What is the best way to get from Heathrow airport to Southampton? Also need hotel suggestions. Thank you.

[gam888]

We are considering going on the Cunard Queen Anne in November. Plan to fly into the Heathrow airport. We will have 4 pieces of luggage with us. In the past we have used a local transportation company for the 2 of us. This time we would like to explore the option of taking public transit. Is there a bus or a train you can take from Heathrow to Southampton. If so , where does it end in Southampton? Perhaps we can take a taxi to our hotel after. If you have a good local transportation company, we could still consider that as well. By the way, could you please suggest where we could stay for 2 nights in a clean hotel, does not have to be fancy. Thank you in advance.

[exlondoner]

National Express Coach is the most direct way. You can pay a little extra to change your booking if your plane is late.

[robin13]

I took the National Express Coach from Heathrow to Southhampton several years ago.  It was so easy to do and not much money. Walked from my terminal in Heathrow to where the coaches are which was probably a 10-minute walk.  Someone had posted a video online which showed how to do it.  The coach left me off at their National Express stop which wasn't very far from my hotel.  I did take a taxi as I'm not walking with luggage to my hotel.  I stayed at the Moxy as I had a free night stay at a Marriott.  The hotel is very modern and the rooms are very small.  But for me since it was free and just one night it fit the bill. Would definitely stay there again.

[phabric]

I have used National Express Coach from LHR to Southampton Coach station.

 

Check LHR website to find out which terminal you flight into.  The site will tell you where to catch the National Express Coach.

 

Plan about 90 minutes+ after arrival to purchase in advance National Express Coach tickets.  You can pay £ extra to change your ticket encase your plane is early/late.  The Coach will not show Southampton on the Coach sign, make a note of the coach’s last stop.  I asked a waiting coach driver for the correct coach.

 

At Southampton Coach station, walk through their building and there is a taxi stand.

 

I have stayed at Premier Inn West Quay 5x Southampton. The hotel has a/c, elevator, £ Meal Deal (breakfast or breakfast and dinner - glass of wine, beer, soda, either appetizer or dessert and main course),  close by restaurants and pubs.

 

FYI - Premier Inn West Quay, has a direct phone line to a taxi company near the elevator.  Call when you check to book a taxi for embarkment day as taxis get busy on embarkment/disembarkments days.

 

I also stayed at Holiday Inn Herbert Walker 1x Southampton.

 

www.nationalexpress.com

www.heathrow.com

www.premierinn.com

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 03:53 PM by phabric

[John Bull]

Trains in the south-east corner of  England are London-centric.

You'd have to go into central London, cross central London to another train station to go to Southampton

 

There's no direct, simple, quick or inexpensive train option from LHR to Southampton, hence others have suggested https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

Under £20 per person, driver loads luggage, at-seat wifi & chargers, bathroom, drive time is somewhere over 2 hrs.

But they're not frequent, and they do book-out.

Book one for at least 90 minutes after your scheduled landing time to allow for airport formalities and any minor flight delay. It's worth paying that little extra for a flexible ticket in case of a  major flight delay. And to select your seats.

 

Coaches go to Southampton coach station, in walking distance of many hotels or a short taxi hop to others.

 

A precis of most city centre hotels on this web page

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm

You get what you pay for, but other than the Mercure Dolphin whose future is uncertain, there are none on that list which I'd caution against.

There's a small map of the bottom of the page which shows the locations of the hotels, plus the coach & rail stations and the cruise terminals - Cunard normally berth at Ocean Cruise Terminal or QE 11 Cruise Terminal.

Other pages on that London Toolkit  are very useful if you're planning to spend time in the Big Bad City.

 

JB 🙂

 

[piemom9397]

In 2019 we stayed at room2 and loved it so much we’ve booked there again for our 2025 cruise. 

[Eno]

We stayed there in April - could see the ship from our room and walked to the port - Ocean cruise terminal.

[FionaMG]

I have stayed at the Holiday Inn Southampton, the Premier Inn Westquay and the Ibis Southampton.

 

Of the three, I preferred the Holiday Inn on the basis of the pleasant, comfortable room and best breakfast, but it was the most expensive.

 

Of the other two, the Premier Inn was closer to the centre and the room was nicer but I'm not a huge fan of their breakfast as the choices are very limited, especially if you just want continental.

 

The Ibis breakfast offered a fair bit more choice than the PI, although not as much as the HI. The location is a bit farther from the centre but is very convenient for the train station. You can actually see the hotel across the road when you come out of the station. However, the room was tiny, smaller than our cruise ship cabin. Literally no room to swing a cat, as the saying goes.

 

[Cbtours]

On 9/22/2024 at 5:26 AM, John Bull said:

Trains in the south-east corner of  England are London-centric.

You'd have to go into central London, cross central London to another train station to go to Southampton

 

There's no direct, simple, quick or inexpensive train option from LHR to Southampton, hence others have suggested https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

Under £20 per person, driver loads luggage, at-seat wifi & chargers, bathroom, drive time is somewhere over 2 hrs.

But they're not frequent, and they do book-out.

Book one for at least 90 minutes after your scheduled landing time to allow for airport formalities and any minor flight delay. It's worth paying that little extra for a flexible ticket in case of a  major flight delay. And to select your seats.

 

Coaches go to Southampton coach station, in walking distance of many hotels or a short taxi hop to others.

 

A precis of most city centre hotels on this web page

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm

You get what you pay for, but other than the Mercure Dolphin whose future is uncertain, there are none on that list which I'd caution against.

There's a small map of the bottom of the page which shows the locations of the hotels, plus the coach & rail stations and the cruise terminals - Cunard normally berth at Ocean Cruise Terminal or QE 11 Cruise Terminal.

Other pages on that London Toolkit  are very useful if you're planning to spend time in the Big Bad City.

 

JB 🙂

 

Thanks. Great info and especially the link to the toolkit 😁

[joejoe 59]

On 9/22/2024 at 5:26 AM, John Bull said:

Trains in the south-east corner of  England are London-centric.

You'd have to go into central London, cross central London to another train station to go to Southampton

 

There's no direct, simple, quick or inexpensive train option from LHR to Southampton, hence others have suggested https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

Under £20 per person, driver loads luggage, at-seat wifi & chargers, bathroom, drive time is somewhere over 2 hrs.

But they're not frequent, and they do book-out.

Book one for at least 90 minutes after your scheduled landing time to allow for airport formalities and any minor flight delay. It's worth paying that little extra for a flexible ticket in case of a  major flight delay. And to select your seats.

 

Coaches go to Southampton coach station, in walking distance of many hotels or a short taxi hop to others.

 

A precis of most city centre hotels on this web page

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm

You get what you pay for, but other than the Mercure Dolphin whose future is uncertain, there are none on that list which I'd caution against.

There's a small map of the bottom of the page which shows the locations of the hotels, plus the coach & rail stations and the cruise terminals - Cunard normally berth at Ocean Cruise Terminal or QE 11 Cruise Terminal.

Other pages on that London Toolkit  are very useful if you're planning to spend time in the Big Bad City.

 

JB 🙂

 

Great info. I'm saving it for our future UK trip.