Heathrow to Southampton

My wife can walk short distances but would struggle in Heathrow. When we went to Turkey (with BA) we arranged for assistance at both ends. It worked pretty well, except that at Heathrow on the return, we had to wait ages (and I worried about the luggage) for a porter to arrive with a wheelchair. I got a ride on an electric cart and we jumped the queue at immigration.

The problem was that we then lost our porter with the wheelchair. I collected (thankfully) our luggage and we had to make our own way to the taxi rank. I am not sure if he would have stayed with us if we had asked though.

Dudette has MS and needs to travel in wheelchair, she can no longer walk unaided. Our experience LHR in terms of Handicapped Assist has been nothing short of outstanding. I believe it is all contracted out, it is very well organized, there are normally lots of porters and what I call pushers. If your gate is any distance from the arrivals area you are met by a porter with an electric trolley. Many other airports could take some lessons from LHR on how to operate Handicapped Assist.

You can take the National Express coach from Southampton Coach Station to Heathrow Airport terminal 5 (the first airport stop) then take the tube at Heathrow Terminal 5 (it's the Piccadilly line) straight to either Russell Square or Kings Cross, whichever is the closer to your hotel. It's all lifts and level platforms at Heathrow. No stress. No stairs.Iit's a lot physically easier going via Heathrow on the coach and changing to the tube with bags than going via Victoria Coach Station then having to do a walk to Victoria tube station, then down stairs etc with yr bags, such a hassle. Way less crowded at Heathrow compared to Victoria.

The coach to Heathrow is often quicker than to Victoria as it avoids central London traffic. Hope this helps.

Smart thinkin; its a good option.

Other things to consider

1) Megabus (actually Megatrain in this case) have space on afternoon trains from Southampton to London Waterloo for crazy cheap. The savings could easily pay for a black cab Waterloo -> Your Hotel

2) Often if you're staying in NW central london; the rail option Southampton-Reading-London Paddington is preferable.