Going to London - some advice please.....

wotnoshoeseh

Hi all,

I'm going to London flying in to Gatwick, with my wife and two kids (18 and 15) at Easter weekend. I'm on a late flight in and was simply going to stay local to Gatwick airport (I can use Hilton Honors points for a free night there), and then travel in the next day.
Apologies if these questions have been asked before...

Questions:

• Travelling in and out from Gatwick. I was able to look at the G'wick Express but the return fare seemed a tad high. Is that the best option though? I liked that there are no stops and it's a direct service, but the cost is nearly as much as our 4 return flights :shocked: Any advice gratefully received.
  
• For travel in central London I'm going to have a look at the tfl website to see what my options are. I'm thinking 4 Oyster cards with Zone 1-2 on them, or something similar. I don't think we all have contactless bank cards though, as I've read that those can be used and are the cheapest way to get around?? Any advice gratefully received.
  
• Finally, we want to book a show while we are there. Haven't thought too much about what particular show - really just looking for advice on where to start looking online for it now.

Cheers in advance,
D

suki1964

There's only the one train in and out of London Called the gatwick express it stops at Croydon and Clapham junction It's a commuter train and yes it's expensive. It's a cost we factor in when deciding where to fly into as often Heathrow works out cheaper

Contactless cards are the cheapest option for travel. Else it's the oyster. We are frequent travellers so have registered our Oyster cards and have had them over 10 years.

Cheapest tickets for the theatre are issued Jan and Feb. For Easter it really is a question of queuing up at the kiosk at Leicester Sq

blindman

wotnoshoeseh wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm going to London flying in to Gatwick, with my wife and two kids (18 and 15) at Easter weekend. I'm on a late flight in and was simply going to stay local to Gatwick airport (I can use Hilton Honors points for a free night there), and then travel in the next day.
Apologies if these questions have been asked before...

Questions:

• Travelling in and out from Gatwick. I was able to look at the G'wick Express but the return fare seemed a tad high. Is that the best option though? I liked that there are no stops and it's a direct service, but the cost is nearly as much as our 4 return flights :shocked: Any advice gratefully received.
  
• For travel in central London I'm going to have a look at the tfl website to see what my options are. I'm thinking 4 Oyster cards with Zone 1-2 on them, or something similar. I don't think we all have contactless bank cards though, as I've read that those can be used and are the cheapest way to get around?? Any advice gratefully received.
  
• Finally, we want to book a show while we are there. Haven't thought too much about what particular show - really just looking for advice on where to start looking online for it now.

Cheers in advance,
D

London to Gatwick transport options

TKTS for shows

You can buy Oyster cards at Undergrounds stations.

wotnoshoeseh

Cheers,
So, from the above, I take it that pre buying show tickets is not the best way of saving ££??
Is it better to simply buy a ticket on the day of the show?

Cheers,
D

Jackieboy

wotnoshoeseh wrote: »

Cheers,
So, from the above, I take it that pre buying show tickets is not the best way of saving ££??
Is it better to simply buy a ticket on the day of the show?

Cheers,
D

It really depnds whether you have a particular production in mind or whether you're happy just to go and "see a show".

stockton_2

wotnoshoeseh wrote: »

Cheers,
So, from the above, I take it that pre buying show tickets is not the best way of saving ££??
Is it better to simply buy a ticket on the day of the show?

Cheers,
D

In the past I have bought tickets online from lastminute.com and they were a good deal. The problem is you have to do a fair bit of research and make sure your seats are not too far back from the stage, with unrestricted view, and have some leg-room. Otherwise the money you save will be wasted on a bad experience.

ThemeOne

Gatwick Express is non-stop between Gatwick and London Victoria, and attracts premium fares.

For travel inside London yes, Oyster or contactless is the way to go (in fact it is now literally the only way on buses). Oyster and contactless will always be the same fare, though there are some differences in how capping rules work, which probably won't affect you.

If you have not already booked your trains, the cheapest way to travel between Gatwick and London is a Southern or Thameslink train. The fares are cheaper, there are a few stops, though it will make little difference to journey time, and you can now use Oyster / contactless on these trains since the advent of the Gatwick Oyster Extension.

If you want to use Oyster between Gatwick and London you will need a Pay as You Go balance on your card, as Gatwick does not fall into any of the zones.

Matron64

Hi,
Coach travel is cheaper to London to Gatwick...
Pre purchased Oyster or Contacless cards are the best. KIds travel free on Tfl but need to register ? Or if you have a London or home counties pal asked to use their Oyster and top up.

gettingtheresometime

I enjoyed 'We will rock you'

martindow

Matron64 wrote: »

Hi,
Coach travel is cheaper to London to Gatwick...
Pre purchased Oyster or Contacless cards are the best. KIds travel free on Tfl but need to register ? Or if you have a London or home counties pal asked to use their Oyster and top up.

The children are 15 and 18 - they won't travel free I don't think.

Tfl's page on children's fares

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/travel-for-under-18s/travelling-with-children

macman

The child (15) will pay a child fare. The adult (18) will pay the adult fare...
The cheapest train connection will probably be to use the line into London Bridge and Blackfriars-though it would help if you said what terminus you would ideally like to end your journey at, since there are about 15 in London.