One day in London
Jun 8th, 2007, 12:33 PM
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One day in London
My family (DH, DS's) will be flying into Heathrow in late June and leaving the next morning out of Gatwick to fly to France. We'll have the whole day in London and even though I have been there before, I can't come up with what to do with that one day! We arrive in at 5am, so we will be jetlagged. My sons are 9, 12 and 14. Any suggestions on how to spend the day?
Jun 8th, 2007, 01:34 PM
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Get bus passes for the adults (£3.50) and a tourist bus map. Jump on and off at will. The kids ride free. The map is here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/cen_bus.pdf
As long as you're not in a hurry to get anywhere, you can also use the pass to ride the bus from Heathrow to your hotel. It takes an hour longer than trains or cars (and involves at least a couple of changes), but it's a slice of London you might appreciate. Here's a geographical map (available free on paper at any Tube station): http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/centlond.pdf
The entire route can be seen here: http://www.busmap.org/downloads/No28Page%202.pdf
As long as you're not in a hurry to get anywhere, you can also use the pass to ride the bus from Heathrow to your hotel. It takes an hour longer than trains or cars (and involves at least a couple of changes), but it's a slice of London you might appreciate. Here's a geographical map (available free on paper at any Tube station): http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/centlond.pdf
The entire route can be seen here: http://www.busmap.org/downloads/No28Page%202.pdf
Jun 8th, 2007, 03:50 PM
#4
Sorry - but w/ just a day in London why use 2 hours of it just to take a bus through the quite unscenic western suburbs??
Have your kids been to London? If so ask them which things they enjoyed most and use that to give you ideas what to see/do
If they haven't been - click on DESTINATIONS above or get a good guide book and have your sons read what's what and let them make some of the plans.
Have your kids been to London? If so ask them which things they enjoyed most and use that to give you ideas what to see/do
If they haven't been - click on DESTINATIONS above or get a good guide book and have your sons read what's what and let them make some of the plans.
Jun 8th, 2007, 04:03 PM
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"...why use 2 hours of it just to take a bus through the quite unscenic western suburbs?"
Why use one hour of it to get from Heathrow to Piccadilly, staring at tunnel walls most of the way?
The #403 bus runs from Heathrow to Victoria Coach Station in 50 minutes.
Why use one hour of it to get from Heathrow to Piccadilly, staring at tunnel walls most of the way?
The #403 bus runs from Heathrow to Victoria Coach Station in 50 minutes.
Jun 9th, 2007, 03:18 AM
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On a trip to England several years ago we went to Windsor from Heathrow with our kids then 10 and 5 on the first day. It seemed more doable than London with jet lag, and we all enjoyed it.
I don't think one day in a big city like London is very pleasant with tired kids. When we had an arrival day in Paris on another trip before catching the TGV to Avignon late afternoon, my husband and I could enjoy walking around the city but our kids were really cranky.
This February when we arrived in Rome with our younger son we got settled in our apartment and enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and some of the centro storico, but trying to do major touring would not have worked.
I don't think one day in a big city like London is very pleasant with tired kids. When we had an arrival day in Paris on another trip before catching the TGV to Avignon late afternoon, my husband and I could enjoy walking around the city but our kids were really cranky.
This February when we arrived in Rome with our younger son we got settled in our apartment and enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and some of the centro storico, but trying to do major touring would not have worked.
Jun 9th, 2007, 03:33 AM
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Great ideas, everyone! I knew I could depend on this forum! The bus and Windsor castle both sound great. We will look at both of them but how would we get to Windsor? Thanks for all your help!
Jun 9th, 2007, 11:18 AM
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I probably wasn't concentrating enough on transportation details when I suggested Windsor. We rented a car at Heathrow and stayed in Windsor so didn't have to explore public transportation options.
It looks to me as though there are some hotels west of Heathrow along the Bath Road and that there is also a bus to Windsor from this area.
http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_hotels.htm
It looks to me as though there are some hotels west of Heathrow along the Bath Road and that there is also a bus to Windsor from this area.
http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_hotels.htm
Jun 9th, 2007, 03:02 PM
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Graziella5b, buses depart from Heathrow Airport Central, shown here:
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use..._466B30C64.pdf
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use..._466B30C64.pdf
