vjose

Ok. now I am not sure. When I checked on the google map it showed me 3 hours to Cambridge. That made me come up with that idea of Cambridge on the way

Or is it that My time difference is the real culprit

vjose

Please see the distance as shown

vjose

Even the AA Route planner is showing under 3 hours - It must be the time difference
Via A1
125.9 miles (show in km)
2 hrs 39 mins

vjose

janisj I am no where near being stubborn. I am taking in all your suggestions.and found it to be very practical

Very thankful to all of you there as I have no doubt that you all have good intentions to help us. I used this forum to my great advantage for all my travels.

Sorry if my post made any of you feel that way though it was never my intention

janisj

>>The AA route finder told me five hours. It just told me five hours again. (Well, five hours and two minutes.) But maybe you gave it a different day or time.<<

I used Manchester city centre so that is likely the reason for the difference.

I think this is the first mention of Scunthorpe - hard to hit a moving target . . .

janisj

That "2.5 to 3 hours" on Googlemap is merely a 'suggestion' - it is not accurate probably 90% of the time. Construction, traffic, etc etc you need to add on average more than 25% to every drive time. Sometimes twice that.

So let's call it 3.5 hours to Cambridge by the time you either drive into the city centre and find parking, or use a park & ride lot on the outskirts and take the bus in. Then you reverse out of the city centre or bus back out to the park& ride - plus say a minimum of 2 hours IN Cambridge -- you have spent about 7 hours and you are still only as far as Cambridge.

BUT -- how is your relative able to drive 8 of you down to London?

thursdaysd

Unless the relatives live there hard to think of a reason to go there, either. Even the massive Lonely Planet "Great Britain" has no mention of it.

vjose

From Manchester we will visit another relative who lives in Scunthorpe. . They have 2 cars and they insisted to drop us in London.

Nevertheless. If it is not practical we will just drop it and move on. I am not bent on visiting all the places on my list.There is always another visit.

bilboburgler

Mrs Bilbo was born in Scunthorpe, nothing wronging with it ;-)

bilboburgler

The trouble is you are trying to stuff a lot into your Cambridge day, I saw your proposal yesterday and along with driving a car into London (which will be "interesting") and going to Greenwich, the main museum is worth 4 hours, but could be a walk by looking along the river and into the park of say 2 hours. I think I'd aim to drop by Cambridge or Greenwich not both. Cambridge is an open feast you could easily spend a day there but kids are going to get restless while Greenwich is a bit more kid friendly.

vjose

Thanks janisj,thursdaysd bilboburgler. Idiotically, I was looking at the driving times rather than the number of hours required at site. I completely get it. We will definitely skip Cambridge and only do the Greenwich. I guess it would be better to train from there to Sheperd's Bush

bilboburgler

It depends how much luggage you have, a cab or Uber might be more effective, else train and tube. (note that "train" is a noun in UK English when discussing means of transport)

janisj

>>We will definitely skip Cambridge and only do the Greenwich. I guess it would be better to train from there to Sheperd's Bush<<

I am confused - do you mean your relatives driving you to Greenwich and then taking the Docklands Light Rail/tube from Greenwich to Shepherd's Bush? If so, what would you do with the luggage while at Greenwich? And then you'll have a real schlepp at the other end, walking from the tube station to your flat.

If you did try to squeeze in Greenwich -- it is a 4 hour drive from Scunthorpe and with even just two hours to explore (the Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory, and just a walk around the other sites would easily fill 2+ hours). Then it would be a 40 minute journey on the DLR and tube - So about 7 hours in all. But again what would you do with your bags? Assuming you plan on leaving them in the cars -- then you will likely be parked some distance from the sites and have schlepps from the cars to the DLR station.

You have 8 people -- simplify this . . . If your relatives simply insist on driving you down . . . Have them take you directly to the flat. Meandering all over Heck and Gone with 10 or more people (counting the relatives) is not a good idea.. Go to the flat, unpack, and then IF Greenwich is a must, go there one of the days you are in London.

thursdaysd

You can make it by train from Scunthorpe to London King's Cross in under two and a half hours with one change at Doncaster, but it won't be cheap with your crowd. See: Journey Planner - Trains Times and Fares - National Rail Enquiries

Then you still have to get to Shepherd's Bush. If your relatives are comfortable tackling driving in London then janisj's suggestion is probably the best.

janisj

OR - have your relatives drive you to Doncaster Station. it is about a 35-40 minute drive but if your family actually lives outside the center of Scunthorpe it could be a lot shorter.

Then you have a no-change trip right into Kings Cross. Depending on the actual train - it would take between 90 and 110 minutes to King's cross. Bought in advance it would cost £14.90 per adult.

vjose

" and along with driving a car into London (which will be "interesting") ", I was confused and misunderstood the Driving to London part hence the Train idea came about

"You have 8 people -- simplify this . . . "
Will go straight to the apartment and as suggested will see if we can squeeze in Greenwich on any other day otherwise we will let it go.

Honestly with our group of 8 what would be the most comfortable things to do- this time we will just try to do that only . Please suggest to remove or add on below

July 21 - Day 1
Check in to Shepherd's Bush Apartment by 2 PM approx
If time permits go around the area?

July 22 - Day 2
Tower Bridge
Tower of London,
Parliament buildings, Buckingham Palace
St. Paul's

Westminster Abbey
London Eye

Borough Market
River Thames boat ride

July 23 - Day 3
Natural history museum +Butterflies

Hyde Park

Regents Canal
Camden
The British Library

July 24 - Day 4
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,
Hampton Court Palace

Or

Oxford

Or

Warner Bros. Studio Tour - The Making of Harry Potter

July 25 - Day 5
Any places we would like to revisit or places we were not able to make it on earlier days


Many thanks for not giving up on me.

janisj

>>Will go straight to the apartment and as suggested . . . <<

Great!

>>July 21 - Day 1
Check in to Shepherd's Bush Apartment by 2 PM approx
If time permits go around the area?<<

You won't have jet lag so you can head out and see something immediately. From Holland Pk or Shepherd's Bush tube stations it is a straight shot on the Central Line to Holborn so you could hit the British Museum. Or you could change at Bond Street to Green Park which is a short walk to Buckingham Palace. You could walk to see the Palace, then walk up the Mall to Trafalgar Square and then over to Piccadilly Circus . . . ticking three of your 'walk by' boxes.

>>July 22 - Day 2
Tower Bridge
Tower of London,
Parliament buildings, Buckingham Palace
St. Paul's
Westminster Abbey
London Eye
Borough Market
River Thames boat ride<<

This day is no less impossible than it was the first time you posted it . But making it even more impossible is this is a Sunday and neither St Paul's or Westminster Abbey are open to visitors. And Borough Market doesn't operate. So just toss out this plan entirely. Maybe do Greenwich or Hampton Court Palace this day. You could visit one of them in the morning through early afternoon and then head back into town and visit the Natural History Museum in the later afternoon. OR you could do HCP first and Kew Gardens in the later afternoon.

Think about these suggestions and then re-work ALL of your day plans.