Back from 32 days in Europe

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Pat,
Yes, buy the Oyster Card.
The tubeplanner.com has the name of the subway line (color coded) that you need. Two lines run to Allen House, the yellow and green - District & Circle Lines. I will resend the blow-by-blow of how to get to AH for you.
There is one station that does not have a lift/elevator. So you will have to pull your bags upstairs. I have always had a Londoner just step in to volunteer.
The washer/dryer combos in the units are hard to figure out. My advice is to wash whatever you have early and hang it to dry (there are racks provided in the utility closet) and then put it in the dryer.
I will email you.
B

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Pat,
Yes, buy the Oyster Card.
The tubeplanner.com has the name of the subway line (color coded) that you need. Two lines run to Allen House, the yellow and green. I will resend the blow-by-blow of how to get to AH for you.
There is one station that does not have a lift/elevator. So you will have to pull your bags upstairs. I have always had a Londoner just step in to volunteer.
The washer/dryer combos in the units are hard to figure out. My advice is to wash whatever you have early and hang it to dry (there are racks provided in the utility closet) and then put it in the dryer.
I will email you.
B

Thanks Beags.....I think it would be good to use the station with the lift whenwe have our luggage!
Off to work, check in lata'!

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Thanks Beags.....I think it would be good to use the station with the lift whenwe have our luggage!
Off to work, check in lata'!

This is a very helpful link. I have a printed copy and take it with me.
London Travelcard & London Visitor Travelcard 2006 - Public Transport Passes
Heathrow is in zone 4 or 5. So, just buy one fare from Heathrow to Zone 1 on your way in from the airport. You can ask at the ticket window. The next day, I'd buy my Oyster card at High St. Kensington station for the zones you'll be traveling, most likely, zones 1 & 2. The cards are priced according to days and zones traveled. It make sense once you're in the station in front of the big Tube Maps.

Addendum: High Street Kensington, your tube stop, is in zone 1. It can be reached by the Circle or District Lines (one is yellow, the other green) High Street Kensington Tube Station London - Nearest Restaurants, Cinemas, Hotels, Bars and Clubs

Other helpful info: 0794 The Allen House Club

This can get you from point to point : English - Journey Planner - Transport for London

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

We bought the London Travelcard here in the U.S. (you can buy it only here--not in London) for 7 days. The cost is $50.00 for zones 1 & 2, where just about everything is. The purpose of this card was all our city travel.

We bought an Oyster card to get into the city. You can buy it at the Heathrow Airport desk. The card itself, with no use on it, costs 3 pounds, but when you leave England, you can turn the card in at Heathrow and get the 3 pounds back. With an Oyster card, rides are 1/2 price; therefore, getting into the city from Heathrow is 2 pounds. We loaded the Oyster card with 4 pounds worth of travel and used it for the trip into London and the trip back to Heathrow, where we turned in the Oyster card and got our 3 pounds back.

We took the regular 45 min. train from Heathrow. That's the Piccadilly line. At Earl's Court, we changed trains and took the district line to High Street/Kensington. When you emerge from the station at High Street/Kensington, turn left. It's about 2 1/2 blocks to Allen Street. Turn left, and it's the first "house."

Oyster Card vs. London Travelcard: If you are going to be making a lot of changes, we THINK (though we aren't totally sure) that the Travelcard was a little cheaper per day: $8.30. At the time we purchased the Travelcard, we didn't know about the Oyster Card and had planned to simply pay the 4 pounds each way airport/city. It's possible there was a handling charge on the Travelcard that wiped out any small savings we made by purchasing in advance.

The Oyster Card is re-loadable and all rides are 1/2 price if you use it. No matter how much you use it, the daily charge subtracted from what is on it will never exceed what the cost of daily pass purchased in London would be, minus .49 pence.

So.....that's the story on passes/Oyster.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

We bought the London Travelcard here in the U.S. (you can buy it only here--not in London) for 7 days. The cost is $50.00 for zones 1 & 2, where just about everything is. The purpose of this card was all our city travel.

We bought an Oyster card to get into the city. You can buy it at the Heathrow Airport desk. The card itself, with no use on it, costs 3 pounds, but when you leave England, you can turn the card in at Heathrow and get the 3 pounds back. With an Oyster card, rides are 1/2 price; therefore, getting into the city from Heathrow is 2 pounds. We loaded the Oyster card with 4 pounds worth of travel and used it for the trip into London and the trip back to Heathrow, where we turned in the Oyster card and got our 3 pounds back.

We took the regular 45 min. train from Heathrow. That's the Piccadilly line. At Earl's Court, we changed trains and took the district line to High Street/Kensington. When you emerge from the station at High Street/Kensington, turn left. It's about 2 1/2 blocks to Allen Street. Turn left, and it's the first "house."

Oyster Card vs. London Travelcard: If you are going to be making a lot of changes, we THINK (though we aren't totally sure) that the Travelcard was a little cheaper per day: $8.30. At the time we purchased the Travelcard, we didn't know about the Oyster Card and had planned to simply pay the 4 pounds each way airport/city. It's possible there was a handling charge on the Travelcard that wiped out any small savings we made by purchasing in advance.

The Oyster Card is re-loadable and all rides are 1/2 price if you use it. No matter how much you use it, the daily charge subtracted from what is on it will never exceed what the cost of daily pass purchased in London would be, minus .49 pence.

So.....that's the story on passes/Oyster.

I used my Oyster Card to get on/off all zones 1 & 2 tube stops plus bus routes for one charge for a 5 or 7 day pass (forgot). Hmmmm.
Sharon, how did you do it when you were there last year ?

Go to the first website I posted above: "London Travel......" , open it and it will read: How To Purchase

"If you are buying a 7 day Travelcard you will need to get an Oystercard. If however you purchase from a railway ticket office (not underground), you still get a paper 7 day Travelcard.:"
It's a lot less confusing when you get there . Explaining it can get very wordy and confusing. Trust me, just walk up to one of the Tube Window Ticket agents and they'll help you.

J.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

The internet cafe: Easy.....something. Anyway, an orange sign and right next to a coffee shop, across the street from the Allen House corner. You can see it from the corner.

Purchase of card before getting to London: savings appear to be very small. Had we known about the Oyster Card, we wouldn't have bothered. Our cost per day was $8.30; with the Oyster Card the daily cap is 4.6 pounds ($9.20).

[JoAnn Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoAnn]

JoAnn, we, too stayed at the Marriott, and it's very nice. We were at the Hilton two nights (Hilton points) and the Marriott two nights (Priceline). It's a great location for walking and for catching the street car. We thoroughly enjoyed Amsterdam. A highlight for us was the windmill village (name isn't coming to me right now) just north of Amsterdam--a short train ride and then about a 15 min. walk. There are old working windmills there, and you really do feel like you've stepped back in time. They don't all work the same way, but we only toured one of them: the black cat, which manufactures paint as it was done hundreds of years ago.

The Van Gogh museum was very, very special, too.

Thank you for the info on the windmill village. I think DH would be very interested in the Black Cat...he is a paint chemist.

Did you fly into Amsterdam? If so, what is the best way for us to get to the Marriott? We will be landing about 7 a.m. after the all night flight. I can't find much info on shuttles, or other transportation from the airport. And about what would the cost be. Thanks for helping.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

Schiphol Airport is 18 km southwest of the city, and is very easy to navigate from. We took the train (3.4 euro each way). Slow trains take 20 minutes; non-stop expresses are a little faster. Take the train to the Central Station.

You must buy your ticket in advance or risk a big fine--and watch your bags; this is thief territory. Buy your ticket at the ticket window--or there is a machine, which we were unable to operate. It wouldn't take our debit card because our pin is more numbers than the machine would accept.

After you get to Central Station, head out as though you were leaving. Spot a magazine/tobacco shop right by the door and go in and buy a strip of "strippen." A strippen consists of 7 (I think) rides on public transportation (there's a discount if you are a senior--just tell them). When you get on the tram, ask the ticket taker (located at a booth in the rear of the tram) to show you how to get it stamped using the machine for the times when a ticket taker isn't there. You might as well just get one strippen for both of you to use--less to keep track of--and when necessary get a new one. You want TRAM #5. Ask the driver what your stop is; I think it's Leidseplein. At that stop, if you look directly ahead, you'll see the Marriott about 100 yds. farther on.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

I've remembered the name of the Windmill Village to the north: Zaanse Schans. The concierge at the Marriott can arrange a tour bus or tell you what train to take. We did it on our own and were pleased with the experience. Again, get there early before the tour busses hit if you can.

Also, a note on the Anne Frank house. It closes at 9:00 p.m. If you get there about 7:00 p.m., not only will there be no lines, you'll be touring with a mere handful of people; it's a very different experience from doing it with masses. It's still broad day light at that time, and it's an exceptionally nice time to see the house. We really appreciated being able to look quietly at our own pace without someone breaking the mood, somber though it is; it is, I think, for most people very moving.

[JoAnn Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoAnn]

Thank you so much, Pstreet for the wonderful...and detailed information for us. It sounds very easy to take the train to the hotel. We are looking forward to our time in Amsterdam.

[Linda74 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Linda74]

We stayed at the same B&B in Dingle a couple of years ago....and we were just in Prague a few days ago....Just can't get enough of Europe.....