Return to London and get to know England. How to get to Great Britain How to get to England by train

London is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Every year the capital of Great Britain is visited by many tourists from different parts of the world. globe. Information on how to get to London inexpensively from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Minsk, Kyiv and other cities of the former CIS is of interest to many, and options do exist.

From the capital of Russia

The cheapest way to get from Moscow to London is to buy tickets from EasyJet. A low-cost airline company working in this direction. The cost of a travel document for those wishing to fly on a direct flight starts from 3.0 thousand rubles. - in both directions. For example, if you compare prices for similar flights on other airlines, the difference is on average 250-300%.

In particular:

• “AirFrance” price starts from 9.5 thousand rubles;
• "Transaero" - 9.0 thousand rubles and more;
• "AirBaltic" - from 8.0 thousand.

Other airlines have even higher prices.

An important point is that with EasyJet you can buy tickets inexpensively before the Christmas and New Year holidays.

From Saint-Petersburg

Given that EasyJet does not fly to Northern capital RF, then St. Petersburg residents have to look for other options on how to get to London while spending a minimum of money.

There are several ways:

1. Well-known airlines Austrian, KLM, AirBaltic, AirFrance can help with this, where prices start from 10.0-11.0 thousand rubles.
2. Get there through the nearest countries that can be reached by car or train - Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland.

To England from the regions

Unfortunately, the cost of tickets in the regions today is much higher. For example, from Novosibirsk Best offer will cost no less than 14.0 thousand rubles. - S7 airline, others will be even more expensive - Aeroflot - no less than 21.0 thousand rubles, Transaero - from 20.0 thousand rubles. Therefore, for those who are interested in how to get to London cheaper, it is worth considering this option - take a train or car to Moscow or Riga, and then continue the journey from there.

How to get to the capital of Great Britain from other countries of the former CIS

When considering various options for getting to London, the best solution would be to contact low-cost airlines that operate flights in a specific region. In particular, to fly from Minsk, Riga or Kaunas, you need to look for air carriers flying regular flights in these directions.

For those who do not know how to inexpensively get to the capital of Great Britain from Kyiv, you should pay attention to a transfer in Poland. Where the average ticket price today is about 12-15 euros one way.

The airline Wizz Air offers tickets to the English capital and back from Riga and Kaunas for only 55-56 euros. And for WIZZ Discount Club members the price will be even lower - only 35 euros. It should be taken into account that low-cost airline companies regularly hold promotions and offer fairly decent discounts.

Now on the Internet, there are special sites that allow you to find the most affordable way how to arrive to and from London at the lowest cost different countries peace.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Trains run, planes fly, buses travel, you can either drive a car through the tunnel or take a ferry on top. Which is better - you need to look at prices, dates and personal preferences.

By trains. The direct Eurostar from Paris takes 2.5 hours. There are other trains passing through, or, for example, with a transfer through. The cost on Eurostar - round trip (return ticket) - from 41.5 pounds one way (converted to euros with a coefficient of 1.2 we get from 100 euros round trip). It runs many times a day with intervals ranging from half an hour during rush hours to 2 hours during the day. On the website eurostar.com, select the "flexible dates" option and look at the days when it is more profitable for you.

Aircraft There are also a lot of flies, the trip is usually cheaper on them, within 100 euros round trip (in the minimum version you can fly in 2 directions for 66 euros on Transavia). Google Flights and Skyscanner will help you.

On car You can also drive through. A car crosses a tunnel on a Eurotunnel train. Accordingly, the cost of the trip for you will be renting a car (but perhaps you were planning to rent one in France anyway). The price of travel through the Eurotunnel is 23 pounds one way, a total of 47 pounds plus fuel for 900 km (450 km one way excluding train travel through the tunnel), let's say 7.5 l/100 km l for 1.4 euros, that's about 100 euros. But with the tunnel it will be 160 euros.

Buses. This is probably the most economical option. There are several carriers, tickets from 20 pounds one way, standard - 25 pounds (total 60 euros in 2 directions). Cons - travel time is about 7 hours. Pros - departure and arrival almost to the center. So if you have no prejudices, then you can take it and go into the night, saving on housing, which is not very cheap in London. Look at the options on the websites megabus.com and flixbus.ru.

Total conclusions: most cheap option- bus (from 60 euros), then there is a plane (66 euros), then at a price - a train (100 euros), and only then a car. Trains and buses are convenient because departure and arrival at stations are almost in the center, and there is less time and money spent on transfers. The train travels very quickly, taking into account the loss of time for transfer to the airport and registration - it turns out comparable to an airplane), the bus is coming long, but if you go at night you can save a little on accommodation. The convenience of a car is clear - it is freedom of movement on the spot, if you have ideas not only about London, but to see something else in the surrounding area. But if the trip is for 2 days, then London will be enough for you, and you can get to Lego Land or the Universal Studios park with Harry Potter even cheaper by public transport.

PS. I hope you are aware that you are not in Schengen and to visit England you need a separate visa. The minimum cost/duration of a visa to the UK is 87 pounds for six months (gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa), there are no special problems with obtaining visas, filling out the form and registering electronically, everything is quite clear.

09.08.19 13 252 25

Alina Veselova

went to England

I wanted to see good old England and in May 2018 I went to the Cotswolds specifically for this.

The Cotswolds are an area in the county of Gloucestershire in the west of England. London is 150 km away, and it takes about three hours to get here from the capital by train.

The very spirit of old England lives in the Cotswolds: there are rural landscapes, few museums, but many churches, castles and incredible natural beauty. A trip here will appeal to anyone who loves hiking and wants to see the English countryside. I'll tell you how to plan a trip and what to see in the Cotswolds.

I spent 63,000 RUR on a week-long trip

25,000 R

RUB 10,250

8700 R

6500 R

Souvenirs

6000 R

Transport

5000 R

Entertainment

1000 R

Insurance

550 R

Route

It’s impossible to travel around the entire Cotswolds in a week without a car, so I planned the route in advance. First of all, I wanted to look at the most beautiful village in the area - Bybury. Then I studied the attractions and cost of living in cities nearby and chose the ones that suited me. The route turned out like this: Gloucester - Cirencester - Bybury - Cirencester - Swindon - Bristol.

Visa

To enter the UK you need to obtain national visa. I started applying for a visa a month before the trip, and after 15 days it was ready. I didn’t contact any agencies, I did everything myself.

All Russian-language documents must be translated into English. You can contact a translator or translate yourself using ready-made templates. I translated it myself. There is no need to have translations certified by a notary. I simply indicated the date of transfer, my name and signed.

At the visa center they will only take the original passport; copies are required for other documents. There is no need to staple or staple documents.

Visa application form. Next, I filled out a form on the UK Migration Service website. The questionnaire is step-by-step, with tips for filling it out. Anything that is not clear can be clarified on the Vinsky forum. There's a lot useful information about the types of visas, the procedure for submitting documents, deadlines and difficulties in obtaining.

Visa fees. Immediately after filling out the form, I was asked to pay a fee. A standard visitor visa costs £93 (7,254 RUR). After paying the fee, I received my application number - GWF.

After payment I was redirected to the TLScontact website. This is a commercial partner visa center Great Britain. On the website, I selected the submission date and uploaded all scans of the documents. Documents are uploaded in batches; once the upload is confirmed, nothing can be added.

You don’t have to upload scans, but then you will have to pay an additional fee for submitting documents in paper form - £24 (1872 RUR).

Find out how to relax for pennies

Visa Center. The UK Visa Application Center is located in Moscow. I was assigned a number in the electronic queue and allowed into the waiting room. After 15 minutes, my GWF number lit up on the board, my name was on English language and booth number for submitting documents. The specialist took my international passport and printed a checklist with accepted documents in two copies: one for the visa center, the other for me.

I live in the Yaroslavl region, so I asked you to send me documents courier service DHL. Delivery in Moscow and the region costs 1000 RUR, to other regions - 2700 RUR.

I waited for the call for biometrics in a separate queue. In the booth they took my fingerprints and took a photo for my visa. The entire visit to the visa center took me about 40 minutes.

8700 R

I spent on a visa

You can track your visa readiness yourself via the website migration service: link to Personal Area will be in the letter that will arrive after filling out the form. You can also order an SMS notification for 100 rubles.

Travel insurance is not required. I bought it for my peace of mind, I picked it up. The policy cost 550 rubles, but in the end I didn’t need it.

Flight

The easiest and cheapest way to get to the Cotswolds is through London, although there are airports closer. I was flying on KLM flight Sheremetyevo - Heathrow with a transfer in Amsterdam. A round trip ticket cost 10,250 RUR.

I could have saved money if I had flown with a low-cost airline. Such tickets cost from 8000 RUR. But I was flying with luggage, and with an additional fee for luggage, the tickets were no longer so profitable.

Money

The currency of Great Britain is the pound sterling. I paid by card everywhere. During the entire trip I got cash only twice: on the bus to Baybury and in a small Chinese shop.

ATMs are everywhere: near bank branches, at post offices, in all major shopping centers and shops.

Attractions

Gloucester- one of the first settlements in Britain. The city was built on Roman ruins. Main attraction - Cathedral 15th century. Episodes of Harry Potter were filmed there. A tour of the cathedral costs £7 (546 RUR), but you can take a walk yourself for free, admission is free. The cathedral has beautiful stained glass windows, vaulted galleries and a huge organ. Inside, you can grab a bite to eat at The Monk's Kitchen.

I also walked around the city center with medieval half-timbered houses and visited the port part, where the ancient docks have been preserved.

Cirencester- capital of the Cotswolds. It is small cozy city with narrow stone streets, beautiful mansions with neat gardens and an overgrown Roman amphitheater in the west of the city.

I went to the Church of St. John the Baptist in the city center and to the old market square. On Mondays and Fridays, merchants set up stalls with food and clothing in the square. I also walked around Cirencester Park, founded in 1712.

Bybury. In Cirencester I took the bus to one of the most beautiful villages in Britain - Bybury. The village is small. Two to three hours is enough to watch it all. Everything here is like in Agatha Christie's novels: small toy houses, neat gardens, green meadows with grazing sheep. Several Miss Marple films and Bridget Jones's Diary were filmed here. But local residents you won’t envy: there’s a sea of ​​tourists.

I walked along the main street of Arlington Row along the River Colne and went to St. Mary's Church. There is a trout farm in the village where you can go fishing. An adult ticket costs £4.5 (351 RUR). I didn't fish, but I did have a bite to eat at the Cabin Cafe next to the farm.

£4.5

costs a ticket to a trout farm

Although the village of Bybury was the main destination of my trip, I felt that its legendary status was exaggerated. There are many similar villages in the surrounding area, so it makes no sense to go to the Cotswolds just for Bybury.

Swindon - Big City in Wiltshire, between Bristol and Reading. After the “toy” Cirencester, industrial Swindon seemed gray and uncomfortable to me. But the city is beautiful historical Center with old mansions and many parks.

I stopped here because low prices on housing and proximity to the “second most beautiful village England" - Castle Com. We were unable to see Castle Combe. I inattentively studied the transport schedule: the bus went there only once a day and I did not have time for it.

Instead, I walked around the old town and city parks. The city also has a railway museum, which houses locomotives from the early 20th century. But I didn’t go there.

I came to see the symbol of the city - the famous Clifton Bridge, built in the 18th century. I walked around the University of Bristol campus and the port. At Bristol Cathedral I was able to listen to an ancient organ. I looked at the city from the Cabot Tower located in Brandon Hill Park. I spent £4 (352 R) on entertainment here: I visited the Clifton Observatory with a camera obscura.

Intercity transport

From Heathrow Airport I immediately went to the first city on my route - Gloucester. It can be reached in three ways.

By car. With a rented car, the journey would take about two hours. Rental companies operating at Heathrow include Hertz, National, Avis, Europcar, Alamo, and Sixt. Renting a Hyundai I-10 for a week will cost 18,000 RUR excluding the cost of fuel.

By train- This is the fastest, but not the cheapest transport in the UK. The trip will take two and a half hours and cost 21-69 £ (1638 -5382 R) one way. Tickets can be found on the websites of major railway carriers: National Rail, Great Western Railway.

By bus- most cheap way. That's what I used. The main bus operators in the country are National Express, Megabus, Stagecoach. Routes are shown on carrier websites, schedule websites, or route planning websites. All buses have comfortable seats, air conditioning, toilets and free Wi-Fi.

The ticket price depends on the travel time. On average - 14.5 £ (1131 R) for 2.5 hours. The closer to the travel date, the higher the price. The most profitable way is to buy a ticket on the Internet, the most expensive is to buy a ticket from the driver in cash. E-ticket When boarding, you must show it on your phone screen or printout.

During the trip, I noticed that the buses were often a little late. For example, the bus from Gloucester to Cirencester was 15 minutes late.

How I missed the bus

On the way from Heathrow to Gloucester, I waited for the bus inside Heathrow bus station. The timetable board showed that my bus was delayed. 10 minutes passed and the information was not updated. I got nervous and decided to go outside to the buses.

Suddenly an announcement came over the loudspeaker. It was noisy inside the bus station, but I caught something about a bus leaving for Gloucester. I grabbed my things and ran outside, but my bus was already leaving.

I tried to find out from the bus station employees why the information on the board was not true. The answer surprised me: the scoreboard is not an indicator, I had to wait outside. I had to buy a ticket again and wait 2.5 hours for the next bus.

Urban transport

I stayed at small towns, which could be traveled on foot, so I almost never used public transport. But here's what I learned about him during the trip.

Buses. There are several carriers operating in the Cotswolds with their own routes and ticket prices. Compared to Russia, travel is expensive: a one-time bus trip will cost 2-2.5 £ (156 -195 R). If you buy tickets on the carrier's website or through the app, you can save approximately £0.2 per ticket.

If you travel by bus often, you can buy a daily ticket. "Bristol Community Transport" offers a one-time trip for 1-2.6 £ (78 -203 R), and a daily ticket costs 3.8 £ (296 R). At First Bus, daily tickets cost 6 £ (468 RUR).

Food

The cheapest way to eat in the UK is to buy food in supermarkets or markets. The largest and most inexpensive chain supermarkets are Tesco, Lidl and Asda. A little more expensive are Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer. Supermarkets sell a lot of ready-made and inexpensive food. For example, at Tesco a set of a sandwich, salad, snack and drink costs £3 (234 R).

A godsend for the budget traveler - discounts on groceries: after 17:00, baked goods, ready-made meals, fruits and vegetables with expiration dates drop in price by 30-90%. Half the fruit and veg in our economy supermarkets could easily end up on markdown shelves in the UK.

6500 R

I spent on food on the trip

Average prices for products:

• local cheese - 8 £ (624 R) per kilogram;
• mid-price red wine - 8 £ (624 R) per bottle;
• instant coffee - £2.5 (195 R) per 100 grams;
• black tea - £2.5 (195 R) for 80 bags;
• eggs - 2.4 £ (187 R) per dozen;
• apples - 2 £ (156 R) per kilogram;
• tomatoes - 1.9 £ (148 R) per kilogram;
• oranges - 1.7 £ (133 R) per kilogram;
• potatoes - 1 £ (78 R) per kilogram;
• bread - 1 £ (78 R);
• water - 1 £ (78 R) per one and a half liters;
• milk - 0.8 £ (62 R) per liter;
• salad - 0.8 £ (62 R) per head;
• yogurt - 0.8 £ (62 R).

Cafes and pubs. National English cuisine is very satisfying, but not for everyone. It seemed fat and uncomplicated to me. An English breakfast or a large portion of fish and chips - battered fish and chips - can fill you up for half a day.

Average prices in cafes:

• fish and chips - 10 £ (780 R);
• salad - 7 £ (546 R);
• English breakfast - 6 £ (468 R);
• sandwich - 4.5 £ (351 R);
• cream tea, classic tea with a bun - 4.5 £ (351 R);
• soup - 4 £ (312 R);
• baked goods - 3.5 £ (273 R);
• a kettle of black tea - 2 £ (156 R);
• cappuccino - 2 £ (156 R).

During the trip, I tried to save money on food. Here are my rules. It’s better to cook yourself, buy food at markets and supermarkets. I recommend going to the supermarket during evening discounts. Choose a cafe where locals eat, away from the attractions. Good options- Pret-a-manger chain and Greggs coffee shop. Don't avoid pubs: they are relatively inexpensive and have large portions. Bring some food with you: nuts and dried fruits do not take up much space and are suitable for snacking.

Housing

I booked hotels three months before the trip, comparing prices on Booking.com, Trivago.ru and hotel websites. The average cost of single and double rooms is 55 £ (4290 R) and 79 £ (6162 R). During the season, rooms in tourist places will cost much more: a single room in the village of Bybury cost £180 (RUR 14,040) per night. Couples and groups benefit from renting an apartment on Airbnb.com.

I rented single rooms with bathrooms in the city center. Six nights cost me 25 thousand rubles. As a rule, the room had everything you needed: air conditioning, TV, kettle and iron. There was no kettle in Swindon, but there was a coffee machine in the lobby.

25,000 R

I spent on housing

You can book hotels with free cancellation on Booking. Shortly before the trip, a more profitable option appeared in Bristol: two nights at the four-star Hilton Garden Inn Bristol City Center for £92 (7,176 RUR). I canceled my previous reservation and saved 1500 RUR.

British nuances

Sockets. The UK has its own type of sockets. The Russian plug does not fit them; an adapter is needed. You can buy it locally for a few pounds or order it in advance from Aliexpress.

I was not prepared and went without an adapter. Fortunately, the hotels had helpful staff. I was told that the phone can be charged via the USB connector in the sockets. And one hotel even gave me an adapter for the duration of my stay.

Sinks. It is not customary to install taps in British sinks. There are simply two taps - one with hot water, the other with cold water. To wash your face or wash your hands, you need to plug the drain, turn on both taps and draw water. In three out of four hotels I had exactly these sinks.

Souvenirs

In the UK they sell small souvenirs with traditional British symbols: flags, Big Ben, telephone booths. Souvenirs related to royal family, are popular even among the British themselves.

You can also buy locally produced products. The Cotswolds make their own cheeses, such as Gloucester, which tastes similar to cheddar. 45 km from Gloucester there is a lavender farm - "Cotswold Lavender". There you can admire the lilac meadows and buy natural cosmetics, tea and even chocolate with lavender. In Bristol, under the Bristol Blue Crystal brand, they produce high-quality handmade crystal. Small figurines cost £10 (780 RUR).

Most of my purchases were for souvenirs for family and friends. I'm not a fan of wall magnets, so most often I bring local products as gifts. Here's what I bought:

1. Cathedral City brand cheddar cheese. A package of 550 g costs £5.5 (429 R), there are also packs of six pieces of 20 g for 1 £ (78 R).
2. Yorkshire tea for lovers of strong black tea. A pack of 80 sachets costs £3 (234 RUR).
3. Strong alcohol. I bought gift sets: they are inexpensive and do not take up much space in my suitcase. A gift set of four 50 g bottles of gin cost £14 (1092 RUR). For comparison, in duty-free one identical bottle costs at least £5 (390 RUR).
4. Carmex lip balm for £2 (156 RUR). I bought it for myself and my friends.
5. Marmite paste, also known as yeast extract. Perhaps the most dubious purchase. The taste is original and not for everyone, but the British like it.
6. Large jar of organic coconut oil for £5 (390 RUR).
7. Spices: curry powder for £1 (78 R) and white pepper for £0.7 (55, Tesco-mobile and Lebara-mobile. This SIM card can be ordered free of charge by mail before your trip and activated on the day of departure. They write on the Internet that “Giffgaff” goes to Russia for about three weeks, but I haven’t checked. I didn't buy a local SIM card. For calls I used the corporate communications of the company where I work. And I looked for the Internet in cafes and hotels.

   When is the best time to go?

   The tourist season in the Cotswolds runs from May to September. But in April and October the weather is also comfortable for travel - the temperature does not drop below +10 °C.

   I was in the Cotswolds from May 8th to 14th. The temperature was around +15 °C. But in the mornings it was cold and the wind was strong. I was lucky with the rains: I only caught one, and that was at night. It's usually rainy in the Cotswolds, so a jacket and umbrella are a good idea.

   If you're here around the same time, you'll notice how seasoned the British are. While I was wrapped in a scarf, some were wearing T-shirts. And one morning at +9 °C I saw a girl in sandals.

   If you haven't read it

   1. The Cotswolds are one of the best places to see rural England.
   2. It is better to plan your trip in spring or early autumn.
   3. Take a windbreaker and an umbrella with you.
   4. The cheapest way to travel is by bus.
   5. The most inexpensive ready-made food is in supermarkets.

The fastest and cheapest way to get to England is by plane. There are direct regular flights to London from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The most options are from the capital, from where 3 airlines fly to London: Aeroflot, Transaero and British Airways. Lufthansa companies, Air France and Swissair offer flights with connections in Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich. Aeroflot and British Airways fly from Sheremetyevo to Heathrow several times a day, Transaero flies from Domodedovo to Gatwick, but not every day. You will have to spend 3.5-4 hours in the air. British Airways (to Heathrow) 5 times a week and Pulkovo Airlines (to Heathrow or Gatwick, depending on the day of the week) fly from St. Petersburg to London. British Airways flies from Yekaterinburg to London 3 times a week. Even if there are direct flights to London, you can also fly there on other airlines, but with a transfer - in Warsaw, Budapest, Prague, etc. Such flights lengthen the travel time, but tickets are sometimes cheaper.

" - flight SU 2578 daily, flight SU 2584 daily, except Monday, Saturday to Heathrow airport (London);
- British Airways - three flights a day daily to Heathrow (London);
- easyJet - one flight daily to Gatwick Airport (London).

Important! easyJet will cease flights to Moscow from London from March 21, 2016 ( last flight will take place on March 20, 2016).

From Saint-Petersburg:

- British Airways - one flight daily, Heathrow (London);
- Rossiya flies to London from St. Petersburg two or three times a week.

From the Baltics and Poland:

- easyJet - flights to London from Tallinn; from Krakow to Belfast, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London;
- Ryanair flies from Riga and Tampere to London; from Krakow to Birmingham, East Midlands, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Edinburgh; from Kaunas to Birmingham, Bristol, London, Edinburgh; from Warsaw to Bristol, East Midlands, Liverpool, London, Glasgow;
- airBaltic from Riga to London.

From Kazakhstan:

Air Astana from Astana to London.

To the UK by train

There is no direct train from Russia; you can get there with one change in Brussels or Paris by high-speed train Eurostar traveling through the Channel Tunnel. Travel time from Moscow is 43 hours, tickets will be more expensive than air tickets. At the same time, a single Moscow-London ticket is not sold, so you should separately buy a Eurostar ticket from Brussels to London, or Paris to London, respectively. Tickets are sold on the Eurostar website (www.eurostar.com), the average cost is from 120 euros one way, however, if purchased long in advance (a month or more), you can buy a ticket for 60 and sometimes even 40 euros. British immigration control is carried out before the train departs from Paris and Brussels, right at the railway stations (Brussels and Paris, respectively), and therefore you must arrive at the station at least an hour before the train departs. All border formalities are carried out at the station according to the usual procedure, just like at the airport, so you must have all the required documents with you (return tickets, hotel reservations, etc.).

To the UK by ferry

There are numerous regular ferries operating to the UK from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, with up to 50 ferries per day. The ferry is by far the cheapest way to get to the UK from mainland Europe, the cost of ferrying one passenger from Calais (France) to Dover (UK) is from 12 euros one way (and the cheapest fare can be either if purchased well in advance of departure, or directly on the day of departure). Travel time is about two hours. You should arrive at the port at least an hour and a half before the ferry departure, since passport and border control for France (for departure) and Great Britain (for entry) is carried out on French territory. After passing control, passengers board a bus, which takes them through the closed port area directly to the ship. On arrival in the UK no other passport control will not be.

To the UK by car

Distance from London by road (excluding ferry crossing): Moscow - 3090 kilometers, Paris - 415 kilometers, Brussels - 235 kilometers, Amsterdam - 190 kilometers, Berlin - 865 kilometers.