gizmo

Help Needed:

Will be debarking from a Cruise on a Friday Morning in Southampton, England in three weeks.

We will be picking up our rental car hopefully at noon in Southampton.

Plans:

Portsmouth to see Naval Museum-Ironclad HS Warrior

Stonehenge

London: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London & Tower Bridge.

We will fly out on Sunday at Noon...Would love to stay until Monday, but I dont think we can.

Can someone help me with some suggestions to planning this out... eg. where to go first, the distance between each place.......can I park someplace in London, and walk to
Buckingham Place, Big Ben, etc.

Need some suggestions as where to stay the first night...how about Salisbury? If so, any suggestions.

As usual, all imput would be greatly appreciated.

MikeS

Salisbury is close to everything you want to see, plus there is the cathedral there. Old Sarum is on the outskirts of town. If you have time, Avebury is not far away and the Caen Hill Locks at Devizes is worth seeing, plus there is a museum on the narrowboat canal there.

Turn in you car at Heathrow and either take the tube or other transportation into London. A car is not an asset in London plus you will need to pay a fee to take a car into central London.

Wardour Castle near Tisbury and east of Salisbury is where part of "Prince of Thieves" with Kevin Costner was filmed.

Here is a slight detour on your way to London you might enjoy to see some thatched cottages. From Salisbury drive north to Marlborough on the A346.On entering Marlborugh from the south on the A4 go left at the roundabout, then after about 100 yards up a hill turn right on St Martins. I believe this is the second roundabout you will encounter coming into town. Follow this winding country road through Mildenhall and Ramsbury back to Hungerford where you can then catch the M4. The Red Lion between Mildenhall and Ramsbury is a good place to stop and eat.

Hooameye

From Southampton I'd go to M27 Stonehenge first then head back east on the M27/M275 to Portsmouth, then up the A3 to London BUT wouldn't recommend taking a car into the city as traffic is heavy, parking is difficult/expensive and there is a congestion charge.

Lifeman

You clearly have only a day and a half to pack in quite a lot. Sunday morning is a write off as you'll need to head to the airport to catch your flight, so no time to sightsee.

Friday afternoon is Stonehenge and Portsmouth and on to London. Talk to your rental company and ask them where you can drop the car close to London, without a congestion charge and hopefully near a tube station. If you have lots of baggage, take a cab to whichever hotel you've found, somewhere round Tower bridge or London Bridge would suit you.

Saturday is your full day in London and you certainly see all those on your list in the day. Buckingham Palace won't take long, as you can't go in.

julietita

Wherever you stay... http://www.liligo.co.uk/ look at this site... excellent accom offers!!!

gizmo

Thank everyone for your help....so now we are able to stay until Monday morning.....so we will go to Stonehenge, Portsmouth, and drive up towards London....maybe stay someplace near London and perhaps they can offer a day trip into London on Sunday, then we can turn our rental car in at Heathrow Airport on Monday......

Questions:

Where should we visit between Stonehenge and London?

Where could we stay for Saturday night that we may be able to get perhaps a tour bus into London to see the sights in London, then we can leave from there to go to the Airport on Monday morning and turn in our rental car.

Thanks for any suggestions.

janisj

OK -- to be honest -- you do not need a car for any of your itinerary. The only place not on a rail line is Stonehenge -- but Salisbury is and you could take a local tour out to the stones.

And you do not want/need a car anywhere near London -- most definitely not IN London. W/ such a short time I'd forget about a car altogether. Portsmouth, Salisbury and then into Central London all by train.

But if you want to rent a car anyway - just do for Friday through Sat. afternoon. Visit Portsmouth then on to Salisbury for the night. Visit Stonehenge on Sat morning and then drive up to Heathrow, drop the car and head into central London for Sat/Sun nights.

gizmo

If we drop the car off at Heathrow, we will still have our luggage to carry....how would we get to Central London...would it be difficult with the luggage, and any recommendations as to a reasonable place to stay in London?

And everyone is right, I dont want to drive in London, I have a difficult time driving in New York City! But we want to see all the sights of London...Just nervous about how to do it.

janisj

You can take the tube - unless you have a ton of luggage that you can't manage on you own..

Or -- you can pre-book a car service. You'd need to have a specific pick up time. But a car service like justairports.com will pick you up at LHR and drop you at your hotel. That would be a lot cheaper than a taxi.

OR - you could drive into London and drop the bags before returning the car. Problems is rental locations in central London have VERY limited weekend hours.

PA_Kathy

If you have a lot of luggage, an option from Heathrow into London is the bus. Luggage goes in the "hold". I don't remember the cost, but it is quite reasonable. Get off at Victoria Bus station, then you can take a taxi to your hotel -- or there are some nice, inexpensive hotels in that area, with good transportation connections.

It is quite easy to get around London - there are lots of guidebooks with maps to give you an idea of where to go and how to get there.

London is one of my favorite cities - I hope you have a wonderful time.

By the way, even though you could do this all without a car, I'd keep the car for Portsmouth and Stonehenge, then drop the car at LHR.