Plan for LGW to Lambeth

For those in the know, please review this plan with me:

I've been researching the many ways to get from LGW to our hotel, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in Lambeth, near Waterloo Station.

We will have spent 12 days in Cornwall and Devon then returning a hire car to LGW the morning of Friday 16 Oct, south terminal I believe; we will need to move ourselves (2 adults, reasonably able) and 2 pieces of rolling luggage (medium - 49 lbs and small 30 lbs) and 2 shoulder totes (heavier than they should be). We'd rather not have to do multiple flights of stairs and congested transfers in the Tube....

First I saw EasyBus (about 6 GBP for both of us) and that looked perfect except that one has to pre-purchase tickets for a specific time and I'm not sure when we'll finish with the car return and find our way to the EasyBus loading zone.... plus I've read many, many unhappy reviews, although most for those were from folks heading to the airport, not from the airport... and timing looks like about 90 minutes on a good day.

So now I'm thinking that maybe it's best to buy Southern Railway regular train tickets (good any time), but should we pre-purchase or buy the tickets on the spot?

My plan is to go to Victoria Station and then rise(?) to street level (hopefully aided by a mechanized method) to hail a taxi to take us to Lambeth. Timing maybe closer to a little under 1 hour.

Does this sound like a winning plan? Cost of course is much higher than EasyBus at about 31 (for the train) + 11 or more for the taxi = 42+ GBP.

Thank you (again) for your help and suggestions. I'll feel much more confident with your input.

Cheers, m--

For those in the know, please review this plan with me:

 

I've been researching the many ways to get from LGW to our hotel, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in Lambeth, near Waterloo Station.

 

We will have spent 12 days in Cornwall and Devon then returning a hire car to LGW the morning of Friday 16 Oct, south terminal I believe; we will need to move ourselves (2 adults, reasonably able) and 2 pieces of rolling luggage (medium - 49 lbs and small 30 lbs) and 2 shoulder totes (heavier than they should be). We'd rather not have to do multiple flights of stairs and congested transfers in the Tube....

 

First I saw EasyBus (about 6 GBP for both of us) and that looked perfect except that one has to pre-purchase tickets for a specific time and I'm not sure when we'll finish with the car return and find our way to the EasyBus loading zone.... plus I've read many, many unhappy reviews, although most for those were from folks heading to the airport, not from the airport... and timing looks like about 90 minutes on a good day.

 

So now I'm thinking that maybe it's best to buy Southern Railway regular train tickets (good any time), but should we pre-purchase or buy the tickets on the spot?

 

My plan is to go to Victoria Station and then rise(?) to street level (hopefully aided by a mechanized method) to hail a taxi to take us to Lambeth. Timing maybe closer to a little under 1 hour.

 

Does this sound like a winning plan? Cost of course is much higher than EasyBus at about 31 (for the train) + 11 or more for the taxi = 42+ GBP.

 

Thank you (again) for your help and suggestions. I'll feel much more confident with your input.

Cheers, m--

I'm sure others more knowledgeable than me about London will contribute to this but two points I will make:

1. You don't need to pre-book tickets for the train. It's a slow train and cheaper than the express.

2. If you come in on Southern Railways you'll be on ground level and it is easy to make your way to the taxi rank which is well sign-posted. It's really not far at all to your hotel.

Victoria to Waterloo Park Plaza is no distance and you get a sight of Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament (and Big Ben) and the London Eye to boot.

You could use the 211 bus but a cab is probably your easiest option given the luggage you will have (maybe £7 or £8 at a guess).

A couple of thoughts:

Do you really need to return the car to LGW? Could you not drop it at a central London location - perhaps even one close to Waterloo? It may cost no more to do that; or if it did, the extra cost may well outweigh the cost, time and energy of transferring from LGW to central London.

If you take the Southern train from LGW, have a think about changing trains at Clapham Junction. I think that the lifts and bridge are now complete, so you can change between platforms step free. You can then get a train to Waterloo and simply walk to your hotel from the station. That saves the extra step of getting a taxi from Victoria to Waterloo. But it depends on you being happy to walk a couple of hundred yards with your luggage.

Definitely avoid transferring from LGW to central London by road. It's dreadful.

A couple of thoughts:

Dropping car in central London not really an option.

 

If you take the Southern train from LGW, have a think about changing trains at Clapham Junction. I think that the lifts and bridge are now complete, so you can change between platforms step free. You can then get a train to Waterloo and simply walk to your hotel from the station. That saves the extra step of getting a taxi from Victoria to Waterloo. But it depends on you being happy to walk a couple of hundred yards with your luggage.

 

Definitely avoid transferring from LGW to central London by road. It's dreadful.

We will have a transfer by bus from West End area to LGW - how long do you think it may take on a Wednesday morning for a fight at 13:25? I was thinking of a 10:00 bus but shoul dwe leave earlier?

Good to know that the lifts and bridge are now complete at Clapham Junction! Not an issue to walk with luggage a couple of hundred yards (or are they metres?). Is Clapham Junction a stop on the Southern Rail.... I thought it was n the Tube.

Definitely avoid transferring from LGW to central London by road. It's dreadful.

Yes +1000. Been there, done that, on a Friday afternoon no less, and never.again. Which brings me to...

We will have a transfer by bus from West End area to LGW - how long do you think it may take on a Wednesday morning for a fight at 13:25? I was thinking of a 10:00 bus but shoul dwe leave earlier?

Any reason you're not using the train for this journey as well? It would make sense, especially if you have already taken the train into London from LGW, so know the drill.

Good to know that the lifts and bridge are now complete at Clapham Junction! Not an issue to walk with luggage a couple of hundred yards (or are they metres?). Is Clapham Junction a stop on the Southern Rail.... I thought it was n the Tube.

No tube at Clapham Junction, only lots of trains and buses. And bless your heart for spelling it 'metres'...:D

Yards, metres, miles, kilometres, paces, leagues - we Brits mix and match!:D:confused:

We will have a transfer by bus from West End area to LGW - how long do you think it may take on a Wednesday morning for a fight at 13:25? I was thinking of a 10:00 bus but shoul dwe leave earlier?

If you must do this, then personally I would leave earlier than that. The chances are that you'll get to LGW too early, but if you hit a bad day on the roads with the journey taking over two hours, your stress levels will probably be through the roof.

As before, my first piece of advice is simply: don't do it.

 

If you must do this, then personally I would leave earlier than that. The chances are that you'll get to LGW too early, but if you hit a bad day on the roads with the journey taking over two hours, your stress levels will probably be through the roof.

Agreed - a 13:25 flight means that you need to be checking in not much later than 11:30. Allowing only 90 minutes for the trip to LGW is much too tight - the possibilities for delay are much greater than if you were heading for LHR.

Do you have to take a bus? The chances of a delay taking a train are much less.

Good morning all. I will surely re-think the bus transfer I ordered through Globus. I will look at what trains are available to Victoria Station and then the Southern Rail to LGW. I believe the hotel from which we will leave will be Dorsett's Shepherd's Bush... but they won't confirm hotels until 30 days prior, so I was thinking that taking their transfer would be easier - and it still may be, just longer. I believe we can request an earlier departure bus.

We now live in the rural northern mountains of New Mexico and travel 90 minutes into Albuquerque for most groceries and most appointments... so I'm used to long lead-times! I was born in Brooklyn and lived in NYC through my college years commuting to school in Manhattan by rail, ferry and subway - 2 hours each way to classes.... which was much better than by car so I can picture the hazards of your greater London metro area!

Many thanks for your aid in helping me envision our travel. We are so excited to be spending time in England. I can't believe it's been 40 years since I've been there... oh where do the decades go?

Cheers, m--

Shepherd's Bush is a new factor :) That's pushing most definitions of the West End.

London Overground train from Shepherd's Bush to Clapham Junction and change to a Gatwick service there would seem to be the obvious way to do it, subject to advice from some folk from the West London!

Thank you for improving my London geography :)

Your suggestion sounds like it may be a better plan, quicker and less risk. I'll have to learn about the Overground next. m--

Shepherd's Bush is a new factor :) That's pushing most definitions of the West End.

In all seriousness, though, I think that I would find it very frustrating to be staying out as far as Shepherd's Bush if trying to sightsee in central London.

I think that you're right about Overground to Clapham Junction then Southern to Gatwick. I think that there are often fast trains that stop only at East Croydon before Gatwick.

Good morning and thank you for considering our options. We're not staying in Shepard's Bush for sightseeing, it's the final night of a bus tour of Britain. And your geography lesson explain why it's not on many "London" maps!

We'll do our sightseeing in London before the tour whilst staying in Lambeth. Before Lambeth we'll in Devon and Cornwall for a 9 nights, so a fortnight on our own plus nearly a fortnight with the tour. From Gatwick we are flying to Barcelona to pick up a cruise back to the states, the final leg of an 11 week trip. The ship out of Barcelona was nearly twice as long and half the cost as a ship out of Southampton, our first choice. But 16 days on the transatlantic will be a fine way to wind down busy travels.

Connecting between the legs of a long tour is where the questions always come up. But we do like to try to make the most of our time abroad so we string together as make places for touring as we can manage - this time tours of Switzerland and Britain, time with a family reunion in Tuscany (most of the family is from New York) and a cruise of the eastern Med. It's a bunch to pull together but the planning is half the fun.

Envisioning each portion of the trip is my way of attending to the details; although it's not always 100% accurate, (stuff happens!) it does give me a feel for how things may unfold. That's the best I can do from home and without CC advisors from each region i'd be literally lost! CC rocks!

Thank you all so very much. :)