Flights to London

Getting the London flavour – city break

London is the type of destination that's great even just for a day or the weekend. With such a proximity it makes a perfect spot for a city break, hen night or a stag party. Seriously though, any excuse to go to London, is good. A concert of your favourite band at the O2 Academy in Brixton? An exhibition of your favourite artist at Tate Britain? Ireland playing UK at the O2 Arena? Some things you just don't want to miss. Perhaps you're just in need of retail therapy and New York is slightly too far away for a city break... London is your answer.

How to get around? Plan your London trip wisely.

London is a huge city divided into districts and 9 fare zones. Central London lies within zones 1 and 2. The further you get, the higher the number of the zone. The city is very well connected with an extremely well organised Underground, also known as “The Tube”, Overground Bus, Tram or Rail. Metro is generally the fastest mean of transport, however at peak times, everything is slower due to the amount of people that want to get on. Plan your day in a way to avoid public transport in rush hours and take a walk instead. There are several ways of saving money on tickets like a visitor Oyster Card or a Travel card. However think wisely about the amount of travel you'll really need during your stay. The Tube is great and fast but you're there to see the city so perhaps a bus is a better option for you? An average adult day ticket on Travelcard is £12.70 (Zones 1-4).

A must-see in London.

London is great for the amount of stuff that's completely free for the visitors. One of the top London attractions is the British Museum which has a phenomenal amount of objects from allover the World. Their collection counts 8 million objects! The place is always packed so it's best to visit during weekday mornings or on Friday evening. The National Gallery is a must for any art lover but to see the works of artists like van Gogh, Renoir or da Vinci. If you're more into modern art, you just can't leave London without visiting Tate Modern - a home to many works of Warhol, Picasso or Pollock, all in permanent collection. Visit museums when it's raining, but if you're lucky with the weather, enjoy outdoors. London Eye, the House of Parliament with Big Ben, London Bridge with the London Towers, can all be seen just by walking along the banks of River Thames. Go to Greenich Park for wonderful city panorama. The list goes on and on.

Where should you board the plane?

If you're flying from Dublin, you'll find your cheap flights to all of the airports operated by Ryanair, Aer Lingus or British Airways. London Gatwick is probably the most common option coming up in the cheap flights search engine. Rynair fly frequently from Cork Airport to London Stansted (€66 for round trip) and Aer Lingus operate very often from Cork to London Heathrow. Flights to the airports further away from the city centre are usually cheaper. It's not unusual to fly to one airport and return from another when booking a round trip. For example, you can book a flight from Shannon Airport to London Heathrow with Aer Lingus, and get a return ticket from London Stansted via Ryanair (€88 euro for round trip). Be on track with your itinerary. You can also fly from Knock Ireland West Airport to London Luton (€58). There are many options for wherever is the closest to you.

London airport – where should you head to?

The city of London has got six busy airports – London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Luton, London Stansted and London Southend. London Heathrow is one of the busiest airports of the World and it's also the main hub of London. The best airport to fly into London from Dublin is probably Heathrow or City because they're the closest to the city centre and well connected with the Underground or DLR. If your cheap flight to London lands in Stansted or Luton, then it takes over an hour on the Tube to get to Victria Station in Central London. Travelling from London Southend takes longer than 90 minutes. If you book in advance, the ticket will be cheaper and may cost around £6. All of the airports have a great dinig area with many options as well as duty free retail stores you can enjoy.

Cheap flights to London – a few tips to book right

A cheap flight from Dublin to London can cost even €25! Do you ever wonder how to find those deals? Here's a clue. Tickets are always much cheaper when you book in advance, so hold your horses on this one. If a plan for a London city break comes up during Saturday dinner with friends – don't book your tickets straight away. Wait until Mondy morning or middle of the week – the carriers usually discount flights when most people are busy working. You can look for flight deals on the web pages of different airlines and compare the prices of the dates that interest you. This however is very time consuming. Alternatively you can use a cheap flight search engine that will find you various flight options to choose from. Try the one on www.esky.ie and be sure that it will help you find the cheapest flights. A great little feature of this engine is the price alert which allows you to set your budget and get a notification when your demand meets the actual offer! Also, your trip will me much cheaper if you only bring hand luggage. Just make sure to check carry-on bag size restrictions of your airline to avoid excess luggage payment.