Sightseeing Between LHR and Southampton

[cruis247g]

Hello all,

We're flying into LHR from the States at about 9:30pm on a Wednesday evening, so we thought we would sleep in a Heathrow hotel that evening. Our ship leaves from Southampton on Friday.

 

There seem to be a couple of possibilities for us on Thursday and Friday.

1. Should we proceed to Southampton on Thursday, perhaps, via Windsor Castle and Stonehenge? We could spend Thursday evening in Southampton and then board the ship mid-day. If so, do you know of any car or tour services that could help us with this? I'm afraid that we're a bit cowardly about driving on the opposite side with much traffic.

 

2. OR ...Should we go into London on Thursday, spend the evening there, and then head to Southampton on Friday morning? (We could change our plan and spend our first night in London instead of the airport if needed, so we would be there bright and early!) Is it realistic to go from London to Southampton on Friday morning? We were planning to spend a day in London at the end of the cruise, but it will be during the Olympics and I'm having a very difficult time booking things, so I've been rethinking everything!

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. We're a family of 4 - DH, 2 teen DS, and me:). As always, thank you so much for all your help and ideas!

[FinelyRetired]

Did similar type of thing & used a Southampton based company, www.discoverthesouth.co.uk. This was early last year and we were very satisfied. I believe the lady we dealt with was named Emma.

 

In our case, since we had been to Windsor, Stonehenge, etc., we toured New Forest & had lunch from our Southampton hotel morning of cruise and then to port. Post cruise, we toured Bath and then went to our hotel. Also did

a hotel to LHR transfer. They matched us with a driver guide who grew up in New Forest which we appreciated.

 

Our LHR to Southampton was with RCCL and it was a mess. We wished we'd also booked that portion with this company.

 

Martha

 

 

 

Martha

[John Bull]

Two companies I can suggest, both recommended by many on this forum.

www.westquaycars.com

and

www.smithsforairports.com

 

Discoverthesouth, suggested by Martha, is an offshoot of West Quay Cars, developed for this very purpose - the drivers aren't guides, but are allocated tour-transfers because of their knowledge & ease with passengers.

 

There's a whole range of options in your time-scale.

London, Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Winchester, Portsmouth, and more.

 

Windsor is close to Heathrow, so if your return flight is after about 3pm, its best done that day, meaning you don't need so much wiggle-time to get to the airport.

 

But yes, Windsor & Stonehenge is perfectly easy on the thursday. Make sure you're in Windsor Castle before 10.45am for the Changing of the Guard.

Since you don't have a check-in deadline, you could also spend an hour or more in Salisbury, between Stonehenge & Southampton.

And if Martha has whetted your appetite for a taste of the New Forest, your driver could deviate a little after Salisbury to go from Fordingbridge to Nomansland across the New Forest rather than the main road to Southampton, adding only about 15 mins to your journey.

 

If you don't make it to Salisbury on the thursday, you can visit from Southampton on the morning that you sail. Trains every 30 mins, journey time 30 mins.

 

Alternatively, you could go by Nat Express coach or train from Heathrow to Bath ("train" means shuttlebus from Heathrow to Reading rail station & train from there).

Left-luggage facility near Bath rail station, spend the day in Bath then train to Southampton.

 

Or coach or train (again "train" involves shuttlebus, to Woking rail station) to Portsmouth, Portsmouth hotel, travel to your ship at Southampton next morning.

 

If you want to spend time in central London:

Both nights in a central London hotel makes life simpler, but you'd not get to your hotel much before midnight, with a hectic day ahead of you.

Travelling to Southampton on the morning of your sailing shouldn't be a problem, lots of folk do it.

From central London (but not from the airport) to Southampton by coach can be as cheap as £1, and train as cheap as £4.:)

 

It's way past my bed-time - google those places, come back with your preferences & we can suggest best logistics

 

JB :)

[cruis247g]

Thanks so much Martha and JB. I've just e-mailed Discover the South to check on their availability and pricing. JB, your e-mail was very helpful. I think I'll try to do a private car from Heathrow to Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge, with a drop-off at our hotel in Southampton on Thursday. I would love to go to London Wed and Thurs, before the Olympics, but I'm concerned that everyone will just be too tired and as you pointed out, we probably wouldn't be in our hotel until midnight -- much too late for me. I'll be checking back in as I figure out everything. Thanks again for all your help!

[John Bull]

Thanks so much Martha and JB. I've just e-mailed Discover the South to check on their availability and pricing. JB, your e-mail was very helpful. I think I'll try to do a private car from Heathrow to Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge, with a drop-off at our hotel in Southampton on Thursday. I would love to go to London Wed and Thurs, before the Olympics, but I'm concerned that everyone will just be too tired and as you pointed out, we probably wouldn't be in our hotel until midnight -- much too late for me. I'll be checking back in as I figure out everything. Thanks again for all your help!

 

Windsor, Bath & Stonehenge is a lot to fit into one day, but can be done. With a 9am start you'd have about 2hrs at Windsor, 2.5hrs at Bath & 1hr at Stonehenge, arriving in Southampton around 6pm.

Unless you trimmed your total time at those stops by at least 60 mins you'd be too late in the day to be worth stopping in Salisbury, everything would be closing up. Elsewhere, closing times will not be a problem.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Heathrow+Airport+London,+London&daddr=51.48236,-0.6123+to:51.38345,-2.35965+to:51.1765443,-1.8277188+to:Southampton&hl=en&ll=51.131108,-1.213989&spn=1.516784,2.982788&sll=51.166105,-1.821842&sspn=0.047363,0.093212&geocode=FYJdEQMdgBP5_yFnQfZDVVPnjw%3BFfiOEQMdNKj2_ykXqX5aHXt2SDF5AG_KdQl2Sw%3BFZoMEAMdnv7b_ymBa4yoE4FxSDFBuhzMI4sNEw%3BFWDkDAMdehzk_ykxFM8-O-ZzSDGA89OtLa4OEw%3BFQTSCAMdQZLq_ykJKRW-V4lzSDHwcdpMalqMpw&mra=dvme&mrsp=3&sz=13&via=1,2,3&t=m&z=8

 

As the map shows, including Bath means driving two sides of a triangle.

Leaving Bath for another time (easy day-trip from London) would be a lot cheaper & easier, give you more time in Windsor, & allow you to fit in Salisbury instead. But altho I have a soft spot for Salisbury (historic but pleasant & laid-back, not over-run with tourists), the places most visitors seem to want to see are Bath & Stonehenge.

 

Or if you left Windsor for another time (end of your cruise?) you could use that time at the other places. Without Windsor you could also do the journey by train much more cheaply, with stops at Bath & Salisbury (left luggage close to both stations) & a ho-ho side-trip from Salisbury to Stonehenge.

 

Here's a few distances/travel times by car:

 

From Heathrow (or Windsor) direct to Southampton is 65 miles (1hr 15mins.)

Going via Stonehenge (& Salisbury) adds 34 miles (45 mins)

 

Heathrow to Windsor 10 miles (15mins) and on to Bath add 94 miles (1hr 40)

Bath to Stonehenge is 37 miles (45 mins)

Stonehenge to Southampton 35 miles (45 mins).

From Bath to Southampton, Stonehenge is a deviation of only 6 miles (8 mins) and you go thro Salisbury anyway.

 

Minimum stops:

Windsor town 1hr, or 2 hrs incl. the castle

Bath 2.5 hrs.

Stonehenge 1hr is plenty - or it can be seen clearly from the road if you're pushed for time & just want to tick the box.

Salisbury (if you choose to stop) 1hr

Other than Stonehenge these are minimum times, better to add a further 30 to 60 minutes.

 

JB :)

[prettysweet77]

Thank you, JB!!! I'm also trying out figure what we can do in our limited time in London, and your information here has been immensely helpful. So thankful for your continued clarity/assistance in all your posts.

[cruis247g]

Thank you again John Bull! You are a fabulous source of valuable information. I read and read numerous websites, but none are as helpful as you are!!

[cruis247g]

JB, If you're still out there...

 

I'm afraid that the prospect of Olympic-sized crowds has given us pause, thus, we're trying to switch our plans.

 

We're going straight to London when we arrive on Wednesday evening (making an extremely long day), tour the city on Thursday, and then will need to go from London (probably Westminster area) to Southampton on Friday. Any suggestions for a brief stop or an area to drive through if we hire a car from London to Southampton?

 

However, at the end of the cruise, instead of spending one night in the city and one night at the airport (to catch an extremely early flight!), we will simply stay near LHR for two nights (hopefully avoiding some of the congestion). Do you think we could do a reverse of our original LHR to Southampton idea i.e. Southampton to LHR via Stonehenge and perhaps Bath? Also, do you have suggestions for one day of activities, originating from our LHR hotel (during the Olympics) that do not involve the Olympic area?

 

Thank you so much for any further suggestions!

 

All the best,

Pam

[John Bull]

JB, If you're still out there...

 

I'm afraid that the prospect of Olympic-sized crowds has given us pause, thus, we're trying to switch our plans.

 

We're going straight to London when we arrive on Wednesday evening (making an extremely long day), tour the city on Thursday, and then will need to go from London (probably Westminster area) to Southampton on Friday. Any suggestions for a brief stop or an area to drive through if we hire a car from London to Southampton?

 

However, at the end of the cruise, instead of spending one night in the city and one night at the airport (to catch an extremely early flight!), we will simply stay near LHR for two nights (hopefully avoiding some of the congestion). Do you think we could do a reverse of our original LHR to Southampton idea i.e. Southampton to LHR via Stonehenge and perhaps Bath? Also, do you have suggestions for one day of activities, originating from our LHR hotel (during the Olympics) that do not involve the Olympic area?

 

Thank you so much for any further suggestions!

 

All the best,

Pam

 

 

Hi Pam,

 

To Southampton on friday (the day you sail):

Windsor is possible, but better post-cruise.

Stonehenge & Salisbury is the obvious choice. 1hr 40 from central London to Stonehenge, an hour at Stonehenge, 20 mins to Salisbury, 90 mins in Salisbury, 30 mins Salisbury to your ship (more like 45 - 50 mins if you go via a corner of the New Forest). Would have to be private transfer, by train or Nat Express isn't viable in the time-scale.

So a 9am start would get you to the ship about 2pm to 2.30. Gives you much more flexibility to cope with delays than visiting Windsor.

Or Winchester is on the direct route to Southampton. About 90 mins from central London, about 20 mins (allow at least 40 before boarding deadline) to Southampton. Winchester can also be done by train or Nat Express, tho' I don't know where there's any left-luggage facility in Winchester.

 

Southampton to LHR (post-cruise)

Yes, instead of going to the ship via Stonehenge / Salisbury, you could comfortably fit in Salisbury, Stonehenge & Bath on your way back to Heathrow. Can all be done by train (+ Stonehenge ho-ho) or by private transfer. Or a good compromise of cost/convenience would be private transfer as far as Bath (Backpackers hostel near the rail station, to stow luggage) & pay off the car. Then train or Nat Express coach to Heathrow.

Or if you visited Salisbury / Stonehenge pre-cruise, you could go direct Southampton to Bath - in which case, train is easy & much cheaper than private transfer.

Or Windsor. Could be combined with Bath or with Salisbury/Stonehenge. Combining all in the one day would be too rushed.

 

For your day at Heathrow:

Windsor. It's only about 15 mins from Heathrow by car but, depending on the location of your hotel, can be an hour by bus or bus/train.

Or Hampton Court. Much the same travel times/arrangements as for Windsor.

Or Kew Gardens. Sorry, don't know the logistics but not far from Heathrow.

All these options keep you well away from the Olympics, which are mainly in London's east end. Olympics rowing near Reading, I doubt the events will impact significantly but might add to the crowds at Windsor or elsewhere if spectators take a day off.

 

The options/combinations are a bit of a jigsaw puzzle.

Needs pen, paper, and lots and lots of coffee ;)

 

Everywhere I've mentioned throughout this thread, once you've arrived all the places are compact & easily explored on foot.

 

More background on some of these options on

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1586718

 

JB :)

[Bob++]

To get to Kew gardens take the Piccadilly underground line from Heathrow to Hammersmith, then change onto the District Line and take the next tube directly to Kew Gardens Station.

[cruis247g]

Dear JB and Bob++,

 

Thank you so much! I think our plan has been revamped!

 

I wonder how I ever planned a trip before CC. It must have been dreadful:p.

 

You've been wonderfully helpful. Again, many thanks.

 

All the best,

Pam

[John Bull]

Thank you, JB!!! I'm also trying out figure what we can do in our limited time in London, and your information here has been immensely helpful. So thankful for your continued clarity/assistance in all your posts.

 

Dear JB and Bob++,

 

Thank you so much! I think our plan has been revamped!

 

I wonder how I ever planned a trip before CC. It must have been dreadful:p.

 

You've been wonderfully helpful. Again, many thanks.

 

All the best,

Pam

 

Aw, shucks :o :D

Have a great time folks, & feel free to post any more queries.

 

JB :)

[Bob++]

I too wonder how we managed before the internet. Looking back we didn't actually make many plans, just a rough idea of what we wanted to see. When we got to our destination we would usually find that we had hopelessly overstretched ourselves.

 

It seems to be a universal problem. My mother, who worked in a hotel in the Cotswolds, was always amused by the tourists (mainly American) with impossible itineraries.

 

My theory is that the maps are a different scale.

[Twickenham]

I too wonder how we managed before the internet.

 

Well, I can tell you what I did: I sent away for a lot of info. First step was to the relevant tourist board, for general brochures, then letters to specific places/accommodation for more info. It took months to plan a trip that I can do now surfing the 'net in a few days.

 

My theory is that the maps are a different scale.

 

People often can't read maps. Before a trip, I always carefully and continually look at maps of all different scales, to really get a feel for a place. Often, I don't have to do much more than glance at my map once there, because I've already gotten a feel for a place.