Help needed with London area transportation
 

My son and I will be landing at Heathrow on a Sunday late am. We tentatively plan on staying at one of the airport hotels, £51.00/$91 a night as we will be flying out to Edinburgh early Wednesday. We plan to visit London Sunday aft & eve. and Monday. Tuesday visit the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The cost of these comings and goings seem to add up. Are there any passes that can be bought that can use the ?Heathrow Express? and other local trans to get around London and visit Portsmouth. Or would it be better to stay in the city. Does anyone have any ideas that save money and allow more time for the sights. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thx a lot, Richard

I'd stay in the city, commuting is inconveneient, and as you've discovered not particularly cheap! For around 70-100GBP per night, posters here have managed to stay at the Holiday Inn, Mayfair. Superb position for little money.

Train to Portsmouth followed by taxi is probably your best bet. However, for a little more (or possibly less) money, if you're confident driving in the UK, hire a car and drive there. This would be quicker and far more flexible than taxis at either end.

Check out the Visitor Travelcards. You must purchase ahead online, as they are not available once you get to London. The four-day pass including Heathrow Express may be just perfect for you.

I would agree with staying in London. Not only will transport back and forth add up, that's a lot of time commuting that could be used for seeing and doing.

See http://www.ticket-on-line.com/cgi-bi...te=info_prices

For your plans it makes very little sense to stay out near Heathrow.

Any savings (and there likely would not be any) would be more than eaten up by you transport costs and you will lose all kinds of time going to/from the city ove 2 days.

Plus it is easier to get to Portsmouth from London than it is from LHR.

How early is you flight to Edinburgh? Unless it is like 6 a.m. I'd even stay in London on Tuesday night.

You can get from Paddington station to LHR in about 15 minutes on the express train. If your flight is that early you can either stay near the airport just that one night - OR (my choice) use a car service to whisk you out to LHR in the easy pre rush hour traffic.

I agree with the other posters that staying inside London is the smartest idea. I recommend a book, Earl Steinbicker's "Daytrips London." You might be able to find it at your library. He does list Portsmouth. Not only does he give some train and restaurant info, but a map is included as well.

As you can read elsewhere on this forum, Priceline is often a good option for saving money on hotels in London and you could likely get one for less than the airport hotel cost you mention. You can get a tube pass each day that will save money on transport, and you could use the tube from Heathrow to get to your hotel. The Heathrow Express is not necessary if you pack lightly and will definitely increase your expense.