London 16th to 20th December

[jamieintercity]

Heading off to London next week with my parents staying at the park plaza Waterloo (near to lambert north tube). A few questions regarding my stay there.

1. Heading to kew gardens on Monday night for the lights show. When does the district line stop running trains for the night?

2. Hoping to do the cable car one day. Is it worth doing it for the extra sights in the area?

3. What the closes underground stations for sky garden and shaftesbury theatre (seeing Mrs doutfire the musical one evening)

4. Going the F1 exhibition at the excel. Is the Elizabeth line or DLR closer the excel?

5. Any planned protests happening during the week. Hoping not to run into any of them whilst we are there. Should I also be worried about potential pickpocketing in London?

 

[jfollows]

Kew Gardens: see https://content.tfl.gov.uk/wtt-154-district-22-may-2023.pdf
I’d say 00:03 from Richmond is the last train through to Upminster.

 

[Farigiraf]

I can answer a few of these:

1. Heading to kew gardens on Monday night for the lights show. When does the district line stop running trains for the night?

The last train out of Kew Gardens departs towards Embankment (the nearest district line station to Lambeth North/Waterloo) at 00:06. South Western Railway run services from Kew Bridge and Richmond (both 15-20mins walk from the gardens) into Waterloo until about 11pm so it may also be worth considering that too.

2. Hoping to do the cable car one day. Is it worth doing it for the extra sights in the area?

In my opinion yes, as you will get views of the docks and the O2 from reasonably close.

3. What the closes underground stations for sky garden and shaftesbury theatre (seeing Mrs doutfire the musical one evening)

Sky Garden: Bank or Monument - offers a chance to ride the Waterloo & City line too.
Shaftesbury Theatre: Tottenham Court Road, although there are a number of buses (59, 188, may be more) that get you there almost directly

4. Going the F1 exhibition at the excel. Is the Elizabeth line or DLR closer the excel?

Custom House station serves the ExCeL directly and is served by both the Elizabeth Line and the DLR. Coming from the city centre, I'd recommend the Elizabeth Line as it's quicker, however the DLR Beckton branch also serves the station with services from Tower Gateway, Stratford and Royal Victoria (for the cable car)

 

[sh24]

3 - walk. It's about 40 mins to the Sky Garden, much of it along the Thames. 30mins to the theatre. Much more enjoyable than the tube unless you have major mobility issues, in which case Lambeth North isn't the best option as there are stairs down to platform level.

I live about 10mins from your hotel if you want any restaurant/pub recommendations.

 

[Skiddaw]

Deffo do the cable car. It's super.

 

[Belperpete]

But if you want views over London, I would recommend either St Pauls (but it is a LOT of steps up to the top), or Tower Bridge (I think there are lifts up to the elevated walkway over the Thames).

Bag and phone snatching seem to be more of a problem than pick-pockets these days - I understand that there are over a dozen bag snatches a day in the Kensington area alone. No need to be paranoid, just take sensible precautions. Such as keeping hold of your bag at all times, even when you put it on the seat next to you, or on the ground, even in places that you might think are safe. I know someone who had their bag lifted while sat inside a bank. If you must use your phone while out and about, keep aware of your surroundings, and in particular beware of somebody walking past you suddenly snatching it, and running off before you get a chance to react.

 

[ScotGG]

Cable car is great and a short walk from the ExCel centre so combine that.

DLR offers good views on most routes given it's on viaducts in many areas so preferable to the Elizabeth line.

 

[jamieintercity]

Thanks for the replies. Another few questions regarding next week.

1. Doing Hyde park winter wonderland one evening, is it best to use marble arch or Hyde park corner tube?

2. Has anyone or know anyone that have done the lift 109 at battersea power station. Is it any good?

3. What are the best Christmas markets in central London?