First visit to London May 2014 (from manchester)

lucinad

i stayed at county hall premiere inn, with my mum and my daughter (then aged 10) and it is lovely. just what we needed after lots of walking around all day!

the sea life centre is on the opposite side of the building i think, we didnt visit but we did go on the eye. we did a river cruise, visited the tower, went to st pauls and westminster abbey and looked at buckingham palace from outside. the underground system is quite easy to navigate.

it is a great city to visit and i hope to go back soon, have a lovely time

mummywantstosave

I have today managed to book train tickets for 30th may returning 31st fri-sat Manchester Piccadilly to Euston. Unfortunately county hall premiere inn is fully booked so my options are:
Southwark Tate
Tower bridge
London monument

All premiere inns ! I'm so confused as don't know where is good location

I also wanted advice for London eye + river cruise family ticket £86 does this sound reasonable as 2for1 finishes in April?

Is it easy to get from Euston station to hotels? I assume there is a Euston tube station to jump on.

Also any info on wether or not I should book bus hopper tickets in advance online much appreciated.

Its all becoming real now

susancs

mummywantstosave wrote: »

I have today managed to book train tickets for 30th may returning 31st fri-sat Manchester Piccadilly to Euston. Unfortunately county hall premiere inn is fully booked so my options are:
Southwark Tate
Tower bridge
London monument

All premiere inns ! I'm so confused as don't know where is good location

I also wanted advice for London eye + river cruise family ticket £86 does this sound reasonable as 2for1 finishes in April?

Is it easy to get from Euston station to hotels? I assume there is a Euston tube station to jump on.

Also any info on wether or not I should book bus hopper tickets in advance online much appreciated.

Its all becoming real now

The Soutwark Tate Premier Inn is not that far from County Hall (about 10-15 minute walk) or 1 stop on the tube and has good reviews.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186338-d3245008-Reviews-Premier_Inn_London_Southwark_Tate_Modern-London_England.html

To plan your journeys you can go on www.tfl.gov.uk.
From Euston you get the Victoria tube line to Green Park and cahnge onto the jubillee line to Southwark about ten minute journey. 5 min walk from Southwark station to the hotel.

susancs

mummywantstosave wrote: »

Also any info on wether or not I should book bus hopper tickets in advance online much appreciated.

Its all becoming real now

Are the bus hopper tickets you are refering to the hop on and off tour buses? If so the individual tour operators often have better online deals than purchasing on the day.

If it is the public transport, London buses these are included in a daily travel card which I have mentioned above. A daily travelcard will give you unlimited travel on buses, tubes, London overground trains. Adults can buy a daily travelcard at the train/tube station for travel in zones 1-2 (central London) for £8.90 each off peak rate (buy after 9.30am weekdays) or £9.00 anytime rate. An alternative is oyster card which you would pay a £5 refundable deposit for and top up as required. You could either keep for next time you visit London or hand it in at Euston underground for a refund of the deposit and any small amount left (larger amounts you have to send off for)
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/tube-dlr-lo-adult-fares-jan-2014.pdf

p00hsticks

mummywantstosave wrote: »

Is it easy to get from Euston station to hotels? I assume there is a Euston tube station to jump on.

There is a tube station at Euston, on the Northern and Victoria Lines.

There is also Euston Square station just over the road from the station which is on the Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith lines.

There is also a taxi rank beneath the station.

Which is best will depend on exactly what hotel you are trying to get to.

(I thought from your post #5 you had already booked the County Hall Premier Inn - what happened ? )

googler

mummywantstosave wrote: »

I have today managed to book train tickets for 30th may returning 31st fri-sat Manchester Piccadilly to Euston. Unfortunately county hall premiere inn is fully booked so my options are:
Southwark Tate
Tower bridge
London monument

All premiere inns ! I'm so confused as don't know where is good location

There's a Premier Inn opposite Euston Station, virtually. You could tumble out of the train straight into the hotel. You're only there one night, do you want to spend any of it lugging your luggage cross-town to get to the hotel?

Is it easy to get from Euston station to hotels? I assume there is a Euston tube station to jump on.

Look at the tube map alongside a street map which shows the locations of the underground stations, if you're not going to stay at Euston PI. Note that the Euston underground, accessible from the main concourse of Euston Station, is on the Northern and Victoria lines. Euston Square is a different tube station entirely, you need to leave Euston Station and walk the street for a minute or so and cross Euston Road to reach it. It's on the Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith lines. The standard tube map is at tfl.gov.uk/ Google maps or similar show the tube station locations.

What's you arrival time on Fri and departure time on Sat?

Mee

Reasonably cheap food and drink can be found at http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/cafe-in-the-crypt/
Pick-up grazing food/packed lunch from usual supermarkets later the in day.
It may be worth applying for a MyWaitrose/MyJohnLewis card to reduce the food bill.
Consider whether a Merlin card or London Pass may be useful and whether to purchase a Merlin, or day out vouchers with Tesco Clubcard or other loyalty card, vs train/LT deals.

mummywantstosave

Thanks for all your help.
I have chosen to stay in the Southwark Tate modern (b&b)
It seems I made an error in booking return train journey too early (4pm!) Which cuts our Saturday rather short cannot change due to eticket. So we will get up very early and do London bridge and tower before heading to Euston.

We will spend Fri on london eye and river sightseeing trip - my husband is panicking about queing with kids for the eye (can't afford fast track) any ideas of quiet times bearing in mind its school hols....

Am I better with oyster card or day saver travel card?

mummywantstosave

Sorry I didn't see the last 3 replies when I replied earlier! I will look at Euston premiere inn now.
I had reserved county hall for different date but there were no cheap rail tickets for my dates so was forced to change

mummywantstosave

No availability for my dates at Euston station PI
Anyone know why its busy in london on my dates? (Other than school hols?)