Planning a quick trip to London! Please help :)

[Disneyqueendenmark]

Hello,

Me and three of my friends are going to London over Easter It is my first trip to England, but the others have been before! I'm really excited!
But I have some questions....
1) How are the opening hours in London during the Easter holiday?
I've tried to google it and looked at some store's websites, and as far as I can see most stores will be open on Good Friday? Here in Denmark most stores are closed on Sheer Thursday (what do you call it in the UK?), but I can't find any information about that, so does any of you know if the stores will be open?
Any other things that I might want to know about Easter time in London?

2) I'm leaving London on Easter sunday. Could that be a problem when it comes to bus and train transportation? We are flying out of Gatwick airport at 7 in the morning, so we have to leave our hotel in London pretty early. I was thinking about leaving 3 or 3½ hours before - will that be enough time to get to the airport and check-in/security?
To make it easier I was thinking about taking a cab. I tried to calculate the price online and it comes out about £125 from Paddinton to Gatwick - do you think that price is right? Or is it a lot more expensive or a lot cheaper?

I would really appriciate your help! Thanks
- Rebekka

(I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but as far as I could see it was most appropriate to post my questions here?)

 

[A Small World]

Maundy Thursday is a normal working day so everything should be open.

Good Friday is a Bank Holiday but most shops and attractions will be open.

Saturday will be as normal.

Shops over a certain size are not allowed to open on Easter Sunday but this wont affect you anyhow

Transport to the airport on EasterSunday shouldnt be a problem. The Gatwick express leaves from Victoria Station and is direct to Gatwick and takes about 30/40 mins.

Have a look on this website to check times - http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

 

[Disneyqueendenmark]

Thanks a lot Really appriciate it!

 

[Sencybil]

The transport service on Easter Sunday will be pretty much the same as a normal Sunday - however that is less frequent and starts later than a normal weekday. You will be able to take a bus to Victoria as these run all night, but how convenient this is depends how close where you are staying is to the bus route. You could take a taxi to Victoria station, which would be a lot cheaper than all the way to Gatwick - should be less than £20 if prebooked.

The Gatwick Express runs half hourly, and will be running in time to get you there by 7am - or earlier if you prefer. However, there will be some engineering work going on which may cause timetable alterations, so just check a little nearer to Easter.

Of course, with 4 of you buying train ticketys, it adds up to quite a bit, so maybe a taxi would not be that much more. Early on a Sunday there will be little traffic, so it will be quick. I recommend searching for airport transfer services, and then e-mailing them for a quote. A work colleague recommended this company (I have never used them myself)

http://www.jagschauffeurdrive.com/airport-transfers/

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Sencybil xx