12 hour lay-over in London

[whynotcruise]

Hi! We have a long (12-hour) lay over in London (Heathrow). We want to do a little sight-seeing before our next flight. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks much!

[KirkNC]

A reasonably close site is Windsor Castle which you can cover pretty good in a few hours.

[agabbymama]

Exactly what we did. We took a bus from the airport to the bus terminal, then caught a bus to Windsor. Saw the Castle, walked around the quaint little town of Windsor, had lunch, etc. Then returned on the bus back to the terminal and on to the airport. Be sure to ask the bus driver what time the last bus you would need to be back to the airport on time.

DO NOT TAKE A TAXI! It was going to be 50 lbs to Windsor, but 100+ lbs back to the airport.

[John Bull]

Which 12 hours?
If it's 2 x 1/2day, might be worth overniting, with just overnite bag, at a hotel in central London

JB

[Cotswold Eagle]

Originally Posted by agabbymama

Exactly what we did. We took a bus from the airport to the bus terminal, then caught a bus to Windsor. Saw the Castle, walked around the quaint little town of Windsor, had lunch, etc. Then returned on the bus back to the terminal and on to the airport. Be sure to ask the bus driver what time the last bus you would need to be back to the airport on time.

DO NOT TAKE A TAXI! It was going to be 50 lbs to Windsor, but 100+ lbs back to the airport.

I imagine you are talking about a black cab from LHR? Windsor is outside the Metropolitan Area so they can charge what they like. You should be able to get a local cab from Windsor to Heathrow for about £20, I would have thought.

'lb' is the measure of weight, '£' is the currency (or GBP if you don't have £ on your keyboard)

[TLCOhio]

Originally Posted by whynotcruise

Hi! We have a long (12-hour) lay over in London (Heathrow). We want to do a little sight-seeing before our next flight. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks much!

As suggested by others, we did the Windsor Castle option while having a lay-over in mid 2010 on our way to Copenhagen to start a Norway cruise. Loved it. The cab cost was high, but it was a nice way to see and do more. Below are some of my photo samples for what saw and experienced. Not an average or boring location. Kind of spectacular, in fact!!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 92,776 views.
http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/s....php?t=1227923


At Windsor Castle, just outside of London and near Heathrow, there is 900 years of history at the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world:




The Waterloo Room at Windsor Castle celebrates with large painting of the key players involved in defeating Napoleon.:




This Queen’s Reception room at Windsor Castle has spectacular ceilings and architectural detailing, plus nice furniture and paintings. Just like home in the State Apartments!! :




St. George's Chapel is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England with many members of the Royal family buried here with the walled areas of Windsor Castle. This chapel*is also the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter.:




At Windsor, the Changing of the Guard

 takes place at 11:00 daily:




This ceremony also includes a large band with the unique and expected British Royal uniforms and hats.:

[cruisewmn]

We had a lengthy layover at Heathrow a couple of years ago. We booked a day room at Sofitel which is connected to the airport by a walkway. It was wonderful to have a room to store our luggage and take showers/freshen up. The concierge ordered a taxi to take us to Windsor. It's a charming, short drive. We loved seeing the little villages and even some horse drawn buggies (not tourist, but locals). Felt like we went back in time. We ate lunch, walked around the charming town, and toured the castle. It was fantastic! After, we went back to the hotel and ate dinner before checking in for our flight. We didn't expect much from the day, yet it turned into one of the highlights of our trip.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Originally Posted by TLCOhio

As suggested by others, we did the Windsor Castle option while having a lay-over in mid 2010 on our way to Copenhagen to start a Norway cruise. Loved it. The cab cost was high, but it was a nice way to see and do more. Below are some of my photo samples for what saw and experienced. Not an average or boring location. Kind of spectacular, in fact!!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Terry, is there anywhere in Europe you don't have great photos of?!

Looks like the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (red over white hackles in their berets) taking over from the Foot Guards (red tunics, bearskins) - the sentry in the background appears to be from the Grenadier Guards. The Queen's Guard always used to be mounted only by Foot Guards, but these days other regiments are given the honour too.

Interesting fact - you can distinguish the five regiments of Foot Guards by how their buttons are grouped on their tunics.

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by whynotcruise

We have a long (12-hour) lay over in London (Heathrow). We want to do a little sight-seeing before our next flight. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated.

If you want to go into town, Piccadilly Line from Heathrow to Barons Court, change to District Line and get off at St James's Park, Westminster, Embankment, Blackfriars, Monument or Tower Hill (depending on what you want to look at). Journey time is about 75 minutes each way, and that would give you plenty of time in town.

You don't say what time you arrive, and where from. If you've just done a short overnight flight from North America and you're anything like me, sightseeing may be about the last thing you feel like doing as you stagger around feeling like death warmed up. I find flying from Sydney to London easier than flying from New York to London.