london on Easter weekend....

mr_lordi

Hi, Iknow they say London never sleeps but will it be business as usual on Easter weekend...we have booked a premier inn hotel Easter Sunday and Monday (Hamersmith area) and are looking to see the attractions, history museum, london eye etc etc, will they be open on bank holiday Monday??? Will the tube be operating as normal, can you book tube, London eye and history museum tickets in advance to make savings?, any other tips for money saving or things to do is much appreciated, as you can probably tell we have never been to London before.........

loulou123

I went to london on the Saturday of easter weekend last year and it was definately business as usual - the only times ive ever known it busier was right near xmas. Not sure what will be open on the sunday shop wise as Easter sunday has funny laws as far as shops are concerned. But a couple of years ago i went to London Zoo on easter sunday and that was open, so am guessing all the attractions will be open as normal.

London eye can definatley be booked in advance, Natural History Muesum is free unless you wish to see one of their special exhibitions, as far as im aware there is no saving on the tube, but if you are using them alot then an oyster card will certainly save you money.

Tubes will certainly be running, but you'd need to check the London Underground web site as there are often lines closed at the weekends. This will also tell you what time the last tubes of the day are etc.

Anything else just ask : )

mew

I was in London last Easter (Good Friday). After having problems getting to the Natural History Museum (Tube line closures) we queued just under 2 hours in the rain to get in and had a very unpleasant time inside (too crowded).

Depending upon the attractions you wish to visit, A Merlin Pass is great value for money. It will get you in The London Aquarium, Madam Tussurds, the London Dungeon & On The London Eye. The pass also gives you Fast Track entry but even then the queues are horrendous (Last Easter school holidays, the fast track entry to the London Dungeons was 2 hours).

susancs

There are quite a lot of tube track works over the Easter Weekend so part line closures. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/livetravelnews/realtime/tube/track-closures.pdf
I would advise you to use the journey planner to plan routes in advance. If you are staying in Hammersmith you are a bus ride or a 20 min walk away from Westfield Shopping Centre, which is the biggest in Europe and has lots of restaurants.
http://uk.westfield.com/london/centre-information

For London Eye go early in the morning for opening time and queues are not too bad usually. Same applies to musuems you can get a lot more downe before 12 than after, when it gets really busy.

mr_lordi

Thanks for all your usefull replies so far, a little concerned about the track works ( never used the tube )i take it i should still be able get into central london on the Monday ( i hope )

cardiffforthefacup

I wouldn't worry about the track closures, I expect that the routes you will travel on will be available centrally, any tube stations that are closed have replacement bus services. Look on daysoutguide on this website for discount deals 2for1 for entrance to london eye mde tussaunds, history museum is free unless special exhibition on. For other things you might want to consider look on timeout london

susancs

Like above poster says transport will still be available, it may just take a bit longer to get around London than usual, so I would plan your routes in advance allowing for this. The buses will run as normal, so it may be a question of using these more. Hammersmith has a bus terminal, so you can get buses eaisly from there. The 211 goes to Waterloo for the London Eye but takes about 1 hour compared with about 25 mins of a tube journey for example. Also allow for the fact that buses will probably be a lot more crowded due to the tube track closures and Easter Weekend visitors, so may be too full to allow all passengers on, at certain stops (unlikely at a terminal though, just more central bus stops on streets) so it may be a question of waiting for the next bus.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/hammersmith-2109.pdf

The piccadilly line has no planned track works for the weekend you are going so you can get this to South Kensington from Hammersmith (5 stops) to visit the Natural History, Science and V&A which are beside this station. You can walk from there to visit Kensington Gardens (googlemap the walk getting directions) with the Albert Memorial, Peter Pan statue etc, and walk through there to Hyde Park and Marble Arch if the weather is nice. If you want a cheap bus tour the no 15 bus goes from outside Marble Arch to The Tower of London, via lot of landmarks such as Traflagar Square, Eros statue, Law Courts and St Pauls. Coming back you could get the 15 bus back to Piccadilly Circus Tube station and then get the tube from there to Hammersmith.

mr_lordi

thanks very helpfull............

susancs

Forgot to say get an oyster card on arrival at the first tube/train station-£3 refundable deposit and top up as you go at payment points in the tube station. You can get a refund of the deposit and any credit if under £5 from the last stop tube station before you return home. It caps at less than a daily travel card and is a lot less than paying cash for single jouneys. You just swipe it when entering or exiting tubes or buses and it takes money off the card.

The Museums are free entry. I seem to remember last year going to the Ideal Home Exhibition at Earls Court over the Easter Weekend first thing in the morning and it was good. Very busy after lunch. There were free tickets on this site, so maybe keep an eye out for these if this may be of interest to you. There were lots of free food and drink samples, we got our hair, nails, a massage etc all for free.