Transportation & Hotel in London

There is frequent train service from Victoria train station to Gatwick. If you get a hotel room near Victoria for a couple of nights you will be handy to London touring and can catch a train to Gatwick.

You wish to see London yes? After clearing customs board the Underground to London (cheapest but longest route). Hope your luggage will be manageable. http://www.moneysavinglondon.com/How-to-get-from-Heathrow-to-Central-London.html Take it to S. Kensington, disembark and hop on either a District or Circle train to Victoria. Couple of stops. Book a B & B or hotel near Victoria Station (the 30 minute Gatwick Express train leaves from there). Comfort Inn, The Lime Tree Hotel, Luna and Simone or B & B Belgravia are options. Check Tripadvisor reviews as well as using the search engine on this website and typing in "Lodging near Victoria Station." This neighborhood is within walking distance of The Palace. You can then stroll along Birdcage Walk to Parliament Square to see Big Ben (elizabeth's tower)and Westminster Abby. Easy city to manage with your own two feet and public transport.

Kim - Claudia's got it. Take the Tube into town, and find yourself some place to stay near Victoria Station - it will make your trek to Gatwick easy, as you can catch the Gatwick Express right there. Your Tube journey into London will take you about an hour. According to the Tube Journey planner (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/) you are looking at between 54 and 58 minutes to get you into Victoria Station. Gatwick Express trains run every 15 minutes from Victoria Station and the journey time is about 30 minutes when you are ready to go to Gatwick. London is a wonderful town. Enjoy your trip!

I'll make some slightly different suggestions. If you take the Tube (Piccadilly Line) from Heathrow into London, transfer to the District Line at Hammersmith and take it to Victoria Station. At Hammersmith all you'll have to do is walk a few feet from one side of the platform to the other. Take a Southern train from Victoria to Gatwick. It's much cheaper than the Gatwick Express. If you'll have too much luggage to handle the Tube or a train comfortably, take a private car service from Heathrow to your hotel and from your hotel to Gatwick. It will be much cheaper than a taxi. For example, if you pay cash, Just Airports will charge you £32.00 for a saloon (sedan) from Heathrow to anywhere in postal code SW1 (Victoria Station) and £43.00 from there to Gatwick.

Kimberly, be wary that Heathrow is a ways out of town and if you're heading anywhere other than the West End (nearest Heathrow), such as to the Tower of London, you'll pay handsomely for taking a taxi. The tube is easy, clean and in our experience safe. Lots of people wheeling suitcases around in there too so you won't be the only person with your luggage on the tube.

Just wondering. Is the stopover 2 nights? When do your flights arrive at Heathrow and depart from Gatwick? Thinking outside the box, here is another idea. You might want to consider staying at a hotel near Gatwick (could be cheaper than central London?), and then take the train into town as it is only 30 minutes to Victoria. Then you are close at hand for your flight to Venice and not having to rush to catch an early morning train or something. The airport express coach service between Heathrow and Gatwick, takes about 2 hours (depending on traffic). There are three hotels right at the airport - Sofitel, Hilton and Courtyard by Marriott and the train station is right there too.

If you stay outside of London, don't forget to calculate the cost of the train tickets. I'm just back from London. I used Heathrow Expressone roll aboard, small briefcase/backpack and a messenger purseno problems. I took the same luggage on the train from Didcot to Paddington and then the tube to Kings Cross to take the train to Cambridge. It really was okay. On the way back my torn meniscus was acting up and I caught a cab to Paddington15£. I would stay in the city. You only have a few days. Do you really want to spend time commuting? Someone suggested calculating the cost per day and per hour in order to properly weigh the true cost of traveling. ; )

You won't save a lot staying at the Sofitel. I like it and have stayed a few times but its not cheap.

If you are sightseeing in London, yoou definitely dont want to waste time and money travelling back and forward to / from Heathrow each day. Stay in London (we like to be in West end close to theaters), you can enjoy what London has to offer at night: theater, restaurants, just wandering around sightseeing. Absolutely no advantage to stay at heathrow

Not much time to see much of London in 1.5 days espec w/ jet lag imo then to add transport into London. Have you considered staying at a Heathrow airport take the local bus to Windsor castle then walk to Eton College? You could then take the national express bus from heathrow to gatwick airport.
Save London for anohter trip when you have much more time it warrants at least 5 days w/o jet lag.

Thank you all for your help. We took your advice and decided to book a hotel near Victoria Station so that we don't have to commute each day. Thanks again and Happy Travel!!! Kim