New answers tagged london
2
According to the UK visa check tool if you:
are an Indian citizen
are coming to the UK for an academic visit
are staying for less than six months
You need to apply for a Standard Visitor visa. Having a French residency permit does not seem to matter at all in this case.
Quoting from the linked website:
You'll need a visa to work, do business or ...
1
Plan your eating
An essential strategy in any city is to plan your eating so that at times you will need the bathroom, you will be having a meal or snack. That makes you a paying customer, and you are definitely entitled to use any bathroom they have for customers.
Partner to this strategy is do not gorge yourself. Eat lightly so you have room for ...
14
They need to go now.
As the parent of an 8-year-old, the most successful approach about age 4-5 was to insist he went to the toilet at intervals which fitted what we were doing, even if he claimed to not need the toilet. If he genuinely didn't, that was fine - just give him 5 minutes and then move on. Often he did though. Now it's a case of him saying "I ...
3
These are some of the common places that you can find public restrooms.
Restaurant/Cafes/bars - Starbucks, McDonald, KFC, etc.
Public parks
Hotels/Hotel lobbies - In some hotels, you might need a hotel card to get in.
Public buildings & Transport hubs - Libraries, Hospitals, Train stations
Shopping Malls & Department stores
You can also do a ...
2
London is full of busy pubs and McDonalds - you can use either without worry. Toilets in the terminals are also free.
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To add to all of the above, there are pubs everywhere - and there are always toilets in pubs. In my years of living and working in London, I have many times used a toilet in a pub without being their customer. Now, these toilets may not be the cleanest around, but "when you gotta go, you gotta go".
29
Is it acceptable to ask businesses for kids to use their toilets, even if we are not customers?
It is if you ask first.
It's also not that difficult to become a customer. Go to a café, order a cup of coffee or an ice-cream. Nobody expects you to order a three-course meal to let you use the bathroom.
If you absolutely don't want to buy anything, you can ...
9
The Great British Public Toilet Map might be able to help find toilets in the UK: https://www.toiletmap.org.uk/
You might be able to find similar such maps in other places you travel. The Australian Government, for example, maintains the National Public Toilet Map https://toiletmap.gov.au/
77
If you have an Android phone, then there's an app called Where is public toilet. It indicates the public toilets near you, and if they are free to access or not. It works for most of Europe.
Play store link. Other similar apps are available.
50
I have not been to London with kids but according to my experience there are plenty of public toilets available. Most parks have facilities that include a café and toilets.
In the city there are toilets on most big squares. There's always a McDonald's restaurant nearby where you can go.
One advise is not secret but always given: go to a museum. In many ...
6
After arriving at the mainline terminal station from your origin, you will be able to use your ticket for a single journey to a London Underground station anywhere in zones 1 or 2. This includes Old Street (which is in zone 1).
After exiting a London Underground station, your ticket will no longer be valid (and the barriers will mark it electronically to ...
24
You can finish your journey at any Underground station in Zone 1 or 2.
You entered Old Street in the booking engine, but the national ticketing system can't sell tickets to a specific Underground station, so it sold you a (more flexible) alternative.
Bear in mind that once you've left the Underground, the ticket isn't valid for any further journeys, unlike ...
1
Given that Advance tickets are sometimes a lot cheaper than an off-peak day return, you could consider:
Advance tickets for one particular train to Southampton; and then
Advance tickets for two or three different options on the way back.
Then, if you want to go home earlier, you use an earlier booked option (and not use the tickets for the later option(s) ...
8
Do I have to book the return (and even the forth ticket) in advance?
No. In Great Britain, there are two main types of ticket — Advance tickets, which must be booked in advance, are always single tickets, and tie you to one specific train; and "walk-up" tickets (mostly (Super) Off-Peak and Anytime Singles and Returns), which are flexible and allow you ...
2
That is a typical saving for booking on specific trains, well in advance (advance tickets are sold in limited numbers and do sell out).
You can save a fair bit with a family and friends railcard, but that costs money itself. If you end up buying the anytime day return, the railcard should pay for itself on this one trip. Mine did the first long distance ...
6
Assuming you are returning the same day, an Anytime Day Return ticket from London to Southampton costs £47.20 for an adult and £23.60 for a child. This ticket is fully flexible and can be used for one journey from London to Southampton and back on the specified day. This ticket can be purchased in advance or at the station on the day.
It would probably ...
4
If you carry anything with the intention of using it against an assailant, it is a weapon. Even walking with your house keys in your hand with a key protruding from your fist.
9
Carrying pepper spray around may get you into trouble with the law, it is probably illegal despite what vendors may tell you.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-defence_in_English_law
Self-defence in English law is a complete defence to all non-sexual offences involving the unlawful use of force (i.e. anything from battery to murder). In other words, ...
18
The link that you cite already states the law: Any “noxious substance” is illegal. So this is likely yucky stuff, but with no irritant. It may be disorienting for a moment, but I doubt it’ll incapacitate a determined attacker.
For practical advice: Don’t. Even if you were a trained officer, going against 4 armed attackers (or even 2) with just a can of ...
2
Just for completeness I will mention the existance of National Express Coaches, probably the cheapest mode of transport from Heathrow to Newcastle.
A ticket would cost £30.00 per person.
The downsides are there are no direct coaches from Heathrow, you would need to travel to London Victoria Coach Station and change there, and the time it takes to travel ...
0
For rail enquiries in the UK use the National Rail site. As other answers have pointed out, trains to Newcastle leaves from King's Cross station. The cheapest fares are if you buy in advance for a specific departure. However, that can be risky when coming in from a long flight with risks of delay, as the tickets would be worthless of you miss the train.
...
1
Fly. It's much faster and likely cheaper.
The LNER train from Kings Cross to Newcastle is only cheaper than flying if you book seats on a specific train, which you realistically can't do if you're flying from India - if your flight is delayed or you're held up in immigration then you'll lose your tickets.
The flight takes an hour, the train will take ...
6
An alternative route which might be better if you have lots of luggage and small children would be to get the Railair bus from Heathrow to Reading and then get a train to Newcastle. There are direct trains and also some which involve a change on route.
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A very quick search with Google suggests that a flight might be viable.
British Airways operate several flights each day from Heathrow to Newcastle with fares as little as £92 (Google list), while LNER run trains from King's Cross, starting at £160 - you might get a lower price with advance booking.
A direct flight takes just over an hour and will save you ...
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Take the Piccadilly line to King's Cross St Pancras, and change to an Edinburgh-bound train taking you to Newcastle (there are also Newcastle-bound trains, but those are much slower). Then catch the metro to Gateshead.
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Heathrow does not have a mainline rail station so there is no possibility of a direct train to Newcastle.
The most common route taken is the Heathrow Express to Paddington, switch to Kings Cross by underground (or taxi if you have luggage) and take the direct train to Newcastle. There are trains about every 30 minutes most of the day.
With four of you a ...
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