Monday, April 15, 2013

How far is Heathrow from London, and is it hard to commute between them?

Q. I am looking to visit London for 5 days and it seems all of the cheaper hotels are near the airport. Is it really important for me to stay in Central London, or can I reasonably commute back and forth without wasting too much of my short visit?
Thanks so much!

A. You can commute but it's likely to take at least an hour each way on the tube. Faster but more expensive on the heathrow shuttle train but you would have to go back to the airport to get on that train.

A better option is to look for a two or three star hotel in the central part of London but not right in the main central districts. You should get a good deal and will find you enjoy your stay much more.

Where can I purchase the cheapest flight tickets from San Diego to London?
Q. I'm hoping to take my Mom and myself to London, England by September 2012. What website is the best place to get tickets from San Diego, CA to London? And when I say best, I mean cheapest tickets- we do not care where we are sitting. Any help is much appreciated- AND also, really cheap hotels/motels/ bed and breakfast place to stay for a 2 weeks?

A. One thing to consider is flying out of LAX. There are more options and you may be able to get a better deal. United, American, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic all have non-stop flights to London out of LAX.

As for hotels, you can look on http://www.kayak.com, http://www.orbitz.com to buy a vacation package so it is airline tickets plus hotel. Another option for hotels is http://www.hotels.com. If you join hotels.com, you stay 10 nights, you get 1 free night.

How much would a trip around England cost?
Q. Me and a friend are planning to go in 2011. So we want to save up as soon as possible. We plan to go to Sheffield, Liverpool, and London. Want to get our tickets in advance to save a lot. We're flying from California. Cheap hotels would be best. I was think around $4000. But I'm not sure. Help?
Want to go to Sheffield and Liverpool for visiting family.

A. For your airfare expect something like $US 1000, but do check in comparison sites, like skyscanner.com,and see what your local travel agency has on offer. Often packet trips to London, including a few nights in a hotel, cost no more than the best ticket you can find yourself.
Staying with family should cost you little, unless you plan on taking them out on your cost.

Traveling as tourist in the UK you can expect to need at least 75 pound per person per day, but that can go up if you stay in hotels, eat in fancy restaurants and do lots of expensive touristy things, like visiting all London sights in two days.
Plan for 100 pound per day for your whole trip, if you do not have as much by the time you have to start booking, ask again, as prices and exchange rates do change and different people use different amounts.

For travel within England, if you know your travel dates in advance, have your contacts in England book a train ticket for you, off peak, as soon as you know when you travel/the ticket comes available. That way you can sometimes get 20 pound tickets for long distances. If you buy a ticket for same train on the day of travel you can expect to pay much more, specially if you want to start your travel before 9:30 AM.

Do not restict yourself to the two towns you have relatives or friends and London, England has so much more to offer.
Taking day trips from Liverpool or Sheffield you can already see a lot, specially if the hosts drive you around.
If you plan on traveling around a lot, specially if you do not plan on buying tickets well before traveling, a rail pass can be useful.
Again, ask just before the time you plan to travel, like 4 months in advance, as prices and conditions do change over the years.

How much you need in total depends on how long you go and how long you stay with the family.
And on your planned lifestyle.
For $4000 each I guess that at this time you can travel to England and play tourist in a modest way for about 3 weeks.
If it is $4000 between you, about one week playing tourist and being dependend on your family while being there.




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