Which time to fly?

The other option is to take the tube to St. Pancras/Kings Cross train station and take the Midland Mainline train up to Wellingborough.  From there you can get a taxi to the Northampton Hilton, which is about a 15 - 20 minute drive, so not that far.  Tube links into Kings Cross are very good so should be less of a hassle than getting to Euston

I always try to get a night flight from NY to UK because i can get a few hours sleep on the plane.. wake up and its morning and then just force myself to stay up all day and im back to normal the next day after a good nights sleep.

From UK to US I like to take a morning flight so i get to NY in the afternoon/evening and can have a chat with family when i get in and go to sleep as usual and im on US time.

Definitely!  It's so much easier in terms of jet lag when you have a night flight and pop a dramamine on the flight.  You wake up in London with a little more energy than you would have had, and it takes you just the night to get adjusted to the time zone.

There is a non-stop USAir flight out of Charlotte NC that takes off at 7:00pm and lands at gatwick at 8:30am, it's perfect for me. On the return flight I leave there at 11:00am and get here at 3:00pm. It's always worked out for Mark and myself.

There is a non-stop USAir flight out of Charlotte NC that takes off at 7:00pm and lands at gatwick at 8:30am, it's perfect for me. On the return flight I leave there at 11:00am and get here at 3:00pm. It's always worked out for Mark and myself.

I may have to look into this in the future, considering that the only commercial flight into the Athens (GA) airport is a USAir flight to and from Charlotte! 

Definitely!  It's so much easier in terms of jet lag when you have a night flight and pop a dramamine on the flight.  You wake up in London with a little more energy than you would have had, and it takes you just the night to get adjusted to the time zone.

I find it's much easier to take a day flight from the US, because then I can just go straight to sleep when I get back to my place in London.  The night flights never work for me because I can't sleep on the way there, and then I'm dying to sleep as soon as it's morning in London.  I hate them!

I did the redeye thing for years. Nearly all the flights out of Boston land in London at seven or eight in the morning. I *hate* it. I don't sleep well on planes, and I was a complete zombie next day. Adding the overnight to jetlag and it took me days to recover.

Yep, ditto for me.

I may have to look into this in the future, considering that the only commercial flight into the Athens (GA) airport is a USAir flight to and from Charlotte! 

I'm just really lucky that I live a hour from Charlotte!

Now for another question.....I'm now considering renting a car. A little scary, but much more convenient as I'll be going all over between Northampton , Norwich and Birmingham and there aren't any direct east/west trains.

How was your experience the first time you drove in UK? Am I nuts to consider renting a car?

Nan

Now for another question.....I'm now considering renting a car. A little scary, but much more convenient as I'll be going all over between Northampton , Norwich and Birmingham and there aren't any direct east/west trains.

How was your experience the first time you drove in UK? Am I nuts to consider renting a car?

Nan

Tell me about it! That was my problem exactly. My husband is originally from St Ives in Cambridgeshire. For the first year I was SO depressed because I couldn't drive and there were no east/west trains or buses to get to Cambridgeshire to visit family and friends.

I completely sympathise with how you're feeling about driving over here. I think getting the National Express coach or the train to Wellingborough would probably be a better idea to get from the airport. You'll be tired and not feeling your best - not the best time to try driving in a foreign country! Then, you can rent a car in Northampton the next day and start fresh. If you have the time and money, you also schedule to take a quick driving lesson just to settle your nerves and get the general gist of things.

BTW, we lived in Great Billing (east Northampton) before moving to Huntingdon in Cambs. If there's anything you want to know about Npton, I'm happy to help.

Aye, it depends on your sleeping habits and such.