Sharon Sparlin: SOUTHAMPTON TO TRIESTE

In June 2017 I wrote an article reviewing my experience using National Express bus for a Southampton to London transfer.

In May 2022 I boarded the Emerald Princess for a 15 Day TransAtlantic cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton England. My plan for this trip was, once again, to take the National Express bus from Southampton.

In my previous article I needed a transfer from Southampton to downtown London Central Station. This time, however, I would need a transfer from Southampton to London Stansted airport as I would be flying to Trieste, Italy to embark on the Norwegian Star for a 10 day cruise to Barcelona.

Even with moderately light traffic the 125 mile trip from Southampton to Stansted airport can take 3 hours or more. I had pre-purchased my National Express bus ticket from Southampton to London Stansted airport. The only bus that would arrive in time for my flight to Trieste, Italy left Southampton bus station at 6:30am.

The Emerald Princess docked in Southampton as scheduled, at 5:00am. Catching a 6:30am bus should not pose a problem. I only had a roller bag and a backpack so would be allowed to disembark first.

Even though we had docked right on time at 5:00am, ship clearance was delayed until 8:00am. I had already missed my 6:30a bus to Stansted airport. What does one do now? I would have to go to Plan B.

Princess cruises offered a bus transfer from Southampton to downtown London Central Station.

Princess shuttle Southampton to London Central Station

London downtown Victoria Coach Station

From here I could then take National Express to London Stansted airport.

National Express Bus London Central Station to Stansted Airport

It would be a very tight schedule but felt it worth the effort to try otherwise, I would be forced to overnight in either Southampton or London.

Princess only provided 1 bus to London Central Station and that was scheduled for an 8:45am departure. Unfortunately, the bus didn’t leave the port of Southampton until 9:30am due to late passenger arrivals. Arrival into London Central Station was 11:30am. I immediately located the National Express ticket counter and purchased a ticket to Stansted airport.

National Express ticket

The bus would leave London Central Station at 12:00 noon and arrive at Stansted airport at 2:00pm.

Stansted airport

My pre-purchased flight to Trieste, Italy was Ryanair scheduled to depart Stansted airport at 3:14pm. By the time I walked from the bus drop-off point at Stansted to the Ryanair check-in counter it was 2:20pm. Ryanair allowed me to check-in as I had no baggage to check. However, because I had failed to check-in online I was charged a $55 late check-in fee. I quickly paid the fee, received my boarding pass and headed to security.

The line at security was horrific. Fortunately, I have Global Assistance which includes TSA pre-check. I was able to clear through security with no waiting, otherwise I would have missed the flight for sure. I began walking to gate 55.

Along the way an overhead neon sign flashed “18-25 minute walk to gate 55”. Yikes! I was almost exactly 25 minutes away. Walking as quickly as possible, without running, I used all the moving escalators available along the way. As the gate came into view I heard the PA announcement “This is the final call for Ryanair flight 168. Doors will be closing in 2 minutes.”

Out of breath with an elevated heart rate, I presented my boarding pass to the gate agent and quickly proceeded down the gangway. Ironically, I had only been seated 2-3 minutes when the captain made an announcement that ground control was delaying our departure by 45 minutes.

Flight time to Trieste, Italy was 1 hour and 45 minutes. The airport is located about 30 minutes to the North of downtown Trieste so once I arrived into Trieste airport, the last and final obstacle was to locate the train station. The walk from the Trieste airport to the train platform took me another 15 minutes. I had pre-purchased the train ticket so simply had to make my way down to platform 1.

Train tracks Trieste airport location

The train arrived right on time and left promptly at 7:15pm. I found myself in downtown Trieste at 7:44pm.

Walking out of the train station I solicited the help of a local gal with a cellphone who called a taxi for me. Taxi’s in Trieste all have a number painted on the door. She confirmed that I would be taxi #42 and it arrived within 2 minutes.

The ride to the hotel took 5 minutes and the cost was 10 euros including the tip. I checked in to the Hotel Citta di Parenzo.

Staff was polite and check-in was quick and easy. I was assigned room #104. I anticipated it would be on the ground floor but it was actually on floor 2. I did have to negotiate a few steps to get to the elevator and then another few steps once I got off the elevator but found the room with no problem.