Help with planning journey from Colchester to London

tattikat

hello everyone ^^

I'm currently trying to plan a journey ahead of time. I'm going to a convention at the EXCEL centre in London (MCM expo) but the thing is...I honestly have no idea how to go about it! The trip is on the 24th of May, and returning the same way -I've had a look at the recommended/discounted rates on Moneysavingexpert, but nothing seems to go to or from Colchester on these. (from some of the ones i've seen,it look like it would be cheaper if I was going from glasgow to london, which is almost twice the distance!)

basically, I'm imploring you guys for help- usually I just sit back and read Martin's tips but this requires more specifics. I'm really sorry that I can't give more details,I rarely use trains/coaches etc so I'm at a complete loss on how to go abut things!

-Shannon

AirlieBird

What you want to do is book a train or coach ticket to Stratford (that's Stratford London, not the other one!) and then get the Jubilee Line to Canning Town and then the DLR to Custom House. You can go to nationalexpress.com and get a coach ticket for just over £11, or any rail site and get a off-peak return for £19.80. You will need to purchase a Zone 3 ticket once in London for the London transport sections.

Unfortunately for you, if you choose to travel by train there are engineering works between IIlford and London, the timetable is not yet confirmed but buses will take you to Newbury Park for the Central Line. This means that if there are advance tickets on this route (and I'm not sure if there are) they won't be available just yet.
Both the Jubilee line and the DLR are also suspended for engineering work. Replacement buses will be provided here.

tattikat

thankyou so much, I didnt expect such an intuitive reply so quickly! Wow, just my luck that there so much maintenance around the time we're going- maybe I'll book a hotel over there and stay the weekend. but enough of my rambling, thankyou for your reply again ^^

edit: I seem to have a problem- I thought i'd go and check on coach times and such, but natonalexpress.com does not seem to recognise stratford in london as a valid place..?

AirlieBird

It's listed as London (Stratford)