What to do n London while waiting for Airbnb

Agree with Emma some more detail please.

What you can easily do on your own since you have the AirBnB address is to use the Google Maps satellite street view to see what markets are close by. Same with closest tube station, bank ATM, Cafe Nero, Starbucks as well as cafes, pubs and restaurants. Wonderful travel tool Google Maps.

Frankly, your host should be able to answer many of your questions AND did you ask if they would store your luggage for you? The AirBnB hosts I’ve stayed with in London were always a wealth of info about their neighborhoods and would hold luggage when asked.

I recommend the Old Fountain Pub.

https://londonist.com/pubs/pubs/the-old-fountain

We are near Horton Square in Shoreditch. I think we are coming into the city via train but not sure what train to take. I will ask our hosts about luggage. Should we stay in that area for 4-6 hours or try to see some of London? Is there a market in that area that is open on a Sunday?

Where are you coming from?

Are you already in Europe and arriving at one of London’s train stations. How are you getting from the train station to your AirBnB?

I’m a bit confused why would you sit around somewhere near your AirBnB for hours and not go see some of London? Makes no sense.

How long will you be in London?

And I again I say get the exact address of the AirBnB and use Google Maps. Type in supermarkets and see what’s closest to where you are staying. Might be a Tesco or Sainsbury. If you ask for markets Google will list street markets like Portobello Road or Camden Lock or Brick Lane.

If your Airbnb host isn't helpful about the luggage, you should research "left luggage" facilities in London. As far as I know the main rail stations (not Underground aka Tube stations) have left luggage facilities. You will pay for the service; some people grumble at the prices. Here's an article about left luggage from the web site that sells the London Pass, and looks generally correct although I didn't check the accuracy of anything on there, offered as an example of what you can find out: https://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/essential-information/baggage-left-luggage

To make any plans you need to see if your Airbnb host will help you about the luggage. If they can't or won't, you can decide if you want to pay to have your luggage kept for you somewhere. One option is just to do it at the London rail station where you will arrive, while you have a nice meal and spend a few hours out and about in London. Then you'd reclaim your luggage and make your way to your flat. It's really going to depend on which of London's rail stations is your arrival point. If it's not convenient to Shoreditch, but you won't be going very far from it while you eat and wander London, it's probably fine. Obviously it's all rather theoretical at this point in the discussion since we don't know if you're arriving by train or where.

Thanks guys for helping me narrow my questioning.
Have reached out to Host but not heard back yet, but I think I remember asking when we booked last year that it wouldn’t be possible to keep luggage there which is why it has stuck in my head. I looked on Google map street view. We are smack dab in a residential area with not much around.

For the sake of argument, let’s say we can’t dropping off luggage at Airbnb-
We will take train from Heathrow into city. In no particular order are our /reservations commitments for our 9 days in London:
Tate to see Picasso
National Gallery for private tour
Stonehenge and Bath tour
Kensington Palace
Windsor Castle and Elton tour
Show in the West End

We plan to see pretty much everything else V&A, British Museum, Tower of London, etc...in between our commitments. We got the London Pass with travel ahead of time.
(****I assume we can skip the line with that? I was very unclear purchasing it ahead as to be able to skip line or get things like a timed entry to the Queen’s Gallery at Westminster that just opened up. )

After that we go to the Cotswolds for some in to inn hiking through Cotswolds Journey for 5 days and then back to London for 2 more days and then we fly home.

Suz thanks for the luggage information!

Let’s say we come into the city first, probably around 9am.
What should we see first ....which I guess will determine what train, train stop, luggage place and place to eat!

Let’s say we come into the city first, probably around 9am. What
should we see first ....which I guess will determine what train, train
stop, luggage place and place to eat!

You're asking strangers on the internet questions that honestly only you can answer. We have no clue who "we" means: you and a spouse, you and a family, you and a Brownie troop? We have no idea what day you are arriving or if the 7am means your plane lands then at Heathrow or that's' when you expect to be through Border Control and ready to leave the airport. And even if we did, you know what your priorities are, how long you will be in London, and the pace at which you like to do sightseeing. We don't.

We can't "determine what train" you take from Heathrow. You have basically two choices as to trains: National Rail (Heathrow Connect or Heathrow Express, which follow the same route), or the London Underground (tube).

If you are taking a National Rail train (which is pretty much what Londoners mean when they say "train"), they all arrive at Paddington Station. If you are taking the Tube from Heathrow, you'll be on the Piccadilly Line you'll have a choice of Tube stations at which to exit as you get to central London, some of which may get you closer to Shoreditch. But the Tube stations don't have left luggage facilities.

I don't know if the "London Pass with travel" includes transportation from Heathrow. If you got an Oyster card along with the LP, you could check to see if it includes the fare from Heathrow into central London.

I know that the London Pass is valid for a certain number of days when you activate it, and unless you bought one that will span your entire time in London, you'll need to arrange your visits to venues covered by the LP, for the days it's active. We can't determine which of the venues that you want to see are covered by your London Pass, and which aren't. For instance, entry to the V&A is free (no admission charge), which is true of many London museums, although they usually require paid tickets for special exhibits. I don't know if your LP covers admission to any of those special museum exhibits.

About "skipping the lines" because of the LP. I looked this up not too long ago because someone posted something that made me curious. There are exactly six venues where the LP gives you something they call "fast track entry:"

• Tower Bridge Exhibition (note: this is entirely separate from the Tower of London)
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Hampton Court Palace
• London Zoo
• London Bridge Experience
• Kew Gardens

And even at those venues, you don't get to go to the head of any security lines.

If your Air B&B host won't let you simply drop off your luggage I would question what kind if hosts they are.

If your Air B&B host won't let you simply drop off your luggage I
would question what kind if hosts they are.

I figure the host is probably offsite, doing Airbnb as a sideline. And not willing to assume the responsibility for the OP's luggage during a time when (a) the prior tenants may not even have left yet (if checkout time is something like 11:00 am), and (b) there are cleaners in the place getting it ready for the OP's party to occupy.

I would just try to find a locker near a site you plan on seeing or the Airbnb.

To me the main drawback with Airbnb is the luggage issue if you are there before they will let you drop it off, as well as if you don't plan on leaving when check out is.

As a worst case scenario maybe you can deduct 1 night from the Airbnb and stay at a hotel (if you can change it of course). Might be a pain to move in/out though.

I've never had a perfect Airbnb situation. No experience was bad, but just no experience was wonderful.

My current one where I'm staying right now gave me 1 washcloth and 1 body towel for 5 full days along with 1 roll of toilet paper. There was also a full trash can full of the last guests' trash and no other empty trash bags in site.

I'm starting to think I should just stick to hotels.

I'd look for places where you can leave your luggage. I do not know any off the top of my head in London (my coffee hasn't kicked in entirely this morning), but I had a similar issue in Paris (but in reverse when we were leaving).

We ended up leaving our luggage in a secure area of Gare du Nord and having a bit of fun at a park outside of town.

Looks like Victoria station has left luggage facilities-- I'm sure other places do, too. Have a fun trip!

We've left luggage at Victoria Stn, and I also believe Waterloo. St Pancras prob has left luggage as well. Last time we had to leave some bags (I believe 2014) it was 7GBP per bag - big or small - didn't matter. So we rearranged our stuff before going to get at least one of our smaller personal size bags into one of our carry ons. And they weren't lockers - you have to stand in line and your bags are x-rayed. You may be lucky and no one will be in front of you, or you may hit a busy time and could be a 10 min or more wait.

And as for not being able to drop your luggage - as someone else mentioned - if the host is not at the home, there could be other people there and of course you don't want to disturb them - showing up at 9am while they are trying to have breakfast or pack their own stuff - or to leave your bags with strangers there. Our stay last year in Paris, we stayed with a host who we'd stayed with before. She wasn't going to be home, but was going to arrange for us to leave our bags at a flower shop on the ground floor of her building. We just decided to leave them at the secure luggage services at one of the metro stations near to her apartment. You could always check with the host if they could arrange something, but I think the time/money wasted getting back and forth to the room - it would be better just to leave the bags at whichever rail stn works best.

I would be surprised if there are any un-staffed "lockers" in London where you can pay to leave luggage or parcels, in today's world. Left luggage facilities have to buy equipment to screen the bags/parcels they accept - see comment above about standing in line for bags to be x-rayed at a left luggage facility. I've read posts (not sure if here, certainly other forums) in which people whine about the cost of using left luggage facilities in London. I just roll my eyes at that. Nothing is cheap in central London, including the cost of real estate. And regardless of that, generally, security isn't cheap.

All of the mainline train stations have left luggage storage but it is quite expensive - around £10 per bag. However it’s very secure.

From Heathrow you could take Heathrow Express into Paddington and leave your luggage there, but that’s a long way from your ultimate destination.

In your shoes I’d either take the tube all the way from Heathrow to Kings Cross St Pancras (no changes necessary) and leave luggage there, then investigate something like the British Library and other nearby sights. It’s then just a couple more stops on the tube to Old Street, near Shoreditch.

Or take the tube to Liverpool Street Station, not far from your ultimate destination, leave luggage and go and explore Spitalfields Market which has a good mix of stalls.

On Sunday, when contemplating supermarkets remember Sunday trading laws. Larger (larger than quite small) supermarkets and other shops are allowed t open no more than 6 hours of a Sunday. Most will be 10-4, some 11-5, and some will sneak in an extra half hour before "for browsing" but the tills won't open until the appropriate time. Also, alcohol sales will be restricted early, and tobacco is behind a nominally plain unlabeled door behind the counter.

Small shops and small grocery stores including the "City" or "Express" supermarket variants are not time restricted in that way.

Just don't expect to go out on a Sunday late afternoon expecting to go food shopping.

If your Air B&B host won't let you simply drop off your luggage I would question what kind if hosts they are.

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions.
I will definitely take all of this into consideration.

Sorry Emma i didn't mean to post that twice don't know what happened. My apologies.

When I reserved on VRBO I checked to ensure there was a luggage drop off. They did but not until 1100. Better than 1600 I guess.

Seems the luggage issue is worth planning for especially if jet lagged.

Thanks Emma :)
They did get back and the earliest is 12:30 so that means we will need to stash them then head to a destination. The whole of London seems a bit overwhelming after a 7 hour flight so I thought maybe stay in Shoreditch. It looks like there is a free street art tour of our neighborhood through Strawberry Tours (anyone heard of them?) and/or going to the Brick Street market that was mentioned. Any food recommendations at the market?

There’s just about anything you can imagine re: food here. http://www.bricklanefoodhall.com

And it’s Brick Lane Market not Brick Street.

@emma i also agree with you, it is "renters" responsibilty to check this out before renting and when booking flight make sure the times of arrivals and also departures. not to wait till you are jet lagged and complain then. could have other renters still there, the cleaning crew inside. if it doesn't work out, rent a hotel that offers this. we learned from our mistake the first time, which was london, (4 hours ahead) sat at a cafe/bakery with our luggage, about an hour or so, asked us to find a place elsewhere. next time find another flight with better hour or sit at airport for a meal and walk around the shops. it's no fun schlepping luggage around. do not let this hamper your holiday and go have a beer. thanks
aloha