London on our own

[CCWineLover]

3 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

On all things nautical I defer to all the experts on this Viking board.  For all things Greenwich - we have just sold our lovely second home there - you must defer to me !

Mrs Miggins - so is it best to go from Kensington to Greenwich via the Thames River cruise? (taking the tube to the starting place?).  Our hotel is near the South Kensington tube station.   We would hope to switch in the morning, drop our bags off in Doubletree Greenwich and then spend the whole day (which is a Wednesday) walking around Greenwich.  Any specific sights to see, where to eat, etc. would be most appreciated!

[haydn12]

We reserved our times with Addison Lee.

[Cheekyrn1]

17 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

On all things nautical I defer to all the experts on this Viking board.  For all things Greenwich - we have just sold our lovely second home there - you must defer to me !

Congratulations on selling your home. Now I will show my ignorance..can you recommend best way to get from doubletree Hilton in Greenwich to the port of tillbury please?  And then best way to get from tillbury to Westminster as the Viking rep told me no free shuttles will be provided. Thank you so much for your advice

[Mrs Miggins]

17 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Mrs Miggins - so is it best to go from Kensington to Greenwich via the Thames River cruise? (taking the tube to the starting place?).  Our hotel is near the South Kensington tube station.   We would hope to switch in the morning, drop our bags off in Doubletree Greenwich and then spend the whole day (which is a Wednesday) walking around Greenwich.  Any specific sights to see, where to eat, etc. would be most appreciated!

Slight problem with the Doubletree is that it is about a 15/20 minute walk to the centre of Greenwich.  Therefore I would talk to the hotel about arranging a taxi (or you could use UBER)  to collect you from the Cutty Sark as I presume you will have bags.  I would still take the River option rather than the tube as you would have to change to get onto the DLR line ending in Cutty Sark or Greenwich and tube is difficult with bags.  The river ride is lovely and more direct.

Lots to do for the day in Greenwich =https://ornc.org is the website for the Old Naval College, https://www.rmg.co.uk website for The Queens House, Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark ship plus The Royal Observatory.   If you are looking for a pub lunch in an English Pub try The Plume of Feathers, right next to Greenwich Park https://www.plumeoffeathers-greenwich.co.uk

[Mrs Miggins]

28 minutes ago, Cheekyrn1 said:

Congratulations on selling your home. Now I will show my ignorance..can you recommend best way to get from doubletree Hilton in Greenwich to the port of tillbury please?  And then best way to get from tillbury to Westminster as the Viking rep told me no free shuttles will be provided. Thank you so much for your advice

Sorry to say that a taxi - Addison Lee or similar is the best and easiest way as Tilbury is rather isolated and doesnt offer good transport options.  Its about a 45 minute to an hour from Greenwich to Tilbury as you have to go over the QE11 Bridge which can sometimes be problematic.

I presume others on this board have docked in Tilbury so perhaps they could answer what Viking actually provide.

[molymoo]

18 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

On all things nautical I defer to all the experts on this Viking board.  For all things Greenwich - we have just sold our lovely second home there - you must defer to me !

 

Have to agree with Mrs. Miggins!  Greenwich is absolutely lovely and it would be a shame to miss it.  London is a wonderful (and one of my favorites) city but we will always opt to stay in the Greenwich area as we have made many trips to London.  We spent time there during two Viking trips and will choose to stay there for our third in July.  The walk up to the observatory is lovely and the observatory itself is fascinating!  The market is great fun and we often seek an out of the way pub for a bit of refreshment before we return to the ship ... for dinner! 😀

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

On 2/14/2022 at 9:24 AM, Jim Avery said:

Moored to a large float in the river just off the pier at Cutty Sark.  Very short tender ride to the Thames Clipper dock.  Love to embark/disembark in Greenwich.  So much right there...

Jim, I'm booked on a Midnight Sun cruise with Greenwich as our disembark port.  The itinerary I got from Viking shows us tendering at Greenwich.  How the heck does Viking handle turning the ship (all the luggage, people, supplies, etc) via tender?

[Jim Avery]

10 minutes ago, BlairsvilleCruiseGirl said:

Jim, I'm booked on a Midnight Sun cruise with Greenwich as our disembark port.  The itinerary I got from Viking shows us tendering at Greenwich.  How the heck does Viking handle turning the ship (all the luggage, people, supplies, etc) via tender?

It is extra work for them for sure.  Piled up on the float and hand loaded into tenders.  The trip is a couple hundred yards so very quick turnaround.  Where you land is also the docks used by the Thames Clipper boats.  One of the best ways to get into Tower Bridge or Westminster.  You will collect your bags on land in a tent a short walk from the car and bus pickups.  Not bad at all as Viking is very organized there.  Now if it is raining........🍺

[timbloom]

Would highly recommend any of the London Walks that take your fancy. They start I think either at 11am or 2pm from usually outside a tube entrance. You don't need to book so just turn up and pay the guide. They last about 2 hours. We have done the London in the Blitz [around St Pauls], Inns of the Court, and the Palaces of Westminster. All great and some of the guides are sometimes actors in between engagements who out on a bit of a show. You can look them all up I think at Londonwalks.com

[CCWineLover]

8 hours ago, timbloom said:

Would highly recommend any of the London Walks that take your fancy. They start I think either at 11am or 2pm from usually outside a tube entrance. You don't need to book so just turn up and pay the guide. They last about 2 hours. We have done the London in the Blitz [around St Pauls], Inns of the Court, and the Palaces of Westminster. All great and some of the guides are sometimes actors in between engagements who out on a bit of a show. You can look them all up I think at Londonwalks.com

I would concur!  Fabulous tours.  We've taken about 4 of the London Walks tours and have had excellent guides for each.  They must have about 15 different ones, not always done every day.  Check out their website for sure!

We are going in early July ahead of Midnight Sun cruise and plan to take another 4 of them.  Looking at the Hampstead Heath walk for something different!   Staying in London a week and then Greenwich a night ahead of the ship.  Easy walk from the Doubletree Greenwich down to the tender.

[Twitchly]

23 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Looking at the Hampstead Heath walk for something different!  

Love Hampstead Heath! If you like old, interesting cemeteries, I highly recommend visiting nearby Highgate.