Travel in London, Monday morning

[Galant]

Hi Guys, I'm looking for any insight on travelling in London this coming weekend/Monday. Any warnings/insights/tips that might not be obvious.

I have an appointment in London that I'm flying in for this weekend.

I arrive in Gatwick on the Sunday and can stay with a friend in Sutton. My appointment is at 8:30am near City Park/Little Albacete/Prescot Wharf.

It seems to be between Battersea Park train station and Vauxhall station. And about 30-40 mins walk from Victoria station (by Google's estimate).

I'm trying to decide whether I should simply skip staying with my friend and stay at a hotel near my destination the night before - depending on reliability of the travel.

I don't mind walking, quite enjoy it, and am a pretty quick walker.

Trainline.com is telling me there's a train from Sutton direct to Victoria that takes about 40 mins, and then I could do the longer walk from there.
Or I can aim for Battersea and change at Clapham Junction.

Generally, I'd tend to avoid changes/legs if possible to reduce the risk of anything being late or missed.

Can anyone tell me if the trains would be expected to leave/arrive on time etc? Or anything else I should know?
Is buying tickets online best, or is there some sort of travel pass that might be advisable?

After my appointment I'll have an afternoon to kill in London, and will leave the next day very early from Gatwick. So I was looking at either another night with my friend followed by an early morning Express coach to Gatwick (check in around 5am), or perhaps just stay overnight near Gatwick.

So if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate your insight.

[Jonatron]

The Sutton to Victoria service is Southern, which is unreliable. An alternative is going to Vauxhall, changing at Wimbledon. Check the timings for both routes, and decide which route to take when you get to the station.
The coach to Gatwick is also unreliable, so have a backup plan for that too, which is probably an uber or other cab.
Edit: Contactless for trains and buses. Book coach online.

[Galant]

The Sutton to Victoria service is Southern, which is unreliable. An alternative is going to Vauxhall, changing at Wimbledon. Check the timings for both routes, and decide which route to take when you get to the station.
The coach to Gatwick is also unreliable, so have a backup plan for that too, which is probably an uber or other cab.
Edit: Contactless for trains and buses. Book coach online.

Thanks!

How unreliable is unreliable? Should I just avoid it entirely, or just give myself a lot of extra time?

[Jonatron]

Thanks!

How unreliable is unreliable? Should I just avoid it entirely, or just give myself a lot of extra time?

I'd say both trains and coach are in the region of 90% reliable, which is high enough to try to use it, but low enough to need a backup plan. 15-30 mins extra time should be fine if you want to be safe. If there's any snow, you will struggle to get anywhere at all, but that's not looking likely at the moment.

[b0redom]

Depends how important being on time to the meeting is. I personally would get the Gatwick Express into Victoria and stay overnight somewhere in walking distance, but I _hate_ public transport.

[Smudger]

Have you looked at Thameslink? Also unreliable, but not as unreliable as Southern, goes through Elephant & Castle, Herne Hill and Tulse Hill, might get you closer to where you need to be...

Edit: Looking at the map, nah.

[ik9000]

southern better than they were last year, but check on the day for cancellations and allow 1 train redundancy. Factor in 10min overrun even if train turns up.

change clapham J, take waterloo train get off at Vauxhall and walk from there

morning to Gatwick, get uber or stay in airport hotel. Gatwick Express I wouldn't trust. Gets cancelled far too often. If you can get to East Croydon via bus or whatever you will have more train choices, but at that time of day, doesn't seem sensible to me.

[peterb]

Try downloading the CityMapper app - loads of useful travel advice based on real time information.

[Spud1]

Try downloading the CityMapper app - loads of useful travel advice based on real time information.

I second this - as as northerner who has to travel into central london & surrounding areas regularly but not enough to learn the routes, I rely on citmapper to get me to the right place on time. It's up to date with engineering works/cancellations etc and almost always offers you multiple routes to your destination with a price comparison (e.g. Uber vs Tube vs Overground vs walking).

That said, personally I would stay as close to your meeting as possible - or if I can't do that I leave an hour's contingency. The trains may be unreliable, but in my experience it's been rare for a whole string to be cancelled at once, usually just 1 or 2 within that hour and they run regularly enough.

[Galant]

Thanks to everyone for your recommendations. Last Monday I was back in London for the first time in decades and it all went pretty smoothly.
I tried the CityMapper app but in the end just went with Google Maps as I was more familiar with it. No issues with the Southern Rail lines. Ended up staying with a friend in Sutton and then catching two trains into the centre - one to Clapham Junction then another to Vauxhall, then on foot from there.

The train from Clapham J to Vauxhall was jam-packed! It wasn't quite like you see with those east-asian commuter trains and people getting shoved in, but it wasn't far off!

Made use of my mobile to use contactless payments for the trains and that was fine and that all ran smoothly. Since I don't use NFC often I've not clued myself up on the overall security of NFC technology and so kept NFC switched off except for the few moments I needed to run the payment. It's definitely convenient though.

The system of entrance in and out of stations seems to work well, providing for simple navigation and payment instead of specific route fares. I expect this has been in place eons but being a 'country bumpkin' it was my first time using this sort of system and it made the travel a rather simple affair.

Google maps was a bit of a struggle at times with all the traffic going on in the areas I was walking. Had some navigation issues which were quickly resolved by putting the phone away and using my eyes and brain. Still, London was somewhat tricky to navigate at times in terms of getting bearings. There may be lots of famous landmarks but mostly they're not visible unless you're right on top of them. Maybe I'm just used to American cities with their North-South-East-West layouts.

Not a fan of all these self-checkout stations in use in what feels like the majority of shops. How was that inconvenience ever palmed off as convenience? I get it - lower labour costs - but it just gives the place even more of a driven cattle feel. I'd still like to say 'hello' to someone when I'm in close proximity, and not just act like cogs in a shopping machine. (How old do I sound right now?)

All in all, a successful and smooth trip, enjoyed a few sights, but was ultimately reminded why I generally don't like big cities.

Thanks again for your help guys.

[Zak33]

you describe everything that keeps me near fields and far from The London

[williamsmith]

Hi Guys, I'm looking for any insight on travelling in London this coming weekend/Monday. Any warnings/insights/tips that might not be obvious.

I have an appointment in London that I'm flying in for this weekend.

I arrive in Gatwick on the Sunday and can stay with a friend in Sutton. My appointment is at 8:30am near City Park/Little Albacete/Prescot Wharf.

It seems to be between Battersea Park train station and Vauxhall station. And about 30-40 mins walk from Victoria station (by Google's estimate).

I'm trying to decide whether I should simply skip staying with my friend and stay at a hotel near my destination the night before - depending on reliability of the luggage travel.

I don't mind walking, quite enjoy it, and am a pretty quick walker.

Trainline.com is telling me there's a train from Sutton direct to Victoria that takes about 40 mins, and then I could do the longer walk from there.
Or I can aim for Battersea and change at Clapham Junction.

Generally, I'd tend to avoid changes/legs if possible to reduce the risk of anything being late or missed.

Can anyone tell me if the trains would be expected to leave/arrive on time etc? Or anything else I should know?
Is buying tickets online best, or is there some sort of travel pass that might be advisable?

After my appointment I'll have an afternoon to kill in London, and will leave the next day very early from Gatwick. So I was looking at either another night with my friend followed by an early morning Express coach to Gatwick (check in around 5am), or perhaps just stay overnight near Gatwick.

So if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate your insight.

The Sutton to Victoria service is Southern is the best option.