminal with a taxi to the port.  National Express does not go direct to the ship’s terminal.  Plan to book your National Express ticket at least 90 minutes after your plane lands.
 

On our bus, there were a few Disney cruisers on their embankment day, our driver asked if they would liked to be dropped off at the terminal which he did.  We were staying at a hotel and he dropped us off close to the hotel.

 

You can look at International Friends www.internationalfriends.co.uk - Under cruise ports. They only go on embankment/disembarkment days from LHR, LHR hotels, certain London hotels, Southampton and Dover..  I have taken from Dover and also Southampton to my London hotel.  I great way to see other places along the way to/from the port, and been dropped at certain London hotels.  It is cheaper to book under London Tool Kit www.londontoolkit.com.

Edited January 4, 2020 by phabric

[mafiadon]

Wow, this seems so complicated, I may end up in Spain somewhere. Wish me luck

 

[scottbee]

2 hours ago, mafiadon said:

Wow, this seems so complicated, I may end up in Spain somewhere. Wish me luck

 

 

it's a 100 miles the other side of London.  PBT already laid out the best public transport option, but if you're not happy with UK subway and train, JB points out that this is a situation where the cruise transfer is probably best

[Bob++]

For anyone flying in a sailing day, JB (as usual) gives good advice. Negotiating public transport with changes after a night flight and loaded down with luggage is not for the faint hearted. 

 

As always, it's far better to fly in a day early, which takes the pressure off.

[ontheweb]

15 hours ago, Bob++ said:

For anyone flying in a sailing day, JB (as usual) gives good advice. Negotiating public transport with changes after a night flight and loaded down with luggage is not for the faint hearted. 

 

As always, it's far better to fly in a day early, which takes the pressure off.

That's what we did; flew in a day early, spent a day in London, and then took the National Express. We did ask to be dropped off at the terminal as that had been suggested in these boards, but the driver refused.