Train cost Gatwick to Southampton

[Len3]

Does anyone know what this cost is, both first class and coach?

[sea-explorer]

Hi,

 

These may help.

 

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home/hp.cfm

 

http://ojp1.nationalrail.co.uk/en/pj/jp

[Len3]

I'm I reading this wrong? First class train is about $500 per person? Impossible.

[Globaliser]

You must be. The absolute maximum fare that I can get from the website is £150 per person in first class, which is about $300.

 

But if you're doing this to take a cruise, there's absolutely no reason why you'd have to pay this much. A Saver First return is only £38.50 per person.

[sea-explorer]

What date & times are you looking for?

[MrandMrsBeee]

I would get a taxi, I live in Southampton and always get a taxi if I go to either Gatwick or Heathrow.

[sammiedawg]

I think we paid 22 pounds per person, regular class buying the tickets at the airport. Not sure why you would pay extra for first class -the regular seats and train section clean and comfortable. There were luggage racks/ extra seats for the suitcases.

I think train prices vary based on time of the day, we took the next train available, not sure if it was high or low price

Then we walked to the cruise ship from the train station. 10 to 15 minutes and a nice walk along the waterfront.

On the return trip, we took a taxi from the port to the train station.

[BlueVinney]

Hi,

 

We've just done the trip from Gatwick to Southampton. There is a train at 49 minutes past each hour (from 08:49 then 09:49, etc) which runs directly from Gatwick to Southampton. and costs 22.80 GBP (about $46). That is the Standard (coach) walk up fare and so can be booked at Gatwick railway station ticket office when you require to travel. It is called 'Standard Day Single'. The equivalent fare for First class is 37.90 GBP. Personally I found the seating and space in Standard class fine and not worth paying extra.

 

The trains are clean and quiet, although they have no catering so I'd suggest taking a snack and a drink from the Airport. This service travels south towards Brighton and then along the coast to Southampton through semi-rural countryside with some views of the sea. The journey takes 2 hours. Although a relatively slow speed journey it is convenient to be able to load your bags on at Gatwick and off at Southampton without changing train. Other routes cost the same fare but require you to change train at some point.

 

If you do use the service be aware that trains on this service normally consist of 8 coaches with the first 4 going to Southampton and the last 4 to Eastbourne. Ask station staff where you should wait on the platform to be by the correct coaches before the train arrives.

 

Enjoy your journey.

[bankofdad]

Hi,

 

We've just done the trip from Gatwick to Southampton.

 

This sounds great, but we usually have two medium suitcases and a clothing bag with us (total weight about 125 pounds) plus two carry-on bags. Is it easy to navigate your way from the baggage claim, through customs and to the train platform with luggage (and are luggage carts available).

 

Last time we flew into Heathrow and used British Airpot Cars for our transportation needs. Very nice service, but very pricey....

[BlueVinney]

Hi bankofdad,

 

The Gatwick railway station is part of the South terminal of the airport. If you arrive at the North terminal take the automatic shuttle train to the South terminal (every 3 minutes - takes 2 minutes).

 

The entrance to the station is right by the exit from the South terminal baggage reclaim and near the exit from the shuttle with level access from both. There are lifts (elevators) to each platform and I believe (can't guarantee) that you can take your baggage cart down to the train. Distance between baggage reclaim exit and platforms is maximum of 100 yds (300ft). Train (sliding) doors and platforms are at the same level so bags are easy to load.

 

We recently travelled with 2 (pull along) suitcases and 2 carry-on bags. The trains don't have much specialised baggage storage but on the 10:49 train we had no problems and there were few other passengers. Many seats are available as 2x2 at tables (4 people - 2 facing forwards and 2 backwards). There is room for suitcases behind seats located between adjacent tables and for hand luggage on the overhead racks.

 

At Southampton Central station you need to go to the taxis using the pedestrian bridge. There are lifts to this from each platform. Taxis will cost 5-10 GBP depending at which cruise terminal your ship is waiting.

 

There are ways of reducing the cost of your rail ticket, for instance, if you are returning to Gatwick for your flight home, a return (round trip) ticket costs less than two one way tickets. Also tickets purchased in the USA may be less expensive than purchased in UK. Also, a 'railcard' gives discounts if you plan to do any other rail travel in the UK any time during the following year. For instance a 'Network Railcard' (cost 20 GBP) covers up to 4 adults and can reduce many fares by about 33% and even more for children.

 

I've just realised that all the train times I've given have been for Monday to Saturday. Trains are less frequent on Sunday. If you let me have more details of when you plan to arrive then I can check everything out in more detail.

 

Please pm me or post another message if you want any more information or help.

 

Have a good journey.

[bankofdad]

Great info! Very detailed and easy to follow. This looks like a great transportation option! Your help is greatly appreciated! I was able to get the inbound/outbound schedule and ticket cost details from a link Haggis posted recently, so now I think we are all set:D !

[seetosea]

You seem to be very reliable so I hope you can explain in simple terms how I should do the following.

 

1. We are flying into Heathrow and staying at the City Inn (Westminister, London) for a couple of days.

 

A. How do we get from the airport to the hotel?

 

B. On the day of the cruise, how do we get from the hotel to the port in Harwich?

 

We're looking for something that is reasonable in price and we are able to walk.

 

The more explicit the detail, the better. (can you tell that this is the first time we are traveling to London :eek: )

 

Thank you in advance.

Jackie

[Len3]

We're back in the U.S. now. Thanks to everyone for the great info. We bought at roundtrip ticket at the Gatwick Airport - coach to Southampton and it worked just great for us. We managed fine with 4 fairly large bags and 2 carry ons - really no problems at all.

[BlueVinney]

Hi Jackie,

 

A couple of questions to help get the best information.

 

1. What day of the week and arrival time at Heathrow?

2. How many nights will you have at your hotel?

 

This information will let me to suggest preferred routes and costs as transport schedules and fares can vary by day and time. The next public holidays here are not until 25 and 26 December and then 1 January. I will assume that you are travelling before then, again the weeks around these and other public holidays can change schedules.

 

You may have seen these web sites already but I'll include them anyway.

 

Your hotel travel recomendations are at the following url. If we follow those you will probably want to travel to Pimlico Tube (subway) station and walk from there. I see that there are no lifts (elevators) at that station so you would need to use take your suitcases on the escalator. Would this be a problem?

I'll check with my contacts if there are better ways if there are problems.

 

http://www.cityinn.com/london/location_transport.htm

 

(If I've picked up details from the wrong hotel then please let me know.)

 

The map of the Tube network can be downloaded from here.

 

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1106.aspx

 

Download the top link, a pdf file of the London Tube map. Pimlico station is in square E4 on the Victoria line (shown in light blue). This will also give some idea where places are located in and around central London. This map is not to scale but drawn to be easy to read, so although stations are shown the same distance apart some make be minutes apart on the train whilst others are only seconds.

 

Some of the other download maps on that page may also be of interest.

 

If you can let me know the information I need then I'll get back to you with some travel times and costs.

[seetosea]

Hi Jackie,

 

A couple of questions to help get the best information.

 

1. What day of the week and arrival time at Heathrow?

2. How many nights will you have at your hotel?

 

.

 

Our flights are:

 

United Airlines

Flight UA954

Depart Sat, Aug 23 07:23p San Francisco International Apt, US (SFO)

Arrive Sun, Aug 24 01:30p London Heathrow Apt, GB (LHR)

Flight Time 11hr 07min | Economy

Aircraft Boeing 777-200/300

 

Total Travel Time: 10hr 07min

 

United Airlines

Flight UA931

Depart Mon, Sep 8 02:15p London Heathrow Apt, GB (LHR)

Arrive Mon, Sep 8 05:12p San Francisco International Apt, US (SFO)

Flight Time 09hr 57min | Economy

Aircraft Boeing 777-200/300

 

We will have three nights at the hotel. I really appreciate the information. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us so your assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

I've downloaded the maps and put them in our folder.

 

We wouldn't have any difficulty with luggage and stairs.

 

Thanks again,

Jackie

[BlueVinney]

Hi Jackie,

 

Thanks for the information. I may be a few days getting a reply back to you but at least there is no great urgency.:)

 

Timings and costs will be for current services and fare structures. These will probably be approximately correct but will almost certainly be slightly different by next August.

[seetosea]

Hi Jackie,

 

Thanks for the information. I may be a few days getting a reply back to you but at least there is no great urgency.:)

 

Timings and costs will be for current services and fare structures. These will probably be approximately correct but will almost certainly be slightly different by next August.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I can follow directions :D . Fear of the unknown is my greatest fear so if I have this information, I'll have nothing to fear.

 

Thanks again,

Jackie

[BlueVinney]

Jackie,

 

As things are so far out I'll just give you some current timings and costs of your journeys, although they'll be pretty similar next summer. My email is Bluevinney@hotmail.co.uk Please email me directly if you require any other information and about 3 months before your journey so that I can confirm the actual details.

 

Heathrow to City Inn.

 

United use Terminal 3, one of the original terminals located near to the transport hub serving T1, T2 and T3. The web page to navigate for information is http://www.heathrowairport.com You can find many more details of layout and facilities on that website. (One point - in UK speak Ground floor = US First Floor, First Floor = Second Floor, etc.)

 

To transfer to your hotel there are two practical options, taxi and Tube.

 

Taxi information can be found from the above website. I'd allow GBP 60.00 for the fare.

A ticket on the Tube to central London (any station on any Tube line within the central zone) will be about GBP4.00 per person.. You would need 2 trains, a Picadilly line train to Green Park station (every 5-10 minutes, journey time about 43 minutes). Then change to Victoria line and go 2 stops to Pimlico (train final destination Brixton, every 3 minutes' journey time 4 minutes)

 

You can follow the route on your Tube map, starting at Heathrow in square E1, change at Green Park D4, leave train at E4. Colour coding of signs will match the colour of the line as shown on the map.

 

You arrive in London on the day before one of our Bank Holidays (public holiday). This will not effect you. Shopping and transport on the Monday will basically operate as if it were Saturday but there should be more entertainment events occurring than on a normal weekend

 

London to Harwich (pronounced Har-ridge)

 

I guess you will need to join your ship in the early afternoon. Trains leave from Liverpool Street station. You can choose to travel by Tube or taxi from your hotel.

 

Trains leave Liverpool Street at 18 minutes past the hour for destination Harwich Town station. You alight the train at Harwich International station and are due there at 44 minutes past the following hour. For example, the 12:18, 13:18 and 14:18 are due at 13:44, 14:44 and 15:44 respectively

 

Single fares are currently GBP23.00 Standard (coach) and GBP36.50 First class.

Return (round-trip) fares are GBP25.00Standard and GBP69.30 First.

 

Rail details are at http://www.onerailway.com/

 

The entrance to the Cruise Terminal is adjacent to the railway station. Details are at http://www.harwich.co.uk/port_cruise.asp

 

Hope that helps.

[seetosea]

That's exactly what I was looking for. I've printed the information out and it is in my folder. Thank you.

 

You'll probably be hearing from me again as our cruise gets closer :o

 

Jackie (and Jim)

[Traveler50]

Can you tell me how much a taxi would be from Heathrow to Southampton? We will be going on a cruise July 1, 2008, and will arrive at Heathrow at 8:30 a.m. the same day that the cruise will depart for the British Isles from Southampton.

Thanks for the information!

[BlueVinney]

Hi,

 

I would suggest that, unless you particularly want to travel by taxi, the best option is by National Express coach. It leaves from the Coach Station in the transport hub at Heathrow (between Terminals 1, 2 and 3) and travels directly to Southampton Coach Station. This is only a couple of miles from all of the Cruise Terminals, taking 5 to 10 minutes from the taxi rank outside the booking office.

 

Coaches leave Heathrow every hour (currently at 50 minutes past each hour) and take less than 2 hours. Current fares are GBP 13.80 one-way (single) or GBP19.00 round trip (return). There are also discounted fares. For example, passengers aged 60 and over enjoy a 50% discount.

 

Further details can be found at http://www.nationalexpress.com/

 

Hope this information helps your planning.

[Giorgi-one]

Blue Vinney:

 

We are departing our cruise ship on May 30th in Southamptom and flying out of Gatwick on May 31st. Wouldn't it be a lot easier if you just picked us up at the cruise terminal and we stayed at your place?

 

Just a little New Jersey humor!

 

I was planning on taking a taxi from the cruise terminal and staying in a hotel near Gatwick. We usually take two large suitcases each and one carryon, and I do not want to deal with luggage on a train. I also understand there may be van service from Southampton to Gatwick. There will be four of us.

 

I would value your suggestions.

 

Don G.

[Globaliser]

Just to add a couple of things to BlueVinney's excellent advice.

The entrance to the station is right by the exit from the South terminal baggage reclaim and near the exit from the shuttle with level access from both. There are lifts (elevators) to each platform and I believe (can't guarantee) that you can take your baggage cart down to the train.

The last time I noticed, baggage trolleys were not permitted on the platforms themselves. There are trolley stop barriers upstairs, just before the tops of the escalators. This means that you have to carry your bags from the barriers to the lift, and then out of the lift onto the platform. But the distances involved are short - 10 yards or so at most, particularly at platform level because the specific safety reason for trolleys not being allowed is the narrowness of the platforms and the consequence congestion.

United use Terminal 3, one of the original terminals located near to the transport hub serving T1, T2 and T3.

...

A ticket on the Tube to central London (any station on any Tube line within the central zone) will be about GBP4.00 per person.

At some time after the end of March 2008, United (along with all other Star Alliance airlines) will be moving to Terminal 1. This is part of the grand terminal re-shuffle following the opening of Terminal 5, but AFAIK the exact details are not yet (publicly) known. However, even if this happens before August 2008, it won't affect the basic plan that BlueVinney has given.

 

Also, if you are staying a few days in London before your cruise and you decide to take the Tube into town, my recommendation would be not to pay a cash single fare. In fact, nobody should ever be paying a cash single fare on the Tube any more, except in an emergency.

 

Instead, you should get a pre-paid Oyster card, which is available from any Tube station ticket office for a £3 deposit plus whatever you put on the card. (The deposit and unused credit can be refunded to you at any Tube station ticket office at any time in return for surrendering the card.) If you do this, you get access to significantly or substantially reduced fares on Tubes, buses, DLR etc. In addition, there is a price cap each day, beyond which no further credit will be taken off your card - this is calculated and applied automatically, and the price cap is always cheaper than the cost of a paper one-day Travelcard covering the journeys that you have undertaken. Of course, if you don't use the Oyster card enough to reach the cap, you only pay the discounted fares that you've actually used.

[Globaliser]

I was planning on taking a taxi from the cruise terminal and staying in a hotel near Gatwick.

I don't know whether you've had suggestions for a Gatwick hotel, but have a look at the cost of the Sofitel, and also the Hilton if you are flying from the South Terminal. The Sofitel is attached to the North Terminal, but is actually very good for flights from both terminals (it's a short walk to the shuttle train to transfer to the South Terminal). The Hilton is attached to the South Terminal, and is therefore not bad for flights from the South Terminal, but it is quite a long and unattractive walk to the terminal, and adding the shuttle train to that makes it rather cumbersome.

 

Both of these hotels tend to be more expensive than other Gatwick hotels. You definitely pay for the convenience. But it may be worthwhile, particularly when it is possible to check-in for your flight and get rid of your checked bags, and then come back to the hotel to have a relaxed breakfast and then check out of the hotel before going through security and onto your flight.

[parman1]

Hi,

 

Can you please tell me if the taxis are readily available at the cruise terminal, what is the cost to Heathrow and what is the transit time on a Saturday morning? Thanks very much.

 

Kory