stevens397

We will be boarding the Queen Mary 2 on August 27 for a cruises to New York. We are spending a week or so in Scotland prior to the trip and plan on flying to London on the 26th. So, a few questions:

1. Where to stay? Will probably take a morning flight to London. By the time we get thru the airport, I imagine we really won't have a lot of time to do any sightseeing in London. No problem - been there a few times before. But the question is should we stay in London or should we think of staying closer to where the ship leaves from.

2. What airport? I guess that's based on the answer to the above. Seems LCY would be a good choice if staying in town while the others would be best if going straight to Southampton area.

3. How to get there? Taxi from airport to London is easy. Any ideas how best to get to Southampton? We'll have a bit of luggage so would prefer not shlepping through trains and buses.

Thanks for any insights you can provide.

exilencfc

Southampton has an airport, have you considered any connecting flight possibilities?

As for whether you should stay in London or in/near Southampton, what time do you need to board the ship?

UKtravelbear

Personally I'd go direct to Southampton from Scotland - going to and staying in London just adds extra complications.

Flybe currently fly from GLA, EDI and ABZ.

stut

Flying to Soton is a good plan, but just be very careful about the luggage weight allowances on Flybe - which are strictly adhered to - if you have a cruiseful of stuff with you!

If you're not interested by Southampton itself, I've enjoyed a stay at the Hotel du Vin in Winchester before. Interesting place, too.

HIDDY

I'd go for the Scotland-SOU direct flight as well. You'll likely have to buy extra luggage allowance on Flybe but it'll still be worth it.

Swanhunter

The Hotel du Vin is an excellent idea. Southampton hotels (and restaurants) are pretty mediocre whereas the HdV would be a lovely send off. It's about 30-45mins from there to the quayside assuming normal traffic. Similarly it's no more than 30mins from Southanpton Airport to the hotel.

Winchester is still mostly a prettylittle market town and feels very English. Southampton was bombed to pieces in WW2 and retains very little charm after being rebuilt in post war bland.

NewbieRunner

How about flying to LHR and something like this to the port?

Aviatrix

But why fly to LHR when you can fly to SOU? This would double the journey time...

NewbieRunner

Because the amount/weight of baggage seems to be a concern.

Aviatrix

There shouldn't be any concerns there. Some FlyBe fares include 20 kg of hold baggage, some don't (i.e., you pay extra if you're on a cheaper fare). And you can check up to 40 kg in total, for a fee. I haven't done any sums but think it unlikely that flying into LHR would work out cheaper, even if the free baggage allowance is higher on BA.

Aviatrix

Another thing that I just thought of... if you decide to fly into SOU, and you want to head off into Winchester for the night (which is the opposite direction from the cruise port) - you can leave your baggage at the airport, for a fee (£6 per item per day) and just hop on a train. Trains depart from the airport, and Winchester is all of 15 minutes away.

stevens397

One of the tours we are looking at ends in Inverness. That leaves me two choices. First is a 3+ hour bus ride back to Edinburgh so I can take a non-stop to Southampton. Alternative is a one hour flight to Gatwick and an under 1.5 hour taxi to Southampton or Winchester (the Hotel du Vin looks great - thanks). I'm leaning toward the latter. Just don't see the ability to do non-stop from anywhere other than Edinburgh or Glasgow. Will try to see if we can start in Edinburgh, do the North and end in Glasgow.

Swiss Tony

FlyBe offer through fares from Inverness to Southampton with a quick change in Manchester. Prices seem sensible - £62 per person for the cheapest fares on the FlyBe website for Aug 26th. Flight takes 3.5hrs, and SOU airport is a breeze to use.

Other options from Aberdeen too, but still appears to be 1 stop to Southampton.

Oh, and at SOU we stayed at the local Hilton and it was nowhere near as bleak as the tripadvisor reports had made out!

Gagravarr

What not take the train from Inverness to Edinburgh, then onto the Cross Country train south to Southampton? Should be more pleasant than a bus. East Coast trains used to offer some good advanced purchase fares on their Edinburgh-Inverness trains, I assume that Virgin Stagecoach East Coast Thingy still do since taking over yesterday. Scotrail AP fares are fairly good too.

lhrsfo

Flying to LGW and then spending the night in Winchester seems the most sensible idea, assuming costs work out ok. Southampton itself offers very little, and using LGW there's a large choice of flights. To get from Gatwick to Winchester, you have a choice of cab (more sensible) or train but in the latter case you'd have to come into Clapham Junction and change there.