London trip

[petals]

whats the best/cheapest way to get from gatwick to a hotel in st pancreas area?

Also from st pancreas area hotel to Oxford street?

 

[ABZDisneyFan]

I'd get the Gatwick Express to Victoria then hop onto the Victoria line straight to Kings X / St Pancras.
If you have a lot of luggage, you might want to consider getting a taxi from Victoria.
Heading to Oxford Street, get the Victoria line again from Kings X / St Pancras to Oxford Circus.

 

[petals]

Does any of that need to be booked in advance?

 

[chocolateMinnie]

You can get a direct thameslink train from Gatwick to St Pancras (if they are running).
They are theoretically cheaper to buy in advance but it will tie you down to one train and generally if you choose thameslink their advance tickets are the same.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Also as before Oxford Circus is easy by tube.
However if you are not in too much of a rush you can walk it in 45 minutes or so and see the sights.

 

[petals]

You can get a direct thameslink train from Gatwick to St Pancras (if they are running).
They are theoretically cheaper to buy in advance but it will tie you down to one train and generally if you choose thameslink their advance tickets are the same.

Is it ok to just show up and get tickets there then? Is it easy to find the train from the terminal buildings?

We're also going to a musical at The Cambridge Theatre, where is that and how do we get there from St. Pancreas area?

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Is it ok to just show up and get tickets there then? Is it easy to find the train from the terminal buildings?

We're also going to a musical at The Cambridge Theatre, where is that and how do we get there from St. Pancreas area?

If you look At thameslink railway website you will see that depending on day and time the trains run direct approximately every 30 minutes. You can get them more frequently but you will have to change in some.
Takes 44minutes.
Especially with luggage it is the easy way to do it.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Your theatre is down by the strand so a 20 minutes brisk walk or 40 minutes slow touristy stroll. It is an easy walk if you are going to a matinee performance or if you are going early in the Summer but I would do the tube in the dark.
If you decide to walk through Bloomsbury either let me know and I can give you directions or check on walkit.com as their maps are usually pretty good.

 

[iona]

Is it ok to just show up and get tickets there then? Is it easy to find the train from the terminal buildings?

You can buy a ticket at the station. The queue for the manned ticket counters can be long but there's lots of self-service machines.

There's two terminals at Gatwick with a monorail running between them. The station is at Gatwick South. If you fly into Gatwick South the station's well signposted from arrivals (and easy to get to). If you fly into Gatwick North just follow the signs for the monorail to Gatwick South and then the signs for the station - again it's very easy.

 

[petals]

Your theatre is down by the strand so a 20 minutes brisk walk or 40 minutes slow touristy stroll. It is an easy walk if you are going to a matinee performance or if you are going early in the Summer but I would do the tube in the dark.
If you decide to walk through Bloomsbury either let me know and I can give you directions or check on walkit.com as their maps are usually pretty good.

We'd probably get a tube. One of our party is 72 so I don't think they'd go for a 40 minute walk. What tube station would we need to get off at for that Theatre

 

[petals]

So far our trip plan is
Day 1: early flight so get to hotel whenever to drop off bags, then head to Oxford Street for Disney store and pennies
Day 2: Harry Potter Studios
Day 3: Hop on hop off bus and West end show (already booked)
Day 4: We've an evening flight and nothing planned

Any suggestions on what we might see/do or what we should/shouldn't get off for on the hop on hop off tour bus? I kind of want to go to Paddington station to get a photo of the Paddington bear statue but don't know if that seems silly or how far away it'll be from us

 

[finchy3]

Try and use the Thames Clipper its great way to see London from the river.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attra...iews-MBNA_Thames_Clippers-London_England.html

 

[Mortie]

You could also try using the bus, may take longer but a good way of seeing London. Use the TFL website to help plan. We stayed at St Panc and got the bus south of the river to the National Theatre great trip

 

[Dimplenose]

We're also going to a musical at The Cambridge Theatre, where is that and how do we get there from St. Pancreas area?

Not that close to The Strand more in the Covent Garden Area. You can get the Piccadilly Line from Kings Cross to Covent Garden or Leicester Square. It's a short walk from either but probably more straightforward from Covent Garden.

We saw Matilda there a while ago. Amazing show. Have fun whatever you are seeing.

 

[petals]

I just wanted to come on and thank you all for your tips. They made navigating London a bit easier, omg that underground can be confusing if you don't know what you're doing but figured it out eventually

I'll be doing a little trip report from our visit to London in my ptr linked in my sig if anyone wants to join in