Transfer from Heathrow to central London by ... taxi!

[Bennett'sCruise]

We just came back from the British Isles, so i thought I'd chime in here. When we arrived, we arranged transportation through Princess. We waited for nearly an hour and a half before the bus finally arrived. The ride to the hotel took about the same amount of time. The cost was $35 pp (others paid more, we initially paid 35 pounds pp, then were refunded $35 pp. It was very strange.).

 

On the way back to Heathrow, we booked a taxi through our hotel. There was a set rate of 55 pounds and the ride took about 40 minutes. It delivered us right to our airline. We were three with four suitcases and three carry ons. There was not a space issue with the luggage.

 

We enjoyed riding the Tube and noticed that there were a lot of folks taking it to and from Heathrow on the Picadilly line. The only complaint we heard was that it was a looong walk from baggage to the Tube station at the airport. If we each had had one suitcase, I think we would have tried it, but just didn't want to fit rush hour traffic with what we had.

 

Charlie

 

Charlies ~

I'm not sure I followed all your comings and goings. When you flew INTO Heathrow, how did you get to the port? Did you stay in London first?

 

When you got done with the cruise, did you go right to Heathrow or stay in London and then to Heathrow?

 

Also: what airlines did you fly? .. out of SFO?

 

~d

[Stevesan]

We just came back from the British Isles, so i thought I'd chime in here. When we arrived, we arranged transportation through Princess. We waited for nearly an hour and a half before the bus finally arrived. The ride to the hotel took about the same amount of time. The cost was $35 pp (others paid more, we initially paid 35 pounds pp, then were refunded $35 pp. It was very strange.).

 

On the way back to Heathrow, we booked a taxi through our hotel. There was a set rate of 55 pounds and the ride took about 40 minutes. It delivered us right to our airline. We were three with four suitcases and three carry ons. There was not a space issue with the luggage.

 

We enjoyed riding the Tube and noticed that there were a lot of folks taking it to and from Heathrow on the Picadilly line. The only complaint we heard was that it was a looong walk from baggage to the Tube station at the airport. If we each had had one suitcase, I think we would have tried it, but just didn't want to fit rush hour traffic with what we had.

 

Charlie

 

A good argument for booking w/HAL. Last time HAL provided a private car, not a bus.

 

No one's mentioned an alternative: Hotelink. It's 19 GBP from Heathrow. They drop off at all major hotels.

http://www.hotelink.co.uk/

[Host CJSKIDS]

I just took the Heathrow Express last week and from Terminal 4 it was exactly a 19 minute trip into Paddington. Followed the signs to the train, grabbed my pre-paid tickets from the machines and off we went. It was quick and easy. We grabbed a taxi once at Paddington and went to the Intercontinental London Park Lane, which is right by Hyde Park. We were very lucky as we came in on a Sunday so it was fairly quiet at Paddington Station, but it can be crazy during the work week and they now encourage taxi sharing.

Our taxi fare was about 8 GBP.

 

It was my daughter and I by ourselves and we each had a backpack plus a 26 inch suitcase and one garment bag. It was very easy to navigate and travel, but I've also done it quite a few times so everything was familiar.

 

You can find all you need to know from the Heathrow Express website. The Time Out London magazine also has a coupon for 2 for 1 on Heathrow Express if you can get a copy of that. It was too late for us as I was already in London but hopefully it can help someone else.

Side note, there's also a 2 for 1 for Wagamama in there.

[Spikesgirl]

Bennett's cruise - we stayed two days in London pre cruise and a week post cruise. Sorry should have explained that. We took ship transfers to and from London to Southampton.

 

Stevesan, I would never dare to drive in London, if that's what you meant by a private car. The cruise line would not let us purchase transfers because we had not booked the hotel through them (they would not let us put out GD in the room with us), so we had to book ourselves. If they had not had a bus, we would have been tubing it, so we were pretty happy about the bus - but not the long wait!

 

Charlie

[Bennett'sCruise]

Bennett's cruise - we stayed two days in London pre cruise and a week post cruise. Sorry should have explained that. We took ship transfers to and from London to Southampton.

 

Stevesan, I would never dare to drive in London, if that's what you meant by a private car. The cruise line would not let us purchase transfers because we had not booked the hotel through them (they would not let us put out GD in the room with us), so we had to book ourselves. If they had not had a bus, we would have been tubing it, so we were pretty happy about the bus - but not the long wait!

 

Charlie

 

How did you take ship transfers if the cruise line would not let you purchase transfers? Is there another type of port transfer or something to London? That would be nice! I'm having a Dickens of a time finding our way back and forth at a reasonable rate ... :o

[Globaliser]

Can we add the other options to the equation so that we have a full list of options and the plusses and minuses of each?

Yes, it's certainly worth comparing the options. But most of the others get discussed quite a lot, while normal taxi is one that doesn't often get a mention here. Hence I thought to post my experience, seeing as I had the rare experience of taking one from the airport all the way into town.

My wife and I are quite fit, and if we were each to have a rolling bag and a backpack, how difficult would it be to take the tube. ... Is the tube doable for a healthy tourist who isn't taking a ton of suitcases?

My usual list of requirements if you are going to take the Tube:-

• You must be able to lift and move all your luggage in one go, without shuttling backwards and forwards.
• You must be able to carry (or roll) it at least 10-20 yards on the flat, in one go.
• You must be able to lift it up and down stairs equivalent to one storey, in one go.

If you can't do this, then the Tube is in general not really for you. There are an increasing number of stations where there is step-free access all the way from the platform to the street, or from one platform to another when changing trains. And there are many more stations that have escalators, which help enormously. But you need to know that this is what you're going to get, if you need to rely on them. Otherwise, there are still many stations where you do have to walk up and down stairs, and where it would be difficult to negotiate the stations with heavy luggage.

Heathrow express is another option, but for most people this means that although you get whisked quickly to Paddington Station, but from there you must get on the tube, or find a cab, or catch a bus. What is the cost for HE and then a cab to a nearby hotel, say at the Marble Arch?

Marble Arch is pretty close to Paddington, so probably no more than £5 plus the HEX ticket, which is now £15.50 one way (though you get charged extra if you buy the ticket on board the train).

 

But cabs to further destinations will obviously cost rather more.

 

And if you're going to jump on the Tube, you might as well just do the whole journey on the Tube. You won't save a lot of time doing HEX + Tube. I regularly travel from the office directly to Heathrow (or vice versa). I used to do this by HEX + Tube when the HEX was cheaper and the Tube was more expensive than they are now. But I now usually do it by Tube, as it only takes about 10-15 minutes more than HEX + Tube, and the Tube is now so cheap to use.

I assume that the National Express Coaches will take you from Heathrow to Victoria Station and then again you are forced to take a cab, or the tube, or the bus. What is the cost of this plus a cab?

The coach is £4 one way to Victoria Coach Station. Again, the cost of the onward cab journey depends on how far you need to go.

Private car a bit cheaper than a cab, but not a lot and has the potential to have hidden fees and not as fast as a cab.

 

Is there anything I am missing?

Private car (or "minicab") transfers can sometimes be more expensive than taxis, even before the hidden fees. Something to watch out for.

 

And Hotelink, as has already been mentioned, suffers from the problem typical of these services. You get a roundabout tour of the city before you eventually arrive at your hotel. Inevitably, your hotel always seems to be the last on the driver's list.

[Gram Cape Cod]

I just booked Hotelink for transfer from LHR to my hotel in downtown London and the charge on my credit card was $37.54 US$$.

[Bennett'sCruise]

I just booked Hotelink for transfer from LHR to my hotel in downtown London and the charge on my credit card was $37.54 US$$.

 

Is that for 1 or for 2?

[whogo]

I just booked Hotelink for transfer from LHR to my hotel in downtown London and the charge on my credit card was $37.54 US$$.

It looks like you got a good exchange rate for Hotelink's £19 fare, about $1.9758/£.

[Gram Cape Cod]

The fare of $37.54 US$$ was per person. We don't mind stopping at other hotels along the way to ours, consider it "sightseeing". We can't check in at 6AM anyway.

[Spikesgirl]

Bennett's Cruise - we were not allowed to pre-purchase the transfers - sorry, my mind works faster than my fingers.

 

We had to purchase the transfers upon arrive (one at the airport to the hotel -we were allowed to do this because there was space available on the bus. We also made sure that we booked into the cruise line's chosen hotel) and a transfer from the hotel to the ship (purchased at the hotel at the Princess desk), then upon the ship for the transfer back to the hotel (again the cruise line's choice). We were on our own for the trip from the hotel to Heathrow, which is why we chose the taxi. Yes, it was a bit pricely, but the convenience far outweighed the cost in our view.

 

Charlie

[xpcdoojk]

Yes, it's certainly worth comparing the options. But most of the others get discussed quite a lot, while normal taxi is one that doesn't often get a mention here. Hence I thought to post my experience, seeing as I had the rare experience of taking one from the airport all the way into town.My usual list of requirements if you are going to take the Tube:-

• You must be able to lift and move all your luggage in one go, without shuttling backwards and forwards.
  
• You must be able to carry (or roll) it at least 10-20 yards on the flat, in one go.
  
• You must be able to lift it up and down stairs equivalent to one storey, in one go.

If you can't do this, then the Tube is in general not really for you. There are an increasing number of stations where there is step-free access all the way from the platform to the street, or from one platform to another when changing trains. And there are many more stations that have escalators, which help enormously. But you need to know that this is what you're going to get, if you need to rely on them. Otherwise, there are still many stations where you do have to walk up and down stairs, and where it would be difficult to negotiate the stations with heavy luggage.Marble Arch is pretty close to Paddington, so probably no more than £5 plus the HEX ticket, which is now £15.50 one way (though you get charged extra if you buy the ticket on board the train).

 

But cabs to further destinations will obviously cost rather more.

 

And if you're going to jump on the Tube, you might as well just do the whole journey on the Tube. You won't save a lot of time doing HEX + Tube. I regularly travel from the office directly to Heathrow (or vice versa). I used to do this by HEX + Tube when the HEX was cheaper and the Tube was more expensive than they are now. But I now usually do it by Tube, as it only takes about 10-15 minutes more than HEX + Tube, and the Tube is now so cheap to use.The coach is £4 one way to Victoria Coach Station. Again, the cost of the onward cab journey depends on how far you need to go.Private car (or "minicab") transfers can sometimes be more expensive than taxis, even before the hidden fees. Something to watch out for.

 

And Hotelink, as has already been mentioned, suffers from the problem typical of these services. You get a roundabout tour of the city before you eventually arrive at your hotel. Inevitably, your hotel always seems to be the last on the driver's list.

 

Thanks Globalizer! I am waiting to see how we do when it comes to packing time. If we can keep the luggage minimal, I think we will do the tube otherwise, I believe it will be cab. Great post again!:cool:

 

jc

[Globaliser]

On Monday morning, for purely personal reasons I decided to splurge and get a taxi home. After joining the queue of - well, nobody, as there's almost always a plentiful supply of cabs at Heathrow - I got into one at 0650. Exactly 55 minutes later, I was at home on the south side of the river, just east of Tower Bridge - so I had travelled significantly further than most people would need to in order to reach their hotels. The fare on the meter was £65.60. There was a £2 Heathrow charge. The cabbie was happy with this being rounded-up to £70.

Having done it again this morning, I thought I would have a look back at this post from the last time I did the trip by cab. Almost 18 months later, it cost me exactly the same, and took exactly the same length of time.

 

The only difference this time was that there were two of us. But both suitcases went into the front compartment next to the driver, so we had lots of room for a very comfortable journey.

[cruiseryyc]

Last June my friend and I arrived in Heathrow and spent 45 minutes looking for the driver we had arranged to pick us up. We then decided to just bite the bullet and take a taxi to our hotel near Trafalgar Square. The taxi ended up costing us 70 GBP (which included a tip as we had a lot of luggage for the driver to deal with) and that was 30 GBP less than what the car service was going to cost us.

[Helabama]

Globaliser, thank you very much for the info. We have never been to England. We are in the planning process for our trip and I have some questions:

Our flight lands at 10 PM on a Tuesday. I figure customs and immigration will take about an hour +/_. Will we have problems finding a cab at the hour on a week night?

I have read other warnings about taking anything other than "Black Cabs." How does one tell which are the black cabs and which cabs should be avoided?

How far will we have to walk to find the cabs? I've read that baggage carts (trolleys) are available, so I guess we'll grab one of those, but will we have a long walk to find the taxis?

 

Thank you,

Helen

[cruiseryyc]

The taxi line up was directly outside the terminal doors; wasn't far to walk at all.

[Longtimecruiser#2]

There is a lot of discussion on this forum about companies for transfers from Heathrow to central London. But what about the good old reliable standby: the taxi?

 

On Monday morning, for purely personal reasons I decided to splurge and get a taxi home. After joining the queue of - well, nobody, as there's almost always a plentiful supply of cabs at Heathrow - I got into one at 0650. Exactly 55 minutes later, I was at home on the south side of the river, just east of Tower Bridge - so I had travelled significantly further than most people would need to in order to reach their hotels. The fare on the meter was £65.60. There was a £2 Heathrow charge. The cabbie was happy with this being rounded-up to £70.

 

To reach most central London hotels, the fare would be something in the region of £15-20 less than this.

 

Advantages of a taxi:-

- No finding a company in advance, or wondering whether it's reliable or trustworthy.

- No payment in advance needed.

- No frustrating attempt to locate "your" driver amongst the hundred or so always crowding around the exit from customs (no exaggeration).

- No waiting time to be paid if your flight is late or your bags are late out.

- No car park fees to be paid.

- Comfortable, clean, spacious and safe vehicle, with a driver whose "knowledge of London" is tested and proven.

- Use of the bus lane on the M4 motorway into town, bypassing several miles of queuing traffic during the morning peak.

 

The only major disadvantage is that the cabs are designed more for people than for luggage, but two people can only bring so much luggage however hard they try, and there is space to put it.

 

A few CCers have been suggesting taxis in the last few weeks, so I thought I could now usefully bring some hard numbers to the discussion. It may be an option for you that's better than a private car transfer.

Do you have any suggestions of some sort of shuttle service from Southampton to central London. I know about the coach and train service but this is for my parents who are in their eighties and thought there might be an easier way to get to London. They will probably stay near Russell Square. Thanks.

Sheryl

[Globaliser]

Our flight lands at 10 PM on a Tuesday. I figure customs and immigration will take about an hour +/_. Will we have problems finding a cab at the hour on a week night?

 

I have read other warnings about taking anything other than "Black Cabs." How does one tell which are the black cabs and which cabs should be avoided?

 

How far will we have to walk to find the cabs? I've read that baggage carts (trolleys) are available, so I guess we'll grab one of those, but will we have a long walk to find the taxis?

At 10 pm, you're likely to be out within about 45 minutes. There shouldn't be any problems getting a cab; there is almost always a plentiful supply of them because airport jobs are usually so lucrative. If there is a queue waiting for taxis, it's almost always simply because of the time that it takes to get cabs in to the terminal pickup area, loaded, and away - not because there's any shortage of cabs. And there are still plenty of flights arriving at Heathrow at that time, which the cabbies know.

 

All you need to do, once you exit from Customs, is to follow the signs for "taxis". These will take you to the official taxi rank, which is always right outside the terminal building, where there will often be a taxi marshal and usually a queue of recognisable London taxis with their yellow "taxi" lights on. (Many are in fact black in colour, but many aren't. However, only proper "black cabs" are allowed to have their yellow "taxi" lights on.) There shouldn't be any room for doubt about whether you are in the correct place.

 

If anyone approaches you and offers you a taxi, always ignore them. That is illegal, and the service being offered will not be a proper "black cab". (In fact, this is good advice for just about every single airport in the whole world.)

[Globaliser]

Do you have any suggestions of some sort of shuttle service from Southampton to central London. I know about the coach and train service but this is for my parents who are in their eighties and thought there might be an easier way to get to London. They will probably stay near Russell Square.

Can I suggest that you have a look at the other threads about private transfer services from Southampton. Just about everyone who does transfers from Southampton to Heathrow will also do transfers to central London. London taxis do not operate as taxis in Southampton, because they will only be licensed as taxis in the London area, although I think that they would probably be allowed to do so on a pre-booked private hire basis.

[Helabama]

Globaliser (and Cruiseryyc) thank you for all the helpful info. It is good to know what to expect when we arrive that late in the evening. Your original post makes taking a cab sound like the easiest option so that is what we will probably do.

Thanks again,

Helen

[FritzG]

The fare of $37.54 US$$ was per person. We don't mind stopping at other hotels along the way to ours, consider it "sightseeing". We can't check in at 6AM anyway.

 

I hope Hotellink has improved in the last 5 years. When we took it from LHR to Mayfair it took over 3 hours! The driver seemed confused as to where he was going, and he hopscotched all over town dropping people at hotels. We finally got out after 3 hrs. and took a cab to our hotel. We got our fare refunded, but we lost half a day.

[Globaliser]

I hope Hotellink has improved in the last 5 years.

Hotelink as such no longer exists. It was rebranded as dot2dot a couple of years back, under which name it continues to trade (under a recent change of ownership).

[davejohn]

Hotelink as such no longer exists. It was rebranded as dot2dot a couple of years back, under which name it continues to trade (under a recent change of ownership).

??

 

Hotelink: https://secure.fast.net.uk/hotelink/index.html - 15 GBP

Dot2Dot: http://www.dot2.com/ - 19 GBP

 

Different mailing addresses, different phone numbers, different prices. You're saying National Express operates both?

[Globaliser]

Different mailing addresses, different phone numbers, different prices. You're saying National Express operates both?

No.

 

Hotelink no longer exists. See this Wikipedia article for the company's history, and this page and this page for further confirmation that Hotelink is now known as dot2dot.

 

The first page you found is either an out-of-date website or a scam.

[Twickenham]

Hotelink: https://secure.fast.net.uk/hotelink/index.html - 15 GBP

 

Last modified: 04/04/2002 09:53:52