Ever wanted to go on a trip to London from USA? Interested in how much it will cost total with all the things you want to do? Struggled to plan the whole thing, like airplane cost, arrival time, cost of the hotels, events and all the things you wanna do or places to visit? Doesn't matter what type of person you are and what you are interested in, below you will find information for anything, and if you don't, feel free to leave a reply in a comment and I will do my best to gather the information you requested. Ready set go!
First of all.. the timezone. While the most common timezones in the USA are PDT MDT CDT EDT, it is different from the timezone that people use in London which is GMT. Let's start with the Daylight Saving Time. Since 2007 Daylight Saving Time (DST) begins for
most of the United States at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March. Time
reverts to standard time at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November. DST is 1 hour ahead of normal standard time usually called Central time (CT).
This article will be expressed in GMT timezone so it's important for you to know which time it is at your place for the given time in GMT timezone. GMT was established in 1884 at the
International Meridian Conference, when it was decided to place the Prime Meridian at Greenwich, England.
How to calculate timezones? Simple, check the text below.
(the below time is expressed in DST so if you are in CT now just deduct 1 hour)
For the GMT =
Greenwich Mean Time == 10:00:00 am:
- PDT = Pacific Daylight Time == 03:00:00 am
- PST = Pacific Standard Time == 03:00:00 am
- MDT = Mountain Daylight Time == 04:00:00 am
- MST = Mountain Standard Time == 04:00:00 am
- CDT = Central Daylight Time == 05:00:00 am
- CST = Central Standard Time == 05:00:00 am
- EDT = Eastern Daylight Time == 06:00:00 am
- EST = Eastern Standard Time == 06:00:00 am
Ok now lets get onto interesting things! You will have to pick one of the
Airports. But regardless which one you choose, you can rely on the following (based on round-trip which means to London and back and with 1 week between flights):
Flight time is around 7-8 hours - one way (depending from where do you start).
Flight cost (can depend on chosen airport and station, the lowest number is ticket from the airport and the highest number is ticket from travel agency, numbers are average calculation from few airports/agencies):
- for adults (18-64) around 560-870usd;
- for senior (65+) around 560-870usd;
- for adult with one child (0-17) around 1100-1700usd;
- for two adults around 1100-1700usd;
- for two adults with one child around 1700-2500usd;
- for two adults with two children around 2200-3350usd;
- for two adults with three children around 3000-4150usd;
- for senior with one child around 1100-1700usd;
Now that we know how much airplane will cost, we can move to the next things. First we will need to choose the hotel and by that we will have to choose how we will reach hotel from the airport.
One advice I can give you about choosing hotels is that try to pick one nearest to the places or events you wanna participate in. Now you may think like.. of course, I am not stupid and I don't need to hear advices like that, but you would be surprised how many people forget about facts like this. Therefore, I will continue to write "useless" things like that.
When it's about hotels, London can offer you wide range of good to the extraordinary places to stay which will satisfy all your needs. All depending and well sorted by the money you are willing to spend here are options:
- Budget hotels, 2-star;
- Mid-range hotels, 3-star;
- Luxury hotels, 4-star;
- Deluxe hotels, 5-star;
You can find list of hotels
here, and in depth list of hotels
here. No matter which one you choose, you will be pleased by hospitality.
Prices can depend, but here are some averages so you know what to expect (per person):
- 100-180usd per night for mid-range hotels;
- 150-300usd per night for luxury hotels;
Now that you have chosen your place to stay, let's focus on transport from the airport to the hotel, and around the London city to the events and places you want to visit.
I strongly recommend getting so called Oyster card which will reduce transport cost by a lot! You can get one fast and easy and most stations across the London have at least one ticket machine where you can get your oyster card. Minimum deposit is ~7.45usd which is £5, and the biggest is up to £90.
So lets assume you have booked your hotel from your home, and arrived by plane at the airport. Now you have the option to call the cab (or "grab" the cab at the airport) or use other one of the
transport services. Good idea would be to check if you can buy an oyster card at the airport right away.
For detailed description about London transport please visit
our page where it's all well described.
And that's it!!! London can offer many events & places where you can have fun, learn the culture, do shopping, explore and many many more! There is something for everyone and by that being said let me provide you one short list which can serve you as some kind of planner:
Exploration:
- Experience the travel by well know modern city red bus;
- Travel by The tube;
- Use the services of Minicabs, Black-cabs, Ladycabs (if you're a female);
Visit some cultural places like museums, squares, structures;
Dine in some of the best restaurants in the world, also go for the world-known english afternoon tea;
Cultural events:
Doesn't matter if you are cultural-depending person, or you just want to see few things, or maybe just visit the "thing" and go away because you find culture boring .. London definite has the "things" that will make you say wooow.
There are many cultural events like art, theatre, books & poetry, museums;
Kids events
Belief it or not, there are many museums which offer fun and interesting things to do for children! For example Bank of England museum where your kid can learn of valutes in a very fun way, another attraction is the largest warship on which kids can aboard! The Honiman museum offers many fun events for kids, for example aquarium, nature base with live animals and many more while the entrance is free!
Nightlife
Oh YES the nightlife.. choose between fantastic
nightclubs, the atmosphere you will feel there will be of your lifetime! From the urban, classic, dark, hight-tech, and more, clubs can offer you anything your heart desires! All together with powerful sound systems and extraordinary light effect.
And for the end, if you wish some more information about anything related to the article, just leave a comment!
I would also appreciate your feedback!
