kwren

My husband, daughter and I will be arriving into Southampton by ship mid-August and have decided to go to Salisbury to meet up with some friends before moving on to London the next day. We'll go to the cathedral and the next morning, to Stonehenge, then to London where we will be staying within walking distance of Gloucester Rd. At the end of the trip, it has been recommended that we take the direct tube one back to Heathrow.

First question would be the logistics of getting from Ocean Terminal in Southampton to Salisbury. It doesn't appear that there is a train near there so probably a taxi to a station. Is there more than one station?

I am thinking about 2 possibilities. We decided to stay in Salisbury for the night so we can visit with our friends. Since there are 3 of us and 3 of them, it is doubtful that we can all go in their car.

So, I will propose to them that we will visit the cathedral with them, have a meal and catch up - it's been a long time since we have seen them over in the States.

Then I am thinking of 2 options for the next day (friends will be gone by then.)

1. Take the bus to Stonehenge, go back to Salisbury, pick up our luggage from the hotel and take the train to London. I read that the train goes to Waterloo Station. There does not seem to be a direct tube line to Gloucester Rd where we will be staying. We will not be traveling lightly since we will have been on a transatlantic cruise - 2 formal nights, 2 semi-formal nights, etc. We've gotten pretty good at going with just carry-ons, but not this time. I'm not sure about going on 2 tubes. (Someone on another forum said we should not take a taxi - too much traffic. Someone on this forum said we should go for the taxi. Comments?)

~OR~

2. Rent a car in Salisbury, drive ourselves to Stonehenge, and maybe Old Sarum, then drive to Heathrow where we would drop off the car and hop on the direct tube line to Gloucester Rd, where there is an elevator.

~OR~

3. Do we just rent a car from Southampton and keep it until Heathrow and avoid the trains?

What are the downsides of each possibility? If there is another plan you'd like to suggest, I'm all ears.

Of course I have to consider where to stay depending on each option and location for easy access to train, car rental, hotel. I'd love suggestions for that too. If we have a car, then we also have to consider parking.

Thanks in advance.

janisj

As I posted on your other thread:

>>#2 would seem to make most sense . . . but doesn't really. Once you get to the car drop off (which is off-airport), you have to take the shuttle bus to one of the terminals and then have a pretty long slog to the tube station and then a slog from the Gloucester Rd station to your hotel.

Me -- If I had luggage, I'd take the train to Waterloo and a cab to your hotel. London has traffic -- fact of life. But that would be the easiest by far.<<

( #3 which wasn't an option on your other post, has the same issue about the slogs at LHR and Gloucester Rd)

Now, IF you could pin down an <u>exact</u> arrival time at the rental car drop off, you could pre-book a car service. But otherwise, train to Waterloo and taxi to your hotel is easiest.

willit

Regarding stations etc, there are several small stations in Southampton, but you would want to get a taxi to Southampton central and catch a train from there to Salisbury.

kwren

Thanks willit. That was an upcoming question!

kwren

Is there more than one station in Salisbury?

Can anyone recommend a hotel in Salisbury near the train station given that we will arrive by train, will probably take the bus to and from Stonehenge from the station, will need to pick up our luggage at our hotel afterwards and then take the train to London.


There are 3 of us looking for 1 room, and I'm looking at maybe $100 - 200 a night (lower or mid end is preferable). I looked at the Red Lion, but it's around $200 per room and could not accommodate all of us together. we definitely don't want to spend that $400 for the one quick night.

janisj

$100/£60 is awfully low for a triple.

You could try the Cathedral Hotel -- they do have a family room(s). But likely would run $200 or more.

Plug your date into Booking.com to see what's available.

kwren

I had looked at a few places with lower prices and see that was just wishful thinking. A lot of the hotels are already booked so my price point is going up! More important is location near the train station!

carolyn

How old is your daughter? It is not very far to walk from the station into town.

historytraveler

Try the Cathedral View B&B. There is also Sarum College very cheap but rooms are almost monk- like, still an option. Yes, www.booking.com is good as you can put in your price point, location etc. and see what is available.

kwren

Is there just one train station in Salisbury?

janisj

yes

Gordon_R

www.laterooms.co.uk usually has wider selection of B&B's. Central Salisbury is expensive place to stay for a reason - it's very popular.

kwren

Are there usually taxis waiting at the train station if we would book a hotel which is a bit farther away?

evecolorado

There've always been a few taxis when I've been there. It's not that long a walk into town (unless it is raining!).
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/posters/SAL.pdf

kwren

I'm looking into staying at the Red Lion. You called it eve - it was the rain I was thinking about in terms of taxis.