jedimac

Hi all,
I am flying into Heathrow to stay with my son, who will be moving to Watford, Herts.

Questions:

How far is Heathrow to Herts? I am arriving late evening, is it best for him to pick me up, or is there a easy train ride?

How far is Watford, Herts from London? I am in charge of planning the sightseeing for 5 days, and don't know if it is reasonable to go into the city of London after he gets home from work on the weekdays?

I wanted to buy tix for Spamalot, and the options for seats/prices are better on a Thursday than on Sat.

Obviously, he is not there yet, so he is a clueless as I am as far as distances go.

Perhaps some of you know of the area of Watford, Herts and what we could do there to keep closer to home during my stay.

thanks.

Jedimac

MissPrism

Have a look at
http://www.touruk.co.uk/hertfordshire/watford.htm

I quote from it:
"Watford, situated to the south of the county between the M1 and M25, this is Hertfordshire's largest town.

Watford, situated to the south of the county between the M1 and M25, this is Hertfordshire's largest town.

Because the town is only a twenty minute train journey from Euston Station it tends to have the character of a London suburb...."

jamikins

I know people that live in south london that commute to Watford to work so I dont think its unrealistic to get into London from there for sightseeing.

Where will your son work? Will he be in London working...you could always meet him at his employment and then go out in London to save him the commute home and back.

afterall

Herts = Hertfordshire, ie a whole county. The connex from "Herts" depend on where in "Herts" you are. As it happens they are excellent from Watford. You can take the mainline train into Euston; or you can take the Metropolitan tube line into Baker Street, Kings X, Liverpool Street, etc, and change to whichever other line it is that will take you where you want to go. A night out to see a show would be a perfectly normal thing to do for Watfordites. Here's a link to a good transport map:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...-zones-map.pdf

re being met at Heathrow ... I wouldn't recommend that your son DRIVE from Watford to meet you, unless he is very savvy about driving on the left hand side of the road, and can handle the nightmare traffic on the M25.

Of course, it's lovely to be met. If your son will be working in London he could come out on the tube to meet you. Then if you want to head on to Watford, there used to be a Green line bus you could use.

There still is:

http://downloads.virgintrains.co.uk/..._timetable.pdf

Cheers.

Dr_DoGood

If you're arriving late it'll be far the best option for your son to pick you up from Hathrow (I'm assuming he has a car). Once you're out of Immigration, picked up your bags and cleared customs and found his vehicle in the car park it'll be only a half hour drive around the M25 (London Orbital Motorway - what you guys call a Beltway) to Watford late in the evening. It's only 25 miles or so.

If he doesn't have a car... I'd recommend a taxi is the easiest solution (though not necessarily the cheapest) especially if you're arriving late and jet lagged. I imagine you'll be looking at £60 - £75 for the journey but others may like to correct me on that.

Hope you have a great trip to London! (oh, btw, I agree it's probably easiest for you to meet your son in town after he finishes work rather than him travel out to Watford and then the pair of you travel back in together to see a show or have dinner.)

Oh and btw again - Watford has a tube station as well as a mainline. It really will be a doddle to get in and out of town. Remember: Get your Oyster card early and use frequently!

Dr D.

W9London

Watford is on Metropolitan Line, which is quite good and reliable. I know it takes about 40min to Baker St, Also there is a main line train service from Watford Junction to Euston (just make sure to check for weekend service interruption).

You'll need to find out whereabout in Watford your son will be, esp if it will be close to public transportation. From/to Heathrow, probably the easiest way is to take Green Line route 724, which stops at Watford Junction. Should take probably about 1hr, could be a bit longer depending on traffic.

PS. there is a bigg-ish Costco in Watford.

jedimac

Thank you everyone. My son will be working and living in Watford, Herts. so the transportation links are very helpful.

I will be on my own during the working hours, so I'll be looking for some non-touristy things to do. I am an artist/graphic designer; have a love of all things paper.

Cholmondley_Warner

You might like the Design Museum then...And the V&A.

Mimar

Have you been to London many times? Seen all the tourist sights? Because, if not, they are well worth seeing.

For your interests, there are assorted art museums (depends on what kind of art you like). And there's the Treasures at the British Library: a Gutenberg Bible, illuminated manuscripts, the Magna Carta, Shakepeare's First Folio, original music scores, all sorts of priceless documents. (See http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/whats...t/ritblat.html.)

KayF

Most of the museums are free too and they have good cafes.

The museums also sell some great things in their shops, worth having a bit of a look - unusual postcards, greeting cards, even wrapping paper I saw once. The special exhibitions at the museums, which usually cost extra, often have their own shop which can be worth seeking out.

Kay

jedimac

Thank you all. I also just discovered "The Design Museum", which has a couple of nice exhibits (I am also a student, so it's only 5 pounds) - and downloaded a podcast of the area.