Marta
10+ Posts
We recently returned from London. We were in London to meet up with a British travel group to fly to Greece. The original itinerary had us leaving Wednesday April 9th from Heathrow at 7:25am. We had decided to stay at Heathrow Terminal 5 because of the early flight and booked at the Thistle. It is a basic hotel but the unique item that attracted us. It is 5 minutes from Terminal 5 via the self-driving Pods. We booked ahead at a non-refundable rate (£70) along with early discount tickets on the Heathrow Express £10 each to Terminal 5.
On Tuesday (day before we were to leave), we visited Regents Park and was enjoying the spring weather when we got a call at noon from our tour director. There was a 24-hour transportation strike in Greece on Wednesday and our British Air Flight was cancelled. They gave us the option to cancel the tour or to go a day later. We choose to go a day later. The catch was the flight was a very early (6:15am) flight out of Gatwick on Thursday.
Now we had to make a decision on what to do on Wednesday, where to stay and how to get there. We already had the hotel and transportation to Heathrow paid for so we decided to stay Tuesday at Heathrow. We knew we would have to stay Wednesday night at Gatwick so we decided to stay at the Hampton Inn which is connected to the North Terminal where we were departing.
Now what to do with a short time in London. My husband didn't want to go to a museum. We didn't want to have to walk too much plus we had to deal with our luggage. I used Google to see what were our options for getting to Gatwick. Previously we'd taken Gatwick Express from Victoria but last minute tickets were kinda expensive. And there really wasn't anything we wanted to see around Victoria. Google suggested an alternative route - Taking the Elizabeth underground line to Farringdon train station and the Thameslink train to Gatwick. And along the way - was the London Bridge station. Oh... I love the Borough Market and there are lots of sites to see in the area (Shard, Tower Bridge, Southwark). I also found out that the trains are now part of the contactless daily option so we could use contactless on all the transportation and get a single daily total. Plus go when we wanted. I also googled where to store luggage and discovered the company Stasher. The reviews were good and there was a place near London Bridge Underground station.
With those decisions made, here is how the two days went. Tuesday afternoon around 3pm, we picked up our luggage from our London hotel and took the Heathrow Express to Terminal 5. We located the pods on Level 2. The pods go to a long-term parking lot and there is access to the Thistle via coded gate. The pod ride was fun, the walk to the Thistle wasn't too far and the hotel was clean and pretty quiet. We ate at the hotel restaurant which has a great view of Terminal 5 runway. I used the app Flight Aware to see what was landing and were it was from. The food was okay - standard pub burgers. They had plant based options for my vegetarian husband.
We relaxed and checked out about 10am. You do have to pay £8 each for the Pod transportation. We took the pods back to Terminal 5 and decided to have coffee and a pastry for breakfast at the Costa. We were hoping to eat at the Pret a Manger but we weren't certain we could access it since was behind a long queing area. We caught the Elizabeth Line into London and got off at Farringdon. We walked a short distance, used contactless for train tickets and got on the ThamesLink to go to the London Bridge station. We dropped off our luggage at 'Sam Souvenirs' next to the Underground station and explored the Market. It was a little early (10:30) so we were before most of the tourists. We walked over to the Southwark Cathedral. We love the garden so this was a good place to spend some time before lunch. By now the crowds had descended. We discussed options for lunch (take out from the market or a pub). We decided on the Southwark Pub which had very good food and great beer. After lunch, we walked across London Bridge and then over to the base of the Shard.
It was time to move on. We went and picked up our luggage. They tag the luggage with number, you take a picture of the numbers, and they move them to a room off the main area. We gave them our numbers and got our luggage and headed to the train station. We used contactless again to get the next train. It made one stop before Gatwick. It takes about 30 minutes. The train station at Gatwick is at the South Terminal. There is a stand up shuttle between the terminals which we took to get to the North Terminal. The Hampton Inn walkway was right next to the EasyJet luggage drop. Quick and easy. There aren't a lot of food choices at Gatwick so we took the shuttle back to South Terminal and got take out from M&S for dinner.
Thursday morning we got up at 4:00, ate breakfast at the included buffet. Coffee, yogurt and pastry. A lot of people quickly came in and took their breakfast with them. We checked out and walked a short distance to drop off our luggage and then waited for our gate.
Overall, we were happy with how we dealt with the disruption. The transportation cost for the day (Elizabeth line & Train) was surprising inexpensive since we traveled 'off-peak'. It was £23.30 per person. Stasher was £13.76 for 2 bags. Lunch was £48 with beer Dinner was £20 Hotel was £151. The only item we might do differently next time is look at staying at the Premier Inn.
On Tuesday (day before we were to leave), we visited Regents Park and was enjoying the spring weather when we got a call at noon from our tour director. There was a 24-hour transportation strike in Greece on Wednesday and our British Air Flight was cancelled. They gave us the option to cancel the tour or to go a day later. We choose to go a day later. The catch was the flight was a very early (6:15am) flight out of Gatwick on Thursday.
Now we had to make a decision on what to do on Wednesday, where to stay and how to get there. We already had the hotel and transportation to Heathrow paid for so we decided to stay Tuesday at Heathrow. We knew we would have to stay Wednesday night at Gatwick so we decided to stay at the Hampton Inn which is connected to the North Terminal where we were departing.
Now what to do with a short time in London. My husband didn't want to go to a museum. We didn't want to have to walk too much plus we had to deal with our luggage. I used Google to see what were our options for getting to Gatwick. Previously we'd taken Gatwick Express from Victoria but last minute tickets were kinda expensive. And there really wasn't anything we wanted to see around Victoria. Google suggested an alternative route - Taking the Elizabeth underground line to Farringdon train station and the Thameslink train to Gatwick. And along the way - was the London Bridge station. Oh... I love the Borough Market and there are lots of sites to see in the area (Shard, Tower Bridge, Southwark). I also found out that the trains are now part of the contactless daily option so we could use contactless on all the transportation and get a single daily total. Plus go when we wanted. I also googled where to store luggage and discovered the company Stasher. The reviews were good and there was a place near London Bridge Underground station.
With those decisions made, here is how the two days went. Tuesday afternoon around 3pm, we picked up our luggage from our London hotel and took the Heathrow Express to Terminal 5. We located the pods on Level 2. The pods go to a long-term parking lot and there is access to the Thistle via coded gate. The pod ride was fun, the walk to the Thistle wasn't too far and the hotel was clean and pretty quiet. We ate at the hotel restaurant which has a great view of Terminal 5 runway. I used the app Flight Aware to see what was landing and were it was from. The food was okay - standard pub burgers. They had plant based options for my vegetarian husband.
We relaxed and checked out about 10am. You do have to pay £8 each for the Pod transportation. We took the pods back to Terminal 5 and decided to have coffee and a pastry for breakfast at the Costa. We were hoping to eat at the Pret a Manger but we weren't certain we could access it since was behind a long queing area. We caught the Elizabeth Line into London and got off at Farringdon. We walked a short distance, used contactless for train tickets and got on the ThamesLink to go to the London Bridge station. We dropped off our luggage at 'Sam Souvenirs' next to the Underground station and explored the Market. It was a little early (10:30) so we were before most of the tourists. We walked over to the Southwark Cathedral. We love the garden so this was a good place to spend some time before lunch. By now the crowds had descended. We discussed options for lunch (take out from the market or a pub). We decided on the Southwark Pub which had very good food and great beer. After lunch, we walked across London Bridge and then over to the base of the Shard.
It was time to move on. We went and picked up our luggage. They tag the luggage with number, you take a picture of the numbers, and they move them to a room off the main area. We gave them our numbers and got our luggage and headed to the train station. We used contactless again to get the next train. It made one stop before Gatwick. It takes about 30 minutes. The train station at Gatwick is at the South Terminal. There is a stand up shuttle between the terminals which we took to get to the North Terminal. The Hampton Inn walkway was right next to the EasyJet luggage drop. Quick and easy. There aren't a lot of food choices at Gatwick so we took the shuttle back to South Terminal and got take out from M&S for dinner.
Thursday morning we got up at 4:00, ate breakfast at the included buffet. Coffee, yogurt and pastry. A lot of people quickly came in and took their breakfast with them. We checked out and walked a short distance to drop off our luggage and then waited for our gate.
Overall, we were happy with how we dealt with the disruption. The transportation cost for the day (Elizabeth line & Train) was surprising inexpensive since we traveled 'off-peak'. It was £23.30 per person. Stasher was £13.76 for 2 bags. Lunch was £48 with beer Dinner was £20 Hotel was £151. The only item we might do differently next time is look at staying at the Premier Inn.
