Arrive London noon Depart next AM

To help answer your question, which airport are you flying into? If you are flying into Heathrow, and then out of Gatwick, for example, that will make a difference in what you may be able to do during your lay over. On the other hand, if both flights are at Gatwick, you will have more time available for sightseeing.

Let us know and many people here will have suggestions to fit your specific itinerary.

Yes, we arrive at Heathrow and depart from Gatwick.

We were told the two airports are about 30 minutes appart. So it might be best to first check in, drop off our luggage, then go from there. So any transportation suggestions would be helpful too.

I believe there are several bus/train options for transport form Heathrow I don't know much about it, but I suggest looking it up ahead of time as cabs are pricey (learned the hard way)

You can actually do quite a lot in that time. When I was there I had one day and in that time managed to see Buckingham Palace, tour the Globe theater, tour the Tower of London, see Big Ben, and tour the Winston Churchill museum. It's just a matter of deciding what it is you want to see/do while there.

The one thing I strongly advise (I would check in first) is take the time to lay down and take a half hour nap. You'll have the energy to do a lot more as well as actually be able to enjoy it. When I was there tried to go out immediately (I'm young, who needs rest right?) and ended up returning within an hour or so (I don't even really remember what I saw)and crashing. So unless you're someone who gets really good sleep on airplanes (and I mean REALLY good sleep) take the time for a short nap.

Since you have such an early flight from Gatwick, and have to get there so early, think about staying at the Yotel in Gatwick Airport. I've never stayed there but it sounds great. Tiny, tiny rooms with private bath, TV, even room service. You pay by the hour....so.....you could arrive at LHR, spend the day in London, take an evening train from London to Gatwick and check into your hotel. It's in one of the two terminals.

www.yotel.com

Oh, dear. Who told you Gatwick was only 30 mins. away from Heathrow? It's like 30 miles away. You can take a cab, take the Heathrow Exp. to Padd.-tube to Victoria-Exp. to Gatwick, or go by coach. Coach could be up to 3 hours. If you land at noon, give yourselves time to collect your luggage (if you checked luggage) and then wait in line for passport control. Then make a bee line for your hotel near Gatwick (look into Premier Inn) so that you can check-in, drop off your bags, change clothes & freshen up, and take a breather. Figure it will be 3:00 pm by then. You could then travel back to London and see a couple sights (Westminster Abbey, H. of P. & Big Ben, No.10 & Trafalgar Square are all in easy walking distance from each other). Then have a bit of dinner and take a ride on the London Eye while there's still some light. London is flat so you can literally see for miles. Then get to bed & take a sleeping pill - you'll need to be up very early - & plan to return some day :)

Hi Greg and Donna,
There's a good coach service that runs between Heathrow and Gatwick. It picks up frequently and if you allow an hour for the trip to Gatwick you'll be in good shape.
At Gatwick, the Premier Travel Inn is an easy walk to one of Gatwick's terminals, so you don't have to worry about getting a cab or a bus in the morning.
I've stayed there a few times, it's a nice enough hotel, and not wildly expensive by London standards.

If it was me, I'd go straight there and check in, and then see what you feel like after that.
Good luck!

Following on to what I just posted, the website for the Premier Inn is PremierInn.com and the hotel is at the North terminal. If you need to be at the South terminal, just walk over to the north terminal and take the airports internal transfer.

Hi Greg and Donna,
Two possible options are:

1) Stay at a hotel near Victoria Station. The Gatwick Express starts running early in the morning so you can catch a 5am train out.

2) OR from Heathrow, go to Victoria. Leave your luggage at the left luggage counter while you explore London. When you are done, pick up your luggage and head out to a hotel near Gatwick for the evening (or check out the Yotel on airport premises).

Lots and lots of thank yous to everyone for providing suggestions. But there has been a slight change in our flight schedule :-(

We are using frequent flier miles and a lay over cannot be included because our final arrival location (Pisa Italy) is different than our departure location (Rome). By the way, per the Reservation people, the flip side... if arrival and departure locations are the same, a lay over is doable.

So, now we're back to square one - travel none stop to Pisa Italy. With reservations in Florence, all we need to do is figure out transportation from Pisa to Florence... AT MIDNIGHT!!!
Oh the joy!

Well I was glad to see your last post. I was getting a headache trying to figure out what you could see within your framework. I hope you do get to visit London one day. 12 hours really? From Seatac?