Hatunen wrote:

    > 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?

Apologies, I was assuming taxi. Paddington station is a tube ride from anywhere you
could catch a tour bus. I would still say that waiting time for a train plus
transfer, etc. would take an hour, and I'd leave longer than that to be on the safe
side - the last thing the OP wants is to be stuck in a country he's not even planned
on being in.
Gatwick and Stansted are one hell of a distance from Central London, but I wasn't
aware of how fast the Express train was.

Just going by my gut reaction as a Londoner. Given 1/2 hour realistic getting off
the plane, and intending to be back at the airport about 2 hours before flight, this
gives him 7 1/2 hrs to get to London, see the sights, eat and get back. Journeys in
London always take longer than you expect - I still think this guy is cutting it
fine. Windsor would make a good sightseeing/relaxing alternative to his plans.

Russell

On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 19:51:45 +0100, Barbara Vaughan
wrote:

    >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.

I assume he means the kind of ticket I used to get from Huntindon into
London for the day: it was return train fare plus a Zone 1-2
Travelcard.


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

Barbara Vaughan wrote in message news:...
    > 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.


As have I, but I'm not an EU passport holder. That situation is in
rapid change. My last time at Heathrow, the EU passport holders were
drifting through pretty fast. At Glasgow, they were hardly slowing down.

On 5 Feb 2003 04:58:46 -0800, [email protected] (me) wrote:

    >Barbara Vaughan wrote in message news:...

    >> I have sometimes been stuck in very long lines at immigration in the UK,
    >> including at Heathrow.
    > As have I, but I'm not an EU passport holder. That situation is in
    >rapid change. My last time at Heathrow, the EU passport holders were
    >drifting through pretty fast. At Glasgow, they were hardly slowing down.

My wife, child and I are non-EU and our last several times to the UK
we have landed at both Heathrow and Gatwick and, save for a brief stop
where we turned in our info cards, which went fairly quickly, we have
breezed right through. In fact, the walk from our gate to baggage
claim to immigration and customs was the time-consuming part of the
arrival.

Perhaps we have been fortuitously landing at times when there has been
little arrival traffic.

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

On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 17:30:07 +0000, Hatunen wrote:

    > On 5 Feb 2003 04:58:46 -0800, [email protected] (me) wrote:
    >
    >>Barbara Vaughan wrote in message news:...
    >
    >>> I have sometimes been stuck in very long lines at immigration in the UK,
    >>> including at Heathrow.
    >> As have I, but I'm not an EU passport holder. That situation is in
    >>rapid change. My last time at Heathrow, the EU passport holders were
    >>drifting through pretty fast. At Glasgow, they were hardly slowing down.
    >
    > My wife, child and I are non-EU and our last several times to the UK
    > we have landed at both Heathrow and Gatwick and, save for a brief stop
    > where we turned in our info cards, which went fairly quickly, we have
    > breezed right through. In fact, the walk from our gate to baggage
    > claim to immigration and customs was the time-consuming part of the
    > arrival.
    >
    > Perhaps we have been fortuitously landing at times when there has been
    > little arrival traffic.


I suspect YMMV.

Now, this is not LHR, but last Saturday at FRA, terminal 1B, there was a
huge lineup for non-EU folks and no line at all for the EU guys.

I had to wonder whether this might have anything to do with the current
political environment. Some petty official in charge of allocation of his
agents doing his own bit?

devil wrote:
    > Now, this is not LHR, but last Saturday at FRA, terminal 1B, there was a
    > huge lineup for non-EU folks and no line at all for the EU guys.
    > I had to wonder whether this might have anything to do with the current
    > political environment. Some petty official in charge of allocation of his
    > agents doing his own bit?

The Germans have it in for those damn Namibian travelers?

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 18:47:55 +0000, Miguel Cruz wrote:

    > devil wrote:
    >> Now, this is not LHR, but last Saturday at FRA, terminal 1B, there was a
    >> huge lineup for non-EU folks and no line at all for the EU guys.
    >> I had to wonder whether this might have anything to do with the current
    >> political environment. Some petty official in charge of allocation of his
    >> agents doing his own bit?
    >
    > The Germans have it in for those damn Namibian travelers?

Well, which other target can you think of?

    :-)