Travel between London and Southampton

[victory2020]

On 2/7/2023 at 12:09 AM, PurpleTraveller said:

The National Express bus from Heathrow to Southampton is very easy and inexpensive. 

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

From the bus station in Southampton it is possible to walk to some hotels such as the Premier Inn West Quay, depending on how much luggage you have and your mobility. Otherwise you can get a taxi to your hotel.

 

It appears you have to change busses?

[gumshoe958]

2 hours ago, victory2020 said:

It appears you have to change busses?

No, Southampton to Heathrow Terminal 5 and Central (for T2/3) is direct every couple of hours.

 

Only T4 requires a change but that’s just a short train ride within the airport.

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by gumshoe958

[PurpleTraveller]

3 hours ago, victory2020 said:

It appears you have to change busses?

 

It is a direct bus from Heathrow to Southampton with usually one stop at Winchester and depending on which terminal at Heathrow you get on, maybe a stop or two at other terminals. No need to change buses.

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

It is a direct bus from Heathrow to Southampton with usually one stop at Winchester and depending on which terminal at Heathrow you get on, maybe a stop or two at other terminals. No need to change buses.

 

 

Correct - altho different intermediate stops for different times - sometimes Winchester, sometimes Basingstoke, sometimes Southampton Uni.

 

JB 🙂

[SakeDad]

On 2/10/2023 at 4:41 AM, John Bull said:

 

 

Not that it should have a big influence your choice, but as per Gumshoe's post the coach route to London isn't scenic - it's 95% boring motorway.

But it's not a scenic part of England, the scenery from the train is better but not special

 

JB 🙂 

If it's not scenic I'll just be on my wifi so no loss!!!

[Moxiefurball]

www.internationalfriends.co.uk
 

has anyone used this travel site before.? They run 3 day pre cruise London tours. 

[phabric]

7 minutes ago, Moxiefurball said:

www.internationalfriends.co.uk
 

has anyone used this travel site before.? They run 3 day pre cruise London tours. 

I have used them for a post cruise tour from Southampton to my London hotel and Dover to my London hotel.  I highly recommend them.  The guide would talk on the drive and once at one of the stops, we were on our own and he would tell us time to return to the bus.

Edited March 16, 2023 by phabric

[John Bull]

9 hours ago, Moxiefurball said:

www.internationalfriends.co.uk
 

has anyone used this travel site before.? They run 3 day pre cruise London tours. 

 

I'll assume your port is Southampton, the routine is mainly similar if your port is Dover.

 

International Friends is a long-established, reputable and reliable coach operator and their pre-cruise and post-cruise tour-transfers are popular and well-received.

Folk have considered the post-cruise tour-transfers in particular to be excellent value - pre-cruise transfers are limited by the need to get to the port by 1,30 to 2.00pm to register and board the ship in good time so include a stop at just one sight, versus three sights on port-to-London tour-transfers.

 

But those good reviews have all been for just the one-day tour-transfers and you're considering a three-day package, of which the port transfer is just one element.

And that included transfer is just a direct hotel to port transfer, there's a supplement to upgrade to a shared tour-transfer via Windsor or Stonehenge and that, plus hotel pick-up, is what appeals to folk. (a direct National Express bus transfer from London Victoria can cost as little as £5 or a direct train from London Waterloo from as little as about £14). So if you choose this package do pay that supplement to make it a tour-transfer

 

I've not seen reports of experiences of their packages.

So - similar to cruise-sponsored packages - you need to check things like hotel location and details of the London tour.

And figure the costs of independently fixing your own airport-to-hotel transfer, hotel, and London tour, then add the cost of Int. Friends' tour-transfer to port.

 

I'm not suggesting that their package isn't any good or good value, just sayin' that I don't know and I don't recall seeing any reports of their packages

 

JB 🙂

[milolii]

We just booked https://gunwharf-executive-travel.co.uk for our trip to LHR from Southampton. 

 

We have a long trip back to California, so wanted to do this as easy as possible.   £140.  Recommended on the Princess forum.  

[cpl100]

We cruised from Southhampton just before the pandemic and spent a week in London first.  I found a transfer service (by coach) that picked up from our London hotel and took us to our Southhampton hotel with a stop at Stonehenge along the way.  I think the stop was about an hour and a half.  We thought it was an excellent choice and would recommend it.

[phabric]

48 minutes ago, cpl100 said:

We cruised from Southhampton just before the pandemic and spent a week in London first.  I found a transfer service (by coach) that picked up from our London hotel and took us to our Southhampton hotel with a stop at Stonehenge along the way.  I think the stop was about an hour and a half.  We thought it was an excellent choice and would recommend it.

I think you are talking about

 

www.internationalfriends.co.uk

[nini]

1 hour ago, milolii said:

We just booked https://gunwharf-executive-travel.co.uk for our trip to LHR from Southampton. 

 

We have a long trip back to California, so wanted to do this as easy as possible.   £140.  Recommended on the Princess forum.  

 

I have gone to their website and am unable to make the quote form work. It will only accept today's date for pick up. I guess I will contact them. We also have a long day, flying to the west coast.

[milolii]

2 minutes ago, nini said:

 

I have gone to their website and am unable to make the quote form work. It will only accept today's date for pick up. I guess I will contact them. We also have a long day, flying to the west coast.

Send him an email he will respond; his name is Mark.  Yea, this made sense to me regarding the expense.  He just sent my confirmation.  

[nini]

1 minute ago, milolii said:

Send him an email he will respond; his name is Mark.  Yea, this made sense to me regarding the expense.  He just sent my confirmation.  

Thanks... e-mail sent.

[riki10555]

We took a cruise fron Southampton some years ago and travelled to London for a day before our flight home. I actually don't remember how we got to London, by bus or train, I just remember there were many people getting off the ship and looking for a taxi to get to the train/bus station. From your experience is it difficult to get a taxi to the train/bus station when disembarking or is there just a "normal" queue for this?