Check the transit and check-in times in London - that's why I would only consider it from London City. And watch how the fares change over time.

absolutely no reason why you shouldn't do this, if you want to. as flanner says, lots of people do longer day trips for business or other reasons.

but that for me is the point - have you seen so much of the UK that is within London or easy reach of it that you want to spend upwards of 4 hours going to Amsterdam? 6 nights gives you only 5 days in London - if it were my first trip, the furthest I'd want to go I think would be Windsor.

BTW, you won't need 2 hours to check-in - with easyjet, for example, they say that it's a 30 min minimum from check-in to flight -time, but personally I'd allow a hour, though you won't be checking in luggage of course.

I thought Windsor was closer than Bath or Oxford or Cambridge?

I've been to London before but haven't done the day trips to the nearby areas.

Windsor is closer - why the question? Is it that you are finding transit times more? Could be that Bath, Oxford and Cambridge are on fast train lines and Windsor isnt. I believe from Waterloo you need to actually make a change at I think Slough.

Distance from London geographically doesnt necessarily = faster to get there.

AMS has to be one of the easiest airports to get to the centre, it takes 15mins by train and you are in central Amsterdam. You don't need 2 hours checkin, you will be checking in online for both flights before you leave the UK and either print your boarding passes or have it on your smartphone to be scanned (if the airline you fly allows this). So you go straight to the gate. Be at the airport an hour before departure (check gate close times), and allow time for passing through security.

Where in London are you staying? Make sure you can get to the airport in time for an 8AM departure, allow an hour or a bit more before departure because the airports are really busy at that time.

there are 3 trains an hour from Paddington to Windsor and Eton central, changing at Slough as Jamikins says.

journey time varies between 30-40 mins.

If you do end up heading to AMS, don't forget there's an hour time difference.

Trains from Paddington travel to Windsor/Eton Central station w/ a change. Trains from Waterloo travel to Windsor/Eton Riverside station w/o a change. Which is best mostly depends on from where in central London one is starting out.

indeed jj. I was trying to point out that the journey time to Windsor was not very great - probably less than Bath or Oxford, and certainly less than Amsterdam.

I am a strong believer in the "snail shell" type of tourism - if you go to a place, you start at the centre and work out. What [I ask rhetorically] is the point of going to London and spending a substantial portion of your time there going somewhere different? Why go to Rome and spend a whole day going to Pompeii [which you then only have a relatively short time at] instead of going to Ostia Antica which is just down the road and can be seen well in a day or so?

How bad I are the costs and transit times to the outlying airports?

Fares out of LCY seem to be $30 to $50 more but it sounds like the savings in cost and time would be worth it.

I'll probably end up staying around the Blackfriars Tube.

Three birds with one stone? I know it could probably be done cheaper and the time they devote to each destination may not be optimal but this coach tour would hit 3 destinations which would not be reached by one train trip?

Can these 3 places be reached by train without returning to London or backtracking to somewhere else to change trains?

http://www.viator.com/tours/London/S...d737-3858EE021


Also, if you could only visit Oxford or Cambridge, which one?

>>How bad I are the costs and transit times to the outlying airports?<<
An outlying airport to me means Stansted or Luton. Just be aware of the times of the first tube esp if you are taking an 8am flight.

From Blackfriars you can take the tube to Gloucester Road and change onto the Piccadilly line with a straight run to Heathrow. For LCY take the tube from Blackfriars and change onto the Docklands light railway at Tower Hill. For Stansted take the tube from Blackfriars to Liverpool Street and then a train to Stansted on the Stansted Express, cost $53 approx & takes about 50 mins. For Gatwick take the tube to Victoria and then the train to Gatwick.

It is perfectly possible to get 8 hours in Amsterdam if you want. As a general rule, fares may be lower at weekends but you cannot do a day trip from LCY on either a Saturday or Sunday as it closes from lunchtime on Saturday for 24 hours to give the locals a day of peace. Only consider flights from Heathrow, Gatwick or City Airport, the other airports are simply too far away from Central London to be viable. You can easily arrive at Heathrow or Gatwick 45-60 minutes before departure, providing you have already checked in on line and even less time at City Airport.
A good website to check fares is Skyscanner.com which should indicate the cheapest fares available on the day you want to travel, if you use Easyjet from Gatwick, just be aware that it operates on the basis that it will try to sell you lots of extras and you often need to untick boxes, if you fly BA you will still get food and drink included in the fare and Cityjet from LCY use relatively old but interesting aircraft with the wings above the cabin so you get good views if the clouds behave, and you can get a window seat

I remember spending a lot of time in line for security in Amsterdam before a flight -- but that was a flight to the US.

I assume you wouldn't have to go through immigration upon arrival in Amsterdam since you're only flying from London.

But like others I'd recommend staying in London and adventuring further afield from there. As for the Oxford/Cambridge choice, Cambridge is a small town, nicer in good weather. Oxford is a small city, has more to see and lots of indoor sights so better if the weather isn't so great.

I loved Bath, spent several days there. So, yes, a day there would be great.

Other closer excursions from London: Windsor as previously mentioned, Kew Gardens, Greenwich, and Hampton Court Palace. The latter two I saw with London Walks (www.walks.com) and boat trips were included. The HCP trip went first by train to Richmond, then by boat, arriving at Hampton Court Palace just like Henry VIII on his barge -- kinda. Loved the trip up the Thames, past riverside homes and pubs.

If you're not familiar with London Walks, they do a great job. And have many in-town walking tours as well as daylong excursions.

You will definitely go through immigration control when you fly from London to Amsterdam, however it is done right as you get off the plane so I dont remember the lines being very long.

UK isnt part of Schengen so you will go through immigration again upon your return.

For the day trips, do you get discount on the train tickets if you load credit on the Oyster?

Or is the discount only for pay as you go Tube or buses within the city?


I was leaning more towards getting a 7-day TravelCard, zones 1-2. There doesn't seem to be peak/off-peak options for the 7-day TC like there is for the Day TC.

My flight lands at 7:10 AM so I was thinking of getting the Oyster, loading it up with the 7-day TC and then using it to get into the city, since my room probably won't be ready.

Of course that's rush hour and with luggage, maybe not the best idea?