Train & bus help

[dog]

What is easiest way to travel from:

1) LHR-T2 to Windsor 

2) Windsor to London

3) London to Windchester

 

please include stations. All trips in morning 8-10 am. 

[phabric]

I took National Express Coach from LHR terminal 2  to Windsor.  I stayed at Mercure Hotel on Winchester Cathedral grounds for 2 nights.   A car service to Southampton dock.

 

A few examples for National Express Coach - May 2021
 

National Express - Heathrow terminal 2 to Winchester - 1hr 20 min - £16:50

National Express - London Victoria - transfer LHR terminal 2 - Winchester -

       - 10:30am - 3 1/2 hr - £26:50

 Or. -   2pm - 2 hr - £9.10

National Express - to/from Southampton Coach to/from Winchester - 35 min - £3

 

National Express Coach stopped I would say on Winchester’s Main Street.  The Mercure was walking distance from where National Express dropped us off.

 

If you are flying from Toronto to LHR, try Air Canada’s daytime flight (roughly 8:am-9pm). I found I did not have jet lag.  Walk through the airport to Hilton Garden Terminal 2 & 3 (attached to airport) for the night.

 

www.nationalexpress.com

www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk

www.visitwinchester.co.uk

www.westquaycars.com

www.all.accor.com  for Mercure Winchester Wessex hotel

 

🇨🇦

        

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by phabric

[dog]

10 minutes ago, phabric said:

I took National Express Coach from LHR terminal 2  to Windsor.  I stayed at Mercure Hotel on Winchester Cathedral grounds for 2 nights.   A car service to Southampton dock.

 

A few examples for National Express Coach - May 2021
 

National Express - Heathrow terminal 2 to Winchester - 1hr 20 min - £16:50

National Express - London Victoria - transfer LHR terminal 2 - Winchester -

       - 10:30am - 3 1/2 hr - £26:50

 Or. -   2pm - 2 hr - £9.10

National Express - to/from Southampton Coach to/from Winchester - 35 min - £3

 

National Express Coach stopped I would say on Winchester’s Main Street.  The Mercure was walking distance from where National Express dropped us off.

 

If you are flying from Toronto to LHR, try Air Canada’s daytime flight (roughly 8:am-9pm). I found I did not have jet lag.  Walk through the airport to Hilton Garden Terminal 2 & 3 (attached to airport) for the night.

 

www.nationalexpress.com

www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk

www.visitwinchester.co.uk

www.westquaycars.com

www.all.accor.com  for Mercure Winchester Wessex hotel

 

🇨🇦

        

 

Thanks. I will bookmark this 

I have not been able to get any bus’ train websites to work for me no matter what dates/ routes I try 

 

I have my departure flight booked with Aeroplan points/ insurance on it. Business lie flat seats overnight flight. 
my hotels are reserved with free cancellation for

Windsor

London

Windchester. 

 

I do like National Express coach- took it Heathrow to Oxford & Victoria to Southampton. 
 

[phabric]

Somehow I was able to get into National Express this morning.  Now it says, they are running a reduced network from March 29 with plans to add new routes and increase frequency as restrictions are lifted and customer demand grows.

[John Bull]

England just came out of a 3-month lockdown today.

That lockdown included a ban on unnecessary travel, consequently almost-empty local buses and trains, hence severely limited train timetables and National Express buses off the road until today.

Altho today marks the end of a total lockdown, other restrictions will gradually be relaxed later  including hotels (currently for key workers only), pubs, theatres & other venues (but will be with restricted numbers) on 17th May at the earliest, and all restrictions bar masks & social distancing on 21st June. 

So train & Nat Express coach timetables are a mess, and very very limited compared to pre-Covid.

For instance British Rail currently doesn't offer any direct trains London to Southampton or Winchester - usually there are 2 - 3 direct trains per hour !!!

 

To give you decent help, we need to know a few things ........

Your year & date of travel.

Dates of your various transfers (usually more limited on sundays & national holiday dates)

Your proposed hotel location in London - always important because which transportation option is best from Windsor and to Winchester depends on where your hotel is in central London.

Number in your party, and any childrens' ages.

 

Can I presume that each transfer will be with luggage?

If so, LHR to Windsor will be best by pre-booked private transfer. Plenty of LHR-based operators, but locals reckon you get better service & price by booking with a Windsor-based operator. So google "taxis Windsor UK". But if your trip isn't until 2022 leave it be until less than 6 months out. Currently under £30 for a sedan

 

JB 🙂

 

[dog]

Thanks. Travel end of March 2022. Only wanted an idea of what is normally possible. I have taken private car to/ from Windsor before and to London from Heathrow  staying by castle in Windsor so know train is right there and by Victoria station in London. Light luggage can handle on bus, train. Might consider private transfer with stop at Stonehenge/ Salisbury  on way to Windchester. Time on both days before hotel check in at 3 pm. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by dog

[John Bull]

12 hours ago, dog said:

Thanks. Travel end of March 2022. Only wanted an idea of what is normally possible. I have taken private car to/ from Windsor before and to London from Heathrow  staying by castle in Windsor so know train is right there and by Victoria station in London. Light luggage can handle on bus, train. Might consider private transfer with stop at Stonehenge/ Salisbury  on way to Windchester. Time on both days before hotel check in at 3 pm. 

 

Note the spelling of Winchester

 

OK, so you know your stuff by car to/from Windsor.

There are two train options from Windsor & Eton Central (the station near the castle entrance) to central London. One is direct to London Waterloo (not currently showing on timetables) & the other to London Paddington via a change at Slough. There's no direct tube from Waterloo to Victoria. So with luggage Windsor to Victoria's not easy.

There's a Nat Express coach service Windsor to Victoria coach station (not currently showing) but it's very slow (over two hours) partly because it goes via Heathrow.

Probably best by car, but in the order of £50 - £60.

BTW, for your transfers pre-book a car -  don't simply hail a cab in the street  or pick one up at a rank.  For short hops of a mile or three they're very convenient but for longer journeys they cost an arm & a leg.

 

For Victoria to Winchester you have the choices of a direct Nat Express coach service, or two train options.

By Nat Express. On current timetable four coaches per day direct -  there's one at 11.00am, takes 2 hours, costs £10.60 pp.

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

By train I can only tell you about pre-Covid from memory - neither of the options below are currently shown, but they'll almost certainly be revived when traffic is back somewhere near normal levels.......

From Victoria train station, train every few minutes to Clapham Junction, where you change to a Winchester-bound train (2 or 3 per hour). Something under 2 hours total, about £40 pp?

Or taxi to Waterloo station (about 2,5 miles from Victoria, no direct tube so best by taxi costing (?) £12 - £15, then 2 or 3 direct trains per hour to Winchester.  (this is the train you'd join at Clapham Junction if you took the train from Victoria). You'd recoup the taxi fare and more if you bought heavily discounted  advance train tickets, available from about 8 weeks out, at anywhere between £10pp and £20pp instead of the full walk-up fare of £40 pp. (no discounted train fares from Victoria, because the two trains are run by different operators.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ (but pretty useless timetable this year)

 

Nat Express stop is The Broadway in Winchester, slap in the middle of the city. Rail station is a 10 -15 minute downhill walk. 

 

All of which I could have more-easily summed-up by saying "Post again from 6 months out". 🙄😉

 

Private transfer via Stonehenge from London has one potential problem.......

You are very strongly recommended to pre-book timed admission to Stonehenge - you book a half-hour arrival slot (but stay as long as you wish) and if you arrive during that time-slot you are guaranteed immediate entry.

But if you miss your time-slot and the place is busy your entry may be held up for half the day or longer, so a hold-up caused by an accident on the motorway can seriously screw-up your day..

Coach & Stonehenge ho-ho passengers buy any-time tickets from the operator.

And cruise tour/transfer coaches include any-time Stonehenge tickets in their fares. https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/london-heathrow-to-southampton-via-stonehenge.html  But your cruise isn't that day & you can't even join another ship's tour/transfer because your destination isn't Southampton.

I advise those visiting from Southampton (or Winchester) by car to visit Salisbury first, and depart Salisbury half an hour before their time-slot. But that would involve a degree of doubling-back for you.

All that said, the saving grace is that this will be in March, and if it's not a saturday or sunday the place is unlikely to be busy.

 

Sorry, lots of ifs & buts and maybes.

 

JB 🙂

Edited March 30, 2021 by John Bull

[dog]

Thanks again. Very helpful. I have good hotel rates/ points used in London  so I don’t want to change dates. Private driver London to Winchester will be Sunday morning, so it will all be arranged with them for stops. 
I will take bus/train for LHR to Windsor & Windsor to London have lots of time pre hotel check in. Will drop luggage off & do a few things on our own until 3 pm. 
 

I will come back to thread in 6-8 months. Thanks 

[dog]

I am now thinking of taking the coach from Victoria Staion London to Southampton on Sunday morning & getting a driver to take us for 5 hours Stonehenge/ Salisbury or Winchester then back to a Southampton hotel. Is there a driver or company used by cc members? I can’t remember who we used the last 2 times 

[John Bull]

4 minutes ago, dog said:

I am now thinking of taking the coach from Victoria Staion London to Southampton on Sunday morning & getting a driver to take us for 5 hours Stonehenge/ Salisbury or Winchester then back to a Southampton hotel. Is there a driver or company used by cc members? I can’t remember who we used the last 2 times 

 

These are all based at the Southampton end...........

https://www.smithsairportcars.co.uk/

https://aquacars.co.uk/

https://westquaycars.com/

All have been recommended by Cruise Critic members, Smiths used by most.

 

Both Winchester and Salisbury+Stonehenge are easy from Southampton by public transport........

 

Winchester is 10-15 minutes by direct train - 2 to 3 trains per hour, about £10-£15 pp round-trip.

Or by local bus - much less frequent and travel time about an hour, but the bus station in Winchester is right in the centre by the cathedral. https://www.bluestarbus.co.uk/services

 

Salisbury 35 minutes by direct train, 2 trains per hour (I think just one per hour on sundays) £10-£15 pp round-trip, then ho-ho bus from Salisbury station. Buy your Stonehenge tickets from the ho-ho driver to avoid the need for pre-booked timed Stonehenge tickets. https://www.thestonehengetour.info/

 

Due to the current little Covid difficulty, train timetables are very incomplete, details from me are from memory.

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[dog]

I’m sure we used Smiths to Windsor once. 
I think with limited time on the Sunday we will try for a driver in Southampton for 5-6 hours. 
thanks. 

[dog]

Is there an email for West Quay Tours?  Facebook has it never mind

Edited April 3, 2021 by dog

[John Bull]

8 hours ago, dog said:

Is there an email for West Quay Tours?  Facebook has it never mind

 

https://westquaycars.com/

and click on "Contact Us"

 

JB 🙂

[dog]

47 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

https://westquaycars.com/

and click on "Contact Us"

 

JB 🙂

Thanks I filled in their form for quote got txt saying booed. Only wanted quite. I texted and email to cancel. No reply from them. Did not even need my name. Only phone number. 
 

anyway. Thanks for help. 
 

also contacted the Black.. car service for London to Southampton. Really appreciate the help. 

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, dog said:

 

also contacted the Black.. car service for London to Southampton. Really appreciate the help. 

 

Blackberry?

Well-recommended.🙂

But London-based so no good for Southampton to Salisbury etc.

 

JB 🙂

[dog]

8 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Blackberry?

Well-recommended.🙂

But London-based so no good for Southampton to Salisbury etc.

 

JB 🙂

Yes, Blackberry answered me right away. Good to know they can do transfer London to Southampton. Maybe a stop at Stonehenge on the way. Lots of time to figure it out 

[dog]

On 4/3/2021 at 6:10 AM, John Bull said:

 

 

Salisbury 35 minutes by direct train, 2 trains per hour (I think just one per hour on sundays) £10-£15 pp round-trip, then ho-ho bus from Salisbury station. Buy your Stonehenge tickets from the ho-ho driver to avoid the need for pre-booked timed Stonehenge tickets. https://www.thestonehengetour.info/

JB 🙂

 

 

I found info on train Waterloo staion to Salisbury Train Station. 
 

is there usually a bus from Victoria Coach Station to Salisbury on a Sunday?  What is name & location of Salisbury bus/coach station?  Read bus station in centre no longer exists. 

[dog]

Blackberry has been excellent getting back to me with 3 quotes. 125 GBP London to Salisbury. 
Smiths would not give me a quote. Too far off they said. 
I will be staying the Sunday night in Salisbury, not Winchester or Southampton. 
The train fares I see( not my dates) are 45 GBP per person,, and no change of trains, 1&1/2 hours 

I can’t find out much about National Express coach, at this point- too early I guess. I would want to go Victoria Coach Station to Salisbury centre. On a Sunday morning. Leave luggage at hotel, then take Stonehenge bus tour. 

[John Bull]

Sorry, very difficult to help at the moment because Covid has played havoc with timetables, especially National Express

No coach services were operating anywhere until a few weeks ago, a very limited number of services are now operating but only on a skeleton timetable because Covid restrictions (eg no international tourists, no hotels except for key workers, etc) mean that a full service isn't viable . Provided that the Covid situation continues to improve, the government's "road map to recovery"  means that all restrictions other than social distancing & masks will have been lifted by July, and hopefully Nat Express timetables will be back to something like normal. 

 

Currently there don't appear to be ANY Nat Express services to Salisbury, although I know that there were pre-Covid services to Salisbury from Victoria, and those services will almost certainly return. But I don't know - and can no longer find out - if they operated on sundays, and importantly I do know that even on weekdays there were only a handful of coaches each day.

 

Salisbury bus station (Endless Street) closed many years ago, local buses use stands in nearby Blue Boar Row.

Salisbury coach station (Millstream Approach) was used by Nat Express pre-Covid, I can find no references to it being permanently closed.

The Nat Express website mentions stops at both Millstream Approach and the train station. The train station would be your better bet because that's a Stonehenge ho-ho pick-up point, but there are taxi ranks at both places.

 

If you arrive at the rail station (by bus or by coach) and there's a ho-ho bus leaving in about 15 minutes or more, you can leave your bags at The Railway Tavern, at the end of the station approach, about 100 yards from the station exit / ho-ho bus stop. Rate will be about £5 per bag - knock on the pub door if you're there before its opening hours.

 

If you travel down with Blackberry, you have the choice of

- a stop at Stonehenge en route.

No significant extra mileage, but about 90 to 120 minutes waiting time at Stonehenge on top of their quote. You'll need to pre-book timed Stonehenge admission - because its a sunday Stonehenge will be busy and its important not to miss your time-slot, so liaise with Blackberry on your arrival time at Stonehenge, and book for the previous half-hour. This gives you an hour's leeway for delays en-route - if you arrive early you may be able to enter when you arrive, but at worst you'll have a 30 minute wait. If you arrive after your timed slot your wait may be hours.

- or Blackberry to hotel (drop luggage) and on to a ho-ho stop at either Blue Boar Row or the rail station. 

Blue Boar Row pick-up is before the rail station & means a better seat on the bus. And possibly only a short walk from your hotel.

As per a previous post, don't buy your Stonehenge tickets in advance - instead buy "anytime" tickets from the ho-ho driver. This also means no wasted tickets if your plans change - or even if the weather's foul & you are available to go to Stonehenge next day.

 

There are pros & cons with each of those choices. I suggest you start by asking Blackberry to quote the extra cost for  Stonehenge en-route and compare that to the £16 pp bus-only ho-ho fare.

 

Almost all hotels offer penalty-free cancellation, and closer to the day all services and options will be much firmer.

 

Stay safe

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[dog]

Thanks so much. I will wait for coach & train schedules. 

[dog]

54 minutes ago, dog said:

Thanks so much. I will wait for coach & train schedules. 

After talking it over, we decided to use the car service from London to Salisbury.  So many have been out of work for so long and this is convenient with only having Sunday & Monday morning there. Thanks for all the help. 

[John Bull]

No worries, dog.

 

Since you sail on the monday, go to Stonehenge (and Old Sarum if weather & time permit) on the sunday cos it'd be rushed on the monday morning.. 

Monday morning is plenty of time for Salisbury's quaint and compact city centre and magnificent Cathedral.

 

Trains from Salisbury to Southampton Central every half-hour, journey time 35 minutes, fare about £10.

Poor facilities on the train for luggage, but this route normally quiet so no problem stacking luggage around you.

 

JB 🙂