London on your own - Princess

[Kay.redmann]

I am very excited about my upcoming British Isles cruise on August 16th (88 days but whose counting lol). I have signed up for the princess ship excursion " London On Your Own SOU185A | LONDON (SOUTHAMPTON)" I know most on these boards don't do ship tours but can anyone tell me where the ship tour typically drops everyone off in London, the online description says: "Your day starts with a scenic motorcoach ride from Southampton dock to bustling Central London, where you will disembark at Park Lane. This is a wonderful jumping off point for your independent exploration." I have googled Park Lane and it looks to me to be near Buckingham Palace but I am not sure???

 

I am having fun dreaming of what to do in London while I play with Google Earth and would love to have a possible starting point....thanks!

[ASiuta]

1 hour ago, Kay.redmann said:

I am very excited about my upcoming British Isles cruise on August 16th (88 days but whose counting lol). I have signed up for the princess ship excursion " London On Your Own SOU185A | LONDON (SOUTHAMPTON)" I know most on these boards don't do ship tours but can anyone tell me where the ship tour typically drops everyone off in London, the online description says: "Your day starts with a scenic motorcoach ride from Southampton dock to bustling Central London, where you will disembark at Park Lane. This is a wonderful jumping off point for your independent exploration." I have googled Park Lane and it looks to me to be near Buckingham Palace but I am not sure???

 

I am having fun dreaming of what to do in London while I play with Google Earth and would love to have a possible starting point....thanks!

I hope that you are not doing a round trip Dublin cruise, as Princess has just notified us that anyone embarking in Dublin must go through an immigration process in Southhampton that doesn't commence until 7:00 am (even though we dock at 5:00 am), and to not book any independent tours that start before 8:30.  I trust that they will do their best to get passengers off the ship who want to spend the day in London first, however, if you are boarding in Dublin, I would suggest contacting your Travel Agent or Princess first.

[GastroGnome]

Park Lane has a large car park just off Green Park which I suspect is where you will drop off.  Its not that close to Buckingham palace - I walk it personally.  (It will take about 30 mins if you do) But if you grab a passing black cab you can get there in about 5 minutes. If you want to visit the Palace do book tickets in advance.

 

You can get to quite a range of things on foot from Park Lane if you want to.  The nearest Tube is Marble Arch.  There are some wonderful hotels nearby if you fancy Afternoon tea (or lunch!) you can reach the large museums, or Harrods.  Wander Green park.  The world - or London at least - is your oyster!!

 

If you google W1K 7AN the map will show you exactly where it is....

Edited May 21, 2019 by GastroGnome

[John Bull]

Park Lane is alongside Hyde Park, a long section of the street  near the northern (Marble Arch) end is set aside for coaches.

About 20 - 25 min walk back down Park Lane and across Green Park to Buckingham Palace. And another 20 minutes to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, etc.

Or across Hyde Park to the museum district (Nat History, Science, Victoria & Albert). Entry to the museums is free.

Or Oxford Street crosses the top of Park Lane (turn right for shopping)

Or for a good over-view, take a ho-ho from the top of Park Lane -  a circuit takes 2 to 2.5 hours.

 

Park Lane isn't particularly convenient, certainly not a "wonderful jumping-off point for your independent exploration", but London's sights are well-spread so no jumping-off point is good for everything.

So get hold of a London tourist street map, it'll include a tube (metro) map and you'll certainly need to take the tube to get to places much further away like the Tower of London & Tower Bridge, St Paul's cathedral, Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, etc.

Here's a tube map, but you'll need a bigger version to take with you

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/large-print-tube-map.pdf

Nearest tube station to the drop point will very probably be Marble Arch, but check with the driver - if he's parked way down the bottom of Park Lane, Hyde Park Corner may be closer.

 

You won't have time to see everything, so either plan which sights you want to see, or take a ho-ho for outside views of most sights.

The one sight you won't see from the ho-ho is Buckingham Palace - buses aren't allowed past the front. So the stop is round the corner in Buckingham Gate, you walk round to the front, then back to the ho-ho stop for the next bus. So it can make sense to end your ho-h tour here, then walk back across Green Park to your coach rendezvous 

 

JB 

[amrmsr]

Just an update. We are embarking the British Isles cruise in Dublin for Dublin round trip on 8/20. We booked Stonehenge from Southampton via Princess and they adjusted the excursion time to allow for customs. The notice I received said those on Princess tours would receive updated excursion timings. I initially freaked out thinking we would miss the tour but when I checked my booking the start time was adjusted. 

[GastroGnome]

Park Lane is alongside Hyde Park, a long section of the street  near the northern (Marble Arch) end is set aside for coaches.

 

Quite right JB.  Brain fog!  Hyde park, not green park!

[ASiuta]

21 hours ago, amrmsr said:

Just an update. We are embarking the British Isles cruise in Dublin for Dublin round trip on 8/20. We booked Stonehenge from Southampton via Princess and they adjusted the excursion time to allow for customs. The notice I received said those on Princess tours would receive updated excursion timings. I initially freaked out thinking we would miss the tour but when I checked my booking the start time was adjusted. 

Please advise what your new start time is.  We are doing a Dublin to Dublin as well and have received the same notification, however, we have scheduled an independent tour in Southhampton.  (Stonehenge and Salisbury).  Knowing that Princess tour passengers will be going through immigration first and that we are independent, just curious what time your tour is schedule to depart so I can alert our guide.  Thank you!

[Marilyn Johannes]

Can I ask who you booked your independent tour to Stonehedge and Salisbury?  We are looking for a tour like this but have only been able to find the Princess excursion. Tried TripAdvisor but there isn’t an availability on Saturday August 17. We too are embarking in Dublin. Thanks

[ASiuta]

17 hours ago, Marilyn Johannes said:

Can I ask who you booked your independent tour to Stonehedge and Salisbury?  We are looking for a tour like this but have only been able to find the Princess excursion. Tried TripAdvisor but there isn’t an availability on Saturday August 17. We too are embarking in Dublin. Thanks

Tours by Locals.  We are using them in almost every port.  Just us and a driver!