London
 

Hi , when i get to London i have 10 hours between flights, is ther anything
like in singapore where you can go on bus tour to kill some time . what
would be your recommendation in this regards;


Thanks for all your thoughts
Rufus

Re: London
 

In article ,
"Rufus" wrote:

    > Hi , when i get to London i have 10 hours between flights, is ther anything
    > like in singapore where you can go on bus tour to kill some time . what
    > would be your recommendation in this regards;

http://www.bigbus.co.uk/

jay
Sun, Feb 2, 2003
mailto:[email protected]




    >
    >
    > Thanks for all your thoughts
    > Rufus
    >

--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

Re: London
 

Rufus wrote:

    > Hi , when i get to London i have 10 hours between flights, is ther anything
    > like in singapore where you can go on bus tour to kill some time . what
    > would be your recommendation in this regards;
    > Thanks for all your thoughts
    > Rufus

It depends on which London airport you are landing in. If it's Heathrow, you
might be able to make it to the centre of London, bus tour, food and back in 10
hours, but it would be very doubtful from Gatwick or Stansted.
Heathrow-London weekdays = 1 hr typical
Gatwick/Stansted more like two.
London traffic can be terrible, and you'd need to be departing central London a
couple of hours before your check in time (ie 3.5 hours before your flight) to
be sure of getting there.

If you're flying through Heathrow, you might want to take a look at Windsor
instead, which is only about 20 mins away and its unlikely there'd be too much
congestion on the back roads.

(PS - if you do go for the Windsor option, the black cabs outside Heathrow levy
a £40+ surcharge for going outside London. Call for a minicab from a phonebox,
then take a cab from the street in Windsor to get back).

Russell

Re: London
 

"Russell Kaye" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Rufus wrote:
    > > Hi , when i get to London i have 10 hours between flights, is ther
anything
    > > like in singapore where you can go on bus tour to kill some time .
what
    > > would be your recommendation in this regards;
    > >
    > > Thanks for all your thoughts
    > > Rufus
    > It depends on which London airport you are landing in. If it's Heathrow,
you
    > might be able to make it to the centre of London, bus tour, food and back
in 10
    > hours, but it would be very doubtful from Gatwick or Stansted.
    > Heathrow-London weekdays = 1 hr typical
    > Gatwick/Stansted more like two.
    > London traffic can be terrible, and you'd need to be departing central
London a
    > couple of hours before your check in time (ie 3.5 hours before your
flight) to
    > be sure of getting there.

Heathrow Express to Paddington is much less than 1 hour, less than 30 min I
think, plus of course the wait for a train.
The tube takes about 1 hour and is far cheaper - a day pass may be about 6
pounds covering central London tube and buses too
Gatwick is perhaps 1 hour (more like 40-50 min I think), not 2 hours.
I have no idea about Stanstead.

In the centre you can get around by tube, so traffic should not be an issue.

As far as I know there are no Singapore-style organised tours from the
airport
You would have to take a train to town then either find you own way around
or get on one of the tour buses - you can jump on and off them for one daily
ticket (dont know the price) - they would be listed on some London tour web
sites.

Roger

Re: London
 

On Mon, 03 Feb 2003 20:12:46 +0000, Russell Kaye
wrote:

    >Rufus wrote:
    >> Hi , when i get to London i have 10 hours between flights, is ther anything
    >> like in singapore where you can go on bus tour to kill some time . what
    >> would be your recommendation in this regards;
    >> Thanks for all your thoughts
    >> Rufus
    >It depends on which London airport you are landing in. If it's Heathrow, you
    >might be able to make it to the centre of London, bus tour, food and back in 10
    >hours, but it would be very doubtful from Gatwick or Stansted.
    >Heathrow-London weekdays = 1 hr typical

Heathrow Express is 15 minutes to Paddington Station, which isn't
central London as most people might think of it, but it's close.

    >Gatwick/Stansted more like two.

Excuse? The Gatwick Express is about 30 minutes to Victoria Station,
which is pretty much central London. Even teh regular, non-express
trains take only about 45 minutes.

    >London traffic can be terrible, and you'd need to be departing central London a
    >couple of hours before your check in time (ie 3.5 hours before your flight) to
    >be sure of getting there.

Are you assuming cars or buses?


************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Re: London
 

Thanks for the advise , i will be landing at heathrow , as i am arriving
from paris , can i just walk out of the airport or do i have to do the
custom thingy as well (a couple of year ago i flew from germany to Barcelona
and could just walk out, no wasted time !!!)

Thanks
Rufus




"Hatunen" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Mon, 03 Feb 2003 20:12:46 +0000, Russell Kaye
    > wrote:
    > >
    > >
    > >Rufus wrote:
    > >
    > >> Hi , when i get to London i have 10 hours between flights, is ther
anything
    > >> like in singapore where you can go on bus tour to kill some time .
what
    > >> would be your recommendation in this regards;
    > >>
    > >> Thanks for all your thoughts
    > >> Rufus
    > >
    > >It depends on which London airport you are landing in. If it's Heathrow,
you
    > >might be able to make it to the centre of London, bus tour, food and back
in 10
    > >hours, but it would be very doubtful from Gatwick or Stansted.
    > >Heathrow-London weekdays = 1 hr typical
    > Heathrow Express is 15 minutes to Paddington Station, which isn't
    > central London as most people might think of it, but it's close.
    > >Gatwick/Stansted more like two.
    > Excuse? The Gatwick Express is about 30 minutes to Victoria Station,
    > which is pretty much central London. Even teh regular, non-express
    > trains take only about 45 minutes.
    > >London traffic can be terrible, and you'd need to be departing central
London a
    > >couple of hours before your check in time (ie 3.5 hours before your
flight) to
    > >be sure of getting there.
    > Are you assuming cars or buses?
    > ************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
    > * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
    > * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Re: London
 

On Tue, 4 Feb 2003 09:05:39 +0800, "Rufus"
wrote:

    >Thanks for the advise , i will be landing at heathrow , as i am arriving
    >from paris , can i just walk out of the airport or do i have to do the
    >custom thingy as well (a couple of year ago i flew from germany to Barcelona
    >and could just walk out, no wasted time !!!)

If you want to go into Lonodn you will have to do the custom thing.
Won't take very long, though.



************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Re: London
 

Hatunen wrote:
    >
    > On Tue, 4 Feb 2003 09:05:39 +0800, "Rufus"
    > wrote:
    >
    > >Thanks for the advise , i will be landing at heathrow , as i am arriving
    > >from paris , can i just walk out of the airport or do i have to do the
    > >custom thingy as well (a couple of year ago i flew from germany to Barcelona
    > >and could just walk out, no wasted time !!!)
    >
    > If you want to go into Lonodn you will have to do the custom thing.
    > Won't take very long, though.

I have sometimes been stuck in very long lines at immigration in the UK,
including at Heathrow.

Barbara

Re: London
 

On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 13:55:04 +0100, Barbara Vaughan
wrote:

    >Hatunen wrote:
    >>
    >> On Tue, 4 Feb 2003 09:05:39 +0800, "Rufus"
    >> wrote:
    >>
    >> >Thanks for the advise , i will be landing at heathrow , as i am arriving
    >> >from paris , can i just walk out of the airport or do i have to do the
    >> >custom thingy as well (a couple of year ago i flew from germany to Barcelona
    >> >and could just walk out, no wasted time !!!)
    >>
    >> If you want to go into Lonodn you will have to do the custom thing.
    >> Won't take very long, though.
    >I have sometimes been stuck in very long lines at immigration in the UK,
    >including at Heathrow.

Hm. I haven't. I consider thirty minutes to get through to the
concourse to be not very long, and it's usaully been quicker than
that.


************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Re: London
 

In article ,
[email protected] (Hatunen) wrote:


    > Excuse? The Gatwick Express is about 30 minutes to Victoria Station,
    > which is pretty much central London. Even teh regular, non-express
    > trains take only about 45 minutes.

Don;t go Gatwick Express. Buy a cheap day return with a Zone 1-2 pass
(or is it 1-6 pass). There are trains to many other partsof London

Re: London
 

[email protected] (Hatunen) wrote in message news:...
    > On Tue, 4 Feb 2003 09:05:39 +0800, "Rufus"
    > wrote:
    >
    > >Thanks for the advise , i will be landing at heathrow , as i am arriving
    > >from paris , can i just walk out of the airport or do i have to do the
    > >custom thingy as well (a couple of year ago i flew from germany to Barcelona
    > >and could just walk out, no wasted time !!!)
    >
    > If you want to go into Lonodn you will have to do the custom thing.
    > Won't take very long, though.


If he's an EU passport holder he might not even have to break stride.

Re: London
 

Not the Karl Orff wrote:
    >
    > In article ,
    > [email protected] (Hatunen) wrote:
    >
    > > Excuse? The Gatwick Express is about 30 minutes to Victoria Station,
    > > which is pretty much central London. Even teh regular, non-express
    > > trains take only about 45 minutes.
    >
    > Don;t go Gatwick Express. Buy a cheap day return with a Zone 1-2 pass
    > (or is it 1-6 pass). There are trains to many other partsof London

Does that work with Gatwick? I thought Gatwick didn't have an
underground station, just the train.

Barbara

Re: London
 

Barbara Vaughan wrote:

    > > Don;t go Gatwick Express. Buy a cheap day return with a Zone 1-2 pass
    > > (or is it 1-6 pass). There are trains to many other partsof London
    >
    > Does that work with Gatwick? I thought Gatwick didn't have an
    > underground station, just the train.

You can get a normal train from gatwick for a lot less than the express.
It goes to Clapham Junction/Waterloo.

joan

--
Joan McGalliard, UK http://www.mcgalliard.org

Re: London
 

In article ,
Barbara Vaughan wrote:


    > Does that work with Gatwick? I thought Gatwick didn't have an
    > underground station, just the train.

it doesn't but the combination ticket (since the travel pass will also
cover rail tavel) will cost you less (there's a trick to asking for it).

Re: London
 

"Joan McGalliard" wrote in message
news:1fpve8u.36dq3s1nz7k6tN%jem*NO-S...etspace.net.au...
    > Barbara Vaughan wrote:
    > > > Don;t go Gatwick Express. Buy a cheap day return with a Zone 1-2 pass
    > > > (or is it 1-6 pass). There are trains to many other partsof London
    > >
    > > Does that work with Gatwick? I thought Gatwick didn't have an
    > > underground station, just the train.
    > You can get a normal train from gatwick for a lot less than the express.
    > It goes to Clapham Junction/Waterloo.

The difference isn't huge. In fact the OP is travelling to Heathrow, but for
a day trip of this kind from Gatwick, I would suggest that Victoria's
closeness to some places a daytripper might want to see (e.g. Westminster
Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace) gives the Gatwick Express
the edge.

Turning to the real journey of the OP, the best route from Heathrow will
very much depend on where he wants to go in central London. For instance, if
he wanted to see the places mentioned above, his best route would be
Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith, change to District Line on the opposite side
of the same platform and travel to Saint James's Park or Westminster.

Alan Harrison