London tour before leaving for Dover

[mboss]

My husband and I are arriving in London at 8am on Sep 27. We must be on our norwegian cruise ship in Dover by 3pm. How realistic do you think it is to go into dowtown London by the express shuttle and take a quick (1.5-2hr) tour with black taxi tours....and then get back on the express and catch the shuttle to Dover? I believe that the last shuttle leaves around 12:30p/1p. We've never been to London and we were really hoping to see some london highlights before leaving on our cruise. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[kruzin']

:) I would not risk it...have you considered if your flight arrives late, going thru customs and immigration and how are you getting to Dover? I would not do it Quote=mboss;11562365]My husband and I are arriving in London at 8am on Sep 27. We must be on our norwegian cruise ship in Dover by 3pm. How realistic do you think it is to go into dowtown London by the express shuttle and take a quick (1.5-2hr) tour with black taxi tours....and then get back on the express and catch the shuttle to Dover? I believe that the last shuttle leaves around 12:30p/1p. We've never been to London and we were really hoping to see some london highlights before leaving on our cruise. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[pinkkaren]

Hi there,I would not risk it-I live near Dover and I guess that you are flying into Heathrow. Even if you clear the airport quickly, it is not near the centre of London,traffic is a nightmare and it can take forever to get out of London and get out to Kent. You may be lucky but I wouldnt chance it. Hope this helps.

Kind Regards, Karen

[Stevesan]

My husband and I are arriving in London at 8am on Sep 27. We must be on our norwegian cruise ship in Dover by 3pm. How realistic do you think it is to go into dowtown London by the express shuttle and take a quick (1.5-2hr) tour with black taxi tours....and then get back on the express and catch the shuttle to Dover? I believe that the last shuttle leaves around 12:30p/1p. We've never been to London and we were really hoping to see some london highlights before leaving on our cruise. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

You do that and you're likely to see more of London than intended. Note that London hotels aren't cheap, nor will be the flight to catch up with your ship at the next port.

 

I arrived in London Gatwick Airport last Wednesday. It took THREE HOURS from plane to hotel in London, Kensington. The immigration line alone took nearly an hour.

[cberge]

My husband and I are arriving in London at 8am on Sep 27. We must be on our norwegian cruise ship in Dover by 3pm. How realistic do you think it is to go into dowtown London by the express shuttle and take a quick (1.5-2hr) tour with black taxi tours....and then get back on the express and catch the shuttle to Dover? I believe that the last shuttle leaves around 12:30p/1p. We've never been to London and we were really hoping to see some london highlights before leaving on our cruise. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

I was goibng to post that there is no way you would be able to do this,but I see other beat me to it...traffic is a bear,and there is no "quick" tour,and then back to the airport for the shuttle.It is to bad you could not have come in a day or two before,but save London for another time.

[Globaliser]

My husband and I are arriving in London at 8am on Sep 27. We must be on our norwegian cruise ship in Dover by 3pm. How realistic do you think it is to go into dowtown London by the express shuttle and take a quick (1.5-2hr) tour with black taxi tours....and then get back on the express and catch the shuttle to Dover? I believe that the last shuttle leaves around 12:30p/1p. We've never been to London and we were really hoping to see some london highlights before leaving on our cruise.

All you could hope to do is to drive past a few buildings and see them through a car window. Frankly, you might as well see them on TV if that's all you're going to get.

 

Also, you just don't have enough time to do what you're suggesting. It will take you about 45 minutes to get from Heathrow to central London and the same time back again. This doesn't leave you much time for the tour itself.

 

Plus you're not factoring in the consideration that when you arrive in London off an overnight trans-Atlantic flight, you're going to feel a bit like death warmed up. So doing something high-energy and stressful is not the best way of starting your time. And if you're sitting in a car doing that, you might just find that you sleep through the whole tour.

 

The only possibility of doing something like what you suggest is to book your own private car transfer to take you from Heathrow to Dover, by way of a driving tour of central London.

 

Leave London for some time when you can come and stay for 2 weeks. That's how much time you need to get an overview of the city. If you want to get to know it well, come and stay for 2 months.

[mboss]

Thanks for all your help!! It looks like it's unpossible. I know it doesn't make a difference but we were going to take the express train to paddington station (15mins).....i was aware that driving into london can take forever. We are taking the NCL shuttle to Dover from Heathrow.

[mboss]

Thanks for all your help!! It looks like it will not be possible. I know it doesn't make a difference but we were going to take the express train to paddington station (15mins).....i was aware that driving into london can take forever. We are taking the NCL shuttle to Dover from Heathrow/

[Globaliser]

I know it doesn't make a difference but we were going to take the express train to paddington station (15mins).....i was aware that driving into london can take forever.

That was what I'd understood, and what I'd based my 45-minute estimate on. If you made no other stops, it would be about that length of time between exiting customs at Heathrow to being in a taxi at Paddington.

 

FWIW, my mental breakdown of your time available would have been something like this:-

0800 Flight arrives

0900 Exit customs, head for baggage storage

0915 Leave baggage storage, head for Heathrow Express to Paddington

1000 Arrive Paddington, into taxi

******************

1130 Arrive Paddington to catch Heathrow Express

1215 Collect baggage from storage

1230 Board shuttle

 

So you'd have about 90 minutes for your tour. Even then, that timetable leaves you with little margin for error. If, for example, there was a long queue to store your bags or to retrieve them, or you had a long walk from there to the meeting place for the ship's shuttle, you could be sunk. If you miss the last shuttle to the ship, your only realistic option would probably have been to persuade one of the licensed taxis at Heathrow to take you all the way to Dover. That would be very expensive.

[WatchHill]

We are on the same cruise and have been to London many times prior to this trip. Getting off of the plane, walking to baggage claim, and then clearing immigration will take a few hours. Globaliser is right, you need much more than a 1.5 to 2 hr taxi ride to see London. Morning traffic is awful.

 

We are arriving at Terminal 1, at 10: AM, [flight from BOS to SNN] a few days prior to the cruise and planning on 3 hours to get from LHR to our hotel near Buckingham Palace. Since we booked our own flights, we are not using NCL for the hotel transfer and will take Heathrow Express to Paddington and grab a cab from there.

 

On the day of the cruise, we are using the NCL transfer to Dover and anticipate leaving London by 11: AM. The traffic can be quite heavy leaving the city. We'll probably arrive at the ship about 1:PM if there are no major traffic incidents.

 

If you really want to see London, then plan another trip in which you can spend some serious & quality time exploring the city and historic sites outside of London. My niece attended the U of Kent, so her Mom & I were frequent visitors to England.

 

Darcy

[FinelyRetired]

Heathrow to Dover is how long? London not doable, but what part of England would their route actually traverse? Is it at all scenic? What if the original poster hired a private car service for a transfer from Heathrow to Dover? What would that consist of in terms of amount of motorway vis a vis some countryside?

 

Is there anything by way of a short detour through some scenic countryside, a quaint village along the way to drive through, a site to pass? Would there be anything that might permit or warrant a bit of a longer, more costly ride over to Dover that would make the transfer a bit more memorable and still let them be in Dover by 3pm?

 

Extra cost to be sure.......but perhaps worth it if they can have a bit more of your wonderful country than just a ride?

 

Perhaps not......but some of you may have some thoughts about the county or the history of the area they'll drive, or of Dover itself, etc? Even only that might be interesting to know since the drive must be made?

[mboss]

Ok, so my first idea is out.....but, FinelyRetired brings up a good question.....Does anyone know of any private tour/transfer companies that could takes us on a nice ride/tour along the way to Dover?

[FinelyRetired]

mboss:

 

I really hope that the UK folk will chime in here regarding your transfer from Heathrow to Dover....... what counties, and history & what you might look for on that drive at the very least.

 

From London to Southampton, I asked the very same question......"what to see to make it more meaningful than just a drive." Got responses and ideas from members on this board & I asked chauffeurlink.co.uk and emailed back & forth with a gal named Sheelagh & had a wonderful drive she helped design that sure beat the ship's London-Southampton bus. A best day. I don't have the foggiest notion if they even DO a Heathrow-Dover route..as they are based in Bath & the driver left at 4:30am to collect us at 7:30am in London! But, you could email her and ask at: select@chaufferlink.co.uk. She'll remember Martha from Rhode Island. :)

 

In London, one night, I used a car service for an evening to the theatre: woodfordcars@googlemail.com. A Nikki Hills there assisted us with not only a standard transport to/from the theatre but helped us with planning an extra one hour night-time drive of London to tour it at night before our return to our hotel. Splendid. I believe they often do airport -to- dock transfers and I would not hesitate to contact them for at least a quote/ideas/ options were I in your position.

 

Both chauffeurlink and woodfordcars have websites. I also had some nice replies & feedback from a website that does airport-dock transfers: eddiemanning.com, but have not used them.

 

Hopefully UK cc'ers will have lots to offer here. If not, send a few emails out. You have to get to Dover anyway. I agree with you, if you are only in England for a little while, maybe try to make the most of that transfer since you have to drive it anyway!

 

Good Luck....hope the connection is not SO tight you'll have to speed along the motorway just to make the ship........ but, if that's your only option, I know you'll enjoy your cruise! Martha

[mboss]

Thanks so much for your suggestions FinelyRetired. I have contacted the companies you have suggested and we decided to book with one of them for a private car transfer to Dover with london tour! It wasn't much more money either! Thanks!

[pinkkaren]

Hi there,as the 27th is a weekday traffic will be heavy,I hope it works out for you,I live about 20 miles from Dover and the amount of times we have been stuck on the motorway on our way back from Heathrow or Gatwick is no joke. We always stay in an airport hotel the night before we travel as the M20,M25 (motorways) are often held up and we would not risk missing our holiday flights. Dont want to sound like a killjoy though,I am sure that you are using a company that does this all the time? My husband often works in the city and he said no way would he chance it,I think you will be surprised by the roads and distance into central London from the airport?

[Globaliser]

Heathrow to Dover is how long? London not doable, but what part of England would their route actually traverse? Is it at all scenic?

It's about 100 miles.

 

The normal route would all be on the motorway or similar roads. But like any journey, it's possible to go by a scenic route. There's nothing particularly dramatic or breathtaking to see between Heathrow and Dover, though. The best you'll get is "pretty and gently rolling". While it's far from being continuous sprawl, and there is some real countryside, this is also the most densely-populated corner of the country.