Help Train from Southampton to LON or LHR

[mousefan73]

doing research on the best way to get from port to either London, Windsor or straight to LHR to fly home. We havent decided what we want to do. Any locals who can help?

1. From southhampton is it easier to get to Windsor or London? we have been to both many times but want to do windsor again maybe and then head next day to LHR.
2. Or we fly home

I was looking at what the UK Rail is..is there onewebsite for the entire network? I googled and found this? what kind of train is this? nice with restrooms?? my mom is older and joining us so we want her to be comfortable. is the below ok?? thanks

 

[auntlynne]

Here’s something we don’t see a lot of in the US, but occurs in Europe. They call it an Industrial Action; we would call it a strike.

Have you considered taking a transfer (probably “coach,” ie, bus)?

 

[auntlynne]

Would you consider a non-stop train on Southern versus having to switch from South Western Rail to Southern Rail?

Here’s some info on the interiors (the page contains more info about trains between Southampton and London).

Source: https://railsmartr.co.uk/journey/london-to-southampton/

What are the trains like?​

Let's take a look at what the trains are like on the London to Southampton route and the sort of features that they have.

South Western Railway​

Almost all of the trains on South Western Railway’s route to Southampton are Class 444 Desiro trains. They have five or 10 carriages. All of the seats are in a 2+2 layout, and there's a power socket at every window seat. You'll either have access to a fold-down table or a full-size table for four.

Southern​

If you’re taking Southern, then every train is the same type. They’re known as Electrostar trains, but many of them have a different seating layout, depending on which carriage you're in. A Southern train will have either four, eight or 12 coaches.

The end carriages of each unit (for example, in an eight-coach train, that'd be coaches 1, 4, 5 and 8) usually have a 'low-density' layout, which is a 2+2 layout with lots of tables:


All of these trains are currently being refurbished and having power sockets added to the window seats. These sockets contain both USB ports and a three-pin socket.

It's not possible to guess which trains will have the sockets, but it's about a 50:50 chance as of September 2023.

 

[tidefan]

We took the train to and from London for our British Isles cruise on Princess (great cruise, BTW) last year. The direct trains go from London Waterloo to Southampton Central. There are a couple of decent hotels (we stayed at the Hampton) near the station.

Direct to LHR, you are probably looking at either a National Express coach or a cruise line transfer.

 

[elsawasajedi]

Take a transfer. I studied abroad in London, love trains, the underground, and when we did the borway cruise last year we did a xfer and I 100% would do it again.

Train isn't cheap, you'll have luggage and there's gonna be a lot of walking and if you do a xfer you board basically with concierge.

My transfers for the norway got royally messed up to the point where Disney issued me a credit for them and even then I still would do that over the train. You really don't want to mess with that.

 

[auntlynne]

If you believe what you read, I would continue looking for more options. I also don’t fly Spirit or Frontier Airlines here. Southern Rail does not have a good reputation.

Have you considered taking a transfer (probably “coach,” ie, bus)?

Like the National Express coach mentioned above^^?

Or is getting on a bus too difficult for mum?

You will need to catch a taxi to the Southampton train station.

 

[auntlynne]

Take a transfer. I studied abroad in London, love trains, the underground, and when we did the borway cruise last year we did a xfer and I 100% would do it again.

Train isn't cheap, you'll have luggage and there's gonna be a lot of walking and if you do a xfer you board basically with concierge.

My transfers for the norway got royally messed up to the point where Disney issued me a credit for them and even then I still would do that over the train. You really don't want to mess with that.

!! After a lovely cruise, jumping through hoops for the last legs of your journey might not be worth it.

Do you have your return flight time booked?

 

[tidefan]

You could also book a private transfer. I know that if you look through cruise critic on the ports boards, there are many that are mentioned, some even do a tour through Windsor on the way to the airport.

I thought that the train was actually super easy, but it does require you to be at Waterloo in Central London. Also, you need to take a taxi to an from the port (about 10 pounds).

 

[Louise97]

I usually use www.thetrainline.com for booking my rail journeys, they'll cover multiple operators and let you see your options. We're flying into Gatwick and taking the train down for our Southampton cruise.

From Southampton to LHR, there's no direct train option but there is a bus which you can book through www.nationalexpress.com but it takes at least a couple of hours. I'd allow plenty of time though, the only time I ever missed a flight was because I booked a bus from central London to Luton airport and we got stuck in traffic!

Have you booked flights already? If your flight times are later in the day and you have a comfortable amount of time to get to the airport, that gives you more options. On our Barcelona cruise we added an extra night after the cruise to enjoy the city because our flight times were a bit too early for my liking!

 

[Girl of the South]

If you get a hotel for the night near Waterloo, trains go to Windsor often and only take an hour. You could go for a few hours, late afternoon? Maybe your mother would like to rest at the hotel for the long flight home.

 

[Marthasor]

Not sure if this is helpful, but, last year we booked International Friends to take us from Southampton to Heathrow after DCL - we booked a private car and included a stop at Stonehenge along the way. They have many transfer and tour options and were very professional and reliable. Just thought I would throw that out there as an option: https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/

 

[princesscinderella]

We used https://www.twelvetransfers.co.uk/ for both of our Iceland DCL cruise last year and in 2019. They were on time and had great communication leading up to the pick up and would send you the driver’s details 24 hours before as a final confirmation. This last trip the train workers were striking and the taxi drivers were loving the extra fares.

 

[mousefan73]

Here’s something we don’t see a lot of in the US, but occurs in Europe. They call it an Industrial Action; we would call it a strike.

Have you considered taking a transfer (probably “coach,” ie, bus)?

View attachment 857708

LOL I live in Germany so we have been through so many strikes. I read online that the UK rail has to give notice first? can you confirm that?? like a week or so before.. not sure. but yes strikes even airline are always in the back of my head

 

[mousefan73]

If you get a hotel for the night near Waterloo, trains go to Windsor often and only take an hour. You could go for a few hours, late afternoon? Maybe your mother would like to rest at the hotel for the long flight home.

This might be an option... I called DCL and they offer a transfer for 225.00 USD for 3 people from port to LHR... that would be the less stress, easy but expensive ( but I heard its pricey regardless getting north)

We dont have return flight booked yet. I work for an airline so either later afternoon embarkation day or next day whenever a flight looks good for standby.
What trainlline goes to Waterloo??

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

LOL I live in Germany so we have been through so many strikes. I read online that the UK rail has to give notice first? can you confirm that?? like a week or so before.. not sure. but yes strikes even airline are always in the back of my head

Yes they have to give a minimum of 2 weeks notices, but for the last year they usually announce at the start of each month.

I am from Ireland and I will be on my second DCL cruise from Southampton in August.

I have signed up to https://www.southwesternrailway.com/ this is the train company which operates the London to Southampton route. I get emails every month about all the strike information.

For my August cruise I am planning to visit my sister before the cruise and then get the train from where she lives to Southampton.

I did the same last year.

I use TrainLine to get the routes and times and then go to Southwestern website and buy the tickets direct. Last year I had to change the time of the train after booking and the process for getting a refund was easy.

At this stage it is too early to book train tickets. 6 weeks in advance is the sweet spot for prices.

I have also checked out an alternative from where my sister lives to Southampton by National Express Bus.

There is a direct bus from Heathrow to Southampton Bus station, the journey time is approx 3 hours.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

We dont have return flight booked yet. I work for an airline so either later afternoon embarkation day or next day whenever a flight looks good for standby.
What trainlline goes to Waterloo??

There is a regioanl airport at Southampton, which may be an option for you.

I fly Aer Lingus and use Southampton airport to and from Ireland.

This is the list of airlines which fly into Southampton https://www.southamptonairport.com/destinations/airlines/