first time in london?

Question

hi there,
i'm travelling down to victoria via bus and i have 2 days to explore london before i take a flight frm heathrow terminal 1,i would like to see london eye ,london bridge ,trafalgar square definately ,which is the best place to stay from where i can reach to these places easily. and also to heathrow as i have to check in around 4am. and what zone pass should i go for and how much roughly does it cost,i'm scared of tube in case i get lost...i have found real cheap stay in Hayes, Hillingdon, , London, UB3 2LT..but is it right place to stay...pls help
many thanks

Answer 1

OK, firstly, relax you'll have a great time in London. Heathrow is not in London as I'm sure you've figured out so if you're staying near Heathrow then you're in Middlesex, not London.



Here are ways to get out of Hayes:



Tube

Although not in Hayes, Hayes' nearby tube station include Uxbridge the Uxbridge to Rayners Lane branch of the Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines and Ealing Broadway



Buses

Hayes has the following bus routes travelling through it: U3, U4, U5, U7, 427, 607, H98, 90, 195, E6, 140, 696, 697, 207 and 698. There are also several night bus routes.



Trains

Hayes and Harlington station offers frequent local services to London Paddington in about 15-20 minutes, and services to Oxford, Reading, Slough, and Heathrow Airport.



Road

The area is close to junctions 3 and 4 of the M4 Motorway. The A312 is the main north-south route.



www.nationalrail.co.uk (trains) or www.tfl.gov.uk (tube/bus) for times.



The London Eye is great but buy in advance otherwise you'll queue for ages. London bridge????? Are you sure you don't mean Tower Bridge? London Bridge is just boring and made of concrete. The Americans made that mistake years ago and paid for London Bridge thinking they were buying Tower Bridge. The previous one is now in Lake Havasu in Arizona. Trafalgar Square is nice if it's a good day. You can also go to the National Gallery while you're there - it's free and you can see Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Buy yourself an A-Z and you can't get lost in London because every street is in there and you're never far from a bus stop or tube station in the centre. Make sure you book a taxi to take you to Heathrow from Hayes. Use a registered minicab service (your hotel will probably recommend one).

Answer 2

Get a travel card zone 1-4 on the first day, this should take you around central London on bus, train or tube untill 4 am in the morning, Get a travelcard for 6 zones on the day you are leaving and it will take you out to the airport as well. Check the time of the last tube (picadilly Line) to heathrow. You can also use it for the night bus to Heathrow, dont know which nu mber though. You could also use it to travel from Paddington to heathrow on the train but you might have to pay a bit extra on top of the ticket. I would stay somewhere a bit more central than Hillingdon if I were you. There are plenty of central hostels. Have a great time!!!

Answer 3

Well, it's a little tough to know exactly what you're looking for because you don't mention a price point. I would say consider a hostel. There are many inexpensive hostels - with good facilities - in central London. I've stayed at several never had any issues other than the occasional loud person or something like that. Even it you don't LOVE the place, it will be a good location, you can secure your belongings AND it's only a couple of nights. I suggest going for someplace that has small rooms (4 - 6 female only).

http://www.Hostels.com/

http://www.Hostelworld.com/



You should look for something near Victoria. You can get the National Express coach service to Heathrow from Victoria.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/airport/heathrow.cfm/

Answer 4

Well I would stay as far out of London as you can, it will be much cheaper, something like a travel inn would be fine. Plus as of the amount of public transport it is easy to move around London. However I would advise West London, nearer Heathrow and a lot of attractions are to the west of London.

You will need to buy a 1-6 zoned travel card to go all the places you want to go, there about £5/£6 for a day and you can travel anywhere in London on a tram, tube or bus.

Don't be scared of the tube. You won't get lost as there are too many maps in the train and on the platform plus I'm sure someone would help you out.

Hope you have fun, plus if your planning on going on the London eye you will queue for ages so pack a picnic.

Answer 5

Hayes is close to Heathrow but not central London.

You can get to Heathrow by 24hr bus (140) from Hayes.

The only way to central London from Hayes is rail.

The tube is the easiest transport to use if you go the wrong just look at the map (free at tube stations).

Answer 6

There certainly is, 2 weeks ago for instance, Scotland was the centre of the country and of the world, as it voted in its independence referendum. Liverpool and Manchester also get their fair share of the limelight too. But London is the largest city by quite some way, with world class everything. It is also where the news and media outlets have the headquarters, so news tends to be very London-centric, and that is why it seems that London is the only place in the country.

Answer 7

Hayes is not the nicest place but if you are staying in a hotel or guest house you should be okay, it's certainly not far from Heathrow. You can book bus tours if you want to fit in a lot of tourist attractions, or you could get a travel card and visit only the places you want to. I hope you enjoy your visit, London is one of my favourite capital cities in the world.

Answer 8

I wouldn't advise you to stay there, you'll be travelling for ages!!!



If you want to stay in central London you'll definately pay for it!!!

Travelodge are often the cheapest option.

Zone 1 will be expensive but close, but zone 2 is also an option.



Its pretty hard to get lost on the tube. The announcer bellows which station your at so theres always time to jump off lol

I'd also advise you to get an Oyster card. It costs like £3 but you pay cheaper prices for travelcard.

People on the underground tend to be quite friendly so just ask if anything!



Hope you enjoy your time here!

Answer 9

pimlico defintley, lots of places dirt cheap, i speak from experience of walking the beat and seeing these places daily some are very nice! try to stay the Buckingham Palace Road end, its closer to transport links :)



http://uk.local.yahoo.com/search.html?w=uctid,fw,belongto&type=GugiXML&poi=SW1V+2%2C+London%2C+Greater+London&p=hotels&wid=26352072