Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Hi everyone,

after having a look at the available flights and airports I wonder if there are some practical suggestions from people living in London or Great Britain or have experience with traveling there.

For instance it looks like most cheap flights use London/Stansted which seems to be quite a bit away from London. Assuming that they to rip people of with the transfer from Stansted to London, would it make sense to use Heathrow instead?

Does it make sense to book train tickets from the airport to London City in advance?

Are there any practical suggestions regarding accommodation?

Thanks a lot!

Bye,

Simon

PS: Is there a more detailed program for Scala Days? Most importantly when the conference starts in the morning on the 17th and when it ends on the 18th?

Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Kevin Wright 2 on 2012-02-14, 12:31
Stansted express[1] isn't too bad.  Fast, new, trains with comfortable seats and costs about £30 GBP for a return ticket. It also comes with both free wi-fi and power sockets (make sure you bring a UK adaptor!), well worth it for any self-respecting geek...  You'll generally get a better price if you can book ahead of time, you also want to check if your chosen airline has any discounts available and perhaps google around for any valid codes.
Heathrow is a nightmare, you'll find yourself walking around in the place forever and luggage collection takes half a lifetime (admittedly though, access to the tube is handy). I'd advise you to avoid it, the only airport that's worse is Luton - take my word on this.
If you can find a flight, the best airport is London city.  It's low volume and tends to cost a bit more, but you'll be through security and checkout in record time.

[1] https://www.stanstedexpress.com

On 14 February 2012 10:52, Simon Ochsenreither <simon [dot] ochsenreither [at] googlemail [dot] com> wrote:
Hi everyone,

after having a look at the available flights and airports I wonder if there are some practical suggestions from people living in London or Great Britain or have experience with traveling there.

For instance it looks like most cheap flights use London/Stansted which seems to be quite a bit away from London. Assuming that they to rip people of with the transfer from Stansted to London, would it make sense to use Heathrow instead?

Does it make sense to book train tickets from the airport to London City in advance?

Are there any practical suggestions regarding accommodation?

Thanks a lot!

Bye,

Simon

PS: Is there a more detailed program for Scala Days? Most importantly when the conference starts in the morning on the 17th and when it ends on the 18th?


Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Chris Marshall 2 on 2012-02-14, 12:51
I disagree about Luton (it's fine) and totally agree about City airport. It's well-served from Switzerland as well, I think.
One thing: do not underestimate how long it will take you to get across London. Paddington to Liverpool Street is probably a 30 minute journey by tube. Another thing; tube ticket queues are often long at mainland stations such as Paddington - basically full of tourists who (for some unknown reason) do not want to use the machines. Use the machines - you can pay by card, get travelcards from them etc etc! You will only need a zone 1 ticket, unless you are making a pilgrimmage outside the centre.
Chris

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 11:12 AM, Kevin Wright <kev [dot] lee [dot] wright [at] gmail [dot] com> wrote:
Stansted express[1] isn't too bad.  Fast, new, trains with comfortable seats and costs about £30 GBP for a return ticket. It also comes with both free wi-fi and power sockets (make sure you bring a UK adaptor!), well worth it for any self-respecting geek...  You'll generally get a better price if you can book ahead of time, you also want to check if your chosen airline has any discounts available and perhaps google around for any valid codes.
Heathrow is a nightmare, you'll find yourself walking around in the place forever and luggage collection takes half a lifetime (admittedly though, access to the tube is handy). I'd advise you to avoid it, the only airport that's worse is Luton - take my word on this.
If you can find a flight, the best airport is London city.  It's low volume and tends to cost a bit more, but you'll be through security and checkout in record time.

[1] https://www.stanstedexpress.com

On 14 February 2012 10:52, Simon Ochsenreither <simon [dot] ochsenreither [at] googlemail [dot] com> wrote:
Hi everyone,

after having a look at the available flights and airports I wonder if there are some practical suggestions from people living in London or Great Britain or have experience with traveling there.

For instance it looks like most cheap flights use London/Stansted which seems to be quite a bit away from London. Assuming that they to rip people of with the transfer from Stansted to London, would it make sense to use Heathrow instead?

Does it make sense to book train tickets from the airport to London City in advance?

Are there any practical suggestions regarding accommodation?

Thanks a lot!

Bye,

Simon

PS: Is there a more detailed program for Scala Days? Most importantly when the conference starts in the morning on the 17th and when it ends on the 18th?



Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Kevin Wright 2 on 2012-02-14, 13:01

On 14 February 2012 11:26, Chris Marshall <oxbowlakes [at] gmail [dot] com> wrote:
I disagree about Luton (it's fine) and totally agree about City airport. It's well-served from Switzerland as well, I think.

No way! Luton is even further away from London than Heathrow is, far off to the north-west, and it doesn't have a train station.  You either have to take a bus to central london (cheap, but takes over an hour) or bus to luton parkway and take a train from there.  You'll then have to travel even further on the underground to get you to Barbican.  That's a lot of juggling with small change that a foreigner is unlikely to have.
http://g.co/maps/brgue You'll get out of City Airport fast, but it's still about 40 mins on public transport to then get you to Barbican.
http://g.co/maps/8s5bj

One thing: do not underestimate how long it will take you to get across London. Paddington to Liverpool Street is probably a 30 minute journey by tube. Another thing; tube ticket queues are often long at mainland stations such as Paddington - basically full of tourists who (for some unknown reason) do not want to use the machines. Use the machines - you can pay by card, get travelcards from them etc etc! You will only need a zone 1 ticket, unless you are making a pilgrimmage outside the centre.

The stansted express will drop you off a Liverpool Street, which is about 10 minutes walk from Barbican. No ticket required :)  Or you can the the 153 bus.  Curiously, Google thinks you must first spend 14 mins walking from Stansted airport to Stansted airport - go figure!
http://g.co/maps/jvx2x
 
Chris

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 11:12 AM, Kevin Wright <kev [dot] lee [dot] wright [at] gmail [dot] com> wrote:
Stansted express[1] isn't too bad.  Fast, new, trains with comfortable seats and costs about £30 GBP for a return ticket. It also comes with both free wi-fi and power sockets (make sure you bring a UK adaptor!), well worth it for any self-respecting geek...  You'll generally get a better price if you can book ahead of time, you also want to check if your chosen airline has any discounts available and perhaps google around for any valid codes.
Heathrow is a nightmare, you'll find yourself walking around in the place forever and luggage collection takes half a lifetime (admittedly though, access to the tube is handy). I'd advise you to avoid it, the only airport that's worse is Luton - take my word on this.
If you can find a flight, the best airport is London city.  It's low volume and tends to cost a bit more, but you'll be through security and checkout in record time.

[1] https://www.stanstedexpress.com

On 14 February 2012 10:52, Simon Ochsenreither <simon [dot] ochsenreither [at] googlemail [dot] com> wrote:
Hi everyone,

after having a look at the available flights and airports I wonder if there are some practical suggestions from people living in London or Great Britain or have experience with traveling there.

For instance it looks like most cheap flights use London/Stansted which seems to be quite a bit away from London. Assuming that they to rip people of with the transfer from Stansted to London, would it make sense to use Heathrow instead?

Does it make sense to book train tickets from the airport to London City in advance?

Are there any practical suggestions regarding accommodation?

Thanks a lot!

Bye,

Simon

PS: Is there a more detailed program for Scala Days? Most importantly when the conference starts in the morning on the 17th and when it ends on the 18th?





Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Simon Ochsenreither on 2012-02-14, 12:31
Hi!

Ok, noted. I just fear that I can't make it in the morning to the conference if I have long transfer from the airport to the city ... which would have a big influence on my travel plans.

At the moment I thought about flying in the morning to London on the 17th and leaving in the evening on the 18th. But If that would mean I miss half the conference I would fly earlier.

I also have looked at a few hotels, but some of then even offer built-in kitchens and stuff ... which just doesn't matter if I need approx. 2 square meters to sleep and a shower.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Bye,

Simon

Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Paul Hudson on 2012-02-14, 13:11
>   which just doesn't matter if I need approx. 2 square meters to sleep and a shower.

Youth Hostel?  http://www.yha.org.uk/ About 20 gbp a night.
Paul

Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Simon Ochsenreither on 2012-02-14, 14:01
Mhhh, thanks. City YMCA seems to be an option, too. At least it is very close to the Barbican.

Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Chris Marshall 2 on 2012-02-14, 12:21
Stansted, Gatwick and Luton are all reasonably well served from London during normal travel hours. Indeed, Stansted trains go to Liverpool Street, considerably closer to the Barbican than Heathrow trains, which go to Paddington. The (possible) main advantage of Heathrow is that it is served by London underground - i.e. you could get from Heathrow to Barbican easily and reasonably cheaply but the journey will take well over an hour. Also, Heathrow is more accessible outside normal hours (e.g. at 5am).
Taxis from Heathrow airport are good value if you do *not* use a black cab and book one in advance *and* there are several of you. For example, Heathrow to Barbican is probably under £50 - but a Heathrow Express train to paddington will set you back >£20 and then you will need a tube pass on top of that. Trains from Stansted and Gatwick are not that much more expensive than Heathrow - but they take 40-50 minutes instead of 15.
http://www.tfl.go.uk
Probably the best person to advise about London hotels would be a frequent traveller here, rather than someone who lives here. They won't be cheap - but then neither was Lausanne or Stanford!
Chris

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 10:52 AM, Simon Ochsenreither <simon [dot] ochsenreither [at] googlemail [dot] com> wrote:
Hi everyone,

after having a look at the available flights and airports I wonder if there are some practical suggestions from people living in London or Great Britain or have experience with traveling there.

For instance it looks like most cheap flights use London/Stansted which seems to be quite a bit away from London. Assuming that they to rip people of with the transfer from Stansted to London, would it make sense to use Heathrow instead?

Does it make sense to book train tickets from the airport to London City in advance?

Are there any practical suggestions regarding accommodation?

Thanks a lot!

Bye,

Simon

PS: Is there a more detailed program for Scala Days? Most importantly when the conference starts in the morning on the 17th and when it ends on the 18th?

Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Paul Hudson on 2012-02-14, 12:21
> Assuming that they to rip people of with the transfer from Stansted to London
Prices aren't too bad.
http://www.stansted-airport-guide.co.uk/london.html
> Does it make sense to book train tickets from the airport to London City in advance?
It probably won't make much /any difference to the price, but if it makes you happier to know you have a reservation...  >   would it make sense to use Heathrow instead?

Only if the flight prices are very close. Heathrow isn't that near the centre of London either
Paul

On 14 February 2012 10:52, Simon Ochsenreither <simon [dot] ochsenreither [at] googlemail [dot] com> wrote:
Hi everyone,

after having a look at the available flights and airports I wonder if there are some practical suggestions from people living in London or Great Britain or have experience with traveling there.

For instance it looks like most cheap flights use London/Stansted which seems to be quite a bit away from London. Assuming that they to rip people of with the transfer from Stansted to London, would it make sense to use Heathrow instead?

Does it make sense to book train tickets from the airport to London City in advance?

Are there any practical suggestions regarding accommodation?

Thanks a lot!

Bye,

Simon

PS: Is there a more detailed program for Scala Days? Most importantly when the conference starts in the morning on the 17th and when it ends on the 18th?

Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Simon Ochsenreither on 2012-02-14, 12:21
Btw if I enter the preferential code suggested on http://days2012.scala-lang.org/node/187 at Citadines reservation I get "The preferential code you have entered is invalid or may have expired. Please explore our website for other available rates.".

Is this expected?

Re: Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Antonio Cunei on 2012-02-14, 15:01

On 14/02/2012 12:06, Simon Ochsenreither wrote:
> Btw if I enter the preferential code suggested on
> http://days2012.scala-lang.org/node/187 at Citadines reservation I get
> "The preferential code you have entered is invalid or may have expired.
> Please explore our website for other available rates.".
>
> Is this expected?

The people at SkillsMatter are looking into it, we'll keep you posted.
Toni

Re: Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Antonio Cunei on 2012-02-15, 15:51

On 14/02/2012 14:48, Antonio Cunei wrote:
> On 14/02/2012 12:06, Simon Ochsenreither wrote:
>> Btw if I enter the preferential code suggested on
>> http://days2012.scala-lang.org/node/187 at Citadines reservation I get
>> "The preferential code you have entered is invalid or may have expired.
>> Please explore our website for other available rates.".
>>
>> Is this expected?
>
>
> The people at SkillsMatter are looking into it, we'll keep you posted.
>

We were given this information concerning the Citadines:

"central reservations line on 08003763898 and book accordingly as long
as the[y] quote 'skills matter' as the corporate name they will be
entitled to your rates."

Re: Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Martin McNulty on 2012-02-16, 09:31
>>  Heathrow is a nightmare, you'll find yourself walking around in the place forever and luggage collection takes half a lifetime (admittedly though, access to the tube is handy). 
I'd disagree with this - Heathrow is a huge airport, so some gates can be a bit of a walk from the main terminals, but I used to fly in and out of there regularly and very rarely had any problems beyond that.  The tube journey is a long one (just under an hour and a half to Barbican), but comparatively much cheaper than a taxi or the train.  If you do book a taxi, bear in mind that Addison Lee (one of the biggest taxi firms in London) work out about the same price as black cabs in my experience.  Local minicab firms are likely to be cheaper.
+1 for City airport - they're the only place where I've turned up 15 minutes before take off and still comfortably got on the plane.
In case you haven't found it, I think the link Chris meant was: www.tfl.gov.uk
Cheers

Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by virtualeyes on 2012-02-20, 17:31

Depends on where you are flying in from.

Within Europe you have the ultra cheap option of Ryan Air to
Stanstead, and then either paying through the nose to stay in London,
or staying in the quiet, peaceful jack rabbit (in the States we call
them wabbits) ridden planes of Essex for 1/2 the price ;-)

International travellers don't have that option, so from Heathrow
might as well head closer to London...

On Feb 16, 9:25 am, Martin McNulty wrote:
> *>>  Heathrow is a nightmare, you'll find yourself walking around in the
> place forever and luggage collection takes half a lifetime (admittedly
> though, access to the tube is handy). *
>
> I'd disagree with this - Heathrow is a huge airport, so some gates can be a
> bit of a walk from the main terminals, but I used to fly in and out of
> there regularly and very rarely had any problems beyond that.  The tube
> journey is a long one (just under an hour and a half to Barbican), but
> comparatively much cheaper than a taxi or the train.  If you do book a
> taxi, bear in mind that Addison Lee (one of the biggest taxi firms in
> London) work out about the same price as black cabs in my experience.
>  Local minicab firms are likely to be cheaper.
>
> +1 for City airport - they're the only place where I've turned up 15
> minutes before take off and still comfortably got on the plane.
>
> In case you haven't found it, I think the link Chris meant was:www.tfl.gov.uk
>
> Cheers

Re: Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Simon Ochsenreither on 2012-02-16, 14:11
Ok, great! Now I would only need to know when the first talk starts and when the last talk ends ...

Re: Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by andy 3 on 2012-02-16, 15:01

The web site ( http://days2012.scala-lang.org/program ) as 9am to 6pm. And don't forget the evening reception in Lincoln's Inn at the end of the first day.

Re: Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Simon Ochsenreither on 2012-02-16, 16:11
It pretty much looks like a place holder, so I'm not that certain that it will stay that way ...

Re: Re: Scala Days London – Travel advice needed!

Added by Chris Marshall 2 on 2012-02-14, 15:11
Travelodge's are cheap & cheerful (i.e. cheerless) hotels in London. There's one in Farringdon, very close to Barbican - it's £90 a night.
http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/info?hotelId=270&stayDate=20120214 
Chris

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 1:48 PM, Antonio Cunei <antonio [dot] cunei [at] epfl [dot] ch> wrote:
On 14/02/2012 12:06, Simon Ochsenreither wrote:
Btw if I enter the preferential code suggested on
http://days2012.scala-lang.org/node/187 at Citadines reservation I get
"The preferential code you have entered is invalid or may have expired.
Please explore our website for other available rates.".

Is this expected?


The people at SkillsMatter are looking into it, we'll keep you posted.
Toni

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