High Speed Rail to Dover

[Ofinn]

Train is fine, but avoid weekday rush hours for comfort.

Thanks. I plan on taking taking one of the late morning trains. Were in no hurry to wait around to board.

 

[RACHEL_GB]

Hi - first time on the boards and first time on DSL! We are going Dover to Barcelona in July. Haven't told the children yet and I am almost fit to burst. My husband says I should tell them 4 weeks before we go and not before. Don't think I can hold it!

I noticed some people talking about hotels in London and thought I would share a few tips.

If you are just a couple travelling, and are not bothered about the specific hotel brand, I always use the US site priceline.com and bid for 4 or 5 star hotels in London - you can choose from (i think) 23 areas of London. I stayed in London 1 night a week for the whole of last summer and never had a dud room, and never paid more than £100 in central London. You can pay way less for 3 stars, but i think you then start to take your chances..

For our trip in July, as we live in the north, I have chosen the Victoria Hilton as the junior suite has a sofa-bed which will be fine for our kids for 1 night. Much more economical than booking 2 rooms in the Premier Inn bizarrely. Its says it only sleeps 3 but I phoned the hotel directly to ask and they said it was fine to have 2 adults and 2 children.

Buckingham Palace to St Pancras would be over £20 in a black cab I think, I went from Harrods to Euston on a Saturday (different rates at weekends) a couple of weeks ago because we would have missed our train home if we got the tube, and it was £20. (I literally had to drag the kids out of Toy Kingdom, hence the lateness. Great place to hang out if you are killing time in that area!)

Hope this helps someone

R

 

[Ofinn]

Hi - first time on the boards and first time on DSL! We are going Dover to Barcelona in July. Haven't told the children yet and I am almost fit to burst. My husband says I should tell them 4 weeks before we go and not before. Don't think I can hold it!

I noticed some people talking about hotels in London and thought I would share a few tips.

If you are just a couple travelling, and are not bothered about the specific hotel brand, I always use the US site priceline.com and bid for 4 or 5 star hotels in London - you can choose from (i think) 23 areas of London. I stayed in London 1 night a week for the whole of last summer and never had a dud room, and never paid more than £100 in central London. You can pay way less for 3 stars, but i think you then start to take your chances..

For our trip in July, as we live in the north, I have chosen the Victoria Hilton as the junior suite has a sofa-bed which will be fine for our kids for 1 night. Much more economical than booking 2 rooms in the Premier Inn bizarrely. Its says it only sleeps 3 but I phoned the hotel directly to ask and they said it was fine to have 2 adults and 2 children.

Buckingham Palace to St Pancras would be over £20 in a black cab I think, I went from Harrods to Euston on a Saturday (different rates at weekends) a couple of weeks ago because we would have missed our train home if we got the tube, and it was £20. (I literally had to drag the kids out of Toy Kingdom, hence the lateness. Great place to hang out if you are killing time in that area!)

Hope this helps someone

R

I would have never thought to try priceline. Oh well maybe next time. I'll keep that in mind if I ever visit London again.

 

[Danni75]

Small update regarding protests in Dover:
- the port and police will update the protest details on their website and Twitter
- Last protest went back and forth from the station to the docks meaning the access from the station was restricted including for taxis - right now we do not know if the route would be similar.
- the protesters plan a concert Saturday night so it is to be expected there will be some trash in the morning of Sunday ; the actual plan for Sunday is not public yet.
- DCL did not have any specific information which I guess is good news but better safe than sorry...

I will keep you informed if I get any further useful information.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Last year there was operation stack, DCL coped with it.

http://torussiawithmickeybars.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/operation-stack-at-dover.html

If you view this video July 10th, on the road, lower right, you see trucks coming through that are controlled in the stack, and roundabouts closed st port entrance, then later towards the ferry port top left, you see a queue of trucks. Port of Dover and the police are good st control and installing emergency one way systems.

 

[BrerNashville]

Thanks for all your help on this topic. It's been very informative.

Do any of you locals (or any one else with experience) have a favorite car service from Heathrow to a hotel at Buckingham palace?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Thanks for all your help on this topic. It's been very informative.

Do any of you locals (or any one else with experience) have a favorite car service from Heathrow to a hotel at Buckingham palace?

There are so many, what ever you do ensure 1/ They have a TFL licence, ( transport for London) do not use any car in London without that. 2/ Check they are based in London preferably near Heathrow. 3/ I see these everywhere in London every day. https://www.addisonlee.com/ They do personal and corporate accounts so are most professional.

Black cabs are easily available at Heathrow, there is also trains, Heathrow express to Paddington then a quick taxi or tube, or Piccadilly tube line to Green Park, elevators available both ends.

 

[Garretts92]

Couple of questions about taking the train....

1) The route that changes trains at Ashford Int'l (from St. Pancras) is a bit cheaper than the direct to Folkestone Central. It looks like you arrive on platform 6 and change to platform 5. Is that an easy changeover (stairs? escalator?) with luggage? Or is it worth the extra $45usd (for 2 of us) to go the direct route?

2) Is there any risk in waiting to buy the tickets when we get to the station or would you buy them ahead and pick them up at the ticket kiosk at the station? Trainline shows the lower fare (going through Ashford) as "limited availability" which gives me pause, but I figure it's an off peak day and time so surely it wouldn't be sold out. Thoughts?

 

[BrerNashville]

Anyone used uber from London heathrow? It actually looks like it would be considerably cheaper for me to split our family up into two cars to take from heathrow to our hotel. I use Uber a lot when I travel in the US.

 

[Danni75]

For über and taxis : black cabs can accommodate up to 6 people and a lot of luggage so check whether that would be an acceptable option.

For train : I would really recommend to buy on the Internet in advance as you will have a much more expensive fare at the station. Saint Pancras doesn't have a lot of machines and therefore get very busy so my tip is to go to Kings Cross next door which has many available machines.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Couple of questions about taking the train....

1) The route that changes trains at Ashford Int'l (from St. Pancras) is a bit cheaper than the direct to Folkestone Central. It looks like you arrive on platform 6 and change to platform 5. Is that an easy changeover (stairs? escalator?) with luggage? Or is it worth the extra $45usd (for 2 of us) to go the direct route?

2) Is there any risk in waiting to buy the tickets when we get to the station or would you buy them ahead and pick them up at the ticket kiosk at the station? Trainline shows the lower fare (going through Ashford) as "limited availability" which gives me pause, but I figure it's an off peak day and time so surely it wouldn't be sold out. Thoughts?

Ashford is a large modern station there are steps and bridges but elevators as well. Buy tickets in advance for the best price.

 

[BrerNashville]

Thanks again for everyone's patience and help.

We are taking the high speed train to folkestone central then taking a cab the rest of the way to the cruise terminal. Since we are a family of 5 traveling with substantial luggage, would it be feasible to call the folkestone cab people once we board the train and give them exact arrival information (54 minute ride), or would it be better to book them further in advance (and possibly incur waiting fees if the train is delayed)?

 

[Danni75]

Update on the May 29th protest:
- there will be two days of protests, Saturday and Sunday, both starting around 2pm for left wing (anti protest) and 4pm (right wing protest)
- on Saturday there will probably be a gathering starting from mid afternoon up to the evening
- the route will start from Dover station up to the Docks and back

My conclusion is that it means the disruption for people going for a Cruise will be minimal in the morning but the Police stressed there will be disruption especially around the station. Try to avoid arriving too late as there probably will already be some police there maybe putting ropes for circulation around the station.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Update on the May 29th protest:
- there will be two days of protests, Saturday and Sunday, both starting around 2pm for left wing (anti protest) and 4pm (right wing protest)
- on Saturday there will probably be a gathering starting from mid afternoon up to the evening
- the route will start from Dover station up to the Docks and back

My conclusion is that it means the disruption for people going for a Cruise will be minimal in the morning but the Police stressed there will be disruption especially around the station. Try to avoid arriving too late as there probably will already be some police there maybe putting ropes for circulation around the station.

Cruisers in the main will be OK.

Port opens for embarkation from 10.30 am, giving at least 90 minutes before any gathering starts and over three hours before the start of any protest. For disembarkation, it should start this from 7.30 am, and the vast majority off by 10 am.

Full information was in my blog from 2015.http://torussiawithmickeybars.blogspot.co.uk/
Look for Dover sections, trip planning, embarkation, disembarkation, photos, leaflets and videos.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Thanks again for everyone's patience and help.

We are taking the high speed train to folkestone central then taking a cab the rest of the way to the cruise terminal. Since we are a family of 5 traveling with substantial luggage, would it be feasible to call the folkestone cab people once we board the train and give them exact arrival information (54 minute ride), or would it be better to book them further in advance (and possibly incur waiting fees if the train is delayed)?

Either is fine.