kandilancaster8289

Four of us will be traveling to either Nottingham or Bristol to see grandson play American football for UWE. We need advice on ride share services or hired drivers to attend games from a rented flat. At the end of the tournament, we will need transfer to rented flat in Nottinghill. Are there companies or Uber like services?

janisj

OK -- little confused - are you staying in either Bristol or Nottingham AND in Notting Hill London? Or are you staying just in London and are asking about transport to Bristol/Nottingham?? Also not sure what you are asking about transport to Notting Hill -- do you mean all the way FROM Bristol or Nottingham to London - or - do you mean travel from somewhere in London to Notting Hill?

I don't use uber in the UK and never (ever) use it in London. There are buses, trains, taxis, and car services (sometimes confusingly called mini cabs but they are full sized cars / often vans/limos)

What you will need . . . depends entirely on where exactly you are staying and where exactly the pitch is.

So give us more details and we can help

janisj

Oh -- and welcome to Fodors

kandilancaster8289

UWE will be playing for the championship in either Bristol or Nottingham (we just don't know yet). We will use a car service to get us from Heathrow to either AirB&B. as there are two older adults and we don't want to wrestle with trains after a 10-hour flight.
What we need to know is how best to get to the game (as soon as we know where it will be played).
After spending three days in either Nottingham or Bristol, we would like to hire a car service to take us directlly to our AirB&B in Notting Hill area of London. Once in London we will use public transportation.

janisj

You do NOT want a car service from LHR to either city. For either Nottingham or Bristol - just take the National Express coach directly from LHR. Takes about the same drive time as a car service for a fraction the cost (of course a driver wouldn't have the wait time for the next bus)

Nottingham is easily a THREE hour drive from LHR. A driver would cost as much as your airfare (only a slight exaggeration). And Nottingham to central London takes even more time. You won't be jet lagged after three days so just take the train to London from either Bristol (arrives at Paddington station - a short cab ride from Notting Hill) or from Nottingham (this train would arrive at St Pancras Station so a bit longer cab ride).

"What we need to know is how best to get to the game (as soon as we know where it will be played). "

Until you know where you are staying and where the games are, no one can know the best mode of local transport.

kandilancaster8289

Thank you for your input. It is settled that the game will be in Nottingham, but we have decided to keep the B&B in Bristol and use the train to get to the game. We don't know what time the game is, but if it is later (say 7/8pm) will the trains still be running for a return trip to Bristol (say, 11pm?).

janisj

OK -- Have you looked at a map of England? Bristol and Nottingham are nowhere near each other and there are no direct trains between the two cities. The journey would take between 4 and 5 hours with three or four changes and depending on the day, one of the legs could be by bus due to track works.

Your plan makes no sense - If the game is in Nottingham, you should stay in or very near Nottingham.

janisj

Meant to add . . . neither city is a small town. Bristol's population is nearly 500,000 and Nottingham close to 350,000 - so they are large cities. A B&B somewhere in Bristol could be quite some distance from the train station. And assuming you do change plans and decide to find a B&B in Nottingham - its location could be inconvenient to wherever the game is played. So before booking in Nottingham, you might want to post the location (and the location of the game too) so we can give you transit options.

thursdaysd

Bristol to Nottingham is not quite as bad as janisj says, it requires one change at Birmingham, but a minimum of 2h 48m, and usually at least three hours. However, the last reasonable train back leaves at 20:41. You can check the times yourself at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ As she says, it makes no sense to stay in Bristol if you want to watch a game in Nottingham. However, three days in Bristol would be easier to fill than three days in Nottingham.

janisj

I had plugged in a Saturday in March on National Rail (I used a Saturday because my guess is the game is on a weekend) and the shortest journey I found was 3:55 . . . but that may have been because I picked a date that is impacted by lots of network works. Seeing your post, I tried another date and did find some journeys as short as 2:52 . . . However the last practical train is at 8:24PM. with a duration of 3:06. After that the trains are all 5 to 9 hours overnight in duration. A 20:24 train may be too early for the OP.

And we'd need to know how close the Bristol B&B is to Temple Meads to know what the true connection is. The actual location could easily add 20 or 30 minutes to the travel time.

kandilancaster8289

Update: we have decided to hire a car service for all travel. We have booked the following:
Transfer LHR to Bristol
All day to Nottingham and return after the game
Transfer from Bristol to flat in London
Separate early morning transfer for one to Heathrow from Bristol
Transfer from London to LHR.
Cost is $1700 total

janisj

I am (almost) speechless -- staying in Bristol to go to a game in NOTTINGHAM makes no sense on any level. Six hours in a car (3 hours each way) . . . and paying $1700 (!) for the privilege no less. There are tens of thousands of wonderful airbnbs all over the country and easily 5000 of them would be 2 hours nearer to Nottingham than any in Bristol.

I have no idea where you live in the States but this would be like staying in Chicago to drive to a game in Indianapolis, or staying in Dallas for a game in Austin (both would be about the same drive times)

Sure don't get your fascination with Bristol since Nottingham and London are where you need to be - but I do know that car service is really REALLY happy . . .

kandilancaster8289

My grandson, whom we have not seen in a year, lives in Bristol. The game is one day. We are happy that we will be able to see the countryside as we travel, in comfort to see him play the last game of his college career. We plan to spend four days in London with him after the game. (Our 3rd trip to London).

hetismij2

You won't see much of the countryside I am afraid, just a lot of motorways with the potential for nail biting jams on them.
Also expect the price quoted to increase as fuel prices rocket.

bilboburgler

traffic jams would be a real concern for me

It is only American football after all

janisj

A few more comments then I'll withdraw.

• You provided none of those details before -- you only mentioned deciding where to stay once the game venue was determined. Your grandson living in Bristol does put a slightly different spin on things.

• You are not going to see much countryside really . . . well as much as you'd see driving the interstates in the US. That 3 hours each way is not by pretty country roads, it is by motorway and city streets.

• Consider this . . . just throwing it out there to think about: Stay in Bristol for 3 days with your grandson. Take the train or a car service to Nottingham and spend the night there in a nice hotel / attend game. Then take the train to London - takes about 2 hours and costs between £22 and £60-ish per person depending on which train you take. Saves time and saves a Boatload of £££/$$$ ($1700/ £1300 is eye watering and truly unnecessary)

janisj

BTW . . . a car service from Notting Hill to LHR would cost £60 max. Probably less unless petrol surcharges kick in.