Suggestion for some town interesting to stay for 1 night somewhere between Heathrow and Southampton. Car transfer info.

[gam888]

We are flying into Heathrow airport on an overnight flight from Canada. We will be arriving to Heathrow around 8am. We are deciding where to stay for 1 night before our cruise starts the next day. We have been to London several times so we are not planning to go into London this time. We have also visited Winchester, Portsmouth, Oxford, Salisbury, and Bath before. So we would like to see something new this time. We have not visited Brighton before, and wonder if it's a place worth visiting. Although it seems it's a bit out of the way of the direction we would want to go to from Heathrow.  We will be travelling in early May. Could anyone please suggest what little town that is interesting we could visit for a day before going on our cruise at Southampton the next day. Ideally, it should be somewhere between Heathrow airport and Southampton. We don't want to go straight to Southampton to stay in a hotel either, because there is not much to see in Southampton. Also, does anyone have a private car transfer company they have used that they would recommend? We are 2 people and do not need a huge car.  Thank you in advance.

[JHLH821]

6 hours ago, gam888 said:

We are flying into Heathrow airport on an overnight flight from Canada. We will be arriving to Heathrow around 8am. We are deciding where to stay for 1 night before our cruise starts the next day. We have been to London several times so we are not planning to go into London this time. We have also visited Winchester, Portsmouth, Oxford, Salisbury, and Bath before. So we would like to see something new this time. We have not visited Brighton before, and wonder if it's a place worth visiting. Although it seems it's a bit out of the way of the direction we would want to go to from Heathrow.  We will be travelling in early May. Could anyone please suggest what little town that is interesting we could visit for a day before going on our cruise at Southampton the next day. Ideally, it should be somewhere between Heathrow airport and Southampton. We don't want to go straight to Southampton to stay in a hotel either, because there is not much to see in Southampton. Also, does anyone have a private car transfer company they have used that they would recommend? We are 2 people and do not need a huge car.  Thank you in advance.

If you are not interested in sightseeing, possibly stay at Heathrow- The Marriott Courtyard has good rates. We have stayed there before and plan to stay again next year.

We've done extensive research on private transfers:  these were our top three based on rates and reviews: I've also discovered that companies charge much less if the transfer is from Heathrow as opposed to a London area hotel:

Eddie Manning's- they book up quickly. We reserved them for next year.   https://www.limo.co.uk/

Gunwharf Executive Travel     https://gunwharf-executive-travel.co.uk/

Majestic     https://www.majestictaxis.com/Services.aspx

White Eagle Cars  https://whiteeaglecars.co.uk/

 

[John Bull]

Yes, Brighton is a long way off-route. Two sides of a triangle and on slow & crowded roads.

A Bohemian resort town, well worth visiting - but in your circumstances a long time in a car for a short time in Brighton and not worthwhile IMHO.

 

You don't mention Windsor - it's only about 8 miles from Heathrow.

You could simply take a taxi (pre-booked is cheaper) to your hotel in Windsor, have all day to explore Windsor and its royal Castle (memories of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth), then a private transfer to Southampton next morning

 https://www.visitbritain.com/en/destinations/england/windsor

 

 

For something more laid-back - still off-route but much more manageable than Brighton, consider

 

Arundel and its castle - built at the dawn of English stone castles in the 11h Century, and continuously occupied and extended so it's a great example of a castle through time

 https://www.visitarundel.co.uk/listing/arundel-castle/

 

Chichester. Shades of Salisbury or Winchester, though perhaps less to offer.

But in the Sussex countryside at Singleton, about 8 miles from the city is https://www.wealddown.co.uk/ 

It's a big collection of historic buildings from around the south of England which were in the way of road improvements etc,  so dismantled, transported & re-assembled in this "living museum".  English buildings thro the ages - kinda like Arundel Castle but for ordinary folk.

  https://www.wealddown.co.uk/discover/

 

Both are difficult to reach from Heathrow by public transport but Chichester is on a direct train line to Southampton Central (half-hourly service, 60 minutes journey time). and from Arundel involves one very simple same-platform change part-way - also half-hourly, total journey time 75 to 90 minutes.

https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

JB 🙂

[Island2Dweller]

As mentioned above, Brighton is well out of the way.  Fairly slow and expensive by car.  However, if you really want to see it, it's very easy by train, and probably just as quck as by car.  Elizabeth Line from Heathrow to Farringdon, change there for the Thameslink trains to Brighton. 

Next day, there are direct trains from Brighton to Southampton.

If you want somewhere much more "en route" to Southampton then Chichester is a good suggestion.

[Bob++]

I'm with JB on this - Windsor is an excellent place to spend a day even if it rains. Find a hotel that allows a bag drop in the morning and the day is yours. I have stayed at the Castle Hotel Windsor, which is a five-minute walk from the Castle. It gets mixed reviews but our room, though small, was fine for one night and dinner in the restaurant was excellent (though pricey).

 

Location is everything really

 

https://castlehotelwindsor.com/?utm_source=mybusiness&utm_medium=organic

 

Edit: This assumes that you are not coming on May 7th.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Bob++

[exlondoner]

Marlow, Bray, Marlborough, none of them too far off course. But won’t you want to sleep? There is a lot to do in Southampton, as well.

[neeuqdrazil]

There are a few hotels that I'm seeing within walking distance of Hampton Court Palace, and it's a great place to visit for a day. It's also less than a 30 minute drive from Heathrow (depending on traffic, of course, but you're not heading into the city, so it shouldn't be too bad.) 

 

If you're a needleworker of any stripe, the Royal School of Needlework is housed at HCP, and they have a lovely little shop (just inside the gate heading to the Great Fountain.) They are only open a few days a week, however. 

 

I've always used the train to get around London/get to Soton, so I unfortunately don't have any recommendations for car services. 

[exlondoner]

If you like gin, there is the Bombay Sapphire distillery near Whitchurch.

[KeithErnest]

Southampton may not have much to offer you.  But if you stay close to the cruise terminal in Southampton then the passenger ferry to the Isle of Wight is close by.  Visit Osborne House or Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight.  

[buchanan101]

Portsmouth with its naval museum (go on the Victory etc)

[TW6cruiser]

We stayed in Windsor two nights pre-cruise in 2019 and loved it. We took a private transfer from Heathrow to Windsor and got there just in time to see the guards marching past our hotel to Windsor Castle. We stayed at the Macdonald Hotel Windsor which I would recommend. The hotel room was good and the staff friendly. There was a great coffee shop for breakfast right next door and we could walk the town and to the Castle.  We ended up taking a nice boat tour from town on the river which we liked.  We booked a Windsor Castle tour for our second day.  The town is very quiet at night when the day visitors leave, so we enjoyed staying over.  We ate at some nice pubs.  We then had another private transfer from the hotel to the cruise port. 

[gam888]

On 3/3/2023 at 10:38 AM, TW6cruiser said:

We stayed in Windsor two nights pre-cruise in 2019 and loved it. We took a private transfer from Heathrow to Windsor and got there just in time to see the guards marching past our hotel to Windsor Castle. We stayed at the Macdonald Hotel Windsor which I would recommend. The hotel room was good and the staff friendly. There was a great coffee shop for breakfast right next door and we could walk the town and to the Castle.  We ended up taking a nice boat tour from town on the river which we liked.  We booked a Windsor Castle tour for our second day.  The town is very quiet at night when the day visitors leave, so we enjoyed staying over.  We ate at some nice pubs.  We then had another private transfer from the hotel to the cruise port. 

Hi TW6cruiser, thanks for your reply. Could you please tell us which transfer company did you use for your transportation from Windsor to Southampton? We were reading some reviews from TripAdvisor on the Macdonald Hotel, they were mostly good but did have some negative reviews about cleanliness. But it seems like you folks were happy with the hotel. Was the breakfast good, and the bed comfortable and the room clean? Please share more of your experience. Thank you.

[TW6cruiser]

We used Smiths for Airports. I read on CC that they have since closed.  I was in this site to look for current private transport ideas from LHR to Southampton for this summer 

[TW6cruiser]

We liked the hotel and found it clean. But keep in mind we were there in 2019 pre-Covid so I don’t know what the current standards are. We did not eat  breakfast at the hotel as I recall it was expensive.  There was a very nice and reasonable coffee shop next door to the hotel where we had breakfast each morning.  As I recall they had oatmeal, pastry, etc.  It was called Esquires coffee and was great. 

[TW6cruiser]

For dinner one night we ate at The Duchess of Windsor pub and enjoyed it very much.  

[gam888]

Thanks TW6cruiser for your quick reply! I will continue my investigation for hotels in the area. The Macdonald Windsor is one we are considering, but have not made a decision yet. 

[Turangi!]

Ferry to Isle of Wight from Southampton and definitely do Osbourne House. It was a couple of years ago, but there was a public transit day pass to around the Island, including double decker sightseeing buses…  

[gam888]

We are flying into Heathrow airport from an overnight flight from Canada. So we will definitely be tired when we arrive at Heathrow at 6:30am. We plan to stay 1 night in Windsor to visit the castle before heading to southampton the next day to start our cruise. Would it be easy to find a cab while we are in Heathrow to take us to Windsor, or should we pre-book a transfer service? We have 2 suitcases, 2 carry on each and would not consider taking the train. Approximately how much would a cab cost? Could anyone suggest a taxi company that has a reasonable rate? We would need a transfer from Windsor to Southampton the next day as well. Thank you in advance.

[John Bull]

Black cabs from the rank at Heathrow are expensive, best to pre-book a private transfer - last I heard it'll cost about £25, but that was pre-pandemic and recent high inflation and fuel prices.

Windsor-based taxis are more likely to be sensible money and no rip-offs.

Try

https://www.royalwindsortaxis.co.uk/

https://5starwindsor.com/

https://www.dot2taxi.co.uk/

https://windsorcars.com/

https://eton.airport-transfers.info/

 

JB 🙂

[buchanan101]

On 3/10/2023 at 5:09 PM, Turangi! said:

Ferry to Isle of Wight from Southampton and definitely do Osbourne House. It was a couple of years ago, but there was a public transit day pass to around the Island, including double decker sightseeing buses…  

Queen Victoria's beach - a shortish walk down to the sea from the house - is lovely.  Osborne House is just outside East Cowes where the main Southampton red funnel ferry goes to. The fastcat goes to Cowes itself, and you'd have to rely on the chainlink ferry to be working to get to East Cowes (it's...had issues)

 

Buses are the Downs Breezers.

 

Also worth a visit is Carisbrooke Castle, not too far from Cowes (in Newport)

 

Extend your holiday by a day or two and spend it on the island (?!) - we are lucky enough that OH's parents live on the island so get free holidays. We stayed overnight there before our QM2 crossing (and dropping off our dog) - the Fast Cat back from Cowes to Southampton was full of people heading for the QM2; I guess the island clientele is prime cruise demographic.

[John Bull]

Another two-penn'orth from me.......

 

Gam 888 is travelling down from Heathrow on the day in question, which leaves only the afternoon and evening available, so I don't see that there's enough time to cross from Southampton to the Isle of Wight - even if they lodge in Southampton and even if it's just for Osborne House.

 

Other places that I suggested involve a private transfer from Heathrow (Heathrow by train to anywhere other than London is seriously awkward & time-consuming) but they all have easy train journeys next morning to Southampton.

Sadly other places suggested - like Bray, Marlborough & Whitchurch - to Southampton are more difficult / time-consuming or expensive

 

Portsmouth is well-worthwhile but there's a lot to see, and an afternoon & evening is quite limiting - probably time only for the Historic Dockyard & Ships (Mary Rose, Nelson's HMS Victory etc).

Direct trains or buses to Southampton next morning take about an hour 

 

The logistics of neeuqdrazil's suggestion of Hampton Court are very similar to those of Windsor, and well worth considering ..................about ten miles by (preferably pre-booked)  taxi from Heathrow to a convenient hotel to drop luggage and on to Hampton Court, perhaps taxi back to hotel, then private transfer to Southampton next morning. 

Alternatively for travel from Hampton Court to Southampton buy advance tickets from London Waterloo station direct to Southampton Central (available from about 12 weeks out, and only good for the train time that you book - 10.05am for example) at about £14.50. Take a train from Hampton Court Station direct to Waterloo at say 8.53 am, (half-hourly service) fare £8.60, arrives Waterloo 9,33am for a comfortable connection with the 10.05 Southampton train. Total travel time 2.5 hrs, total cost £23.10 per person - that's megabucks cheaper than a private transfer.

This "split-ticketing" option isn't shown on the rail website - the thru tickets shown for Hampton Court to Southampton involve two changes of train (advance fare again £14.50) or one change of train (at Clapham Junction) at £43 for "anytime" tickets. For my suggestion you need to book separate tickets for the two trains.

Sorry it's so complicated, but that's train ticketing in the UK. There's talk of simplifying the ticketing -  British bureaucracy is very good at talking about changes 🙄.

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

 

JB 🙂 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by John Bull

[jeh10641]

On 2/24/2023 at 8:06 PM, gam888 said:

We are flying into Heathrow airport on an overnight flight from Canada. We will be arriving to Heathrow around 8am. We are deciding where to stay for 1 night before our cruise starts the next day. We have been to London several times so we are not planning to go into London this time. We have also visited Winchester, Portsmouth, Oxford, Salisbury, and Bath before. So we would like to see something new this time. We have not visited Brighton before, and wonder if it's a place worth visiting. Although it seems it's a bit out of the way of the direction we would want to go to from Heathrow.  We will be travelling in early May. Could anyone please suggest what little town that is interesting we could visit for a day before going on our cruise at Southampton the next day. Ideally, it should be somewhere between Heathrow airport and Southampton. We don't want to go straight to Southampton to stay in a hotel either, because there is not much to see in Southampton. Also, does anyone have a private car transfer company they have used that they would recommend? We are 2 people and do not need a huge car.  Thank you in advance.

Hello, gam888,

Here are two suggestions - Hastings (Battle of Hastings 1066 close by) and Canterbury for its cathedral.

 

Jim

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, jeh10641 said:

Hello, gam888,

Here are two suggestions - Hastings (Battle of Hastings 1066 close by) and Canterbury for its cathedral.

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim,

 

Both are good for sailing out of Dover.

But sadly way too far east for sailing out of Southampton.

 

JB 🙂

[jeh10641]

On 3/13/2023 at 2:13 PM, John Bull said:

 

Hi Jim,

 

Both are good for sailing out of Dover.

But sadly way too far east for sailing out of Southampton.

 

JB 🙂

Hello, John Bull,

I guess the deciding factor is time. On our last trip to London (2009), we drove from Chiswick (west London) to Canterbury and then to Hastings on our first day. We stayed overnight in Hastings. On the next morning we visited Battle and the Battle of Hastings site. After our visit, we drove to Salisbury, stopping in Plymouth to see Nelson's Victory. Even though we were driving "on the wrong side of the road", it was an easy drive.

Jim

[buchanan101]

I still think Portsmouth is a good option - even if it's just the historic dockyards.