another london question...sorry

lovesabargain123

We went to London on the jubilee weekend and had a fantastic time!
I think your best bet for train fares would be to buy a family rail card which gives you 1/3 of adults fares and 2/3 off kiddies fares.. The little be travels free. The rail card costs £28 for a year and you can also use it if you need to used trains or tubes whilst you are there.

We stayed at the holiday inn at Watford junction, im on my phones so can't copy and paste but if you look further down I've left a link on a couple of threads re London for. 2 for 1 nights offer that's on at the moment.

The hotel is clean and safe I found( I went with my sister and 2 boys 10 and 12) and is 1 min walk from the station from own a ginel or 3 mins on the main road.

From there we got a train into Euston and then the tube which took us 5 mins away from the London eye. We got there as it opened and tere were no ques. The train for the day use cost about £24 for all 4 of us (using rail card)

Take a look at the days out guide (i think) website which gives 2 for 1 on loads of London attractions when you show a valid rail ticket

Have fun x

gingin_2

mrsgreenwood wrote: »

just had a quick look, but im getting £75 return? what am i doing wrong?

MrsG, I think I might have confused you. My price was for 1 adult and 2 children from Cambridge. That's £32 per adult ( it might have been £34) plus £2 + £2 per child = £36. If one more adult had paid it would have taken us to £68, so your quote sounds about right from Kennett.

You could also look at National Express and see if coaches are any cheaper.

mum26

Rail tickets might give you 2 for 1 on the Thames clippers too (I think that is the right name) boats which are like river buses, commuters use them too at peak times but they offer great value compared to private company tourist targetted ones. There is usually a coffee bar on board and toilets so it is about as relaxing as a trip on a boat with two small children is going to get they have brilliant views, we just showed the rail tickets when the "conductor" came round, although I think you can buy tickets at some piers.

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/thames-clippers--the-riverline £13.60 for river roamer (like an all day hopper sort of ticket) bogof

http://www.thamesclippers.com/routes-times-prices-booking/prices.html

dazzer68

For cheap hotels in good locations try, 'tune' hotels theres one in kings cross and one in liverpool street. Ive stayed at the liverpool street one, great location, around petticoat lane, jack the ripper, Spitalfields market area. The tube station is couple of minutes walk away.the hotel has asmall courtyard which is unusual for centrl budget hotels.theres a small business area opposite, which is great for early morning breakfast, preta and costas.

duchy

Natural History museum for the dinosaur and google for Duck tours which is a road vehicle that turns into a boat and goes onto the Thames too. Great fun !

mrsgreenwood_2

thank you so much for all your replies!!

i get so confused when it comes to travelling around london. would an oyster or family and friends railcard be best?
we will probably only use the trains this once and never again, so i need to work out if it will be cheaper without the cards, but im not sure how the cards work if you are using the tube?
would i still have to pay to use the tube? i also like the sound of clippers too.

i suppose it depends on which hotel we stay at aswell to how close things are.

will have to look into which hotels are close-ish to london eye.
will also look into holiday inn at Watford junction thank to lovesabargain123 and see how far away that is.

thanks again everyone, i really appreciate it!!!

mrsgreenwood_2

lovesabargain123- i have found the post a few pages back with the link for the 2 for 1 hotels.

holiday inn express limehouse has a really good offer on. i was looking at sat 8th-9th with the various offers, then tried fri 7th-9th and it worked out alot cheaper. £49.50 for the 2 nights with breakfast, which i think seems good?
this hotel also seems fairly close to the attractions id like to see.

i then looked on national rail website and have tried ely station-limehouse station.

was thinking of leaving in the evening and heading straight to hotel-
Departing Arriving Duration Changes
19:08 21:34 2h 26m 2

heres a breakdown:
19:08 Ely - London Kings Cross 20:33

20:33 London Kings Cross - London Fenchurch Street 21:30

21:30 London Fenchurch Street - Limehouse 21:34 (only 4 mins duration)


it says this after kingscross to fenchurch:
From Kings Cross St Pancras Underground Station take the Circle Line (Eastbound, Platform 2) to Tower Hill Underground Station. From Tower Hill walk to London Fenchurch Street (approximately 7 minutes)

so would i have to fit this in before the next change? sorry but i am totally clueless!!!!

dacouch

Would be quicker to jump on the Northern Line (Black line on maps) to Bank and then change onto the DLR and straight to Limehouse which will take circa 20 minutes.

Use the "Journey Planner" on this website http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

Limehouse is not really walking distance of any of the sights, it's about 3/4 miles from the centre.

It's a good price you have got though

mrsgreenwood_2

dacouch wrote: »

Would be quicker to jump on the Northern Line (Black line on maps) to Bank and then change onto the DLR and straight to Limehouse which will take circa 20 minutes.

Use the "Journey Planner" on this website http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

Limehouse is not really walking distance of any of the sights, it's about 3/4 miles from the centre.

It's a good price you have got though

ok, thanks will check that site out. if limehouse isnt that close, maybe thats why the price is so good?

might look into hotels abit closer. anyone know of any close to london eye, tower bridge, natural history museum???

mrsgreenwood_2

was using this site to look for hotels http://www.greenroom.co.uk/wrs

just re-read that limehouse is 20 miles away from centre, so maybe a bit too far?

there is Crowne Plaza London £87.50, but they dont offer free breakfast