My daughter is planning to do the studio tour in early January. She will be trying to get there from the Sheffield area. She has one day to travel there from Sheffield, one day to spend there. The next morning she plans to fly to France. She initially figured she would take a train to Luton , do the tour, stay the night at Luton airport hotel, fly out next day. However I am seeing it is not easy or inexpensive to get to the studios from Sheffield, or to get to the (luton) airport hotel after the tour. I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts and suggestions on the best way to to do this. Would she be better off travelling into London proper and taking a tour from there that includes roundtrip transportation to and from the studios, stay in a hostel and fly out of one of the London airports the next day?
She is a student on a budget so is trying to find the best/least expensive option. Gosh I can't believe how expensive the rail is, she can fly for less! I initially thought there would be shuttles from Luton airport to/from Leavesden studios but it appears there are not.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.
Posted by
Hampshire, England.
1075 posts
"Gosh I can't believe how expensive the rail is, she can fly for less! "
You're probably looking at "walk up" fares, long distance train journeys are a lot cheaper if booked in advance but "advance" tickets limit you to the train booked, miss it and you have to buy another ticket. It's possible that the advance tickets haven't been released yet.
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2600 posts
Search for an Advance ticket from Sheffield to Birmingham New Street (from £13ish). Then another Advance ticket from Birmingham New Street to Watford Junction (from £7ish).
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ (Advance tickets may not yet be on sale for dates in January)
There’s a shuttle bus from Watford Junction to the studios.
Consider staying at Watford
Use https://www.traveline.info to search for buses between Watford and Luton airport.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34010 posts
If she wants to stay at Watford Junction there is a Holiday Inn Express nearly adjacent to the station which is walkable in about 4 or 5 minutes for a fogey like me, less for a younger person.
You say she is flying to France. Where? If Paris I'd strongly recommend taking the Eurostar instead. Faster and often cheaper if tickets are bought well ahead, and you get off the train right at Gare du Nord instead of having to get into Paris from (either) airport. Leaves from St Pancras International across the street from Kings Cross.
Posted by
OP
Maple Valley, Wa, USA
108 posts
Thank you all for your replies. She has booked her ticket for the Harry Potter tour and I think will be staying in a hostel in London. Thank you for the advice about taking Eurostar back to Paris. Had not even considered it, but it will be much cheaper and more convenient for her not to mention she won't have to worry about her baggage weight after 2 weeks in the UK over xmas. We are checking into advance purchase rail tickets from Sheffield. Thank you all. Love this forum.