London visit before BI cruise from Southampton...Queen's Jubilee that week!

[gma rae]

We are planning a trip to London for 3 days prior to our cruise of the British Isles out of Southampton. The cruise starts June 2, 2022. Our days in London would be May 30 - June 2, then a car hire with International Friends to Stonehenge prior to boarding ship in Southampton. I just discovered that June 2 and 3 will be a Bank Holiday and this is a very special celebration weekend for the Jubilee. I imagine that London will be mobbed, reservations for hotel and restaurants difficult and sightseeing venues packed with long lines. Is this a fair assumption? I realize this celebration has not happened previously so it is hard to know how congested things will be.  I would expect people to arrive before and stay after the actual celebration.

 

So would it be a better plan to arrive at LHR on June 1 and go straight to Southampton. I would have to see if the tour with International friends would be running that day, will Stonehenge be open and if not which bus or train service to use. Then we would plan our London visit at the end of the cruise around June 14.

 

I realize this is a year away and we don't know how things will be after Covid but at some point I need to make hotel plans and I want to have thought this through.

Thank you in advance.

 

[CruiserBruce]

Two threads on the same topic just a couple of threads down...:

 

 

[gma rae]

Thanks Cruiser Bruce, I read both of those but they do not address my question.

My question is regarding the crowding in London and what is affected by the Bank Holiday!

[markeb]

I guess I have two frames of reference on this. Two years ago, we visited London over Christmas. Both Christmas Day and Boxing Day are Bank Holidays. We knew that, have visited London many times, and found things to do. But businesses, shops, museums, etc. we’re closed. A lot of restaurants were open. 
 

In 2012, we returned from a cruise on the Thursday before the Olympic opening ceremonies. We were supposed to do a tour to Windsor ending at Heathrow. Traffic was an absolute nightmare from Harwich. We had people on our tour with prepaid tickets to the castle who probably had a half hour on the grounds. Many venues around London, out to Greenwich, were closed for Olympic events. 
 

I fear this will be a bigger event, with a decent number of Londoners getting out of town, and a similar number from across the country coming in. The biggest question I’d have, and would look for, is where are events for the jubilee. I’d check the webpage for Stonehenge, for instance. If it says closed on bank holidays, then you have that answer. If events are more concentrated, then you still have to be aware of holiday closures, but congestion may be more concentrated. I’d still expect security to be high, and possibly obstructive. 
 

A lot of research to do, I’m afraid. 

 

[milolii]

This will most likely be a significant celebration with significant impacts.    We were  looking at a cruise departing on June 4, 2022.  The roll call discussions were indeed  to make all reservations as soon as possible.  Lots of planning. I like the idea of heading to ship as soon as possible and enjoying your London Visit after the cruise.  We were in London when Prince Phillip turned 90 and boy that was a big deal. 

I guess if lodging and/or transportation are problems, you can talk with the cruise  line and  go through them.  Maybe keep that as a back up plan. 

The locals should reply soon(may be sleeping) and give their advice and can answer your specific questions.  Good luck!  We decided to skip those dates.  

[John Bull]

So your proposed dates are (were?) to arrive in London monday 30th May, depart London on the morning of thurs June 2nd to travel to Southampton via Stonehenge to sail late that afternoon ?

 

And you are now aware thurs 2nd and fri 3rd are extraordinarily "bank holidays", which effectively means that for most folk its a 4-day holiday thurs to sunday inclusive. 

(this replaces the usual late-spring holiday which would have been monday 30th May.)

 

Thurs 2nd June is the actual anniversary date of the coronation, so most of the focus will be on that day.

Whilst this is a national event, it's a fairly safe bet that like on previous royal occasions the events, the pomp & ceremony, the crowds, the security, and the disruption will be in central London and there'll be little more than residential street-parties and military marches elsewhere in the UK.

So outside central London there'll be little different to the usual bank holidays - offices & factories & such closed, large stores perhaps open for shorter hours, transport perhaps running sunday timetables (and a four-day break for commuters & business travellers probably means some traln routes disrupted for major track up-grades).

 

On most bank holidays, central London is - if anything - quieter than regular weekdays because Londoners take the opportunity to escape the big bad city and spend a few days on the coast or in the countryside - that would mean possible congestion on the road from London to Stonehenge and Southampton from late evening on 1st June thro to the morning of 2nd June, much like friday evenings & saturday mornings throughout the summer & especially over bank holiday weekends. 

Because of the jubilee events I simply don't know if that'll be the case next June.

 

Accommodation in London shouldn't be a huge problem monday/tuesday 30/31 May.

So one option would be to travel to Southampton on weds 1st June. There'd be no traffic problems for either Stonehenge or Southampton, and no accommodation difficulty or expense with Southampton accommodation. But that chops a full day off your already-limited time in London. 

 

Are your flights booked and committed, or do you have unchangeable home commitments ?

If not, the simple answer is to arrive in the UK on weds, 1st June and head direct to Southampton (subject to flight times, via Stonehenge is achievable but not recommended). Then tack on time in London post-cruise.

 

BTW, International Friends is a well-respected coach (tour-bus) operator which provides coach tour-transfers between Southampton & London specifically for cruisers. But they don't operate "car hire" as per your post. Any car hire that they offer will be as a third party, with third-party ad-on costs.  If you're going to hire a car (with or without driver) do so direct. But self-drive from a London airport to Southampton (direct or via Stonehenge) doesn't make sense either logistically or financially.

International Friends only operate on ship sailing or arrival dates. So if for instance you chose to travel to Southampton on 1st June you'd not be able to book Int. Friends unless another ship were sailing on 1st June. You'd then make your own way from that ship's cruise terminal to your Southampton hotel (not complicated or expensive, as long as you tell the driver when he loads your luggage) .

 

One advantage of using International Friends for a post-cruise visit to London rather than pre-cruise is that they get you to your London hotel "around 6pm" - time of arrival is inconsequential - after a very full day which includes Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor (and there are alternative tours). The cost is almost the same as for their pre-cruise transfers, which visit only Stonehenge (or only Windsor or only Winchester) because they need to get you to your ship by about 3pm and naturally play safe & aim to get to your ship at about 1pm. (Admission to Stonehenge is included in all their Stonehenge visits).

 

Alternatively Salisbury and Stonehenge are an easy day- trip from a Southampton base by train to Salisbury plus ho-ho between Salisbury & Stonehenge. But timing is too tight & risky for cruise departure morning

And Windsor is easy by train from central London. But altho its only about 8 miles from Heathrow airport, Heathrow to / from Windsor is complicated & time-consuming, and even with a relatively inexpensive private transfer your luggage is a problem. 

 

Lots of info about London (and Southampton) at www.londontoolkit.com 

Details of International Friends' cruise tour-transfers at https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/shore-excursions-and-cruise-transfers.html

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by John Bull

[kmerlin14]

Thank you for all your useful information John Bull. Our cruise disembarks on June 4 in the middle of the celebrations, so I've been worried about the traffic from Southampton to the airport and trying to figure out if Gatwick or Heathrow would be easier. Since we have no idea what kind of flights they will have by then, I'd planned to book an airport hotel just in case and then cancel it if we can get home that day. I know it is a big celebration, but I think huge crowds might be a little daunting after all this social isolation. Pre-cruise, we'd planned to go straight to Southampton May 20-24 and explore that part of the country and leave London for another trip. Hopefully, I can make those reservations as soon as things open up.

 

[gma rae]

Thank you all!

JB- yes I meant the coach tour with International Friends so thank you for the very thorough reply and the heads up that it is only the day of departure for a cruise line! I read that but then forgot it as I was trying to reorganize.

markeb-Good idea to check out where the jubilee events are occurring. Basically we were going to be in central London so I appreciate your experience.

 The BI cruise and London visit is part of a bigger trip. So now I am switching my itinerary around. We will fly to Paris, spend 4 days there then go to Normandy for 3 days then take the fast ferry from Caen to Portsmouth to arrive June 1st and get to Southampton. We will then use International Friends post cruise for a tour to Stonehenge  etc. on our way to London and then spend 4 days in London post cruise.