London to Dover

[chumley28540]

Please advise me on the best way to get to Dover from LHR. I do not want to do a train with all the luggage. I have read about National express from Victoria Station (I think). It sounds like you have to get transportation to Victoria Station....how far is that? Then what do we do? Should we get advanced tickets? Any help will be appreciated! Would this be expensive?

[sddsddean]

If you don't want to 'do the train', National Express coaches will be best for you. They leave frequently from all terminals at LHR (T1,2&3 are served by the Heathrow Central Bus Station; T4 and T5 pick up outside the terminal). The bus will take you to Victoria Coach Station (this is not the same as the train station, but about 300yds down the road). You will have to 'drag' your own luggage across the road to the Dover bus (arrival and departure are on opposite sides of the road). When using the website , ignore 'Dover cruise terminal'. Just go to Dover(Town Centre) and don't forget at Heathrow to put in your terminal...it should appear in a drop down box. They drop off in a main road, but there will be taxis about to get you down to Western docks and the cruise terminal. Alternatively, if there are lots of cruisers on the bus, ask the driver nicely and he/she may drop you off at the terminal (though they don't have to). In this case a tip would be appreciated (though normally you don't have to). Heres the website http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

Depending on what time you pick, it should be around £20 each way and take about 4 - 4 1/2 hrs.

Oh, definately buy advanced tickets to book your place. Some US people have problems using their cards on UK sites. This is usually because your US card provider has blocked overseas purchases. You may have to phone them up to remove this restriction.

 

Simon

[chumley28540]

Thank you so much!

[p_mori7]

Good intel ! Thanks !

[MATHA531]

Fpr the most part, National Express bus works well and they run all sorts of special fares. One summer I got a fare of £2 Victoria Coach Station to Dover although I tipped the driver a fiver for dropping me at the cruise terminal but....

 

While I'm not trying to come across as a pessimist, a problem of taking the coach on the same day as arrival at Heathrow is you never know about air traffic delays into Heathrow and/or especially long queues at immigration. It works real well when you have spent the previous night in London and can control very much so how you get to Victoria Coach Station. Incidentally, also, the walk from Victoria Rail Station to Victoria coach station while only about 300 yards is uphill to a degree; something that shouldn't present a problem if you only have a reasonable amount of luggage.

 

I took a bus to Victoria and then hopped on the #11 bus one stop to VCS.