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England/Jersey trip few random questions

OK getting my family trip to England/Jersey (myself, brother and wife, nephew)finalized for end of March/beginning of April and some random questions:

  1. One day we are in Cambridge and need to go to Ridgewell to see where our Dad flew B-17s in WWII. Don’t want to rent a car if possible. How to find a driver? Shall I ask the hotel for suggestions?

  2. Leaving Cambridge early morning and need to go straight through to LHR (not sure what terminal yet) by train to catch flight to Jersey. Best way to do this?

  3. Brother and wife need to leave and have a flight from LHR (probably T5) at 10:00 am. I can get them on a flight from Jersey arriving LHR (probably NOT T5) at 8:30 am. Enough time for them to get checked in and to their 10 am flight? If not, I will have to send them to London the night before.

  4. Know this is a long shot on this forum but anyone know where they can get tested in Jersey for their flight home? Nephew and I will be returning to London for another 4 days after Jersey so we’ll just get tested in London but bro and wife trying to go straight from Jersey, through LHR to US all in one morning.

Thanks in advance.

Posted by
1055 posts

cchapin100

You could check with the local tourist office in Cambridge. [email protected]. or on a google search these companies look like they would do a "Day trip"
https://wagscabs.co.uk/.
https://www.kenwaycars.co.uk/.
Maybe ask for a private driver and inquire about a day trip to Ridgewell. It is only about 26 miles from Cambridge. I would not recommend a bus for this trip. There is no real way of getting to Ridgewell except by car.

Margaret

Posted by
6113 posts
  1. Ask your hotel for recommendations.
  2. What time and day is your flight? I don’t know what the train service is like due to Covid, but work colleagues travelling into London from Cambridge and Royston usually had to stand all the way in as they travelled peak period. BA flights to Jersey are from T5. Depending on the time of your journey, the best option is to take a train and then change onto the Piccadilly underground line at Kings Cross to Heathrow. Use tfl.gov.uk to plan your journey.
  3. They definitely need to stay in London the night before. Too risky. If the Jersey flight was cancelled, as it’s not on a through ticket, they would have to pay for a new ticket.
  4. Sorry, can’t help on this one.
Posted by
5467 posts

The Jersey return flight point is very important. The airport do have flights delayed in the morning occasionally by fog even in the early spring. Best not risk it.

Posted by
34010 posts

Number 2

Unfortunately Heathrow T5 is THE most inconvenient airport from Cambridge. Worse than Gatwick (direct train), worse than Southend (no more flights since the owner went belly up) (easy change of train), worse than Stansted (direct train) and worse than Luton (simple train connection at St Pancras), and easier than London City.

As mentioned up thread - Train to Kings Cross St Pancras, Piccadilly Line to T5. An hour for each part ok?

Posted by
7208 posts

If you can make it to the Essex Gliding Club, it is located at the end of one of the old runways. There don’t seem to be any of the old buildings remaining, but from an aerial view on Google maps one can see where the runways and perimeter where the hardstands were.

Posted by
497 posts

For question 2, What do you all think about taking train from Cambridge straight to Gatwick, buying RT for me and nephew (who are returning to London for 4 days) . Then brother and wife buy one way from Gatwick over to Jersey, and one way from Jersey to LHR?

If we do this, what train do we take to get to Gatwick from Cambridge?

Posted by
7055 posts
  1. I would take the bus to Haverhill and a taxi from there.

  2. The best way in my opinion is to rebook to a flight from Luton or Stansted. Otherwise, there are direct coaches from Cambridge to Heathrow.

  3. Not even close.

For question 2, What do you all think about taking train from
Cambridge straight to Gatwick,

Luton or Stansted would be better options in my opinion.

Posted by
16420 posts

I looked on Nationalrail.co.uk and there are direct trains from Cambridge to Gatwick without changes. Takes about two hours.

A friend of mine's partner worked in Jersey for a short period. My friend lived in London and would fly down for the weekend. Quite often the flights were canceled due to weather. Do not even think of your siblings flying to Heathrow on the day of their flight home.

BA flies from T5 to Jersey. Fly them in the night before and have them stay at the Sofitel which is connected to T5. Literally a 5 minute walk to the check in desks.

Posted by
1055 posts

Badger is correct. You could take the cheaper option and bus from Cambridge to Haverhill (Route 13) and take a taxi from there. The local bus will take a little more than an hour. As I have mentioned before, Haverhill has always had a reputation of being rather gritty but the bus does get you from point A to B to taxi to point C (Ridgewell). If you can splurge on a private driver I would still recommend this for your comfort.

Margaret