My son is studying abroad this July/August in Belgium and is considering going over early and traveling before the program starts. The airfares are reasonable to London and he may go spend a few days there before traveling to Brussels. I have a few questions:
1. What is the best way to travel from Gatwick to London and back to the Gatwick airport again when he leaves?
2. I understand the Chunnel trains travel to Brussels? Can you recommend a source for this train information? Prices? What is the best way to travel to catch the Chunnel train?
3. Also, what rail pass would you recommend? He may go over a week early and travel around.
4. What is your favorite reasonably priced accomodation for a no frills yet safe place to stay? Also, it doesn't have to be in the center of the city. Do any of the colleges offer rooms in the summer?

Any info you can share is greatly appreciated!

Just random comments:

• The <u>Eurostar</u> train from London to Brussels leaves from St Pancras Station in London - go to the Eurostar website.

• There really is no need for any sort of rail pass for just the short time/few trains he might take. Unless he plans on taking lots of train trips, point to point tickets are generally cheaper.

• Gatwick to London is served by several different trains -- which is best entirely depends on where he ends up staying in London

• There are lots of hostels in London - some great - some good - some pretty dreary. But there are other economical choices. What is his budget? He really should stay in the center of town - out in the suburbs won't be that much cheaper and he'd waste a lot of time/money commuting in and out of London every day.

Thanks so much for this helpful information! We are still brainstorming but it's $300 less to fly into London and he's open to adding a little adventure to his summer abroad travels this summer.
I understand now that it may be better to stay in the city rather than wasting time/money traveling in from the suburbs.

And he will have a suitcase and duffel bag and it may be best to be put rather than traveling around from place to place. Can you recommend any places to stay that are less expensive?

Try the London School of Economics site at
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/. They have dorm rooms for rent when school is out. Centrally located and at least some include breakfast.

Hostels, some with private rooms
http://www.hostelworld.com/hostels/London

The London School of Economics looks perfect. Do you know the general location relative to familiar sites? Thanks again for your comments!

Hi metry1 - as another option, I can recommend the <a href="www.astorhostels.com">Astor hostels</a>. I've stayed in the Victoria and Museum locations; both were clean and I felt quite safe. I prefer the Museum branch because of its excellent location, but I'm sure all of them are fine. A small continental breakfast is included. I haven't stayed in the LSE dorms, but in my own research, any of them look like great locations (they are not all in the exact same place, but I believe are all in central London).

The Museum hostel location is also pretty close to St Pancras rail station, where he'll catch the train to Brussels. It's a couple of tube stops away on the Northern line, or he could check out bus schedules or even take a short cab ride. Look at eurostar.com for train schedules and prices.

As far as a rail pass, if he's only going over a week or so before school starts, I agree with janis that he doesn't need one, especially if he's staying in London the entire week.

Ugh, sorry, I thought that HTML link would work. Oops! At least the link itself works!

metry1: Those LSE accommodations are all over. Most are in very convenient locations. Click on each property and you'll see a map.

hi mettry

we got the train from gatwick to London [twickenham, actually] and back recently and there are indeed loads of trains. you can buy a ticket when you get there - either from machines or real people. it cost about £10 each return.

eurostar would be easier.

regards, ann