Alternative for short trips like ABD escapes?

[chuff88]

My mom and I are doing the British Isles cruise with DCL in September 2024 and we're planning to fly in a few days early to explore London. I looked at the ABD London Escape, but it leaves out a number of things we're interested in doing so I don't think we're going to go that route. I'm not really familiar with group travel outside of ABD, so I was curious if anyone was aware of other trips like the ABD escapes that we might look into.

I am also aware that London is a fairly easy city to navigate on our own, and we might end up going that route. It's just that my idea of vacation is not having to do a lot of planning since a lot of my work is pretty planning heavy, so if I can find something like ABD that covers our interests and is in our price range I'm going to do that.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Maybe look into one of the hop-on-hop off busses. You get a day or two ticket and you can ride the bus and get on/off at any number of tourists places they stop at. Look it up and find out where all they stop and likely most of what you want to do is covered there. I believe there may be narration during the travel as well, but I'm not sure. I haven't done one before, but have booked them twice, but had to cancel both times due to covid. They have them in large cities all over the world. It seems like a convenient way to see things without a lot of planning needed.

 

[MadderAdder]

There are a lot of free walking tours as well that could be of interest (you’re expected to tip though at the end of course).

 

[chuff88]

Both good suggestions! I was hoping for something more "all-inclusive" like what ABD offers, but it's sounding like we're probably going to be more on our own for this portion of the trip.

 

[MadderAdder]

What about sites like Viator or Airbnb experiences?

 

[chuff88]

What about sites like Viator or Airbnb experiences?

I’m not a big fan of AirBnB (read too many horror stories) but I might look into Viator!

 

[Mathmagicland]

Both good suggestions! I was hoping for something more "all-inclusive" like what ABD offers, but it's sounding like we're probably going to be more on our own for this portion of the trip.

Also check out Tours by Locals - while not all-inclusive with lodging, you can find guides who offer all sorts of different tours and most all of them will customize a tour for you to whatever you want to see & do. Sometimes one will offer a two- or three-day option. I’ve not used them in London, but have in many other cities and have always had good experiences.

https://www.toursbylocals.com/find_tour&area=21&start=2024-09-01&end=2024-09-07

 

[Donalyn]

OP - what are you interested in doing in London that isn't part of the Escape?

What I was thinking was maybe doing the Escape, but then a day ahead on your own, to maybe pick up those things. (To limit the planning that you have to do.)

 

[sayhello]

If you end up doing something less all-inclusive, I can highly recommend London Walks www.walks.com

Wonderful tours! Extremely low-cost tours (like £15) but a tip is kind of expected (and highly deserved)! They have a wide array of in-depth tours with fabulous guides.

Sayhello

 

[chuff88]

OP - what are you interested in doing in London that isn't part of the Escape?

What I was thinking was maybe doing the Escape, but then a day ahead on your own, to maybe pick up those things. (To limit the planning that you have to do.)

With the cost of the escape and my PTO availability an extra day in addition to the escape really wouldn’t be in the cards.

I’d like to see Big Ben and maybe take a ride on the London Eye, and maybe hit a museum?

 

[jimmymc]

If you have a list of specific things you want to do, then going on your own will almost definitely work out better. I've checked a few other tour companies, and anything involving London is usually part of a longer trip which includes France or Scotland.

You can go through travel companies to book a hotel, some meals, and transfers to the port, but even that would be you putting it together.

 

[sayhello]

With the cost of the escape and my PTO availability an extra day in addition to the escape really wouldn’t be in the cards.

I’d like to see Big Ben and maybe take a ride on the London Eye, and maybe hit a museum?

Big Ben and the London Eye are within easy walking distance of each other. Just opposite ends of the Westminster Bridge. When I did pre-days on my own for my London/Paris trip, I stayed at the Park Plaza County Hall, which is walking distance from Waterloo Station and walking distance to Westminster Bridge, Big Ben and the London Eye. And Westminster Abbey. And there are several museums just a tube or bus ride up and down the Thames River from there. If you do end up doing this OYO, it's really, really easy to do the things you've listed.

Sayhello

 

[chuff88]

Big Ben and the London Eye are within easy walking distance of each other. Just opposite ends of the Westminster Bridge. When I did pre-days on my own for my London/Paris trip, I stayed at the Park Plaza County Hall, which is walking distance from Waterloo Station and walking distance to Westminster Bridge, Big Ben and the London Eye. And Westminster Abbey. And there are several museums just a tube or bus ride up and down the Thames River from there. If you do end up doing this OYO, it's really, really easy to do the things you've listed.

Sayhello

Did you like that hotel? I honestly get a lot of anxiety about choosing hotels without any sort of firsthand recommendation, so if you liked it that might be a good option for us. Their rates seem fairly reasonable.

 

[sayhello]

Did you like that hotel? I honestly get a lot of anxiety about choosing hotels without any sort of firsthand recommendation, so if you liked it that might be a good option for us. Their rates seem fairly reasonable.

It's been several years since I stayed there, but yes, I did like it very much! The room I had was on the small side (but not tiny) and was very pretty and clean and had nice finishes. And it was very well located.









Sayhello

 

[pjacobi]

For the London Eye, be sure to buy tickets in advance:

https://www.londoneye.com/tickets-and-prices/


-Paul

 

[Marthasor]

We have done London on our own several times and it's very easy to navigate. How many days do you have and what are you hoping to see? You could probably hit the highlights in 2-3 days.

 

[minie_meese]

We did two days on our own at the end of a Disney Cruise and it was very easy. Loved walking through Kensington Gardens, stopping at the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster (aka Big Ben), saw the Royal horses at the Horse Guards building, visited the Borough Market, had charcuterie and a glass of wine at Gordon's, the oldest wine bar in London (1890), and walked by the Globe Theater, Tower of London and a number of other well known sites. On the other day we spent a lot of time at the Churchill War Rooms Museum which was fascinating. We did a great small group day trip that took us to Bath, Stonehenge and the quaint National Trust Village of Lacock where part of Harry Potter was filmed. It was a terrific day trip. Get Your Guide has a trip that covers all of this - I highly recommend them. We went to a play at the Globe on another evening (make sure to get bench seats or you will stay for the entire performance in an uncovered area). Also had a drink and dinner at the Skygarden (you need tickets early as you can get them). The views from there are spectacular.