Kindgirl

This is a Mother,Daughter,first trip to London. I am Excited & Confused. We will fly from Orlando,Fl. & reach LGW at 6.55am on April 15th & leave on April 21st.2018. I have booked Marriott Hotel Regents Park.I have been reading a lot about transportation & my head is spinning, So experts please help.

1. 1. What is the best way to reach our hotel. Taxi, train or bus. If by train, Which is my best option? I am worried if I can catch the train with my carry-on luggage, since I have problem lifting stuff & are stairs involved?
2. Where do I purchase the train tickets & how far is the terminal from the train station? If by taxi, do I book in advance & suggestions for the same.
3. To qualify for 2-4-1, should I get 7day travel card or Oyster card ? I am confused which suits me best.
4. I am planning to go see Hampton Court, for a half day trip,is there anything to see in & around that area that I can visit?

thursdaysd

Any special reason you picked that hotel? We usually advise first timers to stay within the Circle line, that's a bit outside. Given it isn't close to the Piccadilly line, which I usually take in from LHR, and you have issues with luggage I would think a car service like justairports.com would be best.

For the 2-4-1 offers you need a paper travel card bought from a mainline (not a tube) station.

If you are going to Hampton Court for half a day you won't have time for anything else.

Have you been using the tfl.gov site? Go here for the tube map: standard-tube-map.pdf and here for a central London overview bus map: key-bus-routes-in-central-london.pdf Your hotel is off the bus map north of Regents Park, and between South Hampstead and Finchley Road on the tube map.

janisj

That hotel is nice but pretty inconvenient. Is it cancelable? It isn't 'in' Regents Park but NW of Primrose Hill in what's called Swiss Cottage. Plus you are landing at LGW which is a long way from central London. The only realistic way to get in to the city is a train either to London Bridge or St Pancras and the tube from there. There will be stairs in most tube stations. Train to London Bridge and then the Jubilee line to Swiss Cottage would be my choice. There really isn't a good option. A car service from LGW would cost a fortune.

Kindgirl

Thanks, Thursdaysd, Janisj. I had a choice between Regents Park Hotel & Kensington Park Marriott (Booked with Points) but RP for good reviews.

janisj

the Kensington Park Marriott is a MUCH more central location. Close to both the Earls Court and Gloucester Rd tube stations. >>but RP for good reviews<<. Good reviews are one thing, but as they say . . . location, location, location.

There are other Marriotts in London - are those two your only options? If so, I'd definitely pick the Kensington Park Marriott. It has pretty good reviews too. In fact on TA they are almost identical.

thursdaysd

Ooops, I missed that it was Gatwick and not Heathrow. I suppose a train and a taxi would work, but might be expensive. Plan your journey | Traveline has some other options, but they aren't great.

As janisj said, location....

janisj

If you change to the Kensington -- you could take the train to Victoria and then either a short tube ride (three stops to Gloucester Rd) -- or relatively reasonable taxi.

Kindgirl

I might be able to book Kensington Park & cancel RP. Thankyou. Also need help deciding between Travel card & Oyster card.

janisj

>>Also need help deciding between Travel card & Oyster <<

Well . . . you don't have to actually. IF you take the train R-T from LGW > Victoria and back (or London Br. if you keep the 'Regents Park' hotel) your train tickets will give you the 2for1's for your entire stay so no need for paper travelcards. So you can get Oysters loaded w/ 7 day zone 1-2 Oysters, with a little extra PAYG £ loaded as well to cover you to Hampton Court and back.

kartikparik

This is your first trip to London, don't be confused.
1. The best way to reach your hotel is to hire a personal Taxi because you have to carry your luggage and your daughter will also with you.
2. If you want to go by train then buy train tickets online. If you hire a Taxi, book it in advance to avoid any hassle.
3. 7-day travel card suits you.
4. Bushy Park Royal School of Needlework, the magic garden are the places to visit near Hampton Court.

janisj

>>1. The best way to reach your hotel is to hire a personal Taxi because you have to carry your luggage and your daughter will also with you. <<

A taxi fromGatwick to Swiss Cottage would cost an enormous amount and take FOREVER. Easily 2 hours.

The Magic Garden is a children's playground - the OP doesn't say how old her daughter is but since she is asking about 2for1's my guess she is much older than the Magic Garden's target age range.

PatrickLondon

Thameslink train from Gatwick to St Pancras, and taxi to Swiss Cottage would probably be the best balance of cost and wrangling luggage, for staying at the original hotel.

bilboburgler

Kinfgirl, note the number posts offered by each poster above, listen to the old-hands

Odin

Since it is the first time in London and first time to purchase an Oystercard, you will pay a £5 deposit for it which is refundable minus an admin fee when you leave the UK. Contactless credit or debit cards can be used, but some issued from the US might not work. For a weeks worth of travelling on tubes and buses you might find the contactless method cheaper as there is a weekly fare cap which doesn’t exist on Oyster and more convenient (obviously only if your card works and depending on how currency exchange fees work on your card.)
If you go to Hampton Court, you can visit Bushy Park and see the deer roaming freely. There are several nice coffee shops and restaurants in Hampton Court “village” which is on Bridge Road, as well as in HCP itself.

thursdaysd

But they can load a seven day travel card on Oyster which is the same price as the weekly cap.

janisj

>>you might find the contactless method cheaper as there is a weekly fare cap which doesn’t exist on Oyster and more convenient <<

I disagree (respectfully ) A weekly travelcard is exactly the same price - and AFAIK the credit card needs to be w/i 3 or 4 inches of the sensor. I personally prefer having an Oyster out instead of having to maneuver my wallet with a line of impatient commuters behind me. When contactless gets more universal in the States maybe, but for now I just think an Oyster is better for Yanks . . .

texasbookworm

Yay! A mom/daughter first trip to London! My daughter and I hope to go June 2019 for our 5th time! (Only one of those was just us, though)

1.I hope you can get hotel switched, because the Regents Park one will cause you to have to use a lot more time on public transport than if you move. London is of a size not understood until you've actually experienced it; any estimate of travel times needs to be added to by maybe 50%, in my experience. TfL (Transport for London)'s website on which you can enter trips and get routes is good and pretty accurate, but you have to add whatever time to actually get to and from the stations.

2.I don't have any added advice about getting from Gatwick. If it were me, my first trip with no experience with the many details of using public transport for that trip, I'd just book JustAirport ride. DON'T plan on just getting "taxi" there; book a car service if want to. It will cost more than public transport but less than "taxi."

3.If you use train from LGW, then what janisj says above about 2for1 applies. If you decide to use a car service, then look at how many 2for1 places you will actually want to visit and decide if it would be worth pursuing getting a paper 7-day-travel card from a train station, not a Tube/Underground station. If there aren't several , then just get an Oyster card "loaded" with a 7-day-travel-card amount. If it seems confusing, it is!

4.I'd not try to plan anything else near Hampton Court. It's a full "half-day" so you'd be back mid afternoon probably.

MarthaT

The train station is right in the airport. If you can change your hotel to the Kensington one just take the train to Victoria Station and a taxi from there.
I did this on one of my first trips to London and it worked out well, and was easy to do.

Kindgirl

I booked Marriott Hotel Kensington ,So travel from LGW will be convenient by train.
Thanks for the suggestion. My daughter is 26 years old, so will now plan my itinerary.
Any help will be appreciated.

janisj

Good info texas . . . except for this bit >>I'd just book JustAirport ride. DON'T plan on just getting "taxi" there; book a car service if want to. It will cost more than public transport but less than "taxi."<<

That makes huge sense IF one is arriving at LHR. However the OP is using LGW which is 30 miles south of London with no motorways directly into the city. I often take a car service from LHR bit would never ever take one from LGW. Very expensive and a VERY long journey.

>>I booked Marriott Hotel Kensington ,So travel from LGW will be convenient by train.<<

Yay! You will be much happier there.

>>My daughter is 26 years old<<

DEFINITELY not a candidate for The Magic Garden then

>>Any help will be appreciated.<<

Help with what specifically?