London for a night
 

We will have a night in London as a lay over after a cruise. We arrive at London-Gatwick, at 605 PM. Then fly out of Heathrow at 1140 the next morning. Where shoud we stay??

Depends on if you think having a few hours one night in London is worth going into the city.

W/ a 6:05 arrival you could expect to be to a central London hotel by about 8:00-8:30 p.m. Then you'd need to be at LHR 8:45-ish, meaning you'd need to check out by about 7:30 a.m. If you want to stay in London - I'd probably stay near Paddington Station because you can take the heathrow Express train. (I don't usually recommend staying in Paddington - but in this case it makes sense)

If that seems too much hassle - you can take the direct coach from LGW to LHR and stay in a hotel there. You'd get to LHR around 8:30-9:00p.m. You can get GREAT rates for LHR hotels if you use Priceline.

I LOVE London - but you would have so little time there I'd probably just head directly to LHR

Why do you not usually recommend Paddington Station?? What is the drawback??

Paddington is in the NW part of central London and not really close to anything except Hyde Park. It is an area that is full of lots (and LOTS) of inexpensive "down market" hotels that call themselves B&Bs abut are really just basic hotels w/ a b'fast room in the basement. There is a nice hotel right at the Station - but it is expensive

So for a few days in London - there are MUCH better neighborhoods. But for one night, when you won't have much time for sightseeing anyway it will work. It is VERY convenient to Heathrow because of the express train. It is not a dangerous area or anything - just not the best for seeing London.

Questions like yours usually elicit lots of responses. Before giving you my suggestions for where to stay and how to get to Heathrow, it would be helpful to know how much luggage you'll have.

TimS, Not sure how much lugage yet. Probably quite a bit since we will be on a 16 day trip. MED sized suit case SM checked bag and a carry on.
Thanks K

If you'll have a lot of luggage, janisj's suggestion of going directly to Heathrow makes a lot of sense. The National Express coaches have luggage bays. For timetables and fares go to www.nationalexpress.com.

Again, if you'll have a lot of luggage, taking the train from Gatwick to London and from London to Heathrow may be a bit of a struggle since you'll have to wrestle your bags on and off the trains yourselves. If you're going to stay in London, taking a private car service from Gatwick to your hotel and from your hotel to Heathrow would work well. Many fodorites recommend www.justairports.com. There is a sizeable discount for paying cash. You'll probably need to book an estate (station wagon).

TimS' suggestion of a car service would make sense for the trip out to Heathrow -and then you could stay anywhere in the central part of the city since a you wouldn't need to be near the HEX.

But a car service really makes no sense from Gatwick. LGW is more than 30 miles south of London. The drive in can be very long and will be VERY expensive. You would be arriving at night so after the commute - but still there is no fast/easy way to drive in from LGW.

The only reason I suggested a car service from Gatwick to London was because of possible struggles with luggage. Taking a Southern train to Victoria (cheaper than the Gatwick Express) and a taxi from there to a hotel certainly would be both a lot faster and cheaper. So if kmadsen can cut back on luggage, the train is definitely the better choice.

Oh - I understood why you suggested it. If they have a ton of stuff and plan on trying to see London, they should consider a car service.

But that would take at least an hour longer than the train - they'd arrive in London even later and have even less time there.

Are you talking about the coming Fall season/ or Winter? It will be dark when you arrive, and dark when you leave the hotel.
You won't have time to see much, so taking the coach from Gatwick to Heathrow area would be your best option it seems. You'd get a good rest, and there are hotels around Heathrow that would have a shuttle to the terminal the next morning. You'd probably want to be at the airport by 9 AM or so.

Considering the "zoo" that is Heathrow, I'd want to be at the airport by 08:30 for an 11:40 flight back to the US. So going directly from Gatwick to Heathrow is looking better all the time.

TimS and janisj. thanks so much for all your input. I think with the time constraints we won't try to "see london" . I checked out the National Express website and it would be about 80.00 dollars for the two of us to travel via that route. Were you concerned that we had too much luggage?? Also how close will the train get us to Heathrow?? Are there Hotels by the train station?
Thanks in advance

Taking the train will cost more than taking the coach.

You would first have to take a train from LGW to Victoria Station. Then either the tube or a taxi to Paddington Stataion and then another train out to LHR. The Train/taxi/train (or train/tube/train) option will take longer and cost more than just taking the coach right to LHR from LGW.

There are MANY hotels in all price ranges all around LHR. And you cann get terrific rates using Priceline.

The two airports are quite far apart - there is no cheap/quick way to do the connection. But the coach is as cheap and as quick as gets.

janisj, Thanks for that explanation. It makes the most sense to me. Since I have never been to that area it is very confusing how far everything is apart from each other. I do have Google earth and can see that LGW and LHR are very far apart. I will try priceline for our hotel. I was just over at a friends house that lived in England for a while she recommeded the possibility of a hostel. What is your opinion!?!?!?
Thanx

Actually, if you can schlepp your own luggage, there is a cheaper way. Take a Southern train from Gatwick to Victoria (£8.90). Take the tube from Victoria to Heathrow £4.00). The best route would be the Central line from Victoria to Hammersmith and the Piccadilly line from there to Heathrow. The trip will take a little under two hours.

TimS: sorry - but that would be the District line. The Central line wouldl be REALLY difficult/out of the way :)

kmadsen: No hostels that I know of near Heathrow.

I personally would not go to the trouble of going into central London just to immediately head out to LHR only to save £5 per person. And -- if you happen to be over 60 you can actually take the National Express airport coach for less than £10 pp.

janisj Can I take the National Express straight from LGW to LHR?? Also how do I know if I will be at Gatwick North or Gatwick South??

Yes - that's what has been mentioned on each of your threads. The National Express coach is a direct, non-stop bus from LGW to LHR. Which LGW terminal you will use depends on your airline/where you flew in from Your Itinerary should tell you - or you can go to the LGW website and look up your airline.

janisj, Just to educate myself a little more. In reference to your 10/06 thread you mentioned the HEX. What is that??