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Overnight in London--some advice regarding getting from points A to B
Sun, 07/15/2012 - 22:07
Tsuki
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Hello, We will be arriving on an Easy Jet flight from Croatia to London at 12:30 p.m. and flying out of Heathrow at 4:00 p.m. the next day. This means that we will be flying into Gatwick and out of Heathrow. I have a hotel booked at Heathrow near the airport for the overnight (staying in the center was totally out of sight with the Olympics). We’d like to make use of the time to see a little bit of London and it’s been suggested that we try a 24 hr. “hop on-hop off” bus. I was thinking that we could head into the city, do so of the bus tour during the afternoon, have a nice dinner and then proceed to our hotel.

So my questions are: How long will it take me to get from Gatwick to where the bus tour is located and what is the best way to go? Second what’s the best way to get out to Heathrow? Third, how can I do this without spending a fortune? Fourth what can I do with my luggage (we don’t have huge bags, just carry-ons but I’d prefer not to carry them all over London and out to dinner), Fifth will it be possible to go back into the city on the tube and see a bit more before we have to leave for the airport, and finally, if we are downtown in the center, when do I need to leave for Heathrow in order to make a 4:00 p.m. flight?

Mon, 07/16/2012 - 00:11
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I’d take the bus From Gatwick to Heathrow and go to your hotel — hopefully they have a shuttle or are walkable from the terminal???? Even if it’s too early to check in, you can dump your gear. http://www.nationale…

Then take one of several transportation options into London: http://www.heathrowa…
Your hop on/hop off bus tour will have stops near all the major attractions so head to any of them (via Tube if it’s too far to walk) from where you arrive from Heathrow. Check the websites for the various tour companies to see the stops. You can usually board at any stop (you don’t have to start at the 1st stop) and buy your ticket on the bus. Most of the tou companies have a bus every 20 minutes or so, so you shouldn’t have to wait long. Follow the route back to where you got on (usually about an hour), find a nice place for dinner and then catch the bus or train back to Heathrow. Or if there’s one sight you have time for that afternoon, stop there for an hour or so (Tower of London would be my choice and takes a couple of hours to see) and then complete the bus route. Your hop on/hop off bus ticket will be good for 24 hours, so you could use Heathrow transportation to get back to town the next day. If your choice of sights isn’t close by, use the hop on/hop off bus ticket to get to the sight and back to catch your Heathrow transportation. For a 4:00 PM flight this will be tricky as you need to allow an hour to get to Heathrow, 1/2 to 3/4 hour to collect your gear (if it’s still at your hotel) and then 2 hour advance check in. You’ll have to be heading back toward Heathrow by about noon…. You will have to know the rough schedule for your hop on tour, when the attraction opens, reasonable amount of time to spend there, etc. So this is going to take a LOT of research and a good map of London to pull off.