[LEL17] Travel Advice

[hellymedic]

What about Stansted?

Just thinking aloud!

[coops456]

For riders coming from Europe, London Southend Airport is a good option. Cheap EasyJet etc flights, and on the main train line to Stratford (50 min journey). No bikes allowed in rush hour and big luggage would be awkward at that time too.

[L.Lagopus]

A few thoughts:

- As much as I love City Airport, the advise is likely to be of limited use for the OP, as there are very few transcontinental flights to City. Moreover, flights tend to be $$$. Gatwick may be indeed better choice than Heathrow, but also much fewer connections. Most transatlantic flights just go to Heathrow.

- As for travelling from Heathrow to Stratford with a boxed bike, there are no good options. It will either be a faff, or pricey, or both. Depending on when you are touching down, a pre-booked cab may be most convenient option. That's true for early morning hours and late at night. Most transcontinental flights land around 6am, I think. Once you are through immigration and got your luggage, peak hour maddness might be in full swing. A nightmare in a car, and not much better on the tube. (With a boxed bike, the tube in the morning peak on a weekday probably is an even bigger nightmare, albeit cheaper)

- I can hear what you're saying about the advantages of staying in Stratford (cheap hotels, olympic pool, tube connection to city). I would still not recommend to stay there. It's a soulless place that doesn't have the London vibe. Tube connections to central London are decent from almost everywhere, and if hotel prices are lower, that's for a reason. Unless your family wants to use the Olympic pool on a daily basis, I would not regard it as key argument in favour of Stratford. As you said, getting there is easy thanks to good transport links...

Where do you recommend staying for those who don't want to pay exorbitant central London hotel prices?

[hellymedic]

A Premier Inn or Travelodge in Zone 4,5, or 6, close to a station on either the Tube, National Rail or Overground.

[cygnet]

YHA? Surrey Quays is Zone 2, Lee Valley outside the M25 but closer to Loughton.

[Somnolent]

For riders coming from Europe, London Southend Airport is a good option. Cheap EasyJet etc flights, and on the main train line to Stratford (50 min journey). No bikes allowed in rush hour and big luggage would be awkward at that time too.

Another option for Central London, (especially if OP crossing the pond on KLM/Air France )is changing at Schipol or CDG and then the short hop to Southampton.
Super quick immigration, (and check-in going the other way) 50 mtr walk to the rail station, then about 1h 5mins (fast) or 1h 30mins (slow) direct trains to Waterloo, and cheaper than either Heathrow or Gatwick Express. Probably to be avoided in morning rush hour when trains are busy, but otherwise 

[hellymedic]

YHA? Surrey Quays is Zone 2, Lee Valley outside the M25 but closer to Loughton.

Cheshunt station is by the line between Liverpool Street and Stansted.

[redfalo]

A Premier Inn or Travelodge in Zone 4,5, or 6, close to a station on either the Tube, National Rail or Overground.

this.
another option, if you're keen on getting some central London vibe and willing to pay a bit more £££,  is the Ibis Euston. I booked rooms for a German club there twice, and they were happy. Not as cheap as a Travellodge obviously, but relative to London hotel prices not overly insane, and apparently clean and proper. It's a 22km ride to the start. Ibis Styles in Leyton may also be worth a look - 12km to the start.

[redfalo]

For riders coming from Europe, London Southend Airport is a good option. Cheap EasyJet etc flights, and on the main train line to Stratford (50 min journey). No bikes allowed in rush hour and big luggage would be awkward at that time too.

Southend is fine, but  you have to put up with the airport the no frills carrier serving your home airport is flying to. Routes going to Southend are rather the exception than the rule. Most routes by Ryanair and Easyjet  are to Stansted, Gatwick or Luton. All airports are ok-ish (relative to Heathrow, if you are not willing to pay crazy £££ for the Heathrow Express. Luton has the disadvantage that you have to get on a bus to the station, which can be a faff with a boxed bike.

From France and the Netherlands/Belgium, my first choice would always be the Eurostar. Quick, not too expensive if you book early and no big hassle regaring the bike. The night ferry from Hoek van Holland to Harwich is also ace.   

[Moleman76]

YHA? Surrey Quays is Zone 2, Lee Valley outside the M25 but closer to Loughton.

Cheshunt station is by the line between Liverpool Street and Stansted.

It's about 11.5 km Lee Valley YHA to the start. 

[chrisbainbridge]

Staying slightly furthe out would be advantageous. St Albans for example is a pretty town and within a cycle ride of Loughton with easy connections.

[inappropriate_bike]

another option, if you're keen on getting some central London vibe and willing to pay a bit more £££,  is the Ibis Euston.

The area around Euston/Kings Cross is a good suggestion since you can walk to a lot of things from it (British Museum, Camden, Soho). For the same reason I'd recommend the area around Waterloo. Because of the way the river bends it has ready access to most of the good tourist attractions in London (Houses of Parliament, The South Bank, Trafalgar Square).

Somewhere near Liverpool Street (/Shoreditch High Street) could be good if you want to walk to the more lively parts of East London like Brick Lane where all the good food and street art is.

For the same reason I'd recommend against anywhere near Paddington, Earl's Court, or Victoria where the hotels charge London prices but are surprisingly inconvenient - especially Paddington.

[Ham]

Flying into City Airport with a bike box can be problematic, the planes are smaller and fitting bulky objects through the doors is by no means a foregone conclusion.

You've just arrived off a transatlantic flight, you have your family, luggage and a bike box? If you can afford it, take a cab, no contest. Your problem will be getting a car big enough but most of the pre-bookable airport transfer services use people carriers, so shouldn't be a problem.

If you REALLY want to go by train, the best route would likely be Heathrow express to Paddington, Paddington to Liverpool Street and then TfL Rail mainline on the Shenfield line to Stratford. No deep platform changes, relatively close, almost certainly the fastest, too.

You might want to tell us which hotel you are staying in - Stratford has relatively few and there some best described as sub-optimal.

[Frank9755]

Don't stay in Stratford! Your family will never forgive you for leaving them there. Suggestions above re Euston and Waterloo are good ones. Maybe Bermondsey might be a bit cheaper but still reasonably central.

They put the Olympics in Stratford because it was an area that had been bombed in the war, had some nasty industries and had never been cleaned up.  So there was lots of spare land to build new things on. But what is around the new buildings is not what a tourist wants to see of London; it's basically one of the poorest parts of the city.

[Ham]

Don't stay in Stratford! Your family will never forgive you for leaving them there. Suggestions above re Euston and Waterloo are good ones. Maybe Bermondsey might be a bit cheaper but still reasonably central.

They put the Olympics in Stratford because it was an area that had been bombed in the war, had some nasty industries and had never been cleaned up.  So there was lots of spare land to build new things on. But what is around the new buildings is not what a tourist wants to see of London; it's basically one of the poorest parts of the city.

Carry on thinking like that, that's fine. Most of the people who think that way from around here have moved to Canvey, there are still some around but we don't want any more thanks.

15 minutes into town, less costly, good pubs and restaurants, what's not to like?

[Kim]

Barakta and I lived in Stratford for a year (while it was mostly a pre-Olympics building site) and, other than the Bow flyover, it was fine.  Though I'll agree not a centre for tourism (other than the occasional geographically-challenged USAnian in search of Shakespeare) and you'll be hopping on the tube/bus to see the sights.

[Frank9755]

The Canvey references are lost on me, but I am reminded of my clubmate who booked his wife and daughter into a hotel in St Quentin during PBP. When they got there they hated it, immediately booked flights home and made him get up early on the Sunday before his start to drive them to the airport...

[inappropriate_bike]

15 minutes into town, less costly, good pubs and restaurants, what's not to like?

Whatever you might think of Stratford as a place to live (or stay), it isn't really a destination in its own right on a once-in-a-lifetime-trip to see That London.

So - given the choice - I think it is good advice to stay within walking distance of Central London and the major tourist attractions.

[alwyn]

If you're looking for hotel bargains in town during the weekend, the City is the place to focus.

[Exit Stage Left]

British people don't arrive at Heathrow after a transatlantic journey, and then have to transfer to a hotel. Mainly they catch a train to one of the big railway stations, Euston, Kings Cross or Paddington, and set up base in a hotel nearby.

I'd be looking for advice from previous North American LEL participants. The out-of-towners favour hotels close to where they might arrive, and the Londoners know nothing about hotels, because they live in London. 

[redfalo]

Don't stay in Stratford! Your family will never forgive you for leaving them there. Suggestions above re Euston and Waterloo are good ones. Maybe Bermondsey might be a bit cheaper but still reasonably central.

They put the Olympics in Stratford because it was an area that had been bombed in the war, had some nasty industries and had never been cleaned up.  So there was lots of spare land to build new things on. But what is around the new buildings is not what a tourist wants to see of London; it's basically one of the poorest parts of the city.

this!

[inappropriate_bike]

I've be looking for advice from previous North American LEL participants. The out-of-towners favour hotels close to where they might arrive, and the Londoners know nothing about hotels, because they live in London.

Actually I know quite a lot about hotels because (like a lot of Londoners) I have a small flat and lots of visitors.

Most of the disagreements you see here are because London is just so big there are more options than you could personally experience and compare in years. Some of the bigger suburbs have more attractions than other large cities, and you could have fun anywhere. So advice can be wildly conflicting without being exactly wrong.

[Exit Stage Left]

I used to live on the very edge of London, in a place called Harefield. I live 200 miles away now, and the best way to see London is to get a train/hotel package. The hotel will be close to Euston station, which is handy for all the sights. I can leave the luggage in the hotel until it's time to catch the train home.

There must be a number of previous LEL participants who have experience of the Heathrow/East London experience. Facebook is probably the best place to find them.

[TimC]

My daughter lives in Stratford, on the Olympic park, and yesterday travelled there from Heathrow on the tube after arriving with me from JFK. It took an hour and a half, starting at 7:30 am. Admittedly she didn't have a bike, but she did have two suitcases. She would argue that Stratford is an excellent place to base your family for a week or so as transport connections are so good (and the park and Westfield are pretty good facilities to be next door to), but she's biased. I prefer Cape Town, but that's about as irrelevant as most of the answers here.

[Oscar's dad]

... I prefer Cape Town, but that's about as irrelevant as most of the answers here.