Land Tours of UK/London following a trans-Atlantic on QM2

I am considering a TA on QM2 that will connect with a Princess re-positioning cruise in 2018. But, there is a connection time between the two of 6 days. I would like a tour of the UK and/or London during that time. Looking at Cunard.com, I see no current land tours, other than hotel packages, for 2017. None are shown for 2018 as well for that time frame.

From you Cunard experts, are such land packages available from Cunard? Or do I need to seek a tour package from another company?

I appreciate your advice.

Why not try a DIY London visit for those days? Travel around London is easy on the underground and buses. You could easily take the train or a bus between Southampton and London. Not sure I would spend the money to do a Cunard sponsored tour (if it is available).

Six days in Southern England sounds wonderful. There are several things you can do. On your own take a train up to London is probably the easiest. There are so many things to do in the London area and transport by tube or taxi is very easy.

If you take a taxi to Southampton Central Station tell the driver to drop you on the "London side" it saves a lot of hassle in the station. One way to cut down on hotel costs is to take a serviced apartment, depending on the size around GBP 100 per day. Make sure it's near a tube station.

London has museums, galleries, great shopping, and a world class restaurant scene. You can take day trips on the train (from Paddington) to Windsor, or Hampton Court (from Waterloo).

A suggestion to have your clothes laundered on board so you have clean clothes for the time in London. Cunard has a service where you can check a bag in Southampton and have it brought back to the ship, I would see if that works for Cunard/Princess connections that way you don't need to haul more bags than you need.

One thing I did a few years back between a back to back trip on QM2 was to fly to Edinburgh and spent 4 days in Scotland. Cunard, and I presume Princess has a meet and greet at Heathrow to get you back to Southampton in time for the ship if you should decide to go to Scotland.

Another thing to consider is getting up early one morning in London, going to St Pancras International Station and take the Eurostar to Paris for the day, It only take two hours and a couple of minutes. each way and you are in central Paris on the Metro to go around the city. Plenty to see and eat there too. Sounds like your going to have a great time.

The are plenty of car rental (hire) companies within a few minutes taxi ride from the pier. We rented a car and toured SW England for a week after our transatlantic.

If driving on the left (potentially with a manual transmission) isn't your thing I'd reiterate the suggestion for London on your own.

London is ok, but there is so much more the the UK. Why not visit Salisbury (direct trains from Southampton) and then Stonehenge, buses run from Salisbury?

There are also direct trains from Southampton to Birmingham and Manchester, Both lovely cities, with lots to see and do and everything is much cheaper than London.

If you are planning a train trip it's well worth booking in advance as you will get a much better price and buying a ticket on the day.

Thank you all for your great suggestions! I obviously need to do more research on the UK, London, and how to get around than I have done.

London is ok, but there is so much more the the UK. Why not visit Salisbury (direct trains from Southampton) and then Stonehenge, buses run from Salisbury?

 

There are also direct trains from Southampton to Birmingham and Manchester, Both lovely cities, with lots to see and do and everything is much cheaper than London.

 

If you are planning a train trip it's well worth booking in advance as you will get a much better price and buying a ticket on the day.

Don't bother with Stonehenge, it's only a pile of stones.

Don't bother with Stonehenge, it's only a pile of stones.

Again, I thank all who care to share their thoughts. I am learning and I truly do appreciate your efforts!

It seems to me, and perhaps it's distant memory that Cunard offered onward land journeys after arrival in Southampton. I found an excursion which offers a private driver and mini van seating up to 5 people. It doesn't say if it is for Southampton arriving passengers or passengers just in Southampton for the day. A call to Cunard can probably clarify this. If you do this I would suggest maybe a drive to Salisbury to see the Cathedral and then on to Stonehenge (believe me it's more than just a pile of rocks.) Then on the A303 through Basingstoke to the M3 and then to Windsor to visit the castle and then on into London. Its a very pleasant drive through the beautiful countryside and you get to see several important landmarks.

Here is an idea for anyone who has time to kill between cruises.

An all line rail rover valid on almost all lines in the UK for 7 or 14 days. A bit pricey at £745.00 for a week but with the price of rail travel, I am sure it would soon pay for itself.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/pr20780b0a0400020167ed620a7e504e.aspx

Here is an idea for anyone who has time to kill between cruises.

 

An all line rail rover valid on almost all lines in the UK for 7 or 14 days. A bit pricey at £745.00 for a week but with the price of rail travel, I am sure it would soon pay for itself.

 

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/pr20780b0a0400020167ed620a7e504e.aspx

If you buy your tickets in advance for a specific real you can get cheap rail travel. You would need to be doing a lot of journeys in a week for the rover to be worth £750.

You should get a visitor oyster card if you are in London for cheaper travel on public transport. https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card