Help good people of NSC! Organising a day trip to London from Eastbourne.

[Austrian Gull]

Good afternoon to you all from a gloomy Austria.

In April 2016 I will be travelling to Eastbourne for a week with a group of our schoolchildren and I have been assigned the task of organising a day trip to London (60 kids plus four teachers.)

The travel firm have quoted us 18 euros a head for a train plus underground ticket which strikes me as a little pricey. We have been offered a coach for the day at 20 euros per passenger.

I should add that we're going to London on a Sunday

My questions to you all:

1. Does anyone know if a group ticket directly bought from Southern is cheaper than the above price?
2. How long would it normally take to get to Central London by coach from Eastbourne?
3. Is there anywhere closer to Eastbourne to the south of London where we could be dropped off at with good, quick public transport links to the centre?

I'd be grateful for any advice. Up the Albion!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

If it's a Sunday, there could be a bus replacement service on the trains. At least with a coach, you can ask the driver to take you to various parts of the city, depending on what you want to visit. You could also run your own sightseeing trip around the main attractions, near the end of the day.

 

[Beach Hut]

Why is Austria gloomy ?

I am going there on Sunday

 

[beorhthelm]

18 euros including the underground sound damn cheap to me (for comparison, regular off peak is £17 for adults). you'll need to buy that on top of your coach if you take that option. major attractions are usually few hundred meters from a tube. nothing is near a coach park.

coach will take 2hrs, with a fair wind. train to Victoria is 1hr 30.

seen Thunderbirds point... i dont think you can park up near any attractions and wait, coaches have to drop you off and go to designated parks afaik.

 

[sydney]

we've just been ......you can get prices from southernrail.com unfortunately the oyster cards(underground) have a 15 pound deposit and as you are going on a sunday you will probably struggle with the refund......pretty sure kids travel for a pound and adults were 17 quid...good luck , a day in London is never enough.

 

[Norman Potting]

Why don't you just take them on the Amex tour instead, 4 home games that month as well.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Might be worth dropping Darren at Seagull Travel a line to see if he can get you a better deal on the coach.

Also, Under 16's travel free on public transport in London (one of Boris' better ideas) so it may be that you get the coach to drop you somewhere and you use the tube/bus to get around.

 

[Lifelong Supporter]

Best of luck for what will be a tiring and enjoyable day for all. 60 kids.. wow !! I wonder what age.

The train fare quoted seems good value to me and has the advantage of time.

The downside on the coach is the time it takes. The average coach journey time into London from Eastbourne is 3hr 15 mins (see National Express statistics) but perhaps as you are travelling on a Sunday you would get there in say 2 hrs 30 mins.

The coach would likely be easier for those supervising.

Much might depend on what you are intending to do. If you are off to see museums in Kensington I am sure there will be coach parks local.

 

[NooBHA]

I live in London and I would concur that 18 Euros for the train is really good deal. if you want it reduced, ask how much it would cost without the Underground ticket. You wouldn't need it.

You can do a full day trip by taking train to London Bridge station - At London Bridge, you are right next to

1.Tower Bridge & Tower of London
2. The London Dungeon - Kids would love that
3. The Clink Prison
4 HMS Belfast Battleship
5. Borough market where the Bridget Jones films are set
6. Southwark Cathedral

You can then walk along the South Bank where you come to Waterloo, after passing the Millenium Bridge and Tate Modern Museum(free entry) which has

1. South Bank Centre which often has events on there
2. London Eye & London Aquarium
3. Legoland
4 Imperial War Museum - This is free entry

Walk a little further and you come to Westminster bridge which has Big Ben to see and lots of street entertainers

You will take up the whole day easily dong these things, in fact there is no way that you can do all of these in one day, so the kids will be knackered by the time you walk back to Blackfriars Station to get the train back home.

Some of these places are free but some have an entry fee but they will give reductions for block bookings if you contact them beforehand and the money you save by not going on the tube you can put towards entry fees.


This is a real easy route to take and it is all along the river bank so has really nice views. The kids will be so exhausted they will sleep all the way home. Make sure they bring a packed lunch and the can eat on the Green alongside the London Eyes so long as it is not wet. If it is you can go indoors and eat it in the South Bank Centre.

ENJOY YOUR TRIP !

 

[rool]

I think there are fairly generous group discounts direct with Southern. That may be the same as you have been quoted but just in case I googles the contact number at Southern. You can then just get a return ticket with zone 1 travel on it I would have thought.

To make group bookings for more than 20 passengers please contact Southern Customer Services. For smaller groups, please check out the GroupSave offers below.

Tel: 03451 27 29 20 - select option 7 (calls may be recorded)

Minicom/ textphone: 03451 27 29 40

Tickets may be purchased through Southern Customer Services with the following conditions:

There is a minimum of 20 passengers
Tickets must be purchased at least 10 working days in advance to allow for posting
The service cannot be used to purchase season tickets

 

[Austrian Gull]

Why is Austria gloomy ?

I am going there on Sunday

The weather is expected to improve by the weekend - inspired by your presence, Beach Hut.

18 euros including the underground sound damn cheap to me (for comparison, regular off peak is £17 for adults). you'll need to buy that on top of your coach if you take that option. major attractions are usually few hundred meters from a tube. nothing is near a coach park.

coach will take 2hrs, with a fair wind. train to Victoria is 1hr 30.

seen Thunderbirds point... i dont think you can park up near any attractions and wait, coaches have to drop you off and go to designated parks afaik.

I don't want to seem a tightwad as 18 euros isn't that much but I'd expected that with 60 fourteen year old kids it might be cheaper.

we've just been ......you can get prices from southernrail.com unfortunately the oyster cards(underground) have a 15 pound deposit and as you are going on a sunday you will probably struggle with the refund......pretty sure kids travel for a pound and adults were 17 quid...good luck , a day in London is never enough.

Last time I went on this trip we stayed two nights in a youth hostel in Russell Square. Our precious, spoilt Austrian children moaned so much about the hostel I swore we'd only go on a day trip next time! They're just not used to roughing it...

Why don't you just take them on the Amex tour instead, 4 home games that month as well.

Good idea for the tour! Might just look into that. No home games though - a colleague has already organised the flights and we won't be there for a match.

Might be worth dropping Darren at Seagull Travel a line to see if he can get you a better deal on the coach.

Also, Under 16's travel free on public transport in London (one of Boris' better ideas) so it may be that you get the coach to drop you somewhere and you use the tube/bus to get around.

Under 16s can travel free? Is this true for us without Oystercards?

Best of luck for what will be a tiring and enjoyable day for all. 60 kids.. wow !! I wonder what age.

The train fare quoted seems good value to me and has the advantage of time.

The downside on the coach is the time it takes. The average coach journey time into London from Eastbourne is 3hr 15 mins (see National Express statistics) but perhaps as you are travelling on a Sunday you would get there in say 2 hrs 30 mins.

The coach would likely be easier for those supervising.

Much might depend on what you are intending to do. If you are off to see museums in Kensington I am sure there will be coach parks local.

The ratio for trips here is 20 students: 1 teacher! We managed to wangle another teacher.

 

[beorhthelm]

NooBHA, good shout focusing on London Bridge, though i dont think you could fit in all that and walk to South bank with kids in tow. i was about to reply to suggest only aiming/expecting to do a couple of things unless they are close, but theres a lot at LB in close proximity.

 

[Notters]

1.Tower Bridge & Tower of London
2. The London Dungeon - Kids would love that
3. The Clink Prison
4 HMS Belfast Battleship
5. Borough market where the Bridget Jones films are set
6. Southwark Cathedral

You can then walk along the South Bank where you come to Waterloo, after passing the Millenium Bridge and Tate Modern Museum(free entry) which has

1. South Bank Centre which often has events on there
2. London Eye & London Aquarium
3. Legoland
4 Imperial War Museum - This is free entry

Blimey you'd do well to do one of those things on a Sunday in April, they'll be very busy. Is there no way you can get them to move it to midweek OP?

 

[NooBHA]

Why is Austria gloomy ?

I am going there on Sunday

I am also in Vienna this weekend Friday till Monday but planning boat cruise one of the days to Bratislava

 

[studio150]

Why don't you just take them on the Amex tour instead, 4 home games that month as well.

Better still move the trip to Saturday 23rd April and take in sunny South London with a trip to the Valley pre match a walk on the O2 roof and post game a cable car ride everyone wins.

 

[dazzer6666]

Better still move the trip to Saturday 23rd April and take in sunny South London with a trip to the Valley pre match a walk on the O2 roof and post game a cable car ride everyone wins.

Hope you're not planning on going on 24th April ??

 

[Austrian Gull]

Blimey you'd do well to do one of those things on a Sunday in April, they'll be very busy. Is there no way you can get them to move it to midweek OP?

The children have got classes at the language school every morning from Monday to Thursday so Saturday or Sunday are our only options.

Great ideas from NooBha.

Any ideas from anyone about somewhere in South London with good transport access to the centre which would cut our coach journey time?

I just have a feeling that we might spend three hours getting into London otherwise.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Can't imagine Austria is much gloomier than Eastbourne!

 

[rool]

The children have got classes at the language school every morning from Monday to Thursday so Saturday or Sunday are our only options.

Great ideas from NooBha.

Any ideas from anyone about somewhere in South London with good transport access to the centre which would cut our coach journey time?

I just have a feeling that we might spend three hours getting into London otherwise.

Canada Water. There's a bus station there and the Jubilee Line takes you direct to Waterloo and London Bridge.

 

[Notters]

The children have got classes at the language school every morning from Monday to Thursday so Saturday or Sunday are our only options.

Great ideas from NooBha.

Any ideas from anyone about somewhere in South London with good transport access to the centre which would cut our coach journey time?

I just have a feeling that we might spend three hours getting into London otherwise.

Driving into London on a Sunday should be fine. You can get to central parts via the A2 pretty easily.