9 hour layover at Gatwick
 

Hello! I have two questions for you seasoned travelers:

1) I have a flight that lands at LGW, a nine hour layover, and then a flight to Paris from LHR (Heathrow). Does this mean I transport myself to the other airport? Do you all have any advice as to what I should take, how much it costs, and how long it takes?

2) Is it at all feasible for me to: see the Tower of London, drink a beer, and stand at the banks of the Thames for a few minutes during this layover? I realize that I would have to go through customs and such getting off the plane, and arrive in plenty of time to get through security getting on the plane, but I figure I would have at least a few hours in between flights.

Thanks for your opinions!

Whatever you do, you have to get through immigration, collect your bags, buy a bus ticket and make your way to Heathrow. Direct buses run every 20-30 mins (nationalexpress.co.uk), taking about an hour or so from Gatwick North Terminal (25 miles due south of the centre) to Heathrow T5 (20 miles due west of the centre), or up to 30-45 mins longer from Gatwick South to other terminals. About £20

Whether you've got time to go into town depends on what time you actually exit fronm customs, bag in hand, what time you've got to deposit your bags at LHR and how cumbersome your bags are.

You've probably got time to do one of:

a) Train to Victoria: leave your bags there, walk round the Parliament Square/Buckingham Palace area for a couple of hours, then get a tube out to the airport (allow about 75 mins from Central London street to airport checkin desk).

b) Train to London Bridge, then walk east 20 mins along the river bank to the Tower, then tube to the airport. The problem with this is that I can't think of anywhere to leave your bags, since there's no left luggage facility at London Bridge.

Unless there's something exceptional about your travelling arrangements, there's no sensible alternative to the bus between he two airports, or to train/tube (train details at natonalrail.co.uk) for the trip via the centre.

I'd go with the train to Victoria option. I'd consider booking a night at a nearby hostel, as that will allow you a convenient place to put your bags, and shower if you want to do so. Then like Flanneruk said, stroll around the area for a bit. Or, you could take the train to Kings Cross/St Pancras instead, also put your bags at a hostel, and walk around Bloomsbury and see the British Library and British Museum. With this choice, you could be right at the Piccadilly Line, which goes straight to Heathrow without changes (you would have to change with the Victoria option).

"<i>Does this mean I transport myself to the other airport? </i>"

Yep.

"<i> . . . go through customs and such</i>"

It isn't customs, it's immigration (passport control) that takes time. Customs is nothing.

What time do you land/depart? That could make a difference re modes of transport and what is open/doable.

flanner has given you about the best options. Your biggest problem is your luggage. Victoria has left luggage.

was posting the same time as WillTravel - we don't really know if booking a room would work since we don't know the arr/deptimes.

Whether or not you stay at the suggested hostel room is irrelevant. My suggestion of a hostel booking is to provide a place to drop one's stuff off and take a shower, which you can do before you are allowed to actually enter a room.

Really not irrelevant - if the timing is wrong, he may not arrive until <u>after</u> check out time.

Meant to add -- I knew you meant not actually staying in the room.

But a busy hostel probably won't let someone in if he doesn't have a valid res. And if he arrives after he should have checked out . . .

I don't understand what you are saying at all.

If you are going to arrive at 7 AM, make a hostel reservation for that night. You may never sleep in the bed, but the other services could make it worthwhile.

If you are going to arrive at 2 PM, make a hostel reservation for that night. Etc.

The only possibly dicey situation would be if you are going to arrive at 3 AM, but then you probably would want to sleep, so you'd make the reservation for the night before and tell the hostel what you are doing.

The point is, if you have a reservation for the night, the hostel will let you store your bags earlier in the day, even if their check-in time is 3 PM or whatever, and you arrive at 7 AM.

Oh, right - I was only thinking about booking the night before. Didn't consider the following night . . .

But it still doesn't make sense to me. Why pay for a room to store luggage when one can store it (and take a shower BTW) for less £££ at Victoria station.

Anyway - booking a room is definitely an option.

Well, considering you can get a hostel bed for 12 pounds, it doesn't take long for the luggage storage plus shower to come close or exceed that, and you also get a common room to rest in, etc. I admit it's an unorthodox suggestion.

Yes, but where are these hostels?

The St Pancras YHA ISN'T £12: it's at least £22 PER PERSON. And each of the other hostels round KX/ST P (all of which seem to be pushing themselves upmarket - ie getting pricier and morte hotel-like every time I pass them) has its own policy on all this. What's more: there's perfectly good left luggage at KX.

Most important, though: the OP wants to see the Tower. I don't know of any hostels betwen London Bridge and Towr Bridge.

Hostels MIGHT solve the prob. But I suspect they're a lot more suitable for seasoned Londoners or London visitors than for someone with a very short window.

If there are multiple people involved, then the hostel idea likely goes out the window.

But otherwise as for such cheap, convenient places for this purpose, try hostelworld.com or hostelbookers.com . Choosing at random, Astor Museum Inn in Bloomsbury is probably what I'd choose, at 16 pounds (admittedly not 12), or Walrus Waterloo at 14 pounds, or the Generator (right by St Pancras) at 17.50 pounds.

As janisj says, there are showers at Victoria station.

Take a Southern train to Victoria. Buy a one-day, zone 1-6 travelcard at the Southern ticket office at Gatwick plus a ticket that will get you from Gatwick to zone 6. Use the travelcard for any Tube or bus rides you take in London and to get to Heathrow.