11 Hours in London

[worldmatt]

A couple weeks from now I'm spending a whopping 11 hours in London—at night! I fly into Stansted around 7:30 and fly out of Luton the next morning at 6:30. No point in getting a hotel for such a short stay, so I'm wondering: What's the best way to pass a long January night in London? Where would you go to drink, dance, shop and do whatever else can be done in the dark?

(And perhaps the most important question: Anyone know where I can stow my damn suitcase till I need it again?)

—worldmatt

[englandmj7]

Unfortunately, airports don't really offer baggage storage services anymore. Since it is a lengthy layover, your airline may accomodate you in holding it for you....although it is doubtable.

You can take the Stansted express into the city from the airport, which takes approx. 40 minutes. The shitty part, however, is that it stops running at midnight and resumes at 6 am, so you are probably screwed on that one. You could take it into town (about $20), and get a cab back, although it will cost you approx. £80 ($160) for a cab to Stansted.....yeah, not advised. Better yet, the Airbus is 24 hours, so you could do that for £6, but it will take almost 2 hrs to get there......

If I were you, I would try to get the suitcase stowed, hail a cab, and ask the driver to take you to the closest pub possible, whereby you can drink yourself senseless until 2 am, catch some sleep at the airport and make your plane in time.

[Matthew]

Get yourself the hell out of Stanstead as quick as possible and head into town - Take the Stanstead Express down to Tottenham Hale, then get the Underground (Tube) on the Victoria Line to Kings Cross first - you need to get the train from there (Kings Cross Thameslink to Luton the next morning). Excess Baggage on Platform 8 should be able to look after your stuff overnight.

By the way - Kings Cross main station and Kings Cross Thameslink are separate stations - Thameslink is a 2 minute walk up the Pentonville Road. The train to luton takes 37 minutes direct and they only run every hour that early in the morning - so you will need the 4.22 or 5.22 to get your 6.30 flight.

You should be in town before 10pm so you have a good few hours to have a laugh. From Kings Cross you can take the tube into the West End - Covent Garden, Soho, whatever - or go East into Shoreditch - for some cool bars and restaurants. You can then make it back to Kings Cross early and sit out the rest of the night in one of the dingy late night pubs round the back of the station.

You'll have a blast!

[worldmatt]

Thanks for the advice! Was in Shoreditch a few years ago, so would love to get back there. I remember it being quite cool... Can't wait to wander!

[Pin]

There's a London cab company called 'Just Airports'. I think they are on the web and they are very cheap compared to just hopping in the back of a cab. You've got to book in advance but if you know where you're going to be then you could be onto a winner. Also, if you do end up in Kings Cross there's a nice vibe at Big Chill House and then take a wander up to Farringdon for some good cocktails, I'd choose that over Shoreditch all day long.

[PRB]

MATTHEW AND PIN-GOOD,couldnt offer better.

I would recomend the 3 kings in farringdon location is in clerkenwell green(my local) near the church-all depends on what night you get your 11 hours?The perserverance on Lambs conduit street used to be good but since Jan 07 been under new management....Scary new management..

[Cue]

Def hit the Shoreditch/East End area, some bars/clubs may let you store your bags at the coat check, some are pretty relaxed about that sort of thing.

But, as England noted, it's a bloody long way from Stansted/Luton into London. Calling them 'London' airports is a bit of a piss-take really.

The Thameslink goes to/from Luton and runs at some funny hours (I used to live next to the line), so that maybe worth checking

http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/

[edwin]

im not too sure you'd want to go to london during the overnight morning hours unless you know the night bus routes pretty well. id personally find a hood bar around stansted.