Advice - transportation Southampton to London after cruise

[red4u2]

On 3/7/2024 at 3:01 AM, gumshoe958 said:

Believe me, I’m a huge advocate of the Elizabeth line. It’s revolutionised my journeys to Heathrow from the West End.

 

But I’m conscious that most users of this forum are from overseas and unfamiliar with London’s public transport, may not be as mobile as some of us and may come from the US where train travel isn’t the norm that it is in Europe so find the prospect of using a busy commuter train in a strange city daunting.

 

Elizabeth line trains don’t stop for long, there are often crowds to board and there’s often standing room only, like on the tube.
 

I’m fine with that - it’s part of London life - but for many CC users the HEX might be a better, more relaxing option given it’s often quiet, there’s dedicated luggage space, more chance of getting a seat and plenty of time to get on and off at Paddington. Yes, it’s overpriced and I never use it but I acknowledge it has its uses.

 

 

I'm one that you just described!  im nervous about it all to be honest. First time in Europe!

Thank you to everyone that has responded. I think I've only been on a commuter train once before. It seems like the price of a train/ tube is about the same as a taxi or Uber from Paddington station to the airport. Same with National express bus from Victoria Coach station.      I'm looking for the easiest with the least walking. A difference of 20-40 dollars is fine.  And we have a 515 pm flight, what time would everyone recommend being at LHR?  and leaving London headed to Heathrow?

[red4u2]

On 3/6/2024 at 2:55 AM, Globaliser said:

 

 

For completeness, most National Express coaches can also take wheelchairs to/from most stops. And on both trains and coaches, assistance is available with luggage. So neither mode of transport is impossible for someone who sometimes walks with a cane.

 

The main point is that in the UK you can simply walk from the platform onto the train without there being any significant step or change in level. So someone who sometimes walks with a cane need not worry about a flight of stairs to board a UK train: they don't exist here (other than in exceptional cases).

Thank you! just watched and video and it looks nice!

[gumshoe958]

19 minutes ago, red4u2 said:

I'm one that you just described!  im nervous about it all to be honest. First time in Europe!

Thank you to everyone that has responded. I think I've only been on a commuter train once before. It seems like the price of a train/ tube is about the same as a taxi or Uber from Paddington station to the airport. Same with National express bus from Victoria Coach station.      I'm looking for the easiest with the least walking. A difference of 20-40 dollars is fine.  And we have a 515 pm flight, what time would everyone recommend being at LHR?  and leaving London headed to Heathrow?

It depends on how many of you there are.

 

Right now an Uber from Paddington to Heathrow is just under £40 but obviously that’s the same for 1 person as it is for 4. And of course the price does vary.

 

The Elizabeth line is £12.20 each and the tube is £5.60.

 

A cab/Uber is obviously easiest and the most comfortable. But depending where in London you’re starting from, the train can be faster.

 

For a 5.15pm flight I’d aim to be at Heathrow by about 3.00, and probably allow about an hour to get there.

[red4u2]

1 hour ago, gumshoe958 said:

It depends on how many of you there are.

 

Right now an Uber from Paddington to Heathrow is just under £40 but obviously that’s the same for 1 person as it is for 4. And of course the price does vary.

 

The Elizabeth line is £12.20 each and the tube is £5.60.

 

A cab/Uber is obviously easiest and the most comfortable. But depending where in London you’re starting from, the train can be faster.

 

For a 5.15pm flight I’d aim to be at Heathrow by about 3.00, and probably allow about an hour to get there.

Thank you very much!  just two of us!     i appreciate your help!

[breadmanusa]

Staying at Great Scotland Yard Hotel pre and post cruise. 

What is my best option to get from LHR to hotel? 

Hotel to Southhampton?

Southhampton back to Great Scotland Yard?

Hotel to LHR?

Thanks in advance.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, breadmanusa said:

Staying at Great Scotland Yard Hotel pre and post cruise. 

What is my best option to get from LHR to hotel? 

Hotel to Southhampton?

Southhampton back to Great Scotland Yard?

Hotel to LHR?

Thanks in advance.

 

First of all, congratulations for the location of your hotel, one of the most convenient hotels, in easy walking distance of many of London's most-iconic sights and theatre-land.

 

LHR to GSY hotel is simplest & easiest by pre-booked private transfer.

I guess about £55. I'm a country boy so can't suggest any service in particular other than https://www.blackberrycars.com/ who I've frequently seen recommended on Cruise Critic.

The are myriad others, some well-established, others fly-by-night. Many folk review taxi services only when they've has a bad experience, so be a be circumspect - go by those with fewer bad reviews. Check quotes carefully for cancellation terms & add-ons including LHR parking charges & waiting time.

 

Cheapest is by the Tube (London's underground), well under £10. Take the Piccadilly line (dark blue on the tube map) from any LHR terminal - this is pretty-well the start of its route so you'll have room to sit with your bags around you, but it will get more crowded as you approach central London. Get off at Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square (a Londoner can tell you which is easiest to negotiate with luggage, both are a 10 minute walk to your hotel - or they might even suggest Covent Garden, a little further but perhaps an easier station) 

 

Hotel to Southampton (spelling !) will be somewhere around £225 - £250 by private transfer.

Best bet would be a taxi or level 15-20 minute walk to London Waterloo station. 2 - 3 direct  trains per hour, about 90 minutes. No mountain-climbing to get on the train like in the US, entrance is level or one easy step up, but there's no assistance with luggage. Again, you're boarding at the terminus so should have no problen sitting with your luggage around you.

Walk-up fare is over £50, but Advance tickets (available from about 12 weeks out) can cost as little as £14. The restriction on those fares are that they're only valid on the train time that you book. If your date is more than 12 weeks out do a dummy booking for earlier dates to see those Advance fares and terms.

 

Return to your hotel and hotel to LHR would be the reverse of the above, but no waiting time at LHR.

 

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf

(don't bother to print-off the tube map, they're everywhere in London and on tourist maps)

 

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

It's London Waterloo - Merseyside is hundreds of miles away. ................And it won't recognise Southampton if you type in an extra h. The Southampton station is Southampton central unless your ship has wings.

 

JB 🙂

 

[breadmanusa]

49 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

First of all, congratulations for the location of your hotel, one of the most convenient hotels, in easy walking distance of many of London's most-iconic sights and theatre-land.

 

LHR to GSY hotel is simplest & easiest by pre-booked private transfer.

I guess about £55. I'm a country boy so can't suggest any service in particular other than https://www.blackberrycars.com/ who I've frequently seen recommended on Cruise Critic.

The are myriad others, some well-established, others fly-by-night. Many folk review taxi services only when they've has a bad experience, so be a be circumspect - go by those with fewer bad reviews. Check quotes carefully for cancellation terms & add-ons including LHR parking charges & waiting time.

 

Cheapest is by the Tube (London's underground), well under £10. Take the Piccadilly line (dark blue on the tube map) from any LHR terminal - this is pretty-well the start of its route so you'll have room to sit with your bags around you, but it will get more crowded as you approach central London. Get off at Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square (a Londoner can tell you which is easiest to negotiate with luggage, both are a 10 minute walk to your hotel - or they might even suggest Covent Garden, a little further but perhaps an easier station) 

 

Hotel to Southampton (spelling !) will be somewhere around £225 - £250 by private transfer.

Best bet would be a taxi or level 15-20 minute walk to London Waterloo station. 2 - 3 direct  trains per hour, about 90 minutes. No mountain-climbing to get on the train like in the US, entrance is level or one easy step up, but there's no assistance with luggage. Again, you're boarding at the terminus so should have no problen sitting with your luggage around you.

Walk-up fare is over £50, but Advance tickets (available from about 12 weeks out) can cost as little as £14. The restriction on those fares are that they're only valid on the train time that you book. If your date is more than 12 weeks out do a dummy booking for earlier dates to see those Advance fares and terms.

 

Return to your hotel and hotel to LHR would be the reverse of the above, but no waiting time at LHR.

 

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf

(don't bother to print-off the tube map, they're everywhere in London and on tourist maps)

 

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

It's London Waterloo - Merseyside is hundreds of miles away. ................And it won't recognise Southampton if you type in an extra h. The Southampton station is Southampton central unless your ship has wings.

 

JB 🙂

 

Wow!  I appreciate you taking the time in such detail to explain.  Thank you!

[phabric]

You can also looking into International Friends on embarkment and disembarkment days only.. They pick up at certain London hotels with drop off at Southampton dock and Southampton with drop off at certain London hotels.

 

Embarkment day - stop at Stonehenge 

Disembarkment day - stop at Salisbury, Stonehenge, Windsor

 

I have taken it and it was a great way to see another part of Britain and being dropped at the door of my London hotel around 5pm.

 

www.internationalfriends.co.uk

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, phabric said:

You can also looking into International Friends on embarkment and disembarkment days only.. They pick up at certain London hotels with drop off at Southampton dock and Southampton with drop off at certain London hotels.

 

Embarkment day - stop at Stonehenge 

Disembarkment day - stop at Salisbury, Stonehenge, Windsor

 

I have taken it and it was a great way to see another part of Britain and being dropped at the door of my London hotel around 5pm.

 

www.internationalfriends.co.uk

 

 

Good thinkin' @phabric

 

International Friends is a well-established and reputable coach tour operator.

Their tour/transfer options are specifically for cruisers - they pick up at the cruise terminal and drop off at Heathrow or central London hotels. Or vice-versa for pre-cruise.

 

Their post-cruise tour-transfers are the better value, because the time allowed is not  constrained by a cruise checking-in time.

https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/shore-excursions-and-cruise-transfers.html

 

JB 🙂

 

[Globaliser]

3 hours ago, John Bull said:

Cheapest is by the Tube (London's underground), well under £10. Take the Piccadilly line (dark blue on the tube map) from any LHR terminal - this is pretty-well the start of its route so you'll have room to sit with your bags around you, but it will get more crowded as you approach central London. Get off at Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square (a Londoner can tell you which is easiest to negotiate with luggage, both are a 10 minute walk to your hotel - or they might even suggest Covent Garden, a little further but perhaps an easier station)

 

None of the above, but it's only worth explaining if the Tube is even a potential option for this OP.

[breadmanusa]

On 5/21/2024 at 1:16 PM, Globaliser said:

 

None of the above, but it's only worth explaining if the Tube is even a potential option for this OP.

I was leaning towards using the Tube.  What are your thoughts?

[Globaliser]

47 minutes ago, breadmanusa said:

I was leaning towards using the Tube.

 

Then take the Piccadilly Line from Heathrow to Barons Court, then a cross-platform change (about a 10-foot walk) to the District Line to Westminster, then walk to Great Scotland Yard Hotel from there. It's step-free down to the Piccadilly Line platform at Heathrow, and step-free (by lift + lift) from the District Line to street level at Westminster. Google says the hotel is an 8-minute walk away. You can choose whether to walk along Parliament Street and Whitehall to see the government buildings (including the gates to Downing Street), or along Victoria Embankment to see the river, the London Eye, County Hall and the Millennium Footbridges.

 

That's a shorter walk than from Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square or Covent Garden stations. In addition, getting out of all of those stations requires carrying your luggage up stairs.

 

If you're travelling during the weekday morning peak or in inclement weather, I suggest changing at Hammersmith rather than Barons Court. That's a longer cross-platform walk - about 20 feet.

[breadmanusa]

11 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

Then take the Piccadilly Line from Heathrow to Barons Court, then a cross-platform change (about a 10-foot walk) to the District Line to Westminster, then walk to Great Scotland Yard Hotel from there. It's step-free down to the Piccadilly Line platform at Heathrow, and step-free (by lift + lift) from the District Line to street level at Westminster. Google says the hotel is an 8-minute walk away. You can choose whether to walk along Parliament Street and Whitehall to see the government buildings (including the gates to Downing Street), or along Victoria Embankment to see the river, the London Eye, County Hall and the Millennium Footbridges.

 

That's a shorter walk than from Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square or Covent Garden stations. In addition, getting out of all of those stations requires carrying your luggage up stairs.

 

If you're travelling during the weekday morning peak or in inclement weather, I suggest changing at Hammersmith rather than Barons Court. That's a longer cross-platform walk - about 20 feet.

Appreciate the help.  Thank you