Tours in London from Gatwick area with only a few hours

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

Can anyone recommend a way for a family of four to see some of the highlights of London with only an afternoon/evening to do it?

 

Any and all suggestions welcome

[sammiedawg]

I'm not sure if I have all the info

If you land at Gatwick, take the Gatwick express into London and board the Hop on hop off bus. You pay a flat fee for 24 hours. I dont remember the name of the 2 decker bus line. You wouldnt have much time to get off and sightsee but you could ride the routes from start to finish and get off a couple times for quick walks. I believe it was the red colored bus that had a live tour guide on board. Some of the other colored buses used taped narration, its all the same company. Our hotel concierge told us to only ride the red ones

[sammiedawg]

Take the Gatwick express into the City and look for the hop on hop off bus line. Signs everywhere. Our concierge told us to look for the red colored ones as they have live guides on board, red and green ones use taped recordings. You would not have a lot of time to go into buildings but you could see the highlights, get off a couple times to walk around. Buses stopped running about 7 pm when we were there

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

Thanks for this great suggestion and don't worry about the duplicate posts, I did one today too ;)

[Globaliser]

Can anyone recommend a way for a family of four to see some of the highlights of London with only an afternoon/evening to do it?

If you're mobile, you could do a lot worse than just getting the Gatwick Express to Victoria, buying pre-pay Oyster cards, and then exploring on foot, on the local buses, and by Tube. There is a price cap on the Oyster card, so (if you stay in the central area) you cannot spend more than £4.60 (at current fares) however much you use the card. Of course, if you spend less than that, you only pay for what you use. And when you get back to Victoria, just get a refund of the unused credit plus the £3 deposit before you jump on the Gatwick Express back to Gatwick.

[DMRick]

You always have so much information, let me thank you in advance. For those of us who have never heard of an Oyster card, can you give more info? What is that used for and if we need one, where would we get it? We'll be taking the express train (I think you were the one that gave me that info) from Gatwick into London, dropping our luggage at our hotel in the morning, and then sight seeing the rest of the day. We've been to London, but had 3 day passes on the underground. Never used the hop on hop off.

 

Not to hijack this thread, but one other question for you if you don't mind. If we get our train tickets in advance (I believe we have to pick a time), if our plane is late, will they let us put the money towards a later train?).

 

Thanks to those of you who take us by the hand and help us out when we come to visit your country.

 

If you're mobile, you could do a lot worse than just getting the Gatwick Express to Victoria, buying pre-pay Oyster cards, and then exploring on foot, on the local buses, and by Tube. There is a price cap on the Oyster card, so (if you stay in the central area) you cannot spend more than £4.60 (at current fares) however much you use the card. Of course, if you spend less than that, you only pay for what you use. And when you get back to Victoria, just get a refund of the unused credit plus the £3 deposit before you jump on the Gatwick Express back to Gatwick.

[sammiedawg]

You pay for the Gatwick express on board the train, no need to prepay or buy tickets outside the train. I'm not sure about discounts but the price varies based on the time of day. Higher price during rush hour, etc . I would just get on the first one, they run pretty often

[DMRick]

Oh, I didn't realize that. I thought it was less if you prebought, or at the very least, you would know you had a seat. Can we prebuy on line with a credit card? I won't have any Pounds with me..hmm..I guess I will, we'll prob need some for buying at the farmers market in London anyway, and on some of our tours. Or do they take dollars as well? Or is there a train window where we can pay via credit card once we are in the airport?

Thanks so much for your patience with all my questions.

 

 

You pay for the Gatwick express on board the train, no need to prepay or buy tickets outside the train. I'm not sure about discounts but the price varies based on the time of day. Higher price during rush hour, etc . I would just get on the first one, they run pretty often

[celle]

You pay for the Gatwick express on board the train, no need to prepay or buy tickets outside the train. I'm not sure about discounts but the price varies based on the time of day. Higher price during rush hour, etc . I would just get on the first one, they run pretty often

 

No, I don't think the price varies.

 

This from the web site:

Travelling between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria

 

Ticket Name

Adult Fare

Child Fare*

Express Class Single

£16.90

£8.45

 

Express Class Return

£28.80

£14.40

 

First Class Single

£24.50

£12.25

 

First Class Return

£46.00

£23.00

 

First Class Day Return**

£30.00

£15.00

 

Express Class Day Return**

£17.10

£8.55

 

First Class Carnet***

£223.00

 

 

Express Class Carnet***

£152.00

 

 

 

 

Gatwick Express is a high frequency service, so reservations are not required.

 

When we took the train from Stansted, we were able to pay on the train, using credit cards. You may be abloe to do the same on the Gatwick Express, or pay cash, in British pounds, but I don't think US dollars will be accepted. Just think - would you expect British pounds to be accepted in New York city?

[DMRick]

I would not expect them to use BP's in NYC, however, when we were in London and France in the past, most places had signs that said they accepted US Dollars, and that's all we used. I didn't know if that had changed...sounds like it has. We are just back from a trip to Mexico, and every place (including non touristy areas) took our US cash. I know in Ireland we always change over. While some places do take USD's there, most don't.

We'll pick up some pounds or use an ATM in the Gatwick airport (our bank pays the atm fees for us). Thank you.

 

 

Just think - would you expect British pounds to be accepted in New York city?

[Globaliser]

For those of us who have never heard of an Oyster card, can you give more info? What is that used for and if we need one, where would we get it?

Here are two threads which discuss Oyster in more detail: start with this post and this post.

Not to hijack this thread, but one other question for you if you don't mind. If we get our train tickets in advance (I believe we have to pick a time), if our plane is late, will they let us put the money towards a later train?).

I think that if you buy Gatwick Express tickets ahead of time, you don't need to specify which train to take.

 

I actually think that the tickets are even flexible as to date; the website says:-

First Class & Express Class Single

You can use these tickets onboard anytime after the day you book, up to 30 days after the date you originally choose to travel. For instance, tickets booked on 1 May for travel on 15 May are valid from 2 May until 13 June.

 

First Class & Express Class Return

You can use these tickets onboard within one calendar month of your outward journey. You can make your outward journey any time after the day you make the booking, up to 30 days after the date you originally choose to travel.

It used to be the case that if you buy tickets on the train, they cost more than if you buy them at the station - but I don't see that on the current website, so that premium may have been removed. There also used to be an additional discount if you buy tickets online in advance, but again I don't see a reference to that at the moment.

[Globaliser]

I thought it was less if you prebought, or at the very least, you would know you had a seat. Can we prebuy on line with a credit card? I won't have any Pounds with me.

Buying a ticket won't guarantee you a seat - there's no seat reservations on the Gatwick Express. But I don't think that there are many times when there's a problem with getting a seat on board - you should be fine. At worst, just wait 15 minutes for the next train!

 

You will be able to use a credit card, either at the ticket office or on board.

I would not expect them to use BP's in NYC, however, when we were in London and France in the past, most places had signs that said they accepted US Dollars, and that's all we used.

I don't know what sort of places you went to, but I don't think that there are many ordinary places (ie not catering mainly for the tourist market) which will take USD. And the usual rule applies: most places that will take USD (or any foreign currency) will usually give a very poor rate of exchange.

 

Personally, I burn very little cash wherever I go. As much as possible goes on a credit card. It's just much easier, and not really any more expensive.

[handfordr]

I would not expect them to use BP's in NYC, however, when we were in London and France in the past, most places had signs that said they accepted US Dollars, and that's all we used. I didn't know if that had changed...sounds like it has. We are just back from a trip to Mexico, and every place (including non touristy areas) took our US cash. I know in Ireland we always change over. While some places do take USD's there, most don't.

We'll pick up some pounds or use an ATM in the Gatwick airport (our bank pays the atm fees for us). Thank you.

 

There are a few places that will accept virtually any cash currency in tourist areas London, Paris etc but invariably they are at a very poor exchange rate.

These facilities are there because of the demand from people who can't be bothered to check out what a rotten deal they're getting.

[DMRick]

We never used it for anything big..a casual snack or drink. Like you, we use our credit cards. The percent we get back in rewards and the ease of use takes care of any charges. But this time around, we will need some cash I think, so we'll hit the ATM in the airport.

Thanks guys, for all the help you keep sending my way.

 

And the usual rule applies: most places that will take USD (or any foreign currency) will usually give a very poor rate of exchange.

Personally, I burn very little cash wherever I go. As much as possible goes on a credit card. It's just much easier, and not really any more expensive.

[BlueVinney]

Some extra information on rail cost.

 

If you take a Return ticket (that is a round trip) it will often cost less than two Single (one way) tickets. When you start your journey after the morning rush hour, normally after 10:00 am, a 'Cheap Day Return' on the Gatwick Express will cost £17.10 (about $33) rather than two singles for £32.90.

 

Even better value is buying a Cheap Day Return on the normal commuter train into Victoria. It costs £9.60 (about $18.70) saving £7.50 on the cost of the Gatwick Express ticket.

 

You will find these trains more frequent than the Gatwick Express. They are slightly slower, about 35 minutes rather than 30, but are quiet, comfortable and clean. Look on the display monitors at Gatwick station for the platform and time of the next train for Victoria (excluding the Gatwick Express)! Just avoid the ones that stop at all stations, the next fast one to Victoria will quickly overtake it.

 

Similarly, the displays at Victoria will have the times and platforms for the returning trains. You retain your ticket and it will be good for the return journey.