Shipping bags to London?
 

We'll be staying in a London apartment for three weeks after flying into Amsterdam, spending a few days on a river cruise through tulip country and exploring Antwerp for three days before taking the Eurostar from Brussels to London. We know what we need for the London portion of the trip and to make the apartment livable and we'd like not to have to haul all that stuff through the Netherlands and Belgium. All this is prelude to asking the important question: has anyone ever shipped a suitcase from the U.S. to London and if so who did you use and about how much did it cost?

Don't ship a suitcase. I don't know where you are staying in London but most places are not prepared to store your luggage. If you have a friend in London then you could send the bag. It will be ghastly expensive and be prepared to have problems with security (customs). I sent a box of old clothes to my son in London and he had a terrible time getting it released. Not the best idea.

OK, you're welcome to say it's none of my business, but I'm trying to figure out what you have to ship to make your rental apartment "liveable". Especially since you refer to it as "all that stuff". Maybe you should be looking at another apartment?? I've rented a lot of apartments all over, and I have yet to think of anything I've taken to make any of them "liveable".

I'm 100% w/ Neopatrick - what on Earth do you need to schlep to London to make the flat liveable? Is it a self-catering, holiday let? if so, it will have absolutely everything you'd ever need (except maybe ice cube trays - but that is a different thread :) )

We've been taking the same flat for more than a decade; we know what we need to make it livable for us: foil pans, a decent paring knife, a reliable corkscrew, dish towels, a hair dryer, enough clothes that I don't have to spend every other day rinsing unmentionables, folding suitcases to carry home the goodies we find for the grandchildren and all the stuff we pick up at Sainsbury's to keep the holiday alive when we get back. If it be economically feasible to ship some of this ahead, we'd be happy. If shipping be more hassle than schlepping another suitcase, we'll schlepp.

I can't believe it wouldn't be cheaper to buy things in London even with the inflated price of the pound. You can expect to spend a minimum of $200 to ship a suitcase to London from the U.S. and will have to do a delicate dance to make sure it's delivered at the right time.

I just did a quick check. The minimum price to send 1 medium-sized suitcase from the US to London is $256 by Luggage Forward.

I won't address the clothing bit - there are just "heavy packers" and "light packers" and one side won't convince the other.

but for the other bits you mention -- they are either VERY insignificant like a cork screw (won't you also need that in Belgium) and dish towels, or much cheaper bought in London than shipped over.

Okay, so we schlepp. It won't be the first time. For more than $250, we'll just have to put some extra liniment in our checked luggage -- not the carry-on, it would upset the TSA. But let me tell you, foil pans for baking anything but pies are hard to find in London; pancake turners are ridiculously expensive and I really don't need to own another international hairdryer. We always bring the dishtowels and potholders that are on their last legs and leave them behind.

I looked into the cost to ship DD wedding dress back to the US after the ceremony in Italy. Estimate was $250-$300.

Virginia, thanks for the explanation of your apartment needs, but I'll repeat -- maybe you need to look at a different rental. I have yet to stay in any apartment rental that didn't have a "pancake" turner or certainly another type of turner that would work for a few days, dish towels and pot holders, and pans for cooking just about anything (except a 22 pound turkey). They do sell foil in London, so couldn't you line some other pan with foil for baking things other than pies? For that matter I have yet to stay in an apartment that also didn't provide a hairdryer. Am I just lucky?

You are serious that you are taking foil pans, dish towels and pot holders, and a pancake turner to London?

I can't believe that you can't find a pancake flipper for practically nothing in London. I found one on Amazon.co.uk in 30 seconds for GBP 1.29. Surely there are shops, in a city of 9 million?

Except for decent ice cube trays like I mentioned (but once I discovered "ice bags" that freeze ice cubes that problem was solved) just about every flat/cottage I've ever rented in the UK has all those things. Usually there are lots of dishtowels, and I've never rented one that didn't have a spatula/pancake turner, cork screw, roasting pans and so on.

I should think just a folded up dufflebag would be enought to bring your goodies home. I know about wanting to "extend the holiday back home" and I bring lots of stuff back. Heck, I could use a dufflle just for my plain chocolate digestive biscuits :)

But I've never had to take things to make a flat "liveable". Unless that flat is a huge bargain - is it really worth the hassle?

Golly, talk about non-arguments.

First, any renter out of a flat or villa who includes decent, sharp, useable kitchen knives in the inventory gets expelled from the trade association. All kitchen knives in rented places are useful only to stir paint. And don't get me started on rental properties' corkscrews. I wouldn't dream of renting somewhere and relying on the blunt relics of the 1940s they equip themselves with.

Second, central London is the pits for buying good value kitchen basics. The twee kitchen boutiques rip off for Europe, and it's miles to get to an Ikea, a decent Tesco or a Lakeland - though VirginiaC really ought to spend a bit of time in the John Lewis (NOT Peter Jones) basement

But most of all, she's bringing extra clothes and suitcases. That's what takes up the space: that's what she's not going to fork out for in John Lewis.

Yes, cut back on the clothing, and either bring these much needed items with you (I can't see a paring knife, corkscrew and a few dish cloths and potholders taking up that much room), or purchase them there. I would definately look into another flat that has a washing machine.

I'm not sure why I feel a need to defend my choices, perhaps it's that so many of you have missed the point of my question.
We've been renting a flat in this building for more than a decade. We like the price and the location. We've learned from experience that certain things that make our vacation more pleasurable are not available there. The pancake turner, paring knife and corkscrew we bring with us were purchased in London on previous visits. I don't mind cooking -- I even throw dinner parties for British friends when we visit -- but I refuse to scrub pans on vacation. I've never found the foil pans I need in my local Sainsbury's, so I bring those, too. I'm not going to fork out a few hundred bucks more for an apartment with a washer and dryer so I can sit there and do the laundry when I can get a perfectly decent service wash at Bobo's for $15. And maybe we do pack more clothing than we need -- but maybe we're slobs who spill and drool all over our clothes but try not to inflict our slovenliness on the public.
Flanneruk, I've bought a hat for a wedding at John Lewis, but I've never visited the basement. If I'm in Oxford Street this trip, I'll take a look.
Meanwhile, all I was trying to do was ascertain if it were economically feasible to ship some of the stuff most responders obviously consider unnecessary but we which we find makes our experience more pleasurable. It isn't, so we will -- as we have in other years -- haul it along.