London to Southampton, train, bus or taxis ?
 

Help ! I've read about 20 posts about this and still a little confused ! (which my wife says is not unusual !) we plan to travel to Southampton evening Sat Oct 25th, from London central (staying near Earls Court) and will stay the night in Southampton before getting on the boat Sunday..... question #1 is, the London train terminal is Waterloo ? and I can get there via tube from Earl's court, correct ? then, upon return, I looked at bus direct to Heathrow, but cannot seem to find a bus for the Monday that gets us to the airport by noon latest..... so, plan to take the train, back to London (Waterloo) and then tube to Heathrow..... have I got this right ? any tips, suggestions ?

thanks in advance !

If you can't find a suitable bus, the easiest way from Southampton to Heathrow is a train to Woking, then the direct bus into the airport. See www.nationalrail.co.uk, settting "Heathrow all stations" or "Heathrow bus" as your destination

I can't begin to understand your confusion about getting to Southampton. By definition, you can get from any tube station to any other: that's the point of a proper transport system. Why do you seem to think that might not be the case?
Waterloo is the main terminus for Southampton.

What Flanner said with two suggestions:

Check with your ship to see if they offer bus transfers from the pier to Heathrow. This is often the case although Southampton-Woking by train then rail link bus may well be much cheaper.

How early can you leave the ship? National Express has two buses departing Southampton University that arrive at Heathrow before noon. You would have to take a taxi from the pier terminal to the bus. www.nationalexpress.com

By "boat" do you mean a cruise ship? If so, the cruise line will almost certainly operate a bus transfer for passengers direct from the ship to LHR - a convenient, east to organise option, but nowhere near as cheap as public transport.

If you've got a lot of luggage (many cruise passengers typically do), then public transport - though relatively cheap - can be a pain on this route, as you'll need to haul your stuff on/off taxis, buses, trains etc en route from the ship to the airport terminal.

Another option, if you value convenience, speed and comfort over cost, would be to pre-book an airport taxi (what some refer to as a "car service") from Southampton Docks to LHR, but this will cost between £70 and £100 one way.

As gordon said the cruise line operates a service. Be sure to book in advance, it costs more booking your return onboard, at least it does on Cunard!

We used Mega Train as well as London Toolkit to get to and from Southampton last year when we went on a cruise. Mega Train especially was very cheap, tickets for a pound if booked 45 days before travel, of course we need a cab at both ends. Check out these sites for more recent info and enjoy your cruise:)

www.londontoolkit.com
uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx

all this london central is very "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" :-)

You don't say which date your return journey is but check http://coach.nationalexpress.com for direct buses - Use Southampton Coach station not the cruise terminal as starting point.
There are coaches at 7:45 (8:00 weekends) and 9:45 that arrive before 12 £17.40 per person

I like to use this website to help determine public transportation options. Good luck!

http://traveline.info/

thanks all for your help..... Mymsman, thanks, I was trying to book bus from the cruise terminal upon our return, but they only have a 9am departure, whereas the "coach" station has exactly what we need ! thanks again to all

As an alternative to staying the night in Southampton you might consider staying in Winchester as I did. I took the train to Winchester from Waterloo, stayed in a B&B in town very near the Cathedral, had a car service take me directly to the ship in Southampton. I loved it. I haven't heard anyone say they loved Southampton although anything is possible.