pre cruise stay london or southampton

[beyoung]

trying to come up with the most economical way to stay one night prior to our cruise that departs from southampton, would london be cheaper for a hotel or southampton? Any recommendations on hotels?

[John Bull]

Southampton would be way cheaper than central London, but of course you'll not see London. Southampton doesn't have a lot to offer the visitor - but has quite a lot more to offer than Heathrow hotel-land!

 

Heathrow to central London hotels is a pretty evil journey - if you want to see London, book a central London hotel, this will give you the evening & next morning in central London, then a train from London Waterloo station to Southampton. But hotel charges & transfers make it fairly expensive.

 

From Heathrow to Southampton, your best bet for cost & convenience is National Express coaches. There's no train service, to travel by train involves a rail-link coach to Woking then train to Southampton. Southampton rail & coach stations are very close to each other, easily walkable even with luggage.

Modern budget hotel chains include

(avoid Premier Inn, grubby & inconvenient part of town)

Ibis - right by coach station

Etap - ditto

Jury's Inn - walkable, but with luggage a £5 taxi ride

Or for a more individual hotel, the Star or the Dolphin - £5 taxi ride with luggage- both at the bottom of the main street, closer to minor "old town" sights, such as Tudor merchant's house, the Bar Gate, small maritime & aircraft museums, hardly mind-blowing but interesting for a morning.

All the above around £35 to £65 the room.

For a few dollars more, Holiday Inn in Herbert Walker Ave (not H/I Express, which is out-of-town). Just about walkable with luggage.

All are 5 to 10 mins walk from main street (called Above Bar), all are a £5 to £10 taxi ride from all cruise terminals (Hol Inn offers free transfer)

 

Get back to me if your flight isn't London Heathrow (LHR), or you come across any other Southampton hotels that interest you & we'll start all over again :)

 

Regards, John Bull

[PattyWinters503]

Southampton would be way cheaper than central London, but of course you'll not see London. Southampton doesn't have a lot to offer the visitor - but has quite a lot more to offer than Heathrow hotel-land!

 

Heathrow to central London hotels is a pretty evil journey - if you want to see London, book a central London hotel, this will give you the evening & next morning in central London, then a train from London Waterloo station to Southampton. But hotel charges & transfers make it fairly expensive.

 

From Heathrow to Southampton, your best bet for cost & convenience is National Express coaches. There's no train service, to travel by train involves a rail-link coach to Woking then train to Southampton. Southampton rail & coach stations are very close to each other, easily walkable even with luggage.

Modern budget hotel chains include

(avoid Premier Inn, grubby & inconvenient part of town)

Ibis - right by coach station

Etap - ditto

Jury's Inn - walkable, but with luggage a £5 taxi ride

Or for a more individual hotel, the Star or the Dolphin - £5 taxi ride with luggage- both at the bottom of the main street, closer to minor "old town" sights, such as Tudor merchant's house, the Bar Gate, small maritime & aircraft museums, hardly mind-blowing but interesting for a morning.

All the above around £35 to £65 the room.

For a few dollars more, Holiday Inn in Herbert Walker Ave (not H/I Express, which is out-of-town). Just about walkable with luggage.

All are 5 to 10 mins walk from main street (called Above Bar), all are a £5 to £10 taxi ride from all cruise terminals (Hol Inn offers free transfer)

 

Get back to me if your flight isn't London Heathrow (LHR), or you come across any other Southampton hotels that interest you & we'll start all over again :)

 

Regards, John Bull

 

Hi John....

I was just going to ask this same question to the board.....

 

I am coming in on June 27 aat Heathrow and am looking into hotels for the night as my cruise leaves on June 28th. I know I will be exhausted as will my 14 year old daught so I was thinking in terms of staying in a hotel near heathrow...just to crash at and to get the free transfer....

 

I would like to get some kind of tour thing going for SAturday late afternoon from the hotel to London

 

I would also like to catch a cab to take me from my said hotel to Southhampton on sunday

 

I have been reding on here it may just be less expensive to get a cab there instead of pre booking one before hand....I am all about the less expensive...lol But I wont take a train or a bus as I do have MS and all of that manuvering with luggage makes me nervous....

 

is this all a good game plan for me?

[Twickenham]

I am coming in on June 27 aat Heathrow and am looking into hotels for the night as my cruise leaves on June 28th. I know I will be exhausted as will my 14 year old daught so I was thinking in terms of staying in a hotel near heathrow...just to crash at and to get the free transfer....

 

If you're talking about a free shuttle from an airport hotel, then it doesn't exist. None of the LHR hotels have courtesy vans - there's a pay van that will take you to the hotels, or take a local bus for free within a certain range of LHR (there's a map on the London Transport website I think)

I would like to get some kind of tour thing going for SAturday late afternoon from the hotel to London

 

I think it would be easier to just stay somewhere in Central London rather than LHR.

 

 

I have been reding on here it may just be less expensive to get a cab there instead of pre booking one before hand....I am all about the less expensive...lol But I wont take a train or a bus as I do have MS and all of that manuvering with luggage makes me nervous....

 

If it's less expensive you want, then you don't want a cab. The train is really the best in terms of time/convenience/price ratio. I don't know how your MS affects your ability to get around, but I can say that any large London train station I've ever used has luggage trollies that can be wheeled up to the door of the train, meaning you only really need to swing it into the train - try to get a seat near the door. At this point, I feel I need to interject an endorsement of packing light... :D Not sure about Southampton Central station, someone with experience there can say about walking/trolleys.

[Globaliser]

I am coming in on June 27 aat Heathrow and am looking into hotels for the night as my cruise leaves on June 28th. I know I will be exhausted as will my 14 year old daught so I was thinking in terms of staying in a hotel near heathrow...just to crash at and to get the free transfer....

 

I would like to get some kind of tour thing going for SAturday late afternoon from the hotel to London

 

I would also like to catch a cab to take me from my said hotel to Southhampton on sunday

 

I have been reding on here it may just be less expensive to get a cab there instead of pre booking one before hand....I am all about the less expensive...lol But I wont take a train or a bus as I do have MS and all of that manuvering with luggage makes me nervous....

I understand the medical issues, but I think that you need to have a think about what you really want to do and what your priorities are.

 

In addition, unless you do everything by private car transfer, which will cost you quite a bit, I am not sure that you can really avoid a bus at some stages at least - not least because the "free transfer" from Heathrow to Southampton (if you want to do this) will be by bus. But if you take a cab instead from Heathrow to Southampton, it will be expensive however you do it, because of the distance between the cities.

 

You also need to think about getting from the airport to the airport hotel. There are only three on-airport hotels. All of the others are off-airport, and basically require you to take either public transport (in most cases, bus) or a taxi. In addition, depending on which terminal you arrive at, you may have to take either public transport (probably train) or a taxi to get to the on-airport hotels anyway.

 

Moreover, if you are going to be exhausted when you arrive at Heathrow, are you really sure that you want to embark on a lengthy tour to central London the same evening? It would be about an hour's drive to get to central London, and about an hour's drive to get back again.

 

So there might be some value in thinking about whether you might want to go straight to Southampton and rest up for the remainder of the day, ready to board the ship the next morning.

[PattyWinters503]

LOL....with a 2 week cruise packing light is going to be a challenge....but trust me I will try....

 

In terms of less expensive I was just considering the options between getting a cab that is right there vs a private cab that I would book before hand. (I have read that the private cabs booked before my trip are often more expensive than just getting one at the airport)

 

I am ok with paying for a private cab...but of course would love to cut corners if I can....

 

Health wise it wouldnt be a great idea for me to do the bus or train thing for either my daughter or I...

 

As far as exhausted...I was thinking we would take a small nap at hotel first before we went adventuring.....

 

How much would a cab be from Heathrow to central London...and what is Central London exactly??? And how much for a cab from central london to southhampton? In the general area???

[Twickenham]

In terms of less expensive I was just considering the options between getting a cab that is right there vs a private cab that I would book before hand. (I have read that the private cabs booked before my trip are often more expensive than just getting one at the airport)

 

I'm not sure if a private car would be a lot more than a cab, but not having done LHR-Southampton or Central London-Southampton by cab

I'll defer to those who have.

 

How much would a cab be from Heathrow to central London...and what is Central London exactly??? And how much for a cab from central london to southhampton? In the general area???

 

A cab from LHR to Central London will cost anywhere from 40-60 pounds, depending on traffic.

 

London is vast. Thus, people usually differentiate between Greater London (usually anything within the M25 ring road) and Central London, which is, well, the centre! The best way to define it actually is look at a London Underground map - the network is divided into 6 zones, and anything within the first 2 zones can be considered Central London.

 

Even narrower in definition is the official 'City of London' an area of only 1 square mile within which most of the financial institutions have their offices. Indeed, often when people are referring to 'The City', they mean the financial system rather than the geographical area.

 

To be honest, I don't think - especially if you're taking a cab - that it will be any more tiring to go into London, and even if you don't feel up to any touring while there, you have at least the experience of both cab rides through London.

 

I shall save my lecture on packing light for when I have more time... ;)

[PattyWinters503]

I'm not sure if a private car would be a lot more than a cab, but not having done LHR-Southampton or Central London-Southampton by cab

\

 

I shall save my lecture on packing light for when I have more time... ;)

 

Can you please send that lecture to my 14 year old daughter when you let me have it?????....lol

 

Than from what you say I think I should be ok with booking a central London hotel and taking a cab from the airport and working it out from there.....

 

Kewl!

[John Bull]

Hi Minnievanmommie,

Pros & cons with all your options.

Staying at a Southampton hotel. The National Express coach from Heathrow to Southampton is relatively stress-free, they are adapted for wheelchairs (you have to book ahead, so mention your mobility problems when booking). Then a short taxi ride to various hotels, ditto next day to the cruise terminal. Suggest you stop at the Star or the Dolphin (but ? lifts), on flat ground close to the city centre & Southampton’s few sights

Staying at a Heathrow area hotel.

There is nothing of interest here.

Windsor (Castle) is easier, cheaper & quicker to visit by taxi than Central London.

From a Heathrow hotel into Central London & back out to Heathrow that evening (after an overnight flight!!) will be time-consuming and either expensive or difficult, given your mobility problems. A minicab (your hotel can arrange) will be cheaper than a black cab, but can’t use the bus lane which runs about 4 miles from Heathrow towards central London, so may take up to ½ hr longer. Public transport to and around central London - you’ll need to use the tube or buses (even if you start off on the Heathrow Express) so your mobility could be a big problem, esp after that flight.

.If you want to stay at Heathrow & see London, your best bet is to hire a minicab, or (better, but more expensive) tour operator from early-afternoon til late evening to take you in, take you round, take you back. Bear in mind that most places of interest close around 5pm.

Next morning you’ll need a shuttle or cab to take you to the free cruise coach at the airport, then of course you’ll be taken direct to the cruise terminal.

Staying at a central London hotel. This is what most people do. You can pre-book a minicab to meet you at the airport, or take a black cab. But you should be alright with the Heathrow Express to Paddington station, then black cab to your hotel. Forget the tube from Heathrow – a lot of humping luggage & often packed. You then have the remainder of the day, the evening & the next morning. Perhaps a ho-ho bus for a morning tour. Then a train early afternoon (roughly 1/2-hourly to Southampton but double-check – it’s a Sunday, so reduced service) for the 1hr trip to Southampton central station. Trains are ok for those with mobility problems, not like the tube. Porters at Waterloo no problem, at Southampton you might have to hunt – or even stay on the platform while your daughter finds a taxi driver to help (quite small station, off the platform onto the forecourt). Short taxi ride to the cruise terminal.

Like I said, all pros & cons.

Have fun choosin’, have fun cruisin’

John Bull

[Globaliser]

In terms of less expensive I was just considering the options between getting a cab that is right there vs a private cab that I would book before hand. (I have read that the private cabs booked before my trip are often more expensive than just getting one at the airport)

 

I am ok with paying for a private cab...but of course would love to cut corners if I can....

...

How much would a cab be from Heathrow to central London...and what is Central London exactly??? And how much for a cab from central london to southhampton? In the general area???

The first thing to say, in case you don't know, is that Southampton (note spelling) is a different city a long way from London. I hope that this isn't a misunderstanding underlying your questions. (When the cruise lines advertise "London (Southampton)" they are just being downright fraudulent.)

 

If you could persuade a "black cab" (licensed taxi) either at Heathrow or in central London to take you to Southampton, my guess is it'll cost you a couple of hundred pounds. Few cabs will be interested in this sort of trip. It'll probably be less than that if you pre-book something, but many private car transfers of that distance will be into three figures anyway. If you get something for less than £100, it might be good value - or you might be getting a clapped-out vehicle and an uncomfortable journey, or worse.

 

From Heathrow to central London on a Saturday later afternoon will probably be something like £60. You're paying a Saturday tariff, even though traffic will be lighter than during the weekday morning peak.