What to do with half-a-day layover in London ?

Question

Well, I'm gonna be in London on the 8th of Sep for a transit flight to Edinburgh. The thing is, my flight to Scotland doesn't take off until 9 p.m and technically I have 9 hours on my own to explore London (oh and BTW it's my first time there so I have no idea what to do with transportation). So my question is, since I've booked a national express round-trip ticket from Heathrow Airport to Victoria Coach Station (in Greater London I believe), what should I do to get myself a nice sight-seeing tour in 9 hours ? (I'm on budgets now so a customized one is out of the question) Should I purchase the "Original London Tour" ticket, hop on and off or simply purchase a day bus pass at the station and create my own route ? (Whatever it is, I have to be able to get back to Victoria Coach station at 6 p.m to return to Heathrow for my flight). What would you recommend ? Any advices will be extremely appreciated.

Answer 1

I think u should go on the London eye by the Thames River. U can have a brilliant view of the city and of course a good look at the Big Ben since it's all based in Westminster. "Original London Tour" ticket is also good but the travel around London is a nightmare since traffic there is very heavy, what will u see then? People pushing one another, shops etc. Go on the London eye, its much better and hassle free in my opinion. Have fun.

Answer 2

Take a train from the airport and go to the centre and take a tour bus it will take you around a lot of the famous landmarks and the tours is for about 2 hours.

Answer 3

Try to find, 1st someone from Britain, then someone from England and then as an extreme challenge try to find a true 'Cockney  Londoner' ! If that criteria is too tough a challenge then just try to find a white person ! Good luck,  you'll going to need it !

Answer 4

I know this doesn´t answer your question, but I am worried that you may miss your flight!

Heathrow is a really big airport and security queues are horribly long. You should be in the airport AT LEAST 2 hours before your flight leaves.

You say you will get the 6pm coach from Victoria which takes 55 minutes according to the timetable - if this is the case you will be fine.

However - take into account that you will be traveling at rush hour. The 55 minute journey time takes normal traffic into account. It would only take one road accident to create not normal traffic jams and you could be delayed a lot.  I have had several near misses due to traffic between London and Heathrow.  Think - just one little acidient and you have a longer than normal hold up, and miss your flight.

There is a train (Heathrow express) from padington station, which takes only 15 minutes. I would really recomend that you make your return journey by train, and not risk getting stuck in traffic.

You can look into this on the London Public Transport web page: http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/

Answer 5

I'm hoping that your nine hours doesn't include check-in time for your Edinburgh flight. You do need to be careful with timing transit layovers at Heathrow -- it can take a while to clear immigration when you arrive, and you probably also realise that Heathrow is out on the far western edge of London.

Well, fingers crossed that you have taken all that into account!

I wish you'd posted your question before you booked your coach ticket to Victoria. If you can cancel it, I'd suggest instead getting a one-day off-peak Travelcard at Heathrow (£7 after 9.30am or any time at weekends) and travelling in by tube on the Piccadilly line. This takes around 45 mins from Heathrow, usually a fair bit quicker than travelling by road.

Whether you can do this after all or whether you're stuck with your coach ticket, here are some good ideas for a quick first-time visit.

I think you'll be best off doing your own solo tour. It'll be cheaper and more flexible than the Original London Tour.

Walk to Victoria tube/rail station (5 mins from the coach stn) and buy a one-day travelcard (zones 1 & 2, £5.30 after 9.30am weekdays or any time weekends). This allows you to hop on buses and tubes as you like in central London.

Now, what to see. I'd start with Parliament, as it's really close to Victoria. You can pick up a number 11 bus or catch a tube (2 stops on the Circle or District lines to Westminster station). Bus = more scenic; tube = faster.

Either way, you end up in Parliament Square. All around you are:

the Houses of Parliament (including Big Ben in its iconic clock tower)

Westminster Abbey (the place where every monarch here has been crowned since William the Conqueror in 1066)

Westminster Bridge over the Thames (wonderful views) and

just across the river, the London Eye. The Eye is a giant sightseeing ferris wheel and is everyone's favourite viewpoint, but if you want to go on it, you'd be best buying a ticket in advance. A standard ticket costs £15.50, a fast track ticket is £25 but lets you jump the always-long queues.  Info here: http://www.londoneye.com/

You could spend a whole day just doing the above stuff. But if you're in the mood to whisk round (not going into the abbey or onto the Eye) you could skitter round in an hour and then catch a bus up Whitehall. Or walk... if you walk, you can have a peep through the gates at the end of Downing Street at the amazingly ordinary London residence of the British Prime Minister (don't worry; he gets a big country house called Chequers too)...

You will also pass Horseguards Parade, where the Queen's cavalry guard are an essential photo-stop. You know the ones: bright red jackets, bearskin hats... like this: http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformat...

Almost immediately after that, you arrive in Trafalgar Square. The whole walk takes about 15 mins; 8 mins or so by bus (take any bus that runs up Whitehall).

So, Trafalgar Square. This is another fantastic panorama. You have Nelson's Column in the centre, with the huge, adorable lion statues at its feet. On its northern side is the National Gallery (amazing collection of art; Leonardo da Vinci, Monet, Van Gogh and much more). Free entry to the main collections: full info here: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/defaul... Oh, and good food, too: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/plan/i...



On the eastern side of the square is the beautiful 17th-century church of St Martin's-in-the-Fields. If you follow the road that leads out between St Martin's and the gallery and take the next left, you'll be in Leicester Square (lined with premier-hosting cinemas); walk through to Piccadilly Circus.

But I'd really recommend instead, leaving Trafalgar Square via its south-western corner, under Admiralty Arch. This brings you to the Mall. Stroll down here and you come to Buckingham Palace. You can walk beside the road, in one of London's great 'royal parks', St James's Park.

Summer tours of Buckingham Palace are still running next week when you're here, so if you can spare 2 hrs 30 mins or so, you could book that... info here http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/defaul... but even if you don't have time for the tour, it's very splendid from the outside.

And from Buckingham Palace it's about 12 mins walk back to Victoria rail/bus station, and about another 5 from there to the coach station to catch your connection back to Heathrow.

If you go to Transport for London's excellent site, you can use their journey planner to show this walking route (or any other journey on foot or by public transport). Just enter 'buckingham palace' ('place of interest') as your start point and 'victoria coach station' as your destination. http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XS...

I hope you have a great time here, and that our fickle weather behaves.

Love from a Londoner born and bred.

=D

Answer 6

edited to change from gatwick to heathrow

i am assuming you can leave/check your luggage for the flight to edinburgh. assuming you will be luggage free...

it will take you one-  two hours to clear security/immigration and to get your bags.

an hour on the underground to get to inner city (skip the coach, no way...)

two hours (rush hour) to get back to heathrow, need to be there at 7pm, eat dinner at the airport once checked in

so that takes up five - six  hours. what will you do (sightseeing wise)  for the remaining 3  hours?

i would walk to buckingam palace, then walk up the mall to the whole area around parliament, #10 downing street, big ben, westminster abbey, horse guards, see the river, walk back to nearest tube station, that's about it.

now pay attention, around 3 pm jet lag will hit hard. make sure you will be coherent at that critical time to navigate london rush hour.

if it were me, frankly, i would get a hotel at heathrow, get a fabulous lunch and go to sleep. wake up, get a nice dinner, and get your flight to edinburgh.

Answer 7

buy an original bus tour ticket online, it will be cheaper, 9 hrs is plenty to have a tour of london on the bus. you will struggle to go into any of the sites, but you can grab a nice lunch in covent garden before you go back to victoria.