JAKCruiser

My 11 year-old son and I plan to travel to England from Orlando from March 7 to March 20. The primary reason for our trip is to spend time visiting my 83 year-old aunt and uncle in Bristol. They are a delightful and active couple who still live each day to the fullest. We're planning on just some calm family time when with them but I’d also like for my son and I to do some sight-seeing around the Bristol area and then a few days in London prior to our return home. Here is a summary of our current itinerary though I would greatly appreciate any input.

Transportation:
We were fortunate to get frequent flyer tickets on American Airlines from Orlando to Heathrow via Miami. We are due to land at Heathrow on Thursday, March 8 at 9:50am. Our plan is to take the National Express coach direct from Heathrow to Bristol. They leave every hour at 15 minutes past the hour and take 2 hours to get to Bristol. We’ll arrive at terminal 3 but I don’t know where the coaches leave from.

From previous experience, do you think we’ll make the 11:15am coach or are we better off planning to take the 12:15pm? Should I pre-book our tickets or wait until we arrive? If we book the 12:15pm coach but find we are able to get to the 11:15am coach, will we be able to use the same ticket? (The fare I found is a “Standard Return Fare” for £34 per adult. If I buy the £8 family card, my son will ride for free.)

When returning to London on Thursday, March 15, my plan is to take the coach back to Heathrow and then the tube into London. The other option is to take the coach direct to Victoria station. I guess that will depend on where we’ll stay in London. Any thoughts?

B&B/Hotel in London for March 15 - 20:
I spent a semester in London during college and am pretty familiar with the various areas. I narrowed our choices down to the Victoria, Sussex Gardens and Kensington areas. (My first choice of the Bay Tree B&B had no availability.) I would like for us to stay in an inexpensive ($150 a night) clean place (en-suite) in a safe area close to easy transportation.

After spending a lot of time researching B&B’s and hotels in London on Fodor’s, these are the options I narrowed it down to that have availability for our dates. Having a hot and plentiful breakfast would work really well with my son. I’d appreciate any input as to which to choose, or if you have other recommendations.

Near Victoria Station:
Luna Simone Hotel – £70/double or twin including VAT and English breakfast.
Balmoral House - £70/double or twin including VAT and English breakfast.
Blades Hotel – £79/double or twin including VAT and breakfast.

Sussex Gardens:
Balmoral House – £70/double or twin including VAT and English breakfast.
Mitre House – £80/double or twin including VAT and English breakfast.

Priceline/Hotwire:
There is a possibility that we may have to cancel our trip at the last minute so I don’t dare book through Priceline or Hotwire right now. (We are in the process of adopting a baby and don’t know when we may get that phone call.) If we are able to definitely confirm our trip, I would try for a 3.5* hotel in the Kensington area for under $100. (The Kensington Holiday Inn Forum has been winning a lot of bids lately in the $85 range on Priceline and for $89 on Hotwire.) Since I don’t want to leave it to chance, I’d rather make sure we can confirm a hotel that can be cancelled if necessary.

Last night in London:
Our return flight leaves Heathrow at 8:45 a.m. Would you recommend staying at a hotel near Heathrow or just leaving extra early from our London hotel? If we stay in London, what would be the best way to get to Heathrow and how early should we plan to be there?

Cell Phone:
For peace of mind and since I want to make sure we are reachable at all times, I need a cell phone. My U.S. cell phone provider is Sprint so that won’t be usable in England. Instead, from reading many of the posts here on Fodor’s, I thought I’d pick up a cheap pay-as-you-go phone at Car Phone Warehouse with a Mobile World sim card. I saw on their web site phones for £20 with free incoming calls and 5p/minute outgoing calls. I don’t plan to make many outgoing calls but I do want to be able to receive calls. Any thoughts?

Thanks for all the great advice I’ve already picked up from reading the many posts on Fodors and any that you may have in response to all my questions! If our trip works out, I promise to write a trip report on return.

alanRow

Coaches leave from the Central Bus Station - just follow the signs.

I can see why you've chosen to return to Heathrow as the return ticket is only £3 more than a single,

You could buy a single ticket from NE from Heathrow to Victoria for £4 - as those services are every 15 minutes it doesn't really matter if you stay on the same coach or not.

If you are going to Victoria then it makes sense to stay in Victoria, otherwise it would be cheaper to get the tube from Heathrow. Personally I'd go for Kensington as it's easy to get to from Heathrow and it puts you on the District/Circle line for many of the major London attractions. The only advantage of Sussex Gardens is that it's easy to get to Paddington to get the HEX to Heathrow for your early morning checkin.

At least that way you get a last night in London itself.

I trust BTW you've learnt all about Oystercards for travel in London (except HEX)

jsmith

JAKCruiser, you deserve to get good suggestions. It is a joy to have someone do homework before asking for help.

BTW, you can walk from Sussex Gardens to Paddington Station (Heathrow Express). Since it is a short and frequent train, though expensive, that could influence your choice of hotel. Check the schedule.

Gardyloo

I think the early bus is a stretch. Incoming flights to LHR in the morning are often late arriving, and T3 immigration and bag claim/customs can be time consuming. Stop for a latte and make the 12:15 comfortably rather than frantically making your way to the central depot. Of course I might be wrong, but that's the conservative take.

JAKCruiser

Thanks for your replies. Gardyloo, I agree that I would rather wait for the later coach than be stressed rushing for the earlier one.

AlanRow - Yes, I planned on getting an oyster card. I figured we could use that to take the tube from Heathrow to London and then for our everyday travel while in London. Would we be able to use it to get to Windsor for a day trip?

JSmith - I've tried to gather as much information as possible but I wanted to verify my choices from some of our travel experts.

Does anyone have any comments as to a choice for a hotel? Also, what about our last night? Should we switch to a hotel closer to Heathrow?

Once again, thanks for the replies so far.

W9London

Sorry, cannot recommend particular hotels. In general, Victoria would be slightly more convenient to tube. From Sussex Gardens, you either have to walk to Paddington stn or take a bus along Edgeware Rd.

As for the last night, you can stay within London, just needs to get up early. I would recommend Heathrow Express, as roads leading up to LHR terminals get crowded early in the morning. Assuming 2hr check-in, you'll need to be at Paddington by 6:15-6:30. On the other hand, you can stay near the airport the night before if you don't fancy getting up early.

JAKCruiser

Does anyone have any advice as to the hotels?

Gardyloo

For morning flights we always use Priceline for LHR hotels. Usually we end up paying around US$70 or less for a 4-star place (Marriott, Sheraton, Crowne Plaza) and then £4 each for the dreaded Hoppa bus in the morning. The hotels are usually quite comfortable and it really makes for an easier morning than coming from the city, plus the cost is almost always vastly superior.