igpeaches

We are arriving in London at 7:45 AM at Heathrow Airport, and leaving the next day at 5:30 PM at Gatwick Airport. Because we only have such a short period of time, I want to know exactly what trains/buses to take from Heathrow to get to the center of London and which ones to take from the center of London to Gatwick.

However, I have no idea where a good hostel is to stay that is close to the center of London and train/buses?

I want us to be able to put our luggage in a safe place before we begin exploring in London. I thought the hop on hop off bus would be a good way to see the city on the day we arrive.
http://www.viator.com/tours/London/T...ff/d737-3302OT

Any advice or help is greatly appreciated

Yonkers79

I was in the same position as you. It's my first time in London coming up, although I have a little more time than you.

Here's what I found out:

The is only one subway that comes from Heathrow, so you don't have to worry too much about that. It goes through the center of town.

I found a CHEAP B&B to stay in. The reviews all rave that it's clean and convenient (though the rooms are small) THOUGH all the rooms are ensuite!!! It's called the Cherry Court Hotel. Check it out!

All the best on your travels...I hope you're as excited as I am!

bellini

As Cherry Trees is near to Victoria coach station you might wish to take the National Express bus from the Central Bus Station at Heathrow to Victoria.
http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_bus.htm

jent103

My pick for a hostel would be the Astor Museum location (astorhostels.com). I last stayed there about four years ago, so check current reviews, but at that time it was clean with a friendly staff, and the location is great. It's about 5-10 minutes' walk from Holborn tube station, which is on the Piccadilly line, so you can take the Tube direct from Heathrow into town. Other transport links are great. It's close to the British Museum (across the street, in fact), so it's a well-connected area.

To get to Gatwick the next day, there is no Tube service, but you can take the train from either Victoria station or St. Pancras. St Pancras is closer to that hostel and about a 20-minute walk, or a short cab ride.

I think the HOHO buses are way too expensive. What exactly do you want to see? Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey are all right there together (the Eye is across the river from the others). Trafalgar Square is a 10-minute walk from there, and Buckingham Palace is very close to that. You'll need the Tube to get to the Tower of London and St. Paul's.

igpeaches

Thank you! I will look into the hostel and hotel!

PatrickLondon

With a limited amount of time, you might prefer to stick to the tube for speed, but if you choose the right scheduled bus routes, you can see pretty well what you can see from the HOHO buses (but you wouldn't get the commentary):

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/15101.aspx

When you enter the Transport for London system (at Heathrow if you take the tube into town, or at Victoria if you take the National Express bus), get an Oyster pay-as-you-go card, which will cover your tube and bus journeys (tell the clerk how long you're staying - £12 should be enough). For your stay, day travelcards wouldn't work too well, I'd have thought.

igpeaches

Thank you all for your responses. I have found the Rosebery Avenue Guest House. It is a good price. Has anyone sayed here before? I am not sure if the location is convenient. It is supposedly in zone 3, Tottenham Hale (Victoria line). Does anyone know how far away this is from heathrow airport. I'm assuming we would take the National Express bus to Victoria? The check in is at 12 PM, which will be beneficial to us since we are arriving so early in the morning.

My reasoning behind the HOHO buses are so we can see the whole city in a short amount of time, more for convenience so we are not spending our time trying to figure out where to go because we are not sure what exactly we want to see we are still trying to decide whether or not to purchase a pass.

PatrickLondon

Tottenham Hale is way out of the centre to the north, whereas you're coming in from the west and leaving to the south - more than rather inconvenient, I'd have thought.

Is there really nowhere in the right price range in the sort of areas suggested above?

igpeaches

I will keep looking. I guess looking up hotels and hostels are a little bit harder that I thought. Thank you for the heads up!

bardo1

Here is a very inexpensive, superbly located hostel that should work very well for you.

It's a 2-1/2 block walk from the Piccadilly Tube Station - no transfers from Heathrow airport on the Piccadilly Line:

Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel
12 Sherwood Street, London

piccadillyhotel.net

For the trip to Gatwick from the above hostel: take the Piccadilly Line one stop to Green Park, transfer to the Victoria line, and take the Victoria Line one stop to Victoria Station. From Victoria station there are many train and bus options to Gatwick airport.

texasbookworm

Have you tried googlemaps? Not perfect but will give you good idea of where stuff is. London is HUGE. And LHR is a good way aways. And so is Gatwick.

Learn your way around the Transport for London site tfl.gov.uk You can plug in info and get transport times.

I'd look for something much more central. By the time you pay for longer transport costs and use up all your time traveling, you might as well pay more for something more convenient. Getting to Gatwick will probably be harder and more expensive than from LHR if you are able to ride the Tube in from LHR--but you can't do that to Gatwick.

Also if you find a more central hotel/b&b/hostel, you can just walk or tube to most Must-See sights anyway and not have the expense of a HOHO bus--put that money onto the room instead.

So keep looking for a central room would be my suggestion. The tube stop you mention is almost 1.5 hours ride from LHR--plus all the other time at LHR and then getting to your hotel--and that's if all goes well on the Tube transport (hey, I love the Tube and never encountered any major delays, but they do happen).

And don't purchase any passes--I think the concesus is that they are not a bargain. Get your tranport pass (one-day pass probably on an Oyster card) at the TFL window at LHR--but don't purchase any other passes on-line or anything ahead of time.