Early August trip - some guidance please!

Do yourself a big favor and take a later flight out that gets you into the U.K. around 11:00 a.m. Those early morning arrivals are killers when you cannot get into the hotel until 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. The first day of every international flight is essentially a lost day anyway.

Great idea David. I’ve changed the flight to the 1040am arrival one. That gives us a better chance to sleep with our normal body clocks on the plane.

Thanks for the tip!

If I arrive internationally in the morning, I always book a hotel room for the night prior, and let them know our plan to arrive early in the morning, so we can have our room as soon as we get into town.

Well, I can tell you that when I recently spent 5 1/2 weeks in England, my flight arrived at 6:30 AM in London at Heathrow, and it worked out great for me. By the time I got my luggage and made my way through security, it was close to 8 am. And by the time I made my way to the Elizabeth line and I made my way to Waterloo Station, I arrived at my hotel around 9 am. I was able to drop my luggage off as it was too early to check in and after that, I headed towards Westminster, then wandered around and had a great morning! The timing was perfect and I would not have changed it at all.

Your idea sounds great about traveling up to New York. I love to North Yorkshire, so I would highly recommend visiting some of the places there. Whitby is a charming coastal town and well worth a visit. In addition, Helmsley is a very lovely town that is only minutes away from Rievaulx Abbey and is not to be missed.

Good suggestion from David, but don't pay for an extra night so you can crash in the hotel, just leave your bags there and "wander a few key sights" as you can. Avoid museums and the HOHO buses, stick to low-energy outdoor-oriented sightseeing. Maybe a boat ride on the Thames. Fresh air and sunshine (if available). Bed after dinner, try to sleep through the night (you'll be tired enough).

Otherwise your plan looks good, I think York is a good base for what you want to do, no reason to change hotels once you're there. Here's a good place where we stayed years ago. It has new owners but still a great location, and limited parking so could be good if you'll be driving.

Have you been to London before? There's a lot more there than the time you're giving it, but it seems like you're looking for a more rural-oriented trip this time.

EDIT -- Just read Mardee's post, she's a higher-energy traveler than me!

Going to Whitby in August will not be avoiding the more crowded areas, exactly the opposite. I would go to somewhere else on the North Yorkshire Coast like Robin Hood's Bay or Flamborough Head. Not that anywhere out on the Coast will be quiet- there is a lot of domestic tourism on the coast, at the peak of the summer school Holidays.

The first train to York by the way is at 0615- do you mean to be that early?

Two great places to visit from York are (the ruins of) Fountains Abbey and Castle Howard - not a castle but a beautiful country house. Neither is far from York and easy to get to by car.. If you can go on a sunny (or sunny-ish) day these places are lovely.

I think you'll need at least a full day in York itself - as a minimum you should visit the Minster, the Jorvik Centre and York Castle museum.. From memory, it's a few years since I was there, much of the centre of York is pedestrianized and parking is limited and expensive.

As others often do on this forum, I'd suggest specifying an automatic transmission on your hire car (manual is the default in the UK), and choose something on the small side - you'll see why on the country roads.

Regarding the train from London to York, the fares vary greatly by time of travel (see, for example, thetrainline.com) and I wonder if you might be better to travel to York on the day you arrive on the basis that sitting in a train for a couple of hours could be preferable to mooching round London when you are tired and jet-lagged.. You can get from LHR direct to Kings Cross station on the Piccadilly line - although the journey is a bit slow. Otherwise the Elizabeth line with a change would be quicker. I'd avoid the Heathrow Express now that it's too late to buy advance tickets - I've heard that in terms of cost per minute this is the most expensive train journey in the world! Does anyone know if this is true?

I would disagree with billsooby about the train to York. Whilst it will be very sensible to book the train ahead of time I would stick with your plan to take it on 6th August. Leaving on the day of arrival means that you have to work out what time train to take and leaves you open to missing a fixed time if something goes wrong with the journey from home. To get the cheapest prices you need to stick to a specific train. Secondly taking a train ride on arrival day greatly increases your chances of falling asleep on the ride and extending your adjustment to the time difference.

Right now I can see train tickets on the 8.26am train to York on 6/8, returning on Saturday 10/8 for £54pp return. They won't get cheaper.

The sensible thing then is to book a hotel close to King's Cross, which is where the York trains leave. As mentioned above either one tube ride on the Piccadilly line or a slightly more expensive but more comfortable and a bit quicker ride on the Elizabeth Line changing at Farringdon. There are hotels at all price points close to there.

I'd avoid the Heathrow Express now that it's too late to buy advance tickets - I've heard that in terms of cost per minute this is the most expensive train journey in the world! Does anyone know if this is true?

It is NOT too late to buy advance tickets for the Heathrow Express for 5 August. They are still available.

That is a long standing unsubstantiated claim by the detractors of the Heathrow Express about cost per mile. In the UK that title is now thought to be held by the Luton Airport DART. Other contenders are the Oslo FlyToget, the Arlanda Express in Stockholm, and especially the Union Pearson Express in Toronto- with the latter fares have had to be heavily reduced to drive ridership and it is now running at a substantial loss, and not even with electrified trains.

Also many of the preserved UK steam railways are now getting close to, maybe exceeding the cost per mile of the Heathrow Express.

Worth adding the York itself will also be very busy in August so it’s not a destination for avoiding crowds.

Whilst you still can get an Advance ticket for the HEX, the cheapest you can now get one is £15, which is still more than using the Elizabeth Line. It used to be a great deal at £5.50 but it's not at £15.

In any event the HEX is no use for the OP wanting to get from Heathrow to the King's Cross area.

EDIT -- Just read Mardee's post, she's a higher-energy traveler than me!

Ha ha, Dick! Well, I am an early bird and am at my most energetic in the morning. I tend to forget that some people like sleeping in a bit. :-)

Woke up to a ton of replies - thanks everyone for the great feedback! I'll try to reply to everyone.

Re: have I been to London. I have many times with work. My wife mainly wants to see the palace and just stroll around some. She's more interested in the country / hikes / small villages.

We discussed Robin Hood's bay actually, so I'll definitely keep that one on the list.

We bounced back and forth on taking the train day of. I'm used to time swaps and international travel so I think I could do it... my wife however is not. I don't want to ruin her/our time by pushing it too hard, and then end up behind on rest for the entire trip.

We currently have a hotel a block away from King's Cross station on Monday night. I think the plan will be to sleep there, then take an early train ( probably not the 0615, maybe 7-9 time frame?) to York. Again open to suggestions and criticisms, but I do want to book it sooner than later.

Lastly, I hadn't put much thought into getting from Heathrow to downtown yet. I was just thinking a black cab to Hyde park-ish area, but with everyone suggesting trains I'm wondering if cabs are horrifically expensive or something?

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's very much appreciated!!

Since I have to ask, I probably know the answer - but would throwing york - cambridge via train on saturday morning, then cambridge - direct heathrow on sunday for our departure, be too much? I go to Cambridge often for work and would love to show the town to my wife. I see a train from cambridge to heathrow with 1 connection which doesnt seem too bad, but I don't want to over complicate this either.

Heathrow to King's Cross is best done by tube or train as I outlines above, unless you have mobility issues or a huge amount of luggage. A taxi will cost probably £100+ and will likely be slower than tube or train. The Piccadilly tube will be £5.60pp and the Elizabeth Line/Thameslink via Farringdon £13.30pp.

What time is your flight home? I would be nervous about starting on return flight day in Cambridge rather than London even with a latish flight time. With a decent early start you should be able to spend a good part of the day in Cambridge and still get back into London for the night.

York to Cambridge is only 2:30 with one transfer at Peterborough so I think that is very do-able.

Then you need to be at Heathrow by 1pm Sunday.

There are trains to York on LNER at 0615, 0700, 0706, 0730, 0800, 0830 and half hourly. The 0826 is on the budget train company, LUMO.

The first four trains are currently £32.90 each standard class Advance Train Specific Fare, or £74.50 first class- which includes your cooked breakfast, more space etc. Then they get more expensive so the 0700, 0706 or 0730 would be nice trains to head for. But you need to be booking soon to get those fares.

For York to Cambridge and Cambridge to Heathrow get yourselves a two together Railcard for £30 to get 1/3 off fares (not applicable before 0930 weekdays). If you do take the train (Heathrow Express or Elizabeth Line/transfer to Thameslink at Farringdon for Kings Cross), the two together is also valid on those trains) .

On the Elizabeth Line route the two together fare is £8.70 each. On Heathrow Express on the advance fares (if you book soon) it is £9.90 each to Paddington, then taxi off the rank to Kings Cross- a good compromise in comfort and speed terms. On a standard book on the day fare it is £16.50 each on HEx.

From Cambridge it is about 2:10 minutes by Thameslink to Farringdon then the Elizabeth Line; or 2:30 Greater Anglia to Liverpool Street then Elizabeth Line; or about 2 hours Great Northern to King's Cross then Tube- - so you could leave Cambridge at about 0930 and be at Heathrow by about 1130- leave earlier if you want a greater time cushion,

That sounds very do-able to me.

If you want to come into London by taxi the usual recommendation here is to use a private car service, such as Blackberry Cars (there are others) in preference to a Black Cab.

PS- Even if both train routes were blocked from Cambridge due to two unforeseen major incidents (pretty unlikely) there are also direct National Express buses from Cambridge to Heathrow at 0800 arrive 1030, and 0920 arrive 1150.

I write that living on a route (with no diversionary alternative) where all trains are still stopped (at 1615) after a freight train broke down at 0645 today.

The difference is that this is London and the South East- there are alternatives, unlike in the North of England.

Thanks for the additional feedback. I'm thinking on it more and wondering if Cambridge shouldn't just be skipped this time. In fact, it's got me considering York > Heathrow early on Sunday now to gain an additional day of sight seeing up north. i know the safest bet would be to go down saturday though and just stay in London.

Thanks for all the research!!

From Cambridge I am blase about getting to Heathrow on the Sunday. From York, not so. If there was some event on the track you are totally stuck with no alternative. The first train is at 0800 arrive Kings Cross 1000, then 0858 arrive 1052 then allow one hour to Heathrow.

You could have a full day in York then go up to London mid evening Saturday - it is 2 hours with the last train at 2002, arrive 2216.