talk2heather

My family including husband, (myself) and 3 teenage boys (ages 18,16,13) are planning to travel to London in June 2016. We will have 11 days (not including arrival/departure dates) to vacation. I traveled as a single to England, Scotland, Ireland years ago, but this is the 1st overseas trip for my husband and 3 boys. Our boys have enough stamina to travel as adults. We would like to make the most of our limited time, and be able to see/experience as much as possible.

1. Arriving in Heathrow, what's the best area of London in which to stay? Affordability - looking for a decent price/night - would love to be able for all (5) to stay in one room. Possible? Would love breakfast included in price of hotel. Ideas?
2. What's the most affordable way to travel in/around/outside of London?
3. We would like to take day trips to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris (possibly). What's the best way to go about planning these trips?
4. Any other day trip ideas outside of London? Bath? Stonehenge? any others?

*any advice would be greatly appreciated*
Thank you!

janisj

>>We would like to make the most of our limited time, and be able to see/experience as much as possible. <<

I sometimes cringe when I see that posted. The more places one tries to cram into a short trip -- usually the <i>LESS</i> they see/do since so much time is lost to transport.

>>1. Arriving in Heathrow, what's the best area of London in which to stay? Affordability - looking for a decent price/night - would love to be able for all (5) to stay in one room. Possible? Would love breakfast included in price of hotel. Ideas?<<

There is no one 'best area' -- there are many really good neighborhoods for visitors in London. Affordability/decent price is different for everyone -- what is your actual nightly budget? 5 in a room is nearly impossible - unless you rent a flat - And then breakfast isn't included - you'd be fixing it yourselves

>>2. What's the most affordable way to travel in/around/outside of London?<<

That depends on where you are traveling to. In, around, and outside are all different. The biggest savings is four you to get paper travelcards (for IN London) -- won't save any money on transport, but will save a huge amount on your sightseeing. http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london

>>3. We would like to take day trips to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris (possibly). What's the best way to go about planning these trips?<<

You only have 11 days total and those day trips will be VERY expensive for a group of 5. If you really want to -- then pick one of them -- Paris most likely.

>>4. Any other day trip ideas outside of London? Bath? Stonehenge? any others?<<

Yes tons -- but again you are talking some considerable expense for instance taking the train to Bath and back.

One easy/cheap day trip is to Oxford -- by inexpensive express bus from central London to central Oxford.

janisj

Meant to add -- instead of 11 days in London and some very expensive day trips -- maybe consider 6 or 7 days in London and 4 days in Paris. Or a week in London and 3 or 4 days in a town somewhere else in England. Would be cheaper than basing in London (w/ its relatively expensive accommodations) to visit other places..

ElendilPickle

I don't know your budget, but check out the YHA hostels in London. www.yha.org.uk

A quick look shows that London Central, St. Pancras, and St.Paul's all have private family rooms, and breakfast is available at all three.

Mr. Pickle and I have stayed at YHA hostels in other parts of England and Wales and have really enjoyed the experience.

Lee Ann

tom_mn

I have done similar, some thoughts:

11 days is a nice amount of time for a single country. You're getting things a bit thin when you add a second.

Look into an open jaw flight with Glasgow, Edinburgh, or Paris as the other city paired with London. It will save you having to backtrack. Rail transportation is rather expensive in the UK.

Accommodation: Typical European hotel accommodation runs 1 to maybe 3 people per room. A "Family" room may be available, and then usually only goes to 2 adults + 2 children. I think that ages 16-17 count as an adult in the UK as to accommodations, so you are looking at four adults in the UK for your family. You are pretty much mandated to get an apartment unless you are ready to spring for 2 hotel rooms per night which could easily top $600/night in London for the moderate price range (I am thinking Holiday Inn Express-type hotels).

I advocate for shorter London stays, say 4 nights, and spending time elsewhere to save a bit of money and mix it up. You could pick a popular city like York or Bath, and then a less popular one-- there are too many potential places to list. Yes you can day trip to a lot of England from London but that means a lot of time to and fro and then high hotel and dinner prices in the evening back in London. I am hardly an expert but I doubt that London holds even 20% of the historic or interesting sites of the UK.

tom_mn

Another thing: Families of 5 can often get great value from the various "group" rail tickets, so when purchasing rail tickets make it clear that you are a family/group of 5. This can also be true on transit systems, not London but definitely Edinburgh and probably many others, although you are bumping into that "4 adults" thing again so maybe the family transit cards are not such a great value for your case.

BigRuss

Hoo boy.

<i>1. Arriving in Heathrow, what's the best area of London in which to stay? Affordability - looking for a decent price/night - would love to be able for all (5) to stay in one room. Possible? Would love breakfast included in price of hotel. Ideas?</i>

First, WHAT IS AFFORDABLE TO YOU?

Second, get an apartment. You won't find a hotel that will have what you're seeking for a 5-person family at whatever you think is "decent price/night" unless your level of decent approaches that of a Russian petroleum oligarch. You're fantasizing about finding a decent hotel with sleeping accommodations for 5 with breakfast for anything less than $500 per. Plus, an apartment will give you and hubs some privacy from the spawn.

Third, stay in Central London. There is no "best area" because London wasn't planned in the past 1000 or so years with the needs of a 21st century tourist in mind - you'll have to travel within the city. Better areas are easier to identify once you've provided your nightly lodging budget in actual $ or GBP.

Fourth, London is the largest city in Western Europe. Think NYC and then some. Do NOT underestimate its size.

<i>2. What's the most affordable way to travel in/around/outside of London?</i>

Go look up the posts about 2for1 offers and daysoutguide.co.uk and use that information to your advantage. HUGE discounts on expensive attractions available (Tower, War Rooms, Hampton Court Palace, more). And you take the train for whatever else you need within reason.

<i>3. We would like to take day trips to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris (possibly). What's the best way to go about planning these trips?</i>

Not Amsterdam - right pain to do a day trip = likely 8-9 hours RT.

Not Brussels - why do a 6.5 hour RT for Brussels?

Paris - take the Eurostar. Long day ahead - it's about 6.5 hours RT on the train.

You do realize that these day trips will cost $300-500+ (and the 300 would be a STEAL) just for the transport, right?

<i>4. Any other day trip ideas outside of London? Bath? Stonehenge? any others?</i>

Tons. Do your research and come back for more ideas. You haven't listed any interests so who knows what would be worth YOUR while?

LauraLF

I second(or 3rd) the advice to get an apartment for your family. We have done this in both London and Italy and we were so so glad we did. We could relax in the evening, everyone could have a little space, it was just way more relaxing! We went to the nearby Tesco for breakfast items and snacks. We had a two BR which would easily have slept 5. I found our apartments on VRBO but there are many agencies that rent. We stayed near Kensington High Street tube station and this was very convenient; a great area with restaurants, shops, and not too far(usually just a few tube stops) from most sites.

We did only one day trip, to Windsor castle. We were in London 7 nights then went to France for 3 nights.
One thing to consider is the amount of time it takes to get from place to place. Taking the tube or a taxi to the train station, the train to your destination, then maybe a bus or taxi to the site you're wanting to see will take more time than you think. So just be sure to consider this when you choose your day trips.


You'll have a great time with your boys, just being together and exploring a new place together is fabulous. While I mapped out our plans for each day, I also think allowing some free time each day makes the trip more relaxing. Also, I'd ask your boys"what have you always wanted to see?"- plan things around their interests(soccer, music, history, etc.) We actually saw Paul MCartney in Hyde park during the Hard Rock festival(which is usually in June) it's something they'll never forget.
You can click on my name for my trip reports.

Good luck in your planning!

janisj

I can highly recommend these flats if you are on any sort of budget. They are on a marina just next to the Tower of London/Tower Bridge w/ lots of restaurants and pubs and a Waitrose supermarket on site.

http://www.hamletuk.com

You'd need one of the two bedrooms. They aren't posh but are clean and roomy. Because of the great rates (well under what most similar places charge) they fill up so you'd want to book far in advance -- several months at minimum.

stokebailey

We've traveled in family group of four, like sharing a room, and we like London's B&B type inexpensive hotels. It's a friendly way to travel, and we always love the breakfast room.

I'd go to tripadvisor.com, specify "B&B" in Bloomsbury, Marylebone, Kings Cross/Euston, Knightsbridge, Westminster Abbey, East End, Kensington. You can specify 5 people.

Then go from there. Pay attention to the reviews.

There are also places like University Hall in Bloomsbury, or LSE, UCL halls that provide breakfast.

London isn't the best airbnb.com town, but I'd certainly check that out, too. We've had great experiences with them in France and various cities in the US and Canada. Again, reviews are key.

Brighton can be a fun daytrip in June, by train. Oxford is nice. Take the Thames Clipper (boat) to Greenwich and back, and spend the day there. The Maritime Museum is great.

janisj

>> London's B&B type inexpensive hotels<<

To be clear - these aren't B&Bs in the sense you may be familiar. They are budget (usually 2 star-ish) hotels in many neighborhoods - two convenient areas being Russell Sq and Victoria. They most follow the same model -- basic rooms, sometimes quite small, either ensuite or bath down the hall, sometimes a lift but often not, and a breakfast room on the lower ground floor (basement) where (usually) a full English Breakfast is served but also sometimes only a cold buffet. They can be a BIG bargain -- but you would need to book a double and a family room, or occasionally a single and a 4 person family room.

So while they are budget properties, not so much for a party of 5. If you were 4 they'd be great but IMO that 5th person puts you into apartment territory. Much more space for less than what 2 hotel rooms would cost.

stokebailey

We like them! Rooms for 5 are possible at some of them. Bath down the hall is no big deal. Worth checking out.

Sassafrass

With 11 days on the ground, I would certainly break up the time between at least two places.

Amsterdam and Brussels are not good day trips, not even close.
Paris is doable, but very costly for a few hours.

If you buy multi-city tickets (not two one-ways), flying into one city and departing from another, you could easily do two places and not have the cost of backtracking to your arrival city.

Paris and London make a great pair.
London with two or three other places in England.
London and a bit of Scotland.
London and Amsterdam with day trips.

manouche

Fly into London, take the Eurostar to Paris and fly home from CDG.

Eurostar tickets are cheapest when bought 3 months in advance. Look into group rates, but we usually pay 88 EU round-trip in advance, so half of that is pretty good. Check the SNCF website to see how the prices drop, according to the calendar.

London is a lot larger than Paris is, so I would spend more time there - you'll need it. I would recommend spending 4-5 days in Paris, depending on everyone's interests.

Eurostar takes 2h20 from St Pancras to Gare du Nord. Add about 90 mins total to board, debark and get to your hotel, so definitely do-able, especially if you take an early train.

Apartments are illegal in Paris, and it's often impossible to leave your luggage if you arrive before check-in time - the alternative is to haul your stuff around with you for a few hours, which is a major PITA, especially if the weather's bad.

But the main problem is space and bathroom facilities. Expensive apartments are larger and usually have at least a bath and a half, but budget rentals are small, and feature "creative" sleeping arrangements that are usually not comfortable. You will need more than one bathroom, and lots of hot water, which aren't available in most budget Parisian apartments. You'll probably wish you had more than one television and extra WiFi access, too.

It might be nice to have some basic cooking facilities, and definitely more plumbing. Citadines and Adagio are good apart'hotel chains that have kitchenettes, family rooms and connecting rooms. If you book in advance, rates are often lower.

If you don't want to cook, most hotels have small refrigerators, and you can bring food to your rooms, as long as you are neat about it. Ibis, Accord and Novotel are good, inexpensive chains that are simple, but extremely clean and comfortable. Family rooms and connecting rooms available here, too.

talk2heather

Thank you all for such great advice. You've all helped me to narrow down more specific ideas/itineraries. I am re-thinking the day trips and planning to lighten our schedule, in lieu of cramming in all that I can. I naturally have lots of energy, and can tend to drag my family around at times. I will return later with more specific questions.

Thank you all again! Your advice is much appreciated!

bilboburgler

Fantastic advice above, just wanted to add that most (not all) museums are free in London, buses and trains operate under the same operator and the same Oyster card and public transport is both everywhere, safe and timely.

BigRuss

<<Apartments are illegal in Paris, and it's often impossible to leave your luggage if you arrive before check-in time . . .>>

Apartments are not illegal in Paris, they are the primary type of residence.

SHORT STAY VACATION RENTALS offered by apartment owners (read: vrbo.com, airbnb.com offerings) are illegal.