10 hours in London - what to do?

[gmoneyjive]

Doesn't look like many people check the London board, so I'll post this here:

On our way to Ibiza this saturday, we have a 10 hour layover in London, and another 10 hour layover on the way back about a week later. We have to get from Heathrow to Gatwick on the way there, and vice versa on the way back. So my question is this - are there any bars/pubs to kill time at near Gatwick (for the way there) and Heathrow (for the way back)?

Also, what's the best way to get from airport to airport - bus? train? taxi?

Anything else we should definitely do while there? We probably only have 5 or 6 hours to kill with having to check in early, and travel from one airport to the other so I'd like to stay somewhat close to the airport we'll be flying out of next.

[mockett]

I've not had to do the trip, so this is purely my best guess from knowing the locations and train links etc.

Taxi would be easiest, but ultimately quite pricey (especially with a black cab) - depends on how many of you there are.

Train - there is an express service into Paddington, but I think you then need to get across London to Victoria to catch the train down to Gatwick - bit of a pain in the arse if you have lots of bags, but more likely to find a pub on the way.

I'm sure there will be buses between the two, but don't know enough to comment.

You probably want to find a pub on route between the two for a couple of hours if you catch a train rather than waiting to get to Gatwick as it isn't the best airport. Heathrow on the other hand has good shops and a few bars depending on which of the 4 terminals you are in.

As with most airports there isn't much around the locations except for the airports themselves, so there isn't much chance of you seeing any of Blighty's finer points.....

[koyer973]

if u are lookin for a good club check out FABRIC forgot the location. its in london not to far from tower bridge. the place is nuts, fridays its drum and bass. and saturdays trance. when i went to london last summer.....

[kenl]

Im sure my mates down in Lewisham/Lee would be down for pub crawl. But as mentioned above there isnt much near the airports.

[gmoneyjive]

Actually, nevermind the part about having to be near the airport. I just talked to a friend who said the train system is really easy, and looked up the train/tube/underground whatever you call it map, and it looks pretty easy. So I guess here's the question - what's the best part of London to go to for bars/pubs?

if u are lookin for a good club check out FABRIC forgot the location. its in london not to far from tower bridge. the place is nuts, fridays its drum and bass. and saturdays trance. when i went to london last summer.....

Fabric looks cool, but it is only open at night, and we are going to be there from 9:30am till around 5pm on our way to ibiza, so we need places that are open during the day (hopefully the pubs open early). On our way back, we will be there from 1am till 7am Sunday night/Monday morning - are there any places open on suday night?

Im sure my mates down in Lewisham/Lee would be down for pub crawl. But as mentioned above there isnt much near the airports.

Sounds good to me - so where is a good place to go? Central London maybe?

[bigpoppanils]

Actually, nevermind the part about having to be near the airport. I just talked to a friend who said the train system is really easy, and looked up the train/tube/underground whatever you call it map, and it looks pretty easy. So I guess here's the question - what's the best part of London to go to for bars/pubs?

Fabric looks cool, but it is only open at night, and we are going to be there from 9:30am till around 5pm on our way to ibiza, so we need places that are open during the day (hopefully the pubs open early). On our way back, we will be there from 1am till 7am Sunday night/Monday morning - are there any places open on suday night?

Sounds good to me - so where is a good place to go? Central London maybe?

The UK is a nation of drunks. There are pubs pretty much everywhere.

[gmoneyjive]

The UK is a nation of drunks. There are pubs pretty much everywhere.

LOL... good point. Lemme put it this way - if you were looking for a good pub scene and could only go to one section of the city for the day, where would you go? (I'm guessing you know London pretty well)

[sheendawg]

I love guys that say "mates"....

This may be a dilemna for me soon, so thanks for asking!

[gmoneyjive]

Ok, I pretty much have it figured out (for anyone who may need this in the future)... Victoria station seems to be the best place to switch trains - from there you can take the underground (London's version of the subway) to Heathrow, and a number of trains or buses to Gatwick. There's also over a hundred pubs within a mile of there, so that's good enough for me.

[gmoneyjive]

Ok, I pretty much have it figured out (for anyone who may need this in the future)... Victoria station seems to be the best place to switch trains - from there you can take the underground (London's version of the subway) to Heathrow, and a number of trains or buses to Gatwick. There's also over a hundred pubs within a mile of there, so that's good enough for me. There is a bus that goes directly between Heathrow and Gatwick, but it stays outside the city and doesn't go to any areas with pubs/restraunts - but if I was in a hurry I'd take that bus.