help with going to London?

Question

My husband, myself, and our 18mth old son are going to London in October of this year. We've never been there and I had some questions. We'll be staying at a hotel off of the Peckham Rye Station-is this a good choice? Its cheap. We'll be coming from the London Stanstead Airport. Will we be able to get around London by bus and trains only? The airline we're taking only allows 1 small bag a piece and we have to pay extra for my sons car seat if we take it (I'm trying to decide if we should or if we can do without it). Is the London Pass a good deal? Is the double decker bus tour worth taking? We want to see the obvious main points in central London and would also like to see Stonehedge. How far is Stonehedge from central London and can we get there by train and bus or do we have to take a car at some point? Thanks for your help-sorry for the questions. Any suggestions or other info would be helpful as well.
thanks again

Answer 1

Peckham is quite rough if you are a tourist and has no tube. checkout the travellodge website they are cheap and its best not to cut corners when you have a young one. or try etap or formula one.

the docklands are a good place to stay that is close to the city look at all the hotels near the DLR.



you wont need a carseat everything is easy to gte to via public transport. tubes and tube travellers do not like strollers you wont get any sympathey. you need to be able to collapse it fully and carry it most times. Sometimes your journey will be easier by bus or DLR.



get the weekly travel card its cehaper than everything else.



stone henge is far and easier by car but it would be expensive unless national express can take you its the coach service. its is difficult to get to and covered in wire to protect it. you cant near enough to touch it.



skip stone henge and go to York it is on a direct train route you can walk from the train station and its so full of history..If york is too far then try cambridge thtas great too





london things to do



Hyde park speakers corner sunday only - people stand on soap boxes and say alsorts its fun.



South bank



Shakesperes globe theatre



regent street and oxford street for shopping.



Richmond (zone 4) its very pretty and old england go and sit out by the thames and watch people in their boats.



london eye its really cool



covent garden see the street artists and they have markets on the weekend with handmade unique things.



Camden lock - markets and general hangout place of everyone cool. Great on a weekend - take cash!



oh little tip china town is good but only eat in the ones with lots of chinese people in them they are the only good ones.



haagen das cafe in leicester square is very good too and packed!



walk from Covent garden via leicester square to piccadilly its not far and easier than tube.



go to the 'tkts' booth in leicester square for 1/2 price tickets, the others are not as good. See who is on at the theatre!



eat at wagamammas its a really fun experience and celebs go there too!



Check out all the places I mentioned on websites before you go for opening times etc



have lots of fun its the greatest city in the world

Answer 2

- Peckham is in my opinion, not really a holiday destination. If I was you, find somewhere else. It maybe cheap, but you'd also like to enjoy your holiday, and I don't really think you'll get that from staying in Peckham.



- From Stansted, you can either take a National Express coach for £22pp return. You could instead take the Stansted Express train directly to Liverpool Street in central London. Cost is about £26 return, but is alot faster than taking the coach. When traveling around London, the best option is to get yourself a Travelcard, which gives you unlimited journeys on the London Underground, Buses, Overground, DLR, Trams and National Rail.



- Ryanair are a load of b*stards when it comes to luggage allowance. You will probably need car seat if he's only 18 months old, but it's up to you obviously.



- London Pass is a good deal, but does not include all the major tourist attractions like the London Eye and Madame Tussauds. If you want to see museums, the Tower of London, HMS Belfast etc, then it certainly is worth the money. Have a look on their website for a list of all the attractions that the Pass will get you in to.



- The Original Sightseeing Tour is well worth it in my opinion. It basically follows a route which allows you to see all the sights, before returning you to your original departure point. If you want something different, try the London Duck Tours; instead of having a bus, they use an ex-World War II amphibious vehicle. Basically you hop on at the departure point, and see all the sights by road. They then literally drive into the river Thames and you get a river tour. Abit more expensive, but well worth it in my opinion.



- Stonehenge is quite a long way from central London. Infact, it's in Wiltshire which is roughly 80 miles away (by the crow flies). The nearest station to Stonehenge is 'Salisbury', which you can get to by getting a train from London Waterloo. From Salisbury, you'll need to get a local bus or a taxi from the station to the attraction. It would probably be easier (and cheaper) to hire a car and drive.



If you need cheap car hire, book via the Ryanair website who use Hertz. We did it recently, and booking via the Ryanair website saved us about £200 compared to hiring the exact same car from the Hertz website directly!

Answer 3

Good advice from Matt above, BTW it's StoneHENGE not StoneHEDGE.