Heathrow travel options...

[tulips*n*truffles]

Hi there!

 

Can someone tell me which makes more sense?

 

Take Heathrow Express from Heathrow to Paddington, then tube or taxi from Paddington to hotel at St. James Park.

 

Or taxi from Heathrow directly to hotel.

 

It seems like hopping in a taxi at the airport and getting out at the hotel makes the most sense, but I've also never been to London, so I could be missing something!!

 

Thank you!

[Bob++]

There are many posts here on the same theme. The tube is the cheapest option but you have to consider that you have just got off a long flight and will have to cope with luggage etc.

 

The most popular solution seems to be a pre booked car with one of the many companies offering this service. They are cheaper than hailing a taxi at the airport departures but a lot less hassle than the train.

[tulips*n*truffles]

Oh sorry I didn't mean to just duplicate!! I did some searching but couldn't seem to find what I was looking for...clearly I need to learn how to search better!

 

Thank you for the help!

[Twickenham]

Hi there!

 

Can someone tell me which makes more sense?

 

Take Heathrow Express from Heathrow to Paddington, then tube or taxi from Paddington to hotel at St. James Park.

 

Or taxi from Heathrow directly to hotel.

 

It seems like hopping in a taxi at the airport and getting out at the hotel makes the most sense, but I've also never been to London, so I could be missing something!!

 

Thank you!

 

As is often the case, the answer is... it depends.

 

Hopping into a taxi at the airport is your easiest, but also your most expensive, option. Count on paying at least 60-70 pounds for the journey.

 

A private transfer (pre-reserved) is less, probably in the 30-40 pound range.

 

Then you have the train options. Main advantage is speed - Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes into town, Heathrow Connect takes 25 minutes (car will be 45-60 minutes depending on traffic). The speed advantage is lessened by the fact you need to take a taxi from Paddington to your hotel.

 

Last, the underground is definitely the cheapest, but not as comfortable as the train and requiring some walking/handling of luggage.

 

A lot depends on the exact location of your hotel. When you say St. James Park, do you mean near the tube station, or in the general vicinity? When will you be getting in? Are you one, two or more people travelling together?

 

As you can see, lots of considerations.

[flsun]

We, too, are looking at these options. I've looked at private cars, thru 3 sites, and they're all running close to E70 for 2 passengers in a 6-8 passenger van. We are arriving at Terminal 5 and headed to the London-Westminster area.

 

Are passengers on the tube accustomed to those of us with luggage? The Heathrow Express was the same price as a car hire.

 

Suggestions?

[SharonK]

As is often the case, the answer is... it depends.

 

Hopping into a taxi at the airport is your easiest, but also your most expensive, option. Count on paying at least 60-70 pounds for the journey.

 

A private transfer (pre-reserved) is less, probably in the 30-40 pound range.

 

Then you have the train options. Main advantage is speed - Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes into town, Heathrow Connect takes 25 minutes (car will be 45-60 minutes depending on traffic). The speed advantage is lessened by the fact you need to take a taxi from Paddington to your hotel.

 

Last, the underground is definitely the cheapest, but not as comfortable as the train and requiring some walking/handling of luggage.

 

A lot depends on the exact location of your hotel. When you say St. James Park, do you mean near the tube station, or in the general vicinity? When will you be getting in? Are you one, two or more people travelling together?

 

As you can see, lots of considerations.

You mention considering the time we are arriving--we are arriving at 10pm and by the time we collect luggage and go through customs, it will be late. How safe is it for 2 women at that hour in the city? I think we are planning to take a private car which will take us directly to our hotel.

[Globaliser]

Are passengers on the tube accustomed to those of us with luggage? The Heathrow Express was the same price as a car hire.

Yes.

 

I do the Tube with luggage all the time - sometimes with two pieces of checked baggage plus my carry-on. This is because the Tube is, overall, the best way for me to get between the office (where I start most of my trips from) and Heathrow.

 

However, I'm not sure whether you've confused things a bit: The Heathrow Express is not the Tube. The Tube refers to London Underground. In contrast, Heathrow Express is a mainline (albeit short distance) train. The Tube is much cheaper than the Heathrow Express.

[Globaliser]

How safe is it for 2 women at that hour in the city?

As Twickenham says, it depends. To repeat her question, when you say St James's Park, do you mean near the Tube station, or in the general vicinity?

[SharonK]

As Twickenham says, it depends. To repeat her question, when you say St James's Park, do you mean near the Tube station, or in the general vicinity?

 

I was asking about safety in London in general but maybe I should start a new thread since this one was about something else.

[Globaliser]

I was asking about safety in London in general ...

Well, I think you'll get the same answer. London's a big city. And some parts (even of central London) are safer than others, particularly if you're thinking about night time. You have to take big city precautions like in any other big city, and keep your street smarts about you. Like everywhere else, there'll be pickpockets and handbag dippers. But in major tourist areas, there should be no specific problem that you need to worry about.

[SharonK]

Thank you Globalizer!

[flsun]

Yes.

 

I do the Tube with luggage all the time - sometimes with two pieces of checked baggage plus my carry-on. This is because the Tube is, overall, the best way for me to get between the office (where I start most of my trips from) and Heathrow.

 

However, I'm not sure whether you've confused things a bit: The Heathrow Express is not the Tube. The Tube refers to London Underground. In contrast, Heathrow Express is a mainline (albeit short distance) train. The Tube is much cheaper than the Heathrow Express.

 

Good to know. In DC, people on the Metro are not put out by luggage, but we want to be sensitive to the comfort of others.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I was referring to the Tube but had also looked into the LHR Express.

 

One more question, if you don't mind: Returning from the ship to LHR, would we have time to go to Liverpool Street, get over to Piccadilly and then onto the Tube to LHR? I hate to pay $101 for the transfer directly from the port, and hauling a suitcase won't deter me. It's the time factor. Some say 3 hours ahead for international flights at LHR; our flight leaves at 2:30 pm.

 

Thanks, Globaliser, for the help. It's so valuable to those of us who are first-time visitors.

[Twickenham]

You mention considering the time we are arriving--we are arriving at 10pm and by the time we collect luggage and go through customs, it will be late. How safe is it for 2 women at that hour in the city? I think we are planning to take a private car which will take us directly to our hotel.

 

As Globaliser said, it really depends on the area; in general, however, as a single female, I've always felt safe using public transport and walking about late at night in London. I'd actually probably feel safer on the tube or train then with a private transfer, but that's just me.

 

My remark regarding time was more to do with logistics, as the last tube train leaves LHR around 11:30 or so I believe, and the last HEX train leaves at about 11:45 or so.

 

One more question, if you don't mind: Returning from the ship to LHR, would we have time to go to Liverpool Street, get over to Piccadilly and then onto the Tube to LHR? I hate to pay $101 for the transfer directly from the port, and hauling a suitcase won't deter me. It's the time factor. Some say 3 hours ahead for international flights at LHR; our flight leaves at 2:30 pm.

 

A flight out at 2:30 pm is fairly tight, but I would definitely take the train-taxi-train option. The earlier you can be off the ship the better.

[Globaliser]

One more question, if you don't mind: Returning from the ship to LHR, would we have time to go to Liverpool Street, get over to Piccadilly and then onto the Tube to LHR? I hate to pay $101 for the transfer directly from the port, and hauling a suitcase won't deter me. It's the time factor. Some say 3 hours ahead for international flights at LHR; our flight leaves at 2:30 pm.

I think you're scheduled to dock at 4 am on Wednesday 7 August 2013 - is that right?

 

Firm timetables for that day are not yet available on http://www.nationalrail.co.uk because they're only shown three months out. However, it looks like there are now direct trains (no changes) from Harwich International to London Liverpool Street at 0715, 0721 and 0803. For obvious reasons, it'll be easier to get one of these because you don't have to change between Harwich and London. Even if you get the last of those, it arrives in London at 0936, which gives you plenty of time to get to Heathrow for your flight, even if you do it by public transport.

 

Obviously, this doesn't allow for delays. But you don't have to be at the airport three hours before departure. In most cases, the real check-in deadline is something like 60 minutes, sometimes less - although that's usually the hard cut-off point by which you must be checked-in. So even if something went wrong, you could probably get to the terminal at 1 pm and still have margin for error.

 

The best Tube route, if you want to do that, is:-

• Circle Line clockwise from Liverpool Street - because there is step-free access to the Circle Line platform in this direction. Make sure you get on a Circle Line train and not one of the other lines that will depart from the same platform.
• Change at any station from Blackfriars to South Kensington (inclusive) to a District Line train heading to Ealing Broadway or Richmond. This is a same platform change - you will board the District Line train exactly where you disembarked the Circle Line train.
• Change at Barons Court to the Piccadilly Line - cross to the other side of the platform. Make sure you get on a Heathrow train that's going to the correct terminal. For Terminal 4, get a Terminal 4/123 train. For Terminals 1, 3 or 5, get a Terminal 123/5 train.

[flsun]

Globaliser - perfect! I can do this. Thanks so much for the detail. This helps a lot.

 

Twickenham - We have status with RCI and can get off the ship whenever we want. Knowing there are early trains gives us room to breathe.

 

We appreciate all the input.

[flsun]

One more quick question regarding the Tube from Heathrow. We are arriving on British Airways and should be thru Customs before 8 am, next Friday morning (yay! Can't wait!). That said, we plan to take the Tube to Pimlico and walk the few blocks to our hotel. I'm guessing the Tube works with the Oyster card, as in we pre-load it and use it throughout the system. Is that correct?

 

Also, is the system relatively easy to figure out? The website says Piccadilly Line toward Arnos Grove, change to Victoria Line at Green Park (toward Brixton) to Pimlico. Sound right?

[Bob++]

Some people say they find the London Tube maps totally incomprehensible; others find them perfectly obvious and straightforward.

 

All the lines are different and coloured differently on the map; green for District Line for example. The Piccadilly line from Heathrow is coloured blue. There are simple maps on the walls of the carriages so you can see the stations and count them down as you go through. In the stations there are signs and more maps and even people to ask, so you shouldn't be too afraid of getting lost.

 

Trains are frequent, sometimes less than a minute apart, rarely more than five minutes, so don't rush to catch one, just wait for the next.

 

And MIND THE GAP:):D:D

[jameybano]

I just traveled to London in June with my son to celebrate his high school graduation . We stayed at the Crowne Plaza St. James Park. We booked a transfer through City Transfers UK.

The St. James area is VERY safe. To walk to our hotel from the St. James Park tube station we passed New Scotland Yard, the Ministry of Justice, and Wellington Barracks (which has armed guards). All in about a three block area!

If you are staying at/near the Crowne Plaza , there is an Italian cafe--Bon Gusto- that has affordable breakfasts and there is a Starbucks near the tube station.

[MATHA531]

One of the nice things about London Underground is that the language used on the signs is English...a language very closely related to the language most of the people here who are asking questions use at home (say American or Canadian or Australian). You can ask the tran personnel and there's an excellent chance they will understand what you are saying. The signs are clearly marked and as noted the lines on the signs and maps are color coded. The Piccadilly line is dark navy blue, the Victoria line is royal blue and so on.

 

The only impediments to using the tube out of the airport are luggage although the carriages on the Piccadilly line do have space for some luggage and since you are getting on at the start of the run at Heathrow, getting a seat by your luggage should not present a problem. Terminals 4 and 5 are almost sitting right on top of the tube station, terminal 3 requires a bit of a walk although there are some moving platforms. At your stop, though, there might be a few stairs and the transfers also might be up and down short flights of stairs (for those places where there are many stairs, there are generally escalators, some of the longest you will ever see or lifts (elevators).

 

Once you get the hang of it, it's easy. But upon arrival after a long trans-continental flight, I can certainly see the advantage of a pre booked car service direct to your hotel.