Getting to London from the Airport

It is very easy to get to London from the airport these days. Many years ago I took the tube in. That can be difficult especially with lots of luggage since navigating most of the tube stations involves stairs. Now there is a Heathrow Express train as well as a Heathrow Connect train. If you are flying into Gatwick, there is the Gatwick express. The Heathrow trains go to Paddington station and the Gatwick train goes to Victoria station. Heathrow Express is non-stop and takes about 20 minutes. Heathrow Connect has a handful of stops and takes about 45 minutes. It also costs less than the express train. The Gatwick express is non-stop and takes about half an hour.

We took the Heathrow express for its simplicity and speed. It leaves out of Terminal 5 which is the same terminal where our flight arrived. The Heathrow Connect leaves out of Terminal 4, but both the Connect and Express go to the central area of the airport (Terminals 1, 2, and 3) so you can transfer there to whichever train you want there (the trains are free within the airport).

The place where we usually stay in London is a few blocks from the Paddington station so we just walk. If you stay much farther away from wherever the airport train arrives, I would recommend taking a bus or a taxi. As I mentioned earlier, the tube stations can be hard to navigate with luggage. The bus system is extensive in London and with a little homework it is possible to figure out how to get there on the bus (feel free give me a call if you would like some help.) Taxis of course go anywhere and are easy to pick up near train stations. Of course they will be more expensive than taking the bus.

Getting to Heathrow

We usually fly out of Seattle. Once we flew out of the Vancouver, BC airport and really enjoyed it. There are a couple of flights out of each airport to Heathrow, all on British Airways. Northwest used to fly, but It looks like that flight has fallen victim to cutbacks. The flights are non-stop and about 9 hours long. The in-flight entertainment is on-demand and there are lots of choices. On our last flight, I watched Star Trek, Frasier, The Madness of King George, The Simpsons, and Monsters vs. Aliens. I didn't have much time to sleep. On the flights that we have taken, they start out with a hot meal and toward the end of the flight they serve a cold snack. They periodically come through the cabin with water or juice to keep us hydrated. We typically order low-fat meals, which have been fairly tasty. It is usually some sort of chicken or fish dish.

Helpful Hint:
I learned something new during my last visit to Heathrow. They have bollards and gates near the train stations to prevent people from taking the airport carts onto the trains. This also makes it difficult to get larger suitcases through. I saw a woman ask an airport worker about that and he unlatched one of the fgates and enlarged the opening so she could get her suitcase through. If you reach one of these barricades, look for a latch on the underside near a bollard, probably near one end of the entryway.

London

We just returned from three weeks in London. We had a wonderful time and will be posting some of our experiences and observations on this blog. Stay tuned for more.