Transportation from London to South Hampton Port

[Ellaleah]

My sister and I are planning a cruise far 11/24, but thinking that we might stay in London for a couple of days prior as I have never been.  What would be our best option for transportation and would we be able to do that on cruise day?  How long of a ride is it?  We are seniors and do not want to be dragging our luggage around on a train.  Any suggestions for this or for what you might do with 2 days in London?  Thank you for your thoughts.

[gumshoe958]

This thread has plenty of good advice for taxi and limo services. London to Southampton is about 75 miles and should take 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic. 
 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by gumshoe958

[John Bull]

Quickest transportation from central London is by train from Waterloo train station.

Trains in the UK & Europe are not like the ones I remember in the US of A.

Trains are fast (90 minutes to Southampton) and frequent (2 to 3 per hour), and advance tickets - available from about 8 weeks out - are silly-cheap at around £10 - £15. There are no big steps from platform to train - entry onto some trains is at platform level, on the others it's one fairly small step. All of society uses the trains - from high-ranking businessmen to office workers and tourists.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

(to see advance fares, check out a date or two in March)

 

Alternatively, buses from Victoria coach station take something over 2 hours, and early-booked seats cost under £20. The buses are comfortable, with wifi at seats and a rest-room. Drivers load & unload luggage. Nowhere near as frequent as the trains, its important to pre-book.  Again, used by a broad range of people.

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

Both the trains & buses to Southampton (one word, not two) are direct.

And direct buses from Heathrow airport to London Victoria (or pre-booked taxi to London Waterloo), and direct trains from Gatwick airport to Victoria (and other parts of London).

 

A private transfer from central London to Southampton takes 2 to 2 1/2hrs (Gumtree's "90 minutes" is perhaps too optimistic) and would cost in the order of £160 to £190.

 

Yes, by whichever form of transport it's fine to travel from London to Southampton on the morning of your cruise sailing.

 

Many more iconic sights are walkable from the Waterloo area than from Victoria but both are good bases and there's a wider range of hotels in Victoria, including budget (by London prices) accommodation.

A number of other neighbourhoods are also convenient for tourists, but London's sights are spread over at least 5 sq miles so nowhere is convenient for all sights so you'll need to use London's extensive underground system (the Tube) for some.

Both Waterloo & Victoria are on the routes of the city's three ho-ho operators - ho-ho's are good for a round-trip overview but their routes are waaay too slow and inconvenient for inside visits  to the sights  etc-  use The Tube for transportation in the city.

 

What to see & do in London?????

There are waaaaaaay too many sights to go thro even just the main ones - there's enough to fill a fat guide book.

This website gives you an overview of the sights, plus logistics such as accommodation & transportation

 https://www.londontoolkit.com/

 

Since you've not visited London before it'd be a shame to miss this opportunity.

There's enough in the city  keep a tourist busy for a couple of weeks, but you could make a decent fist of it with a couple of full days.

 

JB 🙂.