Need help in London, i might be able to help you

afrovillain

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Hi Experts,

May I know the best way to get to Stansted airport from London Victoria area? Just booked a Ryanair flight next month from London to Porto. :)

You can try national express as the bus station is located London Victoria. I have not tried taking it but the last time i went to Stansted i took their train after taking the tube. If you have heavy luggage, i suggest you take the bus instead.
 

orangemonkey88

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Hi Experts,

May I know the best way to get to Stansted airport from London Victoria area? Just booked a Ryanair flight next month from London to Porto. :)

take the terravision bus or national express bus from victoria to stansted. better to book tickets online and make sure you reach 5-10 mins earlier at least.
 

jimboyboy

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You can try national express as the bus station is located London Victoria. I have not tried taking it but the last time i went to Stansted i took their train after taking the tube. If you have heavy luggage, i suggest you take the bus instead.

Thanks afrovillain for your tips! I will be travelling with just a normal size backpack, only carry-on. :)
 

jimboyboy

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take the terravision bus or national express bus from victoria to stansted. better to book tickets online and make sure you reach 5-10 mins earlier at least.

Thanks orangemonkey88 for your advice!

Heard that Stansted airport's security screening can take quite a long time. Any truth to that? If so, maybe have to reach there much earlier.
 

Erwinlow

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Thanks orangemonkey88 for your advice!

Heard that Stansted airport's security screening can take quite a long time. Any truth to that? If so, maybe have to reach there much earlier.
Depends what time, if it's early morning up to 8/9+am, Stansted is maaaaad. Don't be shocked if you come at 5am and see people lying around sleeping on the floor everywhere. In fact 1am everyone stay there and camp for their early morning flight.

But even then there's a lot of lanes for the security screening so you wouldn't spend more than 30 minutes there even if it's really long, imo.

Btw, Terravision MIGHT not stop right at Stansted itself. They stop at a bus bay then have to take another 5 minute bus shuttle over to the main terminal. But I might be wrong, quite sometime back. National Express is great + very frequent departures.
 

orangemonkey88

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Depends what time, if it's early morning up to 8/9+am, Stansted is maaaaad. Don't be shocked if you come at 5am and see people lying around sleeping on the floor everywhere. In fact 1am everyone stay there and camp for their early morning flight.

But even then there's a lot of lanes for the security screening so you wouldn't spend more than 30 minutes there even if it's really long, imo.

Btw, Terravision MIGHT not stop right at Stansted itself. They stop at a bus bay then have to take another 5 minute bus shuttle over to the main terminal. But I might be wrong, quite sometime back. National Express is great + very frequent departures.

When did you fly ah? 10 years ago stansted was very messy lah. I was one of those who stayed overnight as a student trying to save $$ back in the days. But over the years they have cleaned up the airport very nicely, much much better these days, queues are also much more managable.

The last time I flown stansted was 2 years ago, but it was ok. I usually try to reach 2 half hours in advance and have never missed a flight (easily taken 20 over flights over the years)

I have taken terravision bus/easy bus and national express and I think they are comparable, prices similar and all stop at the same place at the airport, I never had problems with any of them or ever had to take a second bus. I just prefer the location of terravision/easy bus coz from the tube station no need to walk as far so I usually take those 2 instead. But check the location of the bus stop before you go. and just book the cheapest of the 3. terravision and national express use the big bus so easier to have space if you dont buy in advance, easy bus better to book, coz sometimes the use the small bus and no space if you dont book but easy bus sometimes cheapest if they have promo.
 

Erwinlow

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When did you fly ah? 10 years ago stansted was very messy lah. I was one of those who stayed overnight as a student trying to save $$ back in the days. But over the years they have cleaned up the airport very nicely, much much better these days, queues are also much more managable.

The last time I flown stansted was 2 years ago, but it was ok. I usually try to reach 2 half hours in advance and have never missed a flight (easily taken 20 over flights over the years)

I have taken terravision bus/easy bus and national express and I think they are comparable, prices similar and all stop at the same place at the airport, I never had problems with any of them or ever had to take a second bus. I just prefer the location of terravision/easy bus coz from the tube station no need to walk as far so I usually take those 2 instead. But check the location of the bus stop before you go. and just book the cheapest of the 3. terravision and national express use the big bus so easier to have space if you dont buy in advance, easy bus better to book, coz sometimes the use the small bus and no space if you dont book but easy bus sometimes cheapest if they have promo.
Flown many times in the past few years, most recent was 2 months ago. Now still very messy when you come in the early morning :s22:
 

mige16

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Hi, I’m travelling to London with my wife, 2kids aged 3&6, my mum and mil for 10 days in June. Wanna Ask about Sim prepaid card. I can get one at the airport rite? Which telcom will u recommend?
 

Erwinlow

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Hi, I’m travelling to London with my wife, 2kids aged 3&6, my mum and mil for 10 days in June. Wanna Ask about Sim prepaid card. I can get one at the airport rite? Which telcom will u recommend?
Check your PM.

Anyone traveling to UK and Europe can PM me for free SIM cards which will have data for countries in UK and Europe. Delivered to your SG address and free £5 credits. (for reference, a 4gb 1 month plan is £12). It's more expensive to buy at Heathrow as the SIM itself is not free already.
 
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mige16

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Check your PM.

Anyone traveling to UK and Europe can PM me for free SIM cards which will have data for countries in UK and Europe. Delivered to your SG address and free £5 credits. (for reference, a 4gb 1 month plan is £12). It's more expensive to buy at Heathrow as the SIM itself is not free already.

Thanks bro
 

tanchoo1

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Hi folks,

Here are some alternatives to consider in London.

(1) Instead of going to Oxford Street for shopping (which I consider far too touristy and crowded), consider Westfield London instead. It is served by at least three tube stations: Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, and Shepherd's Bush Market. It's entirely covered, so a great place to shop, rain or shine. And it's HUGE. I mean, HUGE. You really do not need to go anywhere else (except perhaps Bicester Village).

(2) Instead of buying the Oyster card, consider using any SG-issued contactless credit or debit card instead. You will also benefit from daily and weekly caps as long as you always use the same card to tap in and out. As long as your credit or debit card supports contactless payments, it will work. There is no need for any pre-registration even for foreign cards.

I've tested it with my SG AMEX Platinum contactless card; I know other people have used it with their POSB contactless cards. This saves you the trouble of buying the oyster card, making sure that there is enough balance, and returning it for a refund. Literally, just touch and go. Works on tube trains, buses, and most likely all other forms of public transport in London.

(3) Instead of taking the Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect, consider using the London tube to travel in between London and Heathrow Airport. It is by far the cheapest way to do so, and prices start from GBP 3 per person. The Picadilly line brings you to Central London in about an hour. Great if you are on a budget and not in a hurry.

Do bear in mind that if you have heavy luggage, most of the train stations were constructed in the day when there were no such thing as lifts and escalators. So, expect to struggle over steps.

(4) Instead of bemoaning the lack of cheap hawker food (seriously, how do you have open air hawker centers in winter... please use some brains can? LOL), consider all the cheap and tasty ready-to-eat products in supermarkets. If you have cooking facilities in your accommodation, even better.

From salads to sandwiches to pizzas to beef bourguignon to scottish mussles in white wine cream sauce to desserts (the range is endless), you will be spoilt for choice. Just head to any supermarket. M&S is our favourite in terms of price and quality, but Waitrose is fairly decent too, and you can't really go wrong with any of the other famous supermarkets (Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons).

If you're on a tight budget, consider the german discounters: Aldi and Lidl. There's a reason why they're doing so well in the UK; their food is cheap AND good.

(5) Instead of activating data roaming, consider instead giffgaff SIM cards. I believe you can order them in advance and have them delivered to your address in SG. Typically, a goodybag is what you should be buying.

An added advantage of this SIM card is that it can be used anywhere in the EU once you have stayed in the UK for a minimum of three days. When that happens, EU Roaming is automatically turned on, which means you can then use your goodybag allowance anywhere in the EU without incurring roaming charges at all, as if you are still in the UK. What that means effectively is that you can roam for free in the EU, once you spend at least three days in the UK.

To elaborate; say you bought the GBP 12 goodybag which gives you 4GB data. Say you use 1GB in UK. You can use the other 3GB in any EU country within the one month validity of the goodybag.

To order your giffgaff SIM:

https://www.giffgaff.com/support/sim-and-number/ordering-your-first-sim

Hope this helps.
 
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tohms2002

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Hi folks,

Here are some alternatives to consider in London.

(1) Instead of going to Oxford Street for shopping (which I consider far too touristy and crowded), consider Westfield London instead. It is served by at least three tube stations: Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, and Shepherd's Bush Market. It's entirely covered, so a great place to shop, rain or shine. And it's HUGE. I mean, HUGE. You really do not need to go anywhere else (except perhaps Bicester Village).

(2) Instead of buying the Oyster card, consider using any SG-issued contactless credit or debit card instead. You will also benefit from daily and weekly caps as long as you always use the same card to tap in and out. As long as your credit or debit card supports contactless payments, it will work. There is no need for any pre-registration even for foreign cards.

I've tested it with my SG AMEX Platinum contactless card; I know other people have used it with their POSB contactless cards. This saves you the trouble of buying the oyster card, making sure that there is enough balance, and returning it for a refund. Literally, just touch and go. Works on tube trains, buses, and most likely all other forms of public transport in London.

(3) Instead of taking the Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect, consider using the London tube to travel in between London and Heathrow Airport. It is by far the cheapest way to do so, and prices start from GBP 3 per person. The Picadilly line brings you to Central London in about an hour. Great if you are on a budget and not in a hurry.

Do bear in mind that if you have heavy luggage, most of the train stations were constructed in the day when there were no such thing as lifts and escalators. So, expect to struggle over steps.

(4) Instead of bemoaning the lack of cheap hawker food (seriously, how do you have open air hawker centers in winter... please use some brains can? LOL), consider all the cheap and tasty ready-to-eat products in supermarkets. If you have cooking facilities in your accommodation, even better.

From salads to sandwiches to pizzas to beef bourguignon to scottish mussles in white wine cream sauce to desserts (the range is endless), you will be spoilt for choice. Just head to any supermarket. M&S is our favourite in terms of price and quality, but Waitrose is fairly decent too, and you can't really go wrong with any of the other famous supermarkets (Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons).

If you're on a tight budget, consider the german discounters: Aldi and Lidl. There's a reason why they're doing so well in the UK; their food is cheap AND good.

(5) Instead of activating data roaming, consider instead giffgaff SIM cards. I believe you can order them in advance and have them delivered to your address in SG. Typically, a goodybag is what you should be buying.

An added advantage of this SIM card is that it can be used anywhere in the EU once you have stayed in the UK for a minimum of three days. When that happens, EU Roaming is automatically turned on, which means you can then use your goodybag allowance anywhere in the EU without incurring roaming charges at all, as if you are still in the UK. What that means effectively is that you can roam for free in the EU, once you spend at least three days in the UK.

To elaborate; say you bought the GBP 12 goodybag which gives you 4GB data. Say you use 1GB in UK. You can use the other 3GB in any EU country within the one month validity of the goodybag.

To order your giffgaff SIM:

https://www.giffgaff.com/support/sim-and-number/ordering-your-first-sim

Hope this helps.

Great Info!!!!!!
Thanks
 

havcove

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Hi, I’m travelling to London with my wife, 2kids aged 3&6, my mum and mil for 10 days in June. Wanna Ask about Sim prepaid card. I can get one at the airport rite? Which telcom will u recommend?

try giffgaff or three.. both have unlimited data package for 30 days.. three connection is better though....:)
 

mige16

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try giffgaff or three.. both have unlimited data package for 30 days.. three connection is better though....:)

Thanks! Tried gift gaff. Not bad except for certain tube lines where connections are unstable. Other than that, not bad. I also have EE line to play safe which is stable and reliable too in London.
 

kengkoon

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Check your PM.

Anyone traveling to UK and Europe can PM me for free SIM cards which will have data for countries in UK and Europe. Delivered to your SG address and free £5 credits. (for reference, a 4gb 1 month plan is £12). It's more expensive to buy at Heathrow as the SIM itself is not free already.

Hi

I am travelling to UK and Europe in Oct/Nov.
I dont have 10 post count could you pm me instead?
Thank you.
 

helloworld321

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Hi. I have a 4 friends who intend to study in London for 6 months @ UCL. But the hostel etc is extremely expensive. Any recommendation for places with direct train to UCL?
 

ralphlauren

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Is shepherd’s bush area a good place to stay base for 6 nights? First time to London so will be visiting all the tourist traps around London. Might also wana do day trip to bath, Stonehenge , Oxford and Cambridge.
 
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