Arriving in London Logistics

Find a hotel near a tube stop that is on one of the lines that stops at LHR. Here is a map:

https://tfl.gov.uk/maps/track/tube

Get an Oyster card in the airport good for as long as you plan to stay. It is good for travel within London via tube (and perhaps bus, I forget) for the time period you purchase, as well as a trip from/back to the airport. Everyone on the tube pretty much uses an Oyster card and travel (at non-rush hour times) is a snap.

As for walking, we were pretty central in the Bloomsbury neighborhood, which was only a few blocks from the British Museum (if you want to see the so-called Elgin Marbles). We walked all over London, it is a terrific place to go around on foot.

Enjoy your stay.

Thank you both! My RS London book just arrive so will read that as well as check out the site mentioned. If we don't go to Stonehenge - and you are right - I don't want to spend a whole day getting there and back. Are there outdoor places you recommend closer in? Is most of the city safe?

The city is extremely safe.

The Tube is probably the best bet to get to your hotel, it runs right from Heathrow. Uber is a pain at the airport and a cab will cost a second mortgage.

For such a short trip: I’d skip the day trips out the city, it may take a day or so to get over jet lag anyway.

Near Buckingham Palace is St James’s Park, a wonderful place to walk around.

No one hotel will be close to all the sights, London is very spread out. But the tube can get you anywhere.

I like London Walks walking tours, they’re £10 and you just need to show up, no reservation needed. A fascinating two hours. www.walks.com

Dale, this is perfect! THANK YOU!

Thank you, Emma. I was just looking through my RS London book. I like the idea of a car service since we will be so wiped out and thinking back, did this once before in Paris. Will look for hotel first in areas mentioned above. Then I think we'd be happy walking around parks and seeing sites we can walk or bus/train easily to and maybe a museum or walking tour. Excited!

Hi, Peggy. Maybe I missed it: what time of year and how are you getting to Scotland? Directly from London? And do you know how?

From some of the suggestions given, it seems near Buckingham Palace might work for you: Victoria Station area. Look in your RS book. The Lime Tree used to be recommended. It is very central for this area. On another recent thread, folks discussed Premier Inns in London. Apparently there is one near Victoria Station. Myself, I like the one called County Hall right on the Thames - also well located within an easy walk to Westminster and then down to Borough Market, the Globe, across to the Tower and up past St. Paul's Cathedral. Pretty much everything walk-able from County Hall, but Victoria Station area also is quite walk-able. I think Rick had descriptions of both areas in his books.

Both locations also have handy little supermarkets to stock up on essentials: snacks, etc. Depending on where you choose to stay, check on whether taking the Tube is the best option from LHR. It frequently is, and you can buy an Oyster at the airport. And, I believe there are people there to assist. You don't have to rely on machines.

Yes, look at the London Walks website. They have many walks per day, usually several late morning, several around 2-ish, and several in the evening. Pick and choose based on interest or location. They even have days out. I did get to Stonehenge that way.

Enjoy your research.

Hi Debbie - Yes, I have ben reading my book and was just looking online at Lime Tree! It is just what I am looking for and is in the Victoria Station neighborhood - which looks walkable to Hyde Park and Big Ben, etc? (Their site called the neighborhood "Belgravia" or something like that but looking at RS and map it is Victoria Station. He also mentions South Kensington so will check there as well. The walking tour group really clinches it for me - just what I was looking for! (We did something similar in Ljubljana and loved it. Such a fun way to learn and see things.) Gosh, I just love these RS forums! Many thanks!

Almost forgot - we are flying to Scotland for a tour that starts in Inverness on 7/27.

If you have three full days you could use one day for a visit to Stonehenge and Bath. Grey line tours and Evan Evans tours can take you there. Take a look at what they have to offer on their website. There are many other tour operators too. I’ve used both operators with different groups of friends and they do a good job.
It is a long day but if you want to see one or both then it would be worth it.

You could also consider the Victoria Premier Inn.

Lime Tree is a popular recommend on this forum.

The neighborhood IS Belgravia.

Perfectly fine area to stay in.

Also in an earlier post you asked about safety. I’ve been traveling to London since the 70’s. Usually solo. Walk or tube back from late night theatre performances, out for pre dawn walks in Hyde Park, have tubed back from Westminster to Chiswick at 10:30pm this past December then walked solo to the Chiswick Premier Inn.

Safety has never been an issue for me in London or the suburbs.

Lastly, Big Ben is the bell, it’s in Elizabeth Tower. Do know that it is presently in scaffolding so the iconic photo op won’t be what you imagine.

Use the tfl.gov.uk website to help you get around. Get your Oyster Cards when you arrive.

Lastly, it’s a very easy stroll from Parliament Square
( Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms) via Birdcage Walk through St James Park up to the Palace. You can also walk from there up Whitehall past the Horse Guards and #10 Downing Street to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. From there easy stroll into Covent Garden. London is a very walkable city.

As far as a park to enjoy tube to Lancaster Gate Station, exit. Turn right and cross Bayswater Road at the light and walk into Hyde Park and the Italian Gardens. The Serpentine is right there. Princess Diana Memorial fountain is a short walk past the Peter Pan statue and just before the Lido.

If you want a bigger park to enjoy, tube to Hampstead and follow the Flask and Well walks into the Heath. Nice neighborhood and the Heath is gorgeous!

The reason I asked about departure is in case you want to take an easy departure into consideration. For instance, is it early and at LHR or maybe Gatwick? That might help you decide where to stay. And time of year - you will certainly have more time to be out an about in July so that travelling to Stonehenge or Hampton Court in July will take up less of your overall daylight hours than it would in say October. Have fun.

As you mentioned Buckingham Palace, it looks like they open for State Rooms tours this year starting on 25 July.

Have a look on rct.uk for more info and the official ticket buying site.

Thank you all so much! I am really getting a better feel for it all and very reassured. We fly into and out of LHR and haven't decided yet whether to stay in London before or after Scotland. Was going to do it before, but glad to hear Buckingham Palace will be open either way. Didn't realize there were such great parks, seems to help most with jet lag to go for walks (and we just like being outdoors.)

Rather than fly to Scotland - you may like to consider using the train. If so, consider 1 night in York on the way. https://www.visityork.org

You will find the fares are cheaper if you book a specific train(s) around 11 weeks ahead - when the Advance fares get loaded. www.nationalrail.co.uk
KGX > YRK: YRK>EDB.

My suggestion is very simple.....step away from this site for a couple of days. Read the RS London book. It will talk about everything you need to know. Neighborhoods, travel, etc. Then come back and many of the answers, which are all over the place, will make more sense. You will have a better feel of what we are tallking about. And will be able to ask more specific questions.

And I also agree to look into London Walks.

So relax, make yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea, crack open the book, and learn a great deal about one of the world's greatest cities. You'll see that solo travel is not that difficult.

And then we can start confusing you about trains, planes, public transport, etc. :)

Question.....since your tour starts in Inverness, not Edinburgh, does it go to Edinburgh? If not, you can take the train there from London in about 5 hours (city center to city center) and see this city as well. (Lots to see). From Edinburgh to Inverness is just over three hours by train. And the trains in the UK are not like the trains in the USA. They are a great way to get around and very frequent.

With three days, I would suggest staying in London. There is so much to see and do. If you really need to get out of town, perhaps a half day trip to Windsor or Hampton Court Palace.

Excellent suggestion, Frank - I was just coming to the same conclusion (Although this has also been extremely helpful, if a bit head-spinning!) I already love my RS book at first glance. And James, I just checked out the train site - thanks. We do want to see Edinburgh and my thinking was to do that either before or after the trip that starts in Inverness (It heads to the Isle of Skye and Hebrides) So what I am hoping is something like fly to London for 3 days, then fly to Inverness for the tour then after tour ends in Inverness, take the train from Inverness to Edinburgh for a couple of days and home from there. Both long flights go through LHR, so we could also do this backwards. To everyone - I so appreciate all of your generous and experienced advice!

Peggy, I'll just add one thing I don't think anyone mentioned regarding transportation in to London. If you do decide to stay at the Lime Tree it is very easy to take the National Express Coach (bus) from the bus station at Heathrow to Victoria Coach Station. The arrivals hall is literally 1/2 a block from The Lime Tree. You would not need to buy your ticket ahead of time. Last time I purchased a ticket it was 10£ one way. The Coach Station is between Terminals 2 and 3.

Wow, so you buy a bus ticket right there and can get on the bus with luggage (We'll each have a rolling duffle, not a carry-on)? Any idea how long that takes with other stops and all?

Yes, there is a ticket window there, sometimes there is a line - maybe 10 minutes or so to purchase a ticket.

Depending on the traffic it's about an hour. I've had it take a little less, but plan on 55-60 minutes. There are no stops between Heathrow and the Victoria Coach Station. As you board the driver is standing by the luggage bay so you hand him your suitcase and he stashes it below. The times I've taken it there have not been more than 15-20 people aboard a full size coach so plenty of room. I'm sure there are times when they have more passengers but you'd still have plenty of room for your personal item.

Here is a link to a google map. The map shows Victoria Coach Station across the street from the first blue dot of the route but that is the departures area. I've got it marked on where you arrive and literally walk 1/2 a block to The Lime Tree.

https://goo.gl/maps/ZEpoSJBsRNY12ZPf6

The coach is not as convenient if you are staying elsewhere but for the Lime Tree it is. Another forum member put me on to this a few years ago and it is just so easy.

This is terrific - THANK YOU, Pam!!

Uber isn't allowed to pick up passengers at the airport.
If you want to walk to Westminster, you might want to sleep there. To get to your hotel from LHR, take the tube.
You may want to take a hop on hop off bus tour so you see all the sights that drops you off one block from Buckingham Palace. I would do this on day two because it's a long day.
There's no direct train to Stonehenge, but there is a 1h 30m train to Bath that makes a great day trip.

Thanks, MaryPat, we are always exhausted after overnight flights so was looking for the most "brainless" way to get to the hotel! Will read about Bath - good to know it is a direct train ride.