London Travel Forum

We are going to be in Ireland in the next few weeks, and are planning a 2-3 daytrip to London. However we do not know when we will go to London. Any ideas on where to stay on short notice? We are planning to take RyanAir from Cork. We have never been to London and would like to see the main places, most likely using a hop on/hop off tour. Thank you so much for your help!

I found the accommodation booking service at Victori Station very helpful last time I was in London. Just rock up and tell them what you want and they will ring around for you. That is of course if you are going to be near Victoria Station.

You will pay much more for your flight if you do not book well in advance. Fares for budget carriers rise the nearer you get to departure. There are no last-minute cheap fares.

For example, Ryanair Cork > London Gatwick tomorrow is 114.99 euro one-way (basic fare). For Saturday 4th July it is 15 euro one-way. www.ryanair.com

All European budget carriers (and many mainstream) work like this.......the earlier you book the cheaper the fare.

So it is really best if you decide on your London dates now and book your flights. That means you can book your accommodation too, of course.

The official London Tourist Information site lists all accommodation, has a search engine and booking facility.

http://www.visitlondon.com/accommodation/

Tourist Information Offices will help you with accommodation if you don't book ahead.,...but I would suggest that you do, if only to save time when you arrive in London.

Ryanair fly Cork to London Gatwick and London Stansted. Transport info into London is detailed and linked here:

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/gatwick_transport.htm

and here:

http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/stansted_transport.htm

You will need to check onward travel times and costs before you decide which airport is most suitable for you.

There are two hop-on companies, offering slightly different routes:

http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/london/default.aspx

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

And please be aware of the luggage and weight restrictions on Ryanair. Also the check-in procedure. Read the website carefully.

We were in London last September. I wouldn't bother with a hop on tour as I think from memory they were about 20 pound each. Better to buy a day ticket (about 4 pound I think) on the normal buses and just get around like that. London is so full of history and fascinating places that you are better to just wander around and see whatever you see. We started off a day near Trafalgar Square and just walked and walked and walked and occasionally hopped on buses. We saw Buckingham Palace, many parks, the Parliament buildings, Horse Guards and so much more. I would recommend a hoping on the ferry near Big Ben and heading up to Greenwich if you have time. We loved London but boy was it tiring.

For accomodation, if you are not overly concerned specifically where you need to stay, I would recommend this website.

http://www.laterooms.com/

They specialise in selling off hotel rooms that are unsold cheaply at the last minute. I think the theory is that the hotel would rather take a reduced price than have the room lie empty and not get any money.

I would also agree with the previous answer about the hop on / off buses, forget about them, they are well overpriced. Get yourself a map and a travelcard and do it yourself. VT is an excellent place to find out where things are, and the TfL website is very useful to assist you planning your travels. Here it is.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

If you have any more specific queries about London, please feel free to VT mail me and I will try to help you.

Hope this assists,

fergy.

Agree entirely about hop-on buses.......I never use them anywhere, but I now many people do enjoy them.

I suppose they do offer the chance to see things without being worried about the hows and whens of public transport.

Thank you so much for all of your responses. As we are unsure of our schedule, we will only have a few days notice, but it appears any other transportation would take a long time.

Well, your only other option apart from flying is ferry/train (or train/ferry/train). This will indeed take much longer.

Be aware also that you may not actually get seats on the flight you want, if you leave it to the last minute. Budget carriers survive by filling planes,as far as they possibly can...so routes and timings are planed carefully to meet demand.

Hi
You'll love london and a word of advice from a londoner, don't use the hop on and hop off bus because it costs £23.00 per person when you can use the one day travelcard which gives you unlimited travel on all public transport, the buses, tube, dlr, national rail.The cost for zones 1 and 2 is just £5.60. It's what us londoners do. Get the Central London Bus map from any london tube station and have fun. London is big but you can't get lost cos it's compact.
Drop me a line if you want any help.
kat