London - which airport is near everywhere and wheres cheap to stay???

nettles77

Many thanks.

Savvy_Sue

:rotfl: Define 'everywhere' ...

London City Airport is in the middle of Docklands, which means it's much closer to the centre of London than Heathrow or Gatwick, which are way out. Having grown up t'other side of the river, I always regarded Docklands as the middle of nowhere, but then in those days there were still docks!

For where's cheap to stay, you'd probably do better to look on the Travel boards.

prowla

Travelodge are a chain of cheap.simple clean functional hotels, who often do discounts for booking in advance.
Airports-wise, Heathrow is out to the West, Gatwick is out to the South, Stanstead is out to the North, and London City Airport is at Docklands near the O2.

Savvy_Sue

prowla wrote: »

Airports-wise, Heathrow is out to the West, Gatwick is out to the South, Stanstead is out to the North, and London City Airport is at Docklands near the O2.

I had forgotten Stanstead! :rotfl: Not sure how I managed that, have had to drag myself out there often enough.

nettles77

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

:rotfl: Define 'everywhere'

tower, aquarium, palace, eye, museum places like that. Places of interest for children. Thanks alot.

Savvy_Sue

And how old are the children?

nettles77

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

And how old are the children?

5 and 3yrs. I dont know what to do as im really scared as i think ther are too young to go.

nettles77

anyone else advise me if children are too young? thanks.

Savvy_Sue

Personally, I don't think that's too young for a trip to London. But you won't be able to do it all (whatever it all is!) because they'll get tired, and they probably have the attention span of gnats.

You'll want to avoid travelling in the rush hours, so that shortens your day.

I would thoroughly recommend an open top bus tour, however. There are a number of companies who do this, so do your homework and then make sure you get on the right one!

You get to see lots of things (from the top deck, naturally), the commentary is usually good, and you can get off anywhere you actually want to see.

The museums have lots of child friendly galleries. Just don't plan to be an adult tourist, however. You won't be able to read all the labels in the museums before they are ready to move on. But you can play with the exhibits!

TottalyLost

Stansted is in the north?
I thought Luton is in the North and Stansted in the East.....


In any case - from City Airport you have normal London busses and from any other airort you have to use coach/train to get into London so... expense wise City is probaby the best option

property.advert

I stayed in a Jury's Inn (Islington) and a couple of Ibis hotels (City and Stratford) recently and it was my first experience of these quasi budget / quality hotels. I stayed due to budget and was quite shocked and yet surprised. Jury's Inn was poor value at near £100 but a good breakfast was included in my rate (as opposed to paying for it) and the first day or two at £80 or so was acceptable, though only because of the very poor value farther down the price scale. The Ibis hotels were much better value.

Rooms at Jury's Inn were double beds with a double sofabed. Old type poor TV but with a bath and good water pressure. I would not stay again for over £60/70 or thereabouts.

The rooms at the Ibis are virtually standard worldwide in my opinion and experience. No bath but great shower. Bathrooms are prefabricated modules but they work and are not as small as they appear. TVs are flat panel with a decent range of options. The best though is the internet via keyboard on the TV if you don't have a laptop, actual internet stations in the lobby for pay as you go and daily packages which include all movies, TV and internet for £9.99 per 24 hours which can be discounted online and by management.

Food is the issue in both. Not much of an option and neither had a fridge in the room. I found that and the lack of water an issue at £100 a day. I had Stratford from around £45 a day and that was excellent value. I'd stay there up to this side of £100 a day.

Premier Inns are around as are Holiday Inns and the express versions of the same. When I looked, these options were more expensive or not available. That will just be on a case by case basis.

To save money, look at family travelcards for bus and tube travel. Paying for single journeys is way OTT expensive. Look also at some tourist info regarding family discounts on famous attractions. Costs are high and any help is appreciated.

London Eye is probably a must, a river boat trip is nice as well. Not sure how long you have.

As for airports, then think about total costs for door to hotel and return. Heathrow is far away but only about £4 on the tube. Using a taxi is very expensive with pre booked minicabs about £45 to central London, black cabs way more.

You'll need to eat out so thinking about evening food and then getting back to the hotel is important.

I've loads of information so get in touch if you want with some of your details and dates so I can advise more accurately.