propertravel

Helloo everyone and Merry Christmas,
I will be going to Crewe for a business meeting. On my return I will meet my 12 year old son either at Manchester or London airport for a short break.
I need to know distances and how easy or difficult travelling between places since I need to meet him at either Airports depending on times I will need.
I am free in the afternoon at Crewe and I prefer to go to London. Does trains frequent and how long would it take to Central stations in London ? Am I better of to check planes from Manchester ? Can I go directly Heatrow with train?
On our return I have the choice of all airports but Heatrow. Which one would be easiest to reach from central London ?
Any other input on places to visit & attractions with my 12 year old boy would be appreciated highly. We have science museum and Kew gardens on the list already.

Thanks in advance and greatings from Turkey ( from the country not the food on your tables at new years eve
Happy New Year

janis

If you have your choice, have your son fly into Manchester airport. It is only about 25 miles from Crewe and you can take the train. Then you could both ride down to London together.

Or you could even stay in the north and not go to London at all - there are lots of things to see and do within a short distance of Manchester.

However if you want to spend the time with your son in London -- you could take him to the London Transport Museum, a boatride on the river and probably add the Natural History Museum to the Science Museum (they are right next door to each other). And most kids love the British Museum - there is something for every interest there.

There are no direct trains from Crewe to Heathrow. You would have to go into central London and then change stations, and catch a different train or the tube to the airport. It would be a pretty hectic trip.

For the return flight, other than Heathrow, the easiest airports from central London are London City which is just east of the center in the Docklands area (but not sure if this is one of the airports you were considering), and Gatwick which is a quick express train ride from Victoria Station right to the terminal.

JudyC

Hourly train from Crewe to London Euston station takes a little over two hours. From Euston, you could take tube to King's Cross, then take Piccadilly Line to Heathrow.

From Crewe,hourly train to Manchester Picadilly takes one hour, then change train to Manchester Airport. Hourly train from Manchester Picadilly takes less than 3 hours to London Euston.

PalQ

If travelling before Feb 28 2005 you should consider the England Rail Pass Off Peak Special - 4 straight day pass at $114 per person (about 60 pounds), giving you four days of unlimited travel, including the pricey Heathrow Express to Heathrow from Paddington, a short tube ride from Euston where Crewe trains arrive - a much faster connection than tube; return on Heathrow Express also covered by pass - about $40 value in itself. Check www.nationalrail.co.uk for prices in pounds, they may be way higher than the pass price - and the pass allows you to hop on any train anytime - cheaper online reservations for specific train, non changeable, refundable, etc., and even these may be more expensive than pass price. Youths under 25 can get a pass for about $85! In you need stay longer than 4 days in Crewe then the flexipass - 4 days over 2 month period is just $30 more. I've bought passes from Budget Europe and they're British rail experts (800-441-9413); several other versions of passes exist. Passes cannot be bought in UK. Prices increase after Jan 1 about 11% - buy before and can use pass within six months of issuance.
"change at Crewe" an old British comic line as Crewe is a rail hub and no matter where you were going the clerk would say "change at Crewe" when you bought your ticket.

PalQ

I should add your 12 yr old child gets the identical pass to yours FREE under the Free BritRail Family Pass plan. FREE! If requested when you order - needs the pass but it's free. With that the pass is going to save you a bundle! Please correct me if wrong.

flanneruk

There are trains every hour directly from Manchester airport to Crewe.

The easiest ways from Heathrow to Crewe are either to get a bus from Heathrow to Watford Junction, where most trains from central London to Britain's North West stop, or to get the Piccadilly Line tube to Green Park and there change to a Victoria Line tube to Euston. With bags, the Watford Junction route is probably less painful.

For bus details, www.baa.com/heathrow

adamhornets

Living in Watford, I can confirm that the Virgin bus runs about every hour and goes to each terminal. The bus stop at Watford Junction is 25 yards from the station entrance but there are no trolleys around.

propertravel

Thank you very much for all the valuable information.
The plan kind of framed as I am on business trip at first and to travel all around could be hectic, and my son need to fly with KLM which offers assistance for kids, meet at Heatrow on 12th and back to Amsterdam also from heatrow.
I will have to travel back to London on 11th and organise myself to reach paddington to catch H. Express early in the morning. To stay around Manchester sounds a good idea but I am more used to the sytem and places in London so we will stick to it. Will try to visit all suggested places as much as we can.

Once again thank you so much and Happy New Year.
Murat