Please help with London!

[Birdie dog]

I'm flying in in August with my husband and good friends for a British Isles Cruise. We're arriving early Tuesday morning and depart for Southhampton on Thursday.

I'm looking for a good hotel (in a good location) in London.

I've never been there before, though I have been to Europe. I'm a bit overwhelmed by your transportation but am hoping it is way easier when you're actually using it.

I've looked at hotels near Victoria Station, Kensington and Covent Garden.

I'm planning on doing the HOHO bus, seeing the major attractions and being total tourists.

Which area would be best for this?

Also, it appears I can get a train from Victoria to Southhampton? Is this correct and is it something I should consider?

I really appreciate any advice because though I've been to NYC, Boston, Miami, Copenhagen, and Bergen, London is really stressing me out.

Thanks!

 

[A Small World]

I live in North UK but enjoy visiting London regularly.

When I did the HOHO bus a couple of years ago I had to go to the main office/London Visitor Centre to activate my ticket/exchange voucher for ticket before I could travel. This was based just off Trafalgar Square. Im not sure if this is still the case but worth bearing in mind.
This is the company we used
https://www.theoriginaltour.com/p/tickets/the-original-tour/

If this is the case Covent Garden is the closest out of the 3 areas you mentioned

You are correct you can get a train to Southampton from London Victoria or from London Waterloo.

The train from Waterloo is slightly faster but will take approx 2hours.

Waterloo station is located close to London Eye/ Westminster Bridge to give you an idea of the area

 

[Birdie dog]

Thank you!

Another area I forgot to add is Charing Cross. It doesn't look like the easiest place to get to from Heathrow, but I'm considering a car service. We have four adults with luggage so the train might be a mess.

I'll definitely check out your HOHO link.

 

[A Small World]

The Heathrow express train goes into Paddington Station and is a quick journey

The other option is to get the underground train into central London but this will take quite a while. Ive done it before with luggage and it is fairly easy as the train starts at Heathrow so you will get a seat but it will get crowded along the route as its one of the main underground lines. Covent Garden station is on the same line so you won't have to change
http://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf

If you have luggage it can be a hassle to change lines on the underground as there can be a lot of escalators or steps to negotiate between the different lines. Covent Garden Station doesn't have escalators but has large lifts from platform to street level (can you tell Ive spent lots of time on the underground recently)

 

[Jets fan]

Hi

If you are flying into Heathrow then the Heathrow express into Paddington is very good and quick, but then you would need to get a taxi which is not cheap in London. A local Heathrow taxi company may be good and more cost effective - bookings@windsorcars.com
Alternatively google Uber as more and more people are using them. To get from London to Southampton then the train makes much more sense - thetrainline.com

I really like Kensington as it's accessible, nice restaurants, parks and most bus tours go there for the Albert Hall and Kensington Palace. If you go on lastminute.com you should be able to get good rates. Although most of the big chains are in good places.

Your holiday sounds great
tina

 

[Birdie dog]

I finally booked a hotel!

Thanks for all your recommendations! We're staying at the St James Court which is in Charing Cross. We're planning on booking their Alice tea. (Which looks amazing!)

We now have 7 people total in our group that are flying in on our flight. So, I'm starting to think a private van transfer will be the way to go. I'm going to do some research on that.

New question: I was looking at private tours (specifically Black Cab) but am considering doing the 24 hour HOHO instead. That way we can see the city at our own speed. Any downfall to that?

 

[Jon84]

Personally, If I had time to plan Disney World Style, I'd load up the Oyster Cards and plan a route on public transport that takes in the things you want to see. The traffic and multiple routes of the tour buses just means you could miss seeing things you want to see.

Doing mostly walking (if possible) and only using the Tube and buses where necessary will allow you to get more done.

 

[Dimplenose]

I've not done this route myself but it looks interesting.

http://www.londonforfree.net/bus-tour/

(I have done the hop on hop off bus in many cities and found them wonderful. In London however it was very time consuming due to traffic. Also the guide we had wasn't local and didn't deviate from her script so when we were stuck in the traffic she couldn't add any extra interesting facts about the buildings we were staring at for ages in the congestion. We did hop off once but it took a 45 minute wait for the next bus - this was in August!)

 

[Birdie dog]

Ugh. That's when we're going. One member of our group (we have 10 adults) is just this side of car sick, so that would be a problem.

Thanks.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I agree that your best option would be touring on your own, using the Underground. It's very easy to use, although is a bit expensive. I would not stay in the Covent Garden area just because that tube station is one of the most crowded and has no escalators.

I wouldn't even consider taking the train or underground from Heathrow to your hotel. Too much hassle with luggage. Just grab a cab at the airport. To give you an idea of the cost, I was in London last week and the cost of a cab from Heathrow to our hotel at the St. Pancras station was about ₤75.00. Our hotel said a car service would be about ₤90.00.

 

[Jon84]

It's very easy to use, although is a bit expensive

Remember that on a daily basis the Underground is capped at around £6 using Oyster

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Hi there may I ask your budget,

ps what hotel did you book?

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I would have suggested onefinestay, airbnb, four seasons park lane, 51-buckingham-gate-suites-and-residences, milestone.
But I am one of those people that loves luxury hotels and should condemned

 

[Birdie dog]

Hi there may I ask your budget,

ps what hotel did you book?

We booked St James Club. I'm excited, it looks fantastic!

I'm a little unsure on our budget, we're traveling for 14 days so I'm not going to spend nilly willy but at the same time, I want to see what I can. We also have a party of 10 traveling which is nice when it comes to private tours. A lot of the vans we can do privately and still pay 1/10.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Highly recommend Sincerely Paul for private tours.
Where have you eaten in your home town?
http://www.sincerelypaul.com/experiences/private-touring/england/beautiful-bath/