Cotswold Eagle

Good point - and moderately possible by public transport (train via a change at East Croydon and a mile or so walk from Hever station) 😀 https://www.hevercastle.co.uk

Ah, yes, there was/is a consultation from Southern on that...but, "Passengers between Southampton and Gatwick Airport would have a short, convenient, same-platform connection at Barnham."

I think general advice would be to go with the flight that suits you best. Not much difference between the two for Southampton. Public transport option are National Express coach from Heathrow, train from Gatwick. There is a ’sticky’ at the top of this board for this topic. The new thread doesn’t have much information yet (and got derailed at an early stage!), but there is a link to the older, and long, version which will contain more detailed advice. You can set a departure time on Google maps, so no need to try and search in the middle of your night 😀

I don’t wish to alarm you, but you do understand this is a pub/hostel, not a hotel? I would say it’s in Southwark, rather than London Bridge. It’s certainly not AT London Bridge, it’s about a 10 minute walk away.

Some lovely gardens near Gatwick, such as Nymans which is 15 minutes drive, but difficult by public transport. If you are set on staying at the airport, one option would be to jump on a train down to Brighton (direct, less than 40 minutes) and visit the Royal Pavilion and Garden, which is walking distance from the station. And have fish and chips on the pier 😀 Kew is a bit longer by train (an hour or so) and you'd need to change at Clapham Junction for Kew Bridge station.

There are no Eurostar services from Rotterdam either during the period of suspension.

You can still travel by rail, if you wish. Just take a train from Amsterdam to Brussels and connect to the Eurostar service there. If you do switch to flying, as mentioned above Schipol - London City route is one of the most convenient city flight connections it's possible to take. Just be careful with the London airport, as an Amsterdam-London search will throw up flights to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton, as well as LCY. For those not following this story, this is due to closure of the immigration and security processing facility at Amsterdam Central Station during redevelopment, to be replaced by one with significantly higher capacity. It appears that a way has been found to reduce what was originally going to be a year long suspension to around 6 months.

Deleted post about a thread with a flight from LHR at 1250. Apologies!

That sounds as if a journey planner is suggesting taking the Underground from Blackfriars to Victoria and a train from there? That make no sense for you - the underground station is the other side of the river. From Stamford Street you’ll be better popping along to London Bridge to take a Thameslink train. Driving to Gatwick will take well over an hour even early on a Sunday morning - it’s a tortuous route through South London. I much prefer a train.

The old Tress & Co hat factory - a nice building, and a popular hotel. You may have already identified this, but your best route to Gatwick from there is to take the Thameslink train from Blackfriars Station. What may not be apparent from a map is that there is an entrance on the same side of the river as your hotel - the main entrance is the other side, but the station spans the river on the railway bridge. Very convenient for your hotel. The quickest trains take just 35 minutes.

Hmmm. I said you'd get different opinions. I'm with others, I wouldn't regard 10 am as an early flight and easily doable from central London, but I get that if you're unfamiliar with the city you'd be more relaxed being at the airport, and that's fine. London hosts multiple large events on a daily basis and has the hotel space to generally absorb them, so I doubt Ms Swift is having a massive effect (other than in Wembley, where she is performing). London is expensive and still in huge demand post-pandemic, I'm afraid. But seven months out you will be able to find something.

That's why you should always go to London Bridge on Thameslink in 30 minutes.... The route from Gatwick to Hampton Court avoiding central London identified by Island2Dweller up thread is actually pretty good - just over the hour. But yes, I was using "inconvenience" in an understated British way.... To put it an other way, it's "not ideal" depending on timings and ambitions for London 🤣 But definitely possible. Costs add up too, so any hotel saving can be a false economy.

Opinions will vary about your first night. You are trading off the inconvenience of a travel requirement into London or elsewhere for your sightseeing day against the inconvenience of moving after one night to Gatwick. That assumes your flight is really early - it’s simple to get to Gatwick from central London, but for a really early flight I usually choose to stay at the airport.

The OP’s other thread has been moved to this board and has responses, so I would suggest using that one 😀

The terminals at Gatwick are connected by an easy and quick shuttle, which is right across the street from the Premier Inn and Sofitel at the North Terminal. I stay at the Premier Inn for an early flight from Gatwick, irrespective of the terminal the flight is leaving from. This topic was discussed last month in this thread, which you will find useful 😀

I know exactly where it is, but no knowledge of it. As you say it gets well reviewed, which may elevate it above the dozens of other similar size hotels in townhouses in the area. Understand that it will not have the facilities of full service hotels, and the rooms are likely to be small - but not so much of a problem for a solo traveler. I don't know, but it almost certainly won't have an elevator, if that matters to you. It's in the City of Westminster, but about 20 minutes walk from what visitors may think of as Westminster (Abbey, Parliament, etc etc). It's in Pimlico, which is a perfectly fine area and there are pubs and restaurants around, but the only pretty close tourist attraction would be the Tate Gallery.

It’s a different poster enquiring about their grandfather viewing King’s Day from (presumably) Rotterdam - it’s not entirely clear, but hopefully they will read up a little and come back with more focused questions!

It’s seasonal, so not running at the moment. You didn’t say when you are travelling. As JB mentioned you can take an “ordinary’ train service along the same route.

The Royal Family visit a different municipality every year for King's Day, and they were in Rotterdam this year, so sadly I doubt you will see them there next year. No doubt some of our local contributors will be along to say more about the festivities!

Don't stay at the airport (unless you are arriving in the late evening) 😀 The tours JB mentions are available from central London as well, and I would prioritise an evening in town rather than out in the cultural wasteland round Heathrow....

Sorry, the steam train is the Jacobite, not the Jacobean. I’m blaming autocorrect 😀 https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/steam-train-trip

I’d go West and I’d go by rail on the sensationally scenic West Highland Line. You could end up in Mallaig (having done the ‘Harry Potter’ steam train, the Jacobean) or Oban or Fort William and on to Skye. https://www.scotrail.co.uk/inspiration-hub/great-scenic-rail-journeys/west-highland-line-glasgow-oban-and-fort-williammallaig

Wow. Thank you for sharing this, which shows what can be done. I’m exhausted just reading it - you packed so much in! What a lot of planning must have gone into this great trip. It might be interesting for folk doing their own planning if you can give an idea of how you did all this - ship’s excursions, other bus tours, private or small group tours, or self-guided? It looks as if Edinburgh and maybe Guernsey were possible without a tour, using public transport? You mentioned Castle Leoch, which is fictional (Outlander - I had to look it up, having never seen the series). I think you were probably at Doune Castle, which is near Stirling and apparently was used for the exterior shots (it has been used in other film and TV productions too).

It's about a 2 hour journey so an early cruise line transfer bus or a pre-booked private transfer should get you there on time, even on a Friday. Searching Dover Heathrow transfer on this board should provide more details - or possibly post a new, appropriately titled thread yourself! This one has rather got lost and the original title didn't really give people a clue what you were looking for.... Just be aware that in much of the rest of the world, including the UK, that would be read as 7th May 2024 - we use DD/MM/YY format (although in this case the context makes it clear that you meant 5th July) I always suggest spelling out dates to avoid confusion on these boards 😀

It's a little frustrating when folk post something like this, because it is impossible to know what website you are looking at. But, of course there is a return service to the cruise port. Timetables for next year are not yet published, but this page is the one with all the information you need, including a joint ticket with a HOHO services. https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/