ONE NIGHT IN LONDON
Mar 18th, 2006 | 03:52 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
ONE NIGHT IN LONDON
Hi all ! I was wondering if anyone can suggest a private driver/tour for the one night we will be in London. We would need a pick up at Gatwick (5:30PM) and would love an evening tour of London and drop off at a hotel that perhaps you might suggest. We leave out of Heathrow the next AM. Also, since I'm asking, any great restaurant ideas? We are traveling with our 11 y.o. daughter. THANKS SO MUCH for your input.
Mar 18th, 2006 | 05:32 PM
#5
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 74,969
Likes: 50
Unfortunately that is a pretty crummy schedule for seeing anything.
Some things to consider - driving from Gatwick into central London will take more than an hour. So if you are landing at 5:30, have to wait for bags, go through immigration and drive to London, it will will probably be nearly 8 p.m. (or even later) before you are anywhere near any sites. And when you factor in eating dinner you will not have much if any time to see anything
And the next day you have to be at LHR by 9 a.m. at the latest, which means leaving London before 8:00 if you have a driver. Or if you stay near Paddington Station you can take the Heathrow Express which only takes about 15 minutes - but Paddington is not near any of the major sites.
As much as you want to see a bit of London - w/ this itinerary I'd forget about it. Especially w/ a child. Just take the coach to LHR and stay at an airport hotel. You could take a taxi to get a nice Indian meal near LHR. You'd save all the hassle of in/out of London w/ very little benefit.
Some things to consider - driving from Gatwick into central London will take more than an hour. So if you are landing at 5:30, have to wait for bags, go through immigration and drive to London, it will will probably be nearly 8 p.m. (or even later) before you are anywhere near any sites. And when you factor in eating dinner you will not have much if any time to see anything
And the next day you have to be at LHR by 9 a.m. at the latest, which means leaving London before 8:00 if you have a driver. Or if you stay near Paddington Station you can take the Heathrow Express which only takes about 15 minutes - but Paddington is not near any of the major sites.
As much as you want to see a bit of London - w/ this itinerary I'd forget about it. Especially w/ a child. Just take the coach to LHR and stay at an airport hotel. You could take a taxi to get a nice Indian meal near LHR. You'd save all the hassle of in/out of London w/ very little benefit.
Mar 18th, 2006 | 05:49 PM
#6
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,472
Likes: 0
Janisj you have a very good point, and a good curry meal would be such a "London" thing to do. On the other hand, in January we were unexpectedly stranded in Paris (missed our connection because our flight from Vienna was delayed) from late one afternoon until our flight the next day. The hotel had information about a tour bus group that came to the hotel and gave a 2 hour driving tour of Paris at night. They picked us up at 9:00pm and we were back at the hotel at 11:00pm, when they took out another group until 1:00am!
While I would not by any stretch of the imagination say we have "done" Paris, it was a lot of fun. We stopped at several locations for photos. It was neat to see the city and especially the Seine river and bridges in the night lights. Of course the Eiffel Tower is stunning at night. It was a lot more fun than just hanging out at the airport hotel all evening. I have no idea if anything like that operates in London, though.
While I would not by any stretch of the imagination say we have "done" Paris, it was a lot of fun. We stopped at several locations for photos. It was neat to see the city and especially the Seine river and bridges in the night lights. Of course the Eiffel Tower is stunning at night. It was a lot more fun than just hanging out at the airport hotel all evening. I have no idea if anything like that operates in London, though.
