Kandace_York

Good afternoon, and thanks in advance for your help. I have two questions: one on London hostels, and one on LHR/train timing.

Preface -- I'm doing some numbers-crunching on a uni visit trip my daughter and I might make this fall. The whole trip will be budget-minded; we're used to traveling by backpack, staying at hostels, eating twice a day to keep costs down, etc. Pretty basic people. We can sleep just about anywhere, we don't need en suite rooms, and we don't have high food standards (a couple slices of toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast are just fine, and supper doesn't need to be much more than that; we buy food at markets or street vendors along the way and enjoy it on the move).

Question 1 re: London hostels

We'll spend just two or three nights in London, and we're considering Dover Castle Hostel & Bar -- thoughts? It seems to be centrally located (we love the London Bridge and Borough Market area!), and the cost is extremely affordable, especially for London.

http://www.dovercastlehostel.com/

Question 2 re: LHR timing/train connections

How much time would you allow for arrival into LHR, immigration, and transfer to Kings Cross? I've read that the transport itself is about an hour, but if our flight arrives on time at LHR at 9:35am, on a weekday, would it be reasonable to think that we'd be able to catch a 12:35pm train from LHR to Kings Cross ... and then Kings Cross on to Leeds?

We won't have any checked bags but we do seem to have a knack for getting lost. In fact, it happens so often that we expect it and just try to budget time accordingly.

In the past we've just used rail passes which were wonderfully convenient -- especially for people like us who get diverted from our path so often when we travel -- but they're pretty pricey, and we'd like to save pennies where we can.

Many thanks.

bilboburgler

Great question, looking at the simplest link it takes about an hour for the travel, but despite the simplicity there are opportunities to get lost on the Piccadilly

http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2...x?cacheparam=2

The issue will be if you land alongside two Jamaican flights. I'd add a couple of hours. So your 9:35 to 12:35 makes some sense, but I do this journey less and less often, let's see what others think

PalenQ

In the past we've just used rail passes which were wonderfully convenient -- especially for people like us who get diverted from our path so often when we travel -- but they're pretty pricey, and we'd like to save pennies where we can.>

You may want to look at the London Plus railpass - much cheaper than a BritRail Pass and covers all of southeast England and to places like Stratford, Bath, etc. Not sure if it includes Leeds or not though. but the pass allows you to hop on any train anytime, including the Heathrow Express - quickest way into London from Heathrow - about 20 minutes then a short tube or bus ride to Kings X. For lots of good info on British trains check out www.seat61.com (good info on discounted tickets which though have restrictions on use - cannot hop on any train anytime - those tickets can cost a ton - other sites www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk for all the schedules and fares. Off hand it does not seem you will be taking many trains so I'd try to get discounted tickets - but again they are train-specific often and sold in limited numbers so must be booked far in advance.

bilboburgler

Dover castle over a bar, just how noisy can you take it?

Look at some of the yha places http://www.yha.org.uk/

Kandace_York

Thanks, everyone.

Bilboburgler (or anyone else), of the many YHA hostels in and around London, do you have a preference? Our key factors are affordability, safety and nearby access to Underground. We really like the Southwark area, so that's a bonus -- but London's transit system makes that possible from just about anywhere (depending on how much time or money you want to spend).

St. Paul's -- this might be our top choice of the three
http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/london-st-pauls

London Oxford Street
http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/london-oxford-street

London Central
http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/london-central

thursdaysd

Forget the Heathrow Express, it's expensive and only gets you to Paddington. The Piccadilly tube line will take you direct to Kings Cross.

Your issue is not the time it takes to travel from LHR to Kings Cross, it is whether or not your flight is on time, and how many other flights are landing around the same time, affecting the time it takes to clear immigration. If you are going to spend some time in London you might want to do it at the beginning. Three hours should be enough if your flight is on time, but what if it isn't?

Can't help with the hostel. If I want to sleep cheaply in London I go in the summer and stay in a student dorm, but presumably you need to be there in term time. You might look at the Easy Hotels.

bilboburgler

St Paul's is the best

Good advice above. Piccadilly line is what you want, you get in at Heathrow an out at KX (Kings Cross)

Kandace_York

Thanks, Bilboburgler and Thursdaysd.

A note on scheduling, Thursdaysd -- you're right, it would be easier to land in London and spend a few days there, then move on. But we'll land on Monday and her first uni visit is on Wednesday in Leeds. Open-jawed flights were too expensive, and one of the suggestions here was to take a train straight up to Leeds, rather than setting up camp in London for a day, then going up to Leeds, then coming back to London.

It's that old time/money dilemma ... I wish I had more of both!

Kandace

PalenQ

http://www.london-hostels.co.uk/uk/pages/hostels/Holland-House.aspx>

I' ve stayed in St Paul's hostel and its nice but I would not say it is any better than the Holland House HI hostel in an old part of Holland House, a stately Georgian house in Holland Park, in tony south Kensington.

PalenQ

Dover Castle web site looks nice but this is not an HI hostel but apparently a private youth hostel - which can be very good at times and IME of staying in similar ones before loud, noisy with a bunch of college-age partiers - hard to tell - look for reviews on TripAdvisor, etc.

The official London Hostelling International hostels, which require purchase of a hostel pass are dependably more quiet but can cater to very young school groups as well.

Dover Castle looks nice but I'd do some more checking on it.

PalenQ

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g186338-d282820-Reviews-Dover_Castle_Hostel_Flatshares-London_England.html>

Well the reviews seem positive unless of course posted by hostel owners!

Kandace_York

Thanks, PalenQ -- will do more research.

Agreed that Holland House looks amazing, and it would be cool to say we'd stayed there, but it's also more than double the cost of the other hostels, and we're trying to maintain a snug budget here, which may mean lowering our already-low standards on accommodations.

Kandace

janisj

Might be more expensive but it would be very easy to simply fly directly to Leeds/Bradford from LHR. I'd book about 2.5-3 hours after landing at LHR.

PalenQ

With hostels sometimes you get what you pay for - the 13 pound rooms sound too good to be true unless it is a bed in a multi-person room - HI hostels also have those mega dorms - compare prices of private rooms if that is your priority.

bvlenci

I never buy a train ticket in advance for a trip just after a flight, unless the ticket is fully flexible. You just don't know what can happen, and if you're trying to save money, you don't want a train ticket that will turn into an expensive bookmark if your flight is delayed.

I've tried several times to see if there was a rail pass in the UK that would save me money, and I've never found one yet. You can usually save money by buying tickets well in advance, but the discounted tickets tend to be nonrefundable. I've used www.thetrainline.com to find tickets, but I've found that it also pays to check the sites of the specific rail companies, where I sometimes find better deals, especially for a trip that involves two companies. Off-peak travel also saves money in many cases.

I agree that the Heathrow Express is a colossal waste of money in your case. It's very overpriced and it saves you money only if you want to go to Paddington. I took it once years ago, when I wasn't very familiar with London, and never took it again.

The London Plus pass certainly wouldn't get you anywhere near Leeds, and, at the prices I've seen, I can't imagine how it would ever save you money.

Kandace_York

I'm sure it is a large dorm room, but we're comfortable with that arrangement; we've slept in dorms with 20+ and everything was fine.

I checked LHR-LDS airfare vs. trainfare, but taking the plane would cost about $118 per person, compared to about $65 per person by train.

Since this is a budget trip, $100 makes a difference ... if we're awake, we can admire the scenery on the way up to Leeds. If we're asleep, we're asleep, and that's OK, too, because we'll be able to admire the scenery on the train back to London a few days later. So it's a win/win.

I appreciate the big-picture suggestions and insight, though. Thank you!

janisj

There is absolutely NO scenery between London and Leeds.

The $50 difference IMO is more than made up in the hassle/inconvenience/time.

PalenQ

compared to about $65 per person by train>

does that include the cost of getting to Kings X? and after an all-night flight - traipsing thru London on a crowded Tube - the cheapest way or paying a lot more for the Heathrow Express though if you go on their official site you can get two round trips on HEX for the price of one I believe.

thursdaysd

"traipsing thru London on a crowded Tube"

Since the line STARTS at LHR they will get seats. Besides, people who are happy in a 20+ dorm room aren't going to be upset by the tube. Come on. The Heathrow Express is an overpriced rip-off. Budget travelers take the tube, others arrange a car service.

ElendilPickle

You might also want to look at the YHA hostel by King's Cross station.

Lee Ann