Any Advice for 2 Extra Days in London??

[icydog]

Hi I figured if I wanted to know something about the UK this would be the place to ask. We have a reservation at a timeshare called 2 Hyde Park in London for November 2 to Nov 9, 7 days. We arrive in LHR at 20:00 on 31 October, which leaves us two nights with no hotel planned. Any suggestions as to what we can do? Can we take a train somewhere close and see enough in 1+1/2 days? Or should we just find an inexpensive hotel in London and move to the timeshare two days later? Don't forget we are leaving from Newark at 8 AM and will arrive at 3 PM our (US) time so I doubt we'll be ready for bed upon arrival.
Thanks,
Marylyn

 

[mark&sue]

You might want to ask this question on the general UK board. I am afraid I don't think I can help even though I live in London. I can advise that it will be cold and to pack some warm clothes. Hotels in London are not cheap and you may not want to be wandering about too much if you have had a long flight so it may be best to book somewhere the first night or so. You can catch the tube from Heathrow straight into London or get a cab.

Let us know how you get on.


Susan

 

[icydog]

Thanks I'll do that.

 

[spm23]

Try lastminute.com, they are useful for London hotels. There are ones in Mayfair which is near Buckingham Palace and not too far from Trafalgar Square/shopping etc for around £125 a room per night.

Depends what you want to do in those coupe of days different to the whole week in the Hyde Park one.

There is a fast(ish) train or tube into central London from Heathrow, train about £13, tube will be £5-6.

The tube network is the best for moving round all the time to see things.
See http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/

 

[icydog]

Try lastminute.com, they are useful for London hotels. There are ones in Mayfair which is near Buckingham Palace and not too far from Trafalgar Square/shopping etc for around £125 a room per night.

Depends what you want to do in those coupe of days different to the whole week in the Hyde Park one.

There is a fast(ish) train or tube into central London from Heathrow, train about £13, tube will be £5-6.

The tube network is the best for moving round all the time to see things.
See http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/

Isn't 125 high? How much is that in USD? I knew this trip would be expensive, but I didn't realize how expensive.

 

[Hilary]

You sound as though you'd consider staying somewhere outside of London for those two nights, but I'm not sure if you mean you'd still want to be able to travel into London on those days.

If you'd be happy seeing a different part of the country for those two nights, there are lots of places you could reach fairly quickly after your flight gets in. How about Stratford-upon-Avon, Canterbury, Brighton, Oxford or Cambridge (to name but a few! )?? They would all be within about two to three hours train journey from London and would give you a different view of the UK from your city trip.

Apologies if this isn't what you were asking!

 

[icydog]

You sound as though you'd consider staying somewhere outside of London for those two nights, but I'm not sure if you mean you'd still want to be able to travel into London on those days.

If you'd be happy seeing a different part of the country for those two nights, there are lots of places you could reach fairly quickly after your flight gets in. How about Stratford-upon-Avon, Canterbury, Brighton, Oxford or Cambridge (to name but a few! )?? They would all be within about two to three hours train journey from London and would give you a different view of the UK from your city trip.

Apologies if this isn't what you were asking!

That's exactly what I was asking. Thank you for clarifying that. Where do I get the train to these places. Must I go into London to get to the terminal. Now that you have named all these places I can't decide which would be best for us. And no we wouldn't be traveling back to tour London until Wednesday late afternoon. We are kind of intellectual in the sense we like museums and history. We enjoy Shakespeare but I doubt my husband would like to sit through anything but a comedy. Would we be able to get onto the campus at Cambridge and Oxford?

 

[MazdaUK]

Cambridge might be the best place for you. The colleges are dotted around the town (for example Sidney Sussex is right opposite Sainsbury's supermarket) whereas in Oxford they are a bit more separate from the town. I remember staying in a reasonable hotel called the Royal Cambridge, which was made of a terrace of Regency houses knocked through, but that was more years ago than I care to remember . You can also walk along "the backs" - along the River Cam behind the colleges - which is very nice in Autumn.

Otherwise how about Brighton? The transport links are quite good, there's lots of reasonable hotels right on the seafront, and you could visit the Royal Pavillion built for the Prince Regent (later King George IV) which is very spectacular. You could also enjoy lovely fish and chips on the pier, and visit the Sealife Centre (which was one of the first ever built, right UNDER the seafront!)

 

[Hilary]

I'm no expert on the London transport connections (haven't lived there for nearly 30 years!), but I would expect you'd need to connect in central London for some, if not all, of the places I mentioned. I suppose the upside of that would be that your trip back into central London for the remainder of your trip would be pretty convenient!

I doubt you'd be able to get into the campus at either Oxford or Cambridge, but you can certainly get very close to the university buildings for a real feel of the place. Last time we went to Oxford we took a beautiful stroll through some parkland to walk along the river and watch the rowing teams practising on Sunday morning. Stratford upon Avon is very attractive (and historically detailed) even if you don't want to see any plays or investigate the Shakespeare connections. Lots of quaint timbered cottages and tea shops (and always full of US visitors ).

I've posted a link to this thread over on the UK CB as I'm sure there are many UK DISers who'll have some useful input for you.

 

[Halo]

Hi Marylyn,

Bearing in mind that your flight (if on time!) is due to arrive at 20:00, and at least an hour for baggage reclaim, immigration etc. it is more likely to be 21:00 or more likely 22:00 before you are ready to head off anywhere, so your options are limited.

If you do not want to simply head straight into London, you need to go somewhere that's close to Heathrow Airport, so that it would be relatively inexpensive to get to AND so that you could get there quickly and not too late. IMHO your best bet would be to book a hotel in Windsor - certainly for the night of your arrival. Windsor is scenic, is close to Heathrow, and it is easy to travel in to London from there. The following day you could travel further out to Oxford, from where you could head back to London for your timeshare. (Cambridge is IMHO too far from Heathrow for you)

Somewhere like The Crown & Cushion Inn - a 400 year old inn in Eton (adjacent to Windsor, 3 mins walk from the castle) at £70-£85 per night for a double room might be ideal for your first night. You could savour the atmosphere in the inn, and if you can't sleep you could wander around Eton and Windsor to take in the sight of Windsor Castle, Eton College, the River Thames and the two town centres of Eton and Windsor.

Good luck and best wishes for your vacation.

 

[solgent]

I am an American who spent a month in England this past summer and 3 weeks two summers ago.

The train system in England is like a hub-and-spoke system with London as the hub. But there is more than one train station in London and you might have to travel from Heathrow to one station, on the Tube from that station to another, and then from there to your destination town.

However, you could hire a taxi instead. You can pre-book this so the driver is waiting at the airport for you. The cost is similar to the train fare (depending on how large your party is) and it is much nicer to just get in the taxi than to drag all your stuff around.

You will find that England is expensive, because the dollar is very weak now.

Have a great trip!

 

[MazdaUK]

Can I just add a warning to solgent's post - if you don't pre-book a taxi but decide (e.g. because your flight is delayed) that you would prefer it to the tube, make sure you only use a proper black cab (it may not always be black, but I'm sure you know the shape I mean ). There has been a lot of publicity about unlicensed cabbies touting for business - they see you wandering around and ask if you want a cab. They quote a price which seems reasonable, but when you get there you find its per person, or they've added extra for luggage, or they take you to a cashpoint and make you draw out huge sums of money. At the very least they may be uninsured, their car may not be roadworthy and they may have no idea where you want to go!

The UK is expensive even if you live here - I often wonder how americans afford it at all with everything effectively double price! Also, just because the whole of the UK is smaller than an average American state, don't make the mistake of thinking getting around is easy or quick (or cheap!). Allow extra time for every journey! I would recommend booking into one of the airport hotels on the night you arrive and moving on early the next morning - many of them have shuttle buses that will meet you at the airport - as after a long flight you really don't want to wrestle with the tube - especially if its rush hour (approx 4-7pm)

I really hope you have a lovely trip

 

[solgent]

The UK is expensive even if you live here - I often wonder how americans afford it at all with everything effectively double price!

Yes, just like WDW, England is not a bargain holiday. But it does offer very special atmosphere and attractions, if you like that sort of thing.

1. Do your research carefully. Some major, world-class attractions are free such as: British Museum, British Library, Imperial War Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Galleries (Tate Modern and Tate Britain), Victoria & Albert Museum, Sir John Soane's House, Museum of London, Bank of England Museum. Others are quite pricey: Tower of London, London Eye, Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms.

2. Eat lots of fish and chips! Tasty, filling, cheap and authentic local cuisine. Unfortunately not too healthy. There are also many good, relatively inexpensive Indian and Chinese restaurants in London.

 

[MazdaUK]

If you want authentic(ish) Brit cuisine not too expensive try Porters - its near Covent Garden and does things like pie and chips, and is not bad value, especially for the location. They have a website so you can check it out before you go.

Also very good are the walking tours you can do - you can do a spooky ghost walk, old city of london, all sorts of thinga and I think they are about £6 per person. You can pick up leaflets at any tourist info place. Also, unless you really want the comentary, rather than go on one of those Big Red Bus tours (which are very expensive) get a one-day travelcard and you can hop on and off red buses around all the sites - e.g. the 15 goes from the Strand to the City, the 77a goes from Charing Cross down through Parliament Square to Tate Britain. Also the riverboat trips are quite good value, and some of the guides tell you interesting things about where you are passing. You can get a boat down to Greenwich and go in the National Maritime Museum (FREE) which has Nelson's uniform and loads of interesting stuff. The gift shop is also a good source of unusual souvenirs for the folks at home

And agree the free museums are the absolute best thing!

 

[Debbie Jean]

Although I'm an American, I've spent some time in England, including a semester student teaching in Bournemouth and a year in Cambridge working and studying.

There isn't a Cambridge University "campus" as we think of it in the states. The colleges, though concentrated in the city centre, are scattered through out town, each with it's own "campus", if you will. They are opened on a limited basis to tourists during the academic term so you can, in fact, visit if you plan accordingly. Accomodation possibilites are virtually endless! Try this site for a searchable database of hotels, B&B's, self-catering, etc.
http://www.visitcambridge.org/visitors/wheretostay.php Getting around town is easy... lots of taxis and good bus service. It really is a "University" town so there are lots of interesting, inexpensive place to eat, museums, bookshops, concerts, etc.

Considering when you are arriving at Heathrow, I would also recommend as others have suggested, staying nearby for the night. If you would want to go to Cambridge, you really need to go into London, though this is easy on the tube. You get off at Kings Cross and there's a direct train to Cambridge that takes about 1 1/2 hours.

Whatever you decide to do, I know you will have a wonderful time!

 

[Hilary]

there are lots of interesting, inexpensive place to eat, museums, bookshops, concerts, etc.

My cousin owns and runs a bookshop in Cambridge

 

[Debbie Jean]

My cousin owns and runs a bookshop in Cambridge

I'll bet I've shopped there!
Cambridge is a WONDERFUL town!

 

[icydog]

I'll bet I've shopped there!
Cambridge is a WONDERFUL town!

Thank you so much for all this input. I am writing this down and keeping a record of ideas. At least I don't need to worry about a language problem. That's a big thing with me. I will go to Paris, as there are folks who can make out my pidgeon French along with my outrageous pantomines, but I am very intimidated by a vacation to Italy or Spain, and have put off going there.
England seems safe enough to me unless we run into someone who can't understand my accent. This very thing happened in a grocery store last time we were there. An Indian lady was waiting on me and had to call a manager to find out what I was saying. I told her I was speaking English but I don't think she believed me!

Marylyn