CE16 All about London (not really, but some info at least)

Now I want to start this post by making clear that I'm not a Londoner. I do love the city though and I've been there quite a few times, so I do have some experience in getting around as a tourist. I hope that people actually living there will be happy to fill this thread with more information and answer questions if you have any.

Just as a reminder. Star Wars Celebration London will take place at the ExCeL Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Airports
If you fly into London, you can end up in of five airports.



Heathrow
Heathrow is the largest airport, with most connections to all over the world. If you fly in from the US you are most likely to land here. Heathrow is congested and overcrowded, but I have personally not have had problems flying in there, I have heard horror stories about delays and lost luggages though.

The London Underground is extended all the way to Heathrow, so you can take the tube from the airport to central London. Going on the tube takes quite a long time though, I think the last time I did it took more than an hour.

The fastest way to central London is by Heathrow Express. It goes every 15 minutes directly to Paddington station, and I don't think the price is too much. It is cheaper to buy a return ticket straight away, at this time (2015) kids travel free in the company of an adult.

Gatwick
Gatwick is the second largest airport. It mostly serves European routes and charter, but there are some global routes as well, including a few to the US. If you are planning on not only seeing London, but rather visit southern England then Gatwick is a better gateway than Heatrow.

Gatwick is connected to the national railway system. There is a Gatwick Express that goes to London Victoria Station, but other railway companies are also stopping by Gatwick.

Stansted
Stansted is farthest from central London.It does only have charter flights to the US, but a lot of routes to Europe. It's mostly known as a base for the lowcost carrier Ryanair, but some other airlines fly there as well.

There is a Stansted Express, but there are also busses going into London. They take a lot longer, but are also a lot cheaper, and if you are going to Stansted then you probably do that because you want your trip to be as cheap as possible.

Luton
Luton is mainly an airport for low cost carriers and charters. As such most flights are to European destination.

Luton is connected to the national railway system, even if you need to take a shuttle bus from the airport to the railway station. The trains from Luton go to London St Pancras, there are also busses available.

London City Airport
London City Airport is the smallest of the London airports, but for Celebration it's very interesting. It's situated in the Docklands, just like the ExCeL centre. The airport only has one short runway, built on a pier, so only small aircraft can use it. The only connection to the US is the British Airways all-business class route to New York.

The airport is connected to the Docklands Light Railway, DLR, which is integrated in the London Underground system. It's not on the same line as the Excel, but they are in the same price zone.

Trains
Since the Channel Tunnel was built London is connected to the European railway network. The Eurostar trains offer connection on high speed lines to Paris and Brussels, and from there you can switch to other destinations. The Eurostar trains use St Pancras as their terminus.

Local Transportation
If you are planning to go anywhere in London you need to get familiar with Transport for London. It is responsible both for the tube services and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). The stop closest to the Excel center is Customs House for Excel on the DLR.


As for tickets, there are several options, depending on how much you are planning to travel, so it's important to read up on what's best for you. The fare system is built around zones, the more zones you go through, the more expensive it is. Most of central London is within zone 1, but Customs House for Excel is in zone 3, so if you stay in central London you need to buy a 1-4 zone ticket.

The two ticket options are Oyster card, which is a plastic card that you top up for usage, or paper tickets, which come as daily travelcards or single ride tickets. As soon as you make more than two journeys in a day it's cheaper to use the Oyster card or a daily travelcard.

Hotels
The hotel situation this time is very different from 2007, with a lot more hotels to offer. The ExCeL convention centre has this map where you can search for hotels, and they have options to search both for onsite hotels and hotels within walking distance.

The hotels listed as on site are:
Aloft London ExCel
Crowne Plaza London Docklands
Novotel London ExCeL
Ramada Docklands Hotel
Connaught House Hotel
Premier Inn London Docklands
Ibis London ExCel
Sunborn Yacht Hotel

There are of course a lot of hotels out there in London in all price and comfort categories. Since the ExCeL is not in the city centre it might take some time to go there if you are staying in central London. For example last time I was in London I flew in to London City Airport, which is the same distance from central London as the ExCeL, but stayed at an hotel in a hotel close to Paddington Station, where you can find a lot of fairly cheap hotels, and it took me around one hour between the airport and the hotel.

Also the standard of hotels in London can definitely be lower than US hotels, especially when it comes to the size of the rooms. Cheap hotels also don't always offer en suite bathrooms and If breakfast is included it's usually toast, cereal and eggs with tea.

Electricity
If you are coming from Europe or the US remember to pack an adaptor for your electrial charges. From Europe it should be enough with a socket adaptor, but from the US you might also need a voltage converter, since the UK electrical sytem is packing 230 V compared to the US 120 V.