Advice London

I want to take the wife to do some christmas shopping in London in the 2nd
week of December for a few days. The whole transport and accomodation should
be rather cheap, as the wife is known to spent quite some cash when in
shopping mode - and I prefer to let her spent it on items she wants instead
of fancy hotel rooms or Taxis.
I have checked quite some options and prepared a trip, yet I wonder if some
of you are able to improve on my planning.

So, here is what I thought of:
Germanwings to Stansted (return) 100 £
Airbus A9 Stansted to Stratford (return) 14 £

Transport from Stratford to the Hotel using DLR/Tube (*1)

Hotel Etap near City Airport 39+5 £ a night (*2)
or
Hotel Etap in Barking 41+5 £ a night (*3)

Details I am not sure of yet:
(*1) We will use the Tube for all transportation, so Travelcards are the
option to go I think. We arrive on a Friday morning, and head back on Monday
evening, thats 4 days. Shall I get Oyster Cards (where? Stratford Station?)
For the City Airport Hotel Zone 3 is good, the Barking Hotel needs a Zone 4
card. What do I need to get the Oyster, and what do I load onto it?

(*2) Never been there - is that good? By good I mean is there Tesco or
something close so one can get some things late in the evening? Long walk to
the Poonton Dock station? Long journey in the DLR into the city (although I
like riding the DLR)?

(*3) Been there a couple of times, located directly at a Tesco, but this is
a bit to walk to the Tube station, and it is a bit further out on the tube
map, and requires a zone4 card, and is 2 £ more expensive than the City
Airport one and...

Does one know an alternative to stay the three nights? Any nice B&B or Pub
or something located closer to the city?

Thanks!
Ralf

 

Anywhere in London is expensive, I'm afraid.

For pubs, get a copy of The Good Pub Guide from Amazon. This lists pubs
that offer accommodation and food, and the reviews are accurate. I've
used it frequently when travelling around the UK, as a nice pub is
always a better place to stay in than a plastic hotel, and always
cheaper.

 

Not really - City Airport is something of a wasteland. There are quite a
few new developments of flats nearby, but I've never seen anyone actually
*living* there ...

 

unfortunately I have seen the likes of those who live there - "trogs"
doesn't come close.

 

sounds reasonable. You can also get the Stansted Express into London
Liverpool Street, but it's a bit pricier.

really, don't. It's a shithole.

Don't know anything about Barking. It's a bit far out for a tourist
trip, mind.

I wouldn't bother with an Oyster for a one-off visit. IANPC, but
Oyster appears to be aimed squarely at regular commuters.

^^^^
You mean "West End". The City is the business district; the shopping
here's not the best.

Anything closer will be more expensive - even the Travelodge in Kings
Cross is 70/night.

 

OK, I know where that is, as I've passed it loads of times on my way
round the North Circ.

I wouldn't even be happy to park my car around there.

Indeed - the extra cost of a hotel per night would be offset a little
by a cheaper travelcard, but offset immensely by peace of mind and
much less travelling in from the fucking sticks.

 

Get an Oyster: Uncle Ken has ramped up the prices of `normal' tickets
so you'll pay over the odds if you don't get one. They cost 3 pounds
(refundable if you return the card) and you can charge them anywhere
they sell tickets. You get one at any Tube station by filling in a
form.

 

That's true, and it's worth pointing out that unless you're looking at
the higher end of the scale[1], the shopping experience in London is
no better than any other largish UK town centre.

I mean, come to London for the Theatres, Parks, Art Galleries,
Restaurants and Pubs, but not especially for shopping.

[1] and given the OP's evident parsimony I suspect this isn't the
case.

 

Or go to Bath for the Roman Baths, Architecture, Theatre and local
shopping, then visit Cribbs Causeway in Bristol for big shops.

 

Ralf Mayer wrote

You are aware, I hope, that a certain Egyptian Grocer is rumoured to own
a large chunk of Stanstead airport. He has built a huge down market
shopping mall there called Harlow, so your chances of actually getting
to London to do shopping are slim.

 

The Older Gentleman wrote

My local is in that.

 

to quote Lee Iacocca: "People want economy and they will pay any price
to get it"

 

Have a look at Ryanair, Easyjet and Air Berlin too.

£8 each way when I did it a fortnight ago.

There is also a 473 bus from Stratford Bus Station which drops you right
outside the hotel which would cost you £1.50 each. (80p with Oystercard)

If you are buying an Oyster, you can get them in the booking office in
Stratford station. £3 deposit and however much you want to add as a
credit. Have a look at www.tfl.gov.uk for more information on Oyster,
or Paul Corfield will be along shortly.

No real shops nearby. There are large Tescos at Beckton Park and
Bromley by Bow, neither of which are that handy. The 474 bus from
outside the hotel takes you to east Beckton District Centre for the 24
hour Asda.

And is seriously Pikey and located on the North Circular Road (which is
one hell of a busy road).

 

You can get one at any Tube station *without* filling in a form if you
want an unregistered one.

 

And loads of other places like newsagents, taaw.

Ali

 

Ugh - who would want to stay there!

Here is a local East London hotel which offers something a little
different, has a great bar and overlooks the edge of Epping Forest.

http://www.a1tourism.com/uk/a46683.html
http://www.fancyapint.com/main_site/thepubs/pub2733.html

It is located between Leytonstone (Central Line) and Walthamstow
(Victoria Line and main line trains). Frequent buses (route 257 stop
right outside) and run from Stratford to provide the direct connection
to your Airbus A9. You also a night bus from Central London (N55) to
the front door of the pub.

http://www.busmap.org/tt4/257.pdf

http://www.busmap.org/tt4/N055.pdf

As you have a hankering for Tesco supermarkets there is a huge one down
the road from the pub (Leytonstone - Gainsborough Rd). There are also 3
between the pub and Walthamstow (!)

http://www.multimap.com/clients/places.cgi?client=tesco&client=tesco

Right this is a little complex so I hope you are paying attention.

The choice of ticket is really dependent upon when you will travel
(before 9.30 or after 9.30; i.e. peak or off peak)

If you are simply going to be doing the tourist stuff and travelling off
peak then off peak one day travelcards will give you access to all modes
- bus, DLR, tube *and* National Rail (overground) services. The nearest
tubes to my suggested hotel are in Zone 3 which will mean you need Z1-4
one day off peak travelcards. These can be bought from stations or from
local newsagents / shops. You can also buy them in advance. These
tickets are NOT on Oyster card format. You have said how many days you
will be in London - if only a few days then this should be OK. If
nearer a week then it may be better to get an Oyster card.

One thing you should not do is pay cash for your tickets. Bus and Tube
Fares are now very, very expensive if you opt to pay cash rather than
buy a pre-purchased ticket.

Oyster cards are a smartcard ticket that are read by placing the card on
a reader on a ticket gate, validator or pad on the bus when you get on.

An Oyster card can have two types of ticket on it - a Travelcard season
ticket for a number of zones for 7 days, 1 month or any period up to one
year. A Travelcard allows unlimited travel on all modes for the period
of time you buy it for and for the zones you buy. Any travelcard is
valid on all TfL bus services throughout Greater London (and on some
that cross the boundary into adjacent counties).

The second ticket product is what is called "Pay as you Go" or "Pre-Pay"
(the old name for this). This means you load money onto the card and as
you travel the money is deducted from the card but at a discounted price
compared to paying cash. For example a bus ticket in cash is £1.50,
using Oyster PAYG it is 80p (off peak) or £1 (peak). PAYG is valid for
bus, DLR, Tube and only a very, very limited number of National Rail
lines. In addition the pre-pay fares deducted from your card will vary
by the zones you travel through and the times of day you travel.
Cleverly the card keeps a running total of all your deductions in a day
and if they exceed a pre-set limit (based on the nearest one day
travelcard card price less 50p) the deductions are therefore "capped"
and no more money is deducted. Providing you log your card in and out on
every tube / dlr journey and on entry to every bus this "capping" will
work automatically without you needed to do anything.

If you opt to have a Travelcard ticket for a week then that will almost
certainly cover your transport needs but they are priced as a commuter
ticket so are not that cheap. If you are going to travel off peak then
it may well be much better not to have a Travelcard but just to use
pre-pay and top up your card as you go. The real things to decide are

a) Will you travel regularly before 09.30 on a weekday
b) Will you use National Rail services a lot.

If you answer yes then get a 7 day travelcard, if not opt for Pre-Pay
where you'll get a discount and get the benefit of the capped price.


http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2006/downloads/tfl-fares-2006.pdf#page=1

gives you loads and loads of fare information.

See above for an East London selection.

However there will be loads of choice in Central London and I really
don't see why you wish to hang out in the wilds of East London.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

it's just a fucking pity that vast numbers of people who live, commute
and work in London can't take advantage of Oyster.

 

Overground rail users, I presume you mean?

Ali

 

yup, and more to the point, people who have to first use overground
rail and then the underground.

Actually, if I'm ranting on this subject, it's a fucking disgrace that
there are only four underground stations in the London Borough of
Enfield, and they're all actually over to one side in what used to be
the Municipal Borough of Southgate, not actually in Enfield at all.

And yet, and fucking yet, the underground runs to places such as
fucking Epping!

It's a damned disgrace, I tell you!

 

Ah, yes, the history of the Tube. There's no logic at all to it, it was all
politics - who lived where! - and property developers. Hence the Met and the
Essex stretch of the Central. Plus ca change, eh?

Ali