I don't know if this will help anyone, but I thought I'd give my 2 cents' on getting from London airports to Central London.
This is based on my experience of being an American living in the UK for 11 years. I have not lived there for the last 2 years, so some things may have changed.
TAXI
This is often the easiest way to get from a London airport to central London (easiest in terms of effort required by yourself) because there is always a full taxi rank outside the airport with available taxis, and you don't have to pre-order anything and can just hop right in and tell the driver exactly where you want to go.
Be warned, though, that the airports near London are all 1 to 2 hours away from the city center BY ROAD, and getting a taxi to do that long of a journey usually costs $120 and up.
NOTE: In London, the best advice is always to take a black taxi, the big, old-fashioned looking vehicles that have an official licence - don't hop into an unlicenced car (that is just like any other passenger car) which is masquerading as a taxi. These are called "minicabs" in the UK. It is illegal to get into such a minicab car without first booking it by telephone or at the minicab main office. Minicabs are not supposed to troll for customers on the street, but many of them do. Don't use them in that case! Only use them if you've booked their service ahead of time, and you feel that the company is a sound one with ethical drivers. Successive London mayors have tried to clamp down on minicab companies because there are frequent violent attacks by minicab drivers on passengers (1 reported rape per week in London of a minicab passenger by a minicab driver, and it must be considered how many rapes occur that do not get reported). Male passengers are attacked too - perhaps robbed or beaten up. It can be risky to get into a passenger car and you don't know who the driver is. Also, a lot of minicabs fail their vehicle inspections and don't have proper insurance, and some drivers don't know anything about the complicated London street geography, so it's a crap shoot. The drivers of the licenced black taxis are very, very safe in comparison, and they have to study their subject for 3 years and pass a series of oral examinations in order to be awarded the right to drive a black taxi.
official guide to taxi fares: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/taxisandminicabs/taxis/1140.aspx
a couple of the larger taxi companies, with over 2,000 vehicles each: dial-a-cab. http://www.dial-a-cab.com radio taxis. http://www.radiotaxis.co.uk
PRIVATE CAR HIRE
Pre-hiring a car service from London airports is often a good idea, because it can be cheaper than a taxi (a little cheaper, anyway) and much more comfortable -- often chauffeur cars are very nice and cushy German-made affairs. Any car service probably will cost you much more than $100, so be aware that it's a big expense.
There are hundreds of car services that serve London airports. You can find them via the internet. I would suggest that you contact your London hotel's concierge before you leave home, and ask him/her for advice on some companies they trust. They can probably book the car service for you, though it might not be the cheapest one, obviously.
You will want to book them in advance. Be careful sending money to anyone you don't already trust - maybe leave a deposit and pay the rest after you are dropped off... I'm not sure of the current practices.
It is worth it to hire a very well-known, large company for this kind of car service, one that you can find again afterwards if there is any dispute about payment or service.
One of the issues of pre-hiring a car for your airport transfer is what happens if your flight is delayed or you run into anything unexpected in the immigration line or your luggage doesn't show up on the carousel and you have to investigate it, etc. They are very good about following the arrival information and waiting for you, but there might be a charge for that.
= = = = = = **Hiring a car service or taking a taxi from a London area airport to Central London can be worth it if: -you have kids/pets/elderly travellers with you -you have more luggage than you can comfortably lug around yourself into and out of a few trains and up and down a couple of escalators for at least 45 minutes -you want the experience of being "chauffeured" on the start of your big vacation -you can afford to gamble with your arrival time in central London (road traffic is heavy so they can only estimate the time this sort of journey will take - I've been in a chauffered car that took 3 hours to get me from Heathrow to north London) -you can put the charge on company expenses -you have any condition which makes it hard for you to walk moderate distances and up and down some staircases in heaving crowds of people -you need to get to a place which is hard to get to by public transportation -- for example, if it's a place that would take you a long time and a high fare to get to after you had arrived at a central London train station -- then it can save you time and money to have a car or taxi take you door-to-door -you are likely to be confused and overwhelmed in trying to navigate the vast, complicated London public transportation system and the very fast pace of London walkers/commuters (who don't look you in the eye, who don't usually stop to help people who look confused, who often bump into you in their haste to get somewhere, and who have no patience for people with lots of luggage) -- especially if it's your first time there, and you've been awake all night on a nightmare plane ride, sitting in less space than you accord your toaster on your kitchen counter. = = = = =
Other options to get from London airports to Central London:
BUS
In my experience, trying to take the bus from London-area airports to London is often the cheapest way (though not really that much cheaper than some of the other options) but can take a VERY long time (often 1 or 2 or more hours) and be EXHAUSTING with the swaying of the bus, the traffic fumes, the fellow passengers, and the road gridlock.
UNDERGROUND / TUBE / (what Americans call a "subway" but they don't call it that in the UK)
The underground train network in London connects 2 area airports to central London: Heathrow and London City Airport.
Heathrow airport to Central London
This is 20 miles from London.
The underground line from Heathrow is called the Piccadilly Line. The Piccadilly line goes straight through central London and connects to many other tube lines. The tube runs from about 6:30 am to about 11:30 pm, and there is usually a train every 5 or so minutes - at the worst, there is usually a train once every 12 minutes.
The cost for a one-way ticket into central London is: cash: 4 pounds Oyster card: 3.80 from 6:30-9:30 am and from 4-7 pm Oyster card: 2.20 from 9:30 am - 4 pm and from 7 pm - about midnight
Some downsides of taking this from Heathrow are: 1. Tube trains are not designed to hold luggage, and if you get a seat, unless you are at the end of the row of seats where you can be just on the other side of a glass partition from your bags, you have to sit and leave your luggage standing by itself in an unguarded area where the doors are constantly opening and closing (making it easy for someone to grab your case and get away). 2. The tube from Heathrow makes a lot of stops, for example, at least 18 stops to get to Piccadilly Circus. This makes it a long journey, about an hour from the airport. 3. Tube trains can be crowded at any time (not just rush hour), and it's likely that there will be many people standing and milling around your carriage, making it uncomfortable (even if you have a seat, the seats are really narrow) and hard to keep track of your stuff. 4. The tube system was not designed for people with luggage or people who have a hard time with stairs. There are LOTS of stairs on most tube journeys, or at least lots of escalators, and often a few elevators where people can be so close together you can feel breathing on your neck (which is stressful enough without trying to make sure no one sprints off with your luggage). There are narrow and unforgiving ticket machines that you have to go through and that will clamp down on your case if you roll it behind you, etc. Making anything but the simplest tube journey into London from the airport can be quite a nightmare to navigate if you have luggage and you are new to London. 5. If you are a wheelchair user or have a baby stroller or have with you elderly people who don't walk easily, the tube can be especially difficult. 6. If you aren't good in crowds, or feel claustrophobia being in deep underground tunnels, the tube can be disorienting, especially if it's your first time using it.
Because the Heathrow Express overground train (described in the next section) just costs 16.50 pounds, makes no stops, only takes 15 minutes, goes overground, and is designed to hold a lot of luggage, I think it's vastly superior to taking the tube. To me, it's worth the 9 extra pounds.
Additionally, the Heathrow Connect overground train costs just 7.40 pounds. It takes only 25 minutes, there are only about 2 or 3 stops instead of the tube's 18 stops, there is a lot of space for luggage, and there are no stairs that you are expected to go up and down on.
Reasons you might take the tube from Heathrow anyway: 1. You need to go somewhere that is actually west of central London, near one of the interim stops of the tube line. In that case, it can be quicker to take the tube a handful of stops and take a taxi or walk from one of the West London tube stations, rather than taking a taxi from either Heathrow or Central London to your West London destination. 2. You need to go somewhere in central London that is right by one of the Piccadilly Line stops. Let's say your hotel is 2 minutes' walk from Piccadilly Circus tube station. You are better off taking the Piccadilly underground line from Heathrow (essentially it would be door-to-door) than taking the Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect to Paddington Station and still having to get yourself between Paddington Station and your hotel (that kind of cross-London journey can be more of a pain than it would seem by looking at the map). 3. You have already purchased via the internet, or will be purchasing at the airport upon your arrival, a multi-day pass for London Transport (which NEVER covers the Heathrow Express overground train or the Heathrow Connect train), and the ride from the airport will be covered on your pass, so in that sense, it would not be an extra cost to what you've already spent, and you might as well get the value out of your pass by starting with the airport journey.
London City airport to Central London
This is about 8 miles from central London.
This airport is now connected directly to the public transportation system of London. It has its own station on the local overground rail system (called "Docklands Light Railway", or "DLR").
Note that this is the closest airport to central London and a taxi probably would take about 25 mins and 20 pounds to drive you to the center of town.
This airport usually serves just Europe, not the US, but I think that the fancy British Airways first-class only flights between NYC and London are leaving from here, though I'm not sure.
OVERGROUND TRAIN
In many cases the train options between London airports and central London are more than adequate for travellers, and they are cheaper and quicker than doing a journey in a car or taxi.
It is cheaper to buy a round-trip ticket on the trains, if you expect to also take them back to the airport.
There can also be various deals, such as "4-ride-for-the-price-of-2" which is being offered currently on the Gatwick Express.
Heathrow airport to Central London (Paddington Station)
This is 20 miles from London.
The Heathrow Express takes just 15 minutes for the entire journey to Paddington, and costs about 16.50 pounds one-way. These run every 15 minutes, from about 6 am to about 1 am.
There is a newer overground train service from Heathrow to Paddington called Heathrow Connect. It takes about 25 minutes and costs just 7.40 pounds one-way. They have dedicated space for luggage, although it's by the doors and if you sit down on a seat, you can't be near your bags and people may well start to stand and crowd around your bags, blocking your sightlines to them, as the train gets full. These trains are refurbished and carry local commuters as well as airport travellers - they stop two or three times on the way to London. These run about twice an hour, from about 5 am to 11 pm. One great thing about the Heathrow Connect is that it's included on rail passes for the National Rail system (which is different than rail passes for London Transport, which do not cover the Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect services).
*** Be careful when you are getting on the trains at Heathrow to make sure exactly which terminal you need to board your chosen train from and exactly where your train goes. They have changed the train service there in the last 18 months, so even if you knew exactly what you were doing before (as I did), it can trip you up a bit now (as it did me!) Not all trains "from Heathrow" stop at all Heathrow terminals to pick up passengers, so you might have to take a different train from one terminal to another in order to get your London-bound train. That took me an extra HOUR to do (get from one terminal to the other and catch the right train), and my schedule was thrown way out of whack. Because of this, it can often be quicker to figure out which of the Paddington-bound trains leaves from your particular terminal, and just take it. Whether it's the 25 minute slower one, or the 15 minute fast one, it is (in my opinion) not worth the faffing around and time to try to get yourself to the right terminal for the 15 minute one if that exercise is going to take you more than 5 minutes (which it will). ***
Gatwick airport to central London (Victoria Station)
This is 28 miles from London.
The Gatwick Express takes about 30 minutes for the journey, and costs 16.90 pounds one-way. There are 4 trains an hour between 5 am and midnight.
*** Be careful in Gatwick train station when you are buying your ticket and when you are boarding your train, because many of the trains that stop there are not the Express trains, they are just trundly trains that stop in many small towns on their way to London. The trundly trains are often cheaper than the Express trains, but they can take an hour to get to London. ***
Stansted airport to Central London (Liverpool Street station)
This is 35 miles from London.
There is a train from Stansted, a normal commuter type train, and it takes about 50 minutes. Trains go to Liverpool Street Station in London. It probably costs about 20 pounds - check the National Rail website.
Luton airport to Central London
This is 35 miles from London.
You'll need to take a shuttle bus from the airport to the Luton Airport Parkway train station. Trains from Luton Airport Parkway go to St. Pancras station in London. Probably takes about 45-60 minutes. Probably costs around 20 pounds - check the National Rail website.
--------- Other Great Britain Airports
There are also airports in Bristol, Southampton, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, (gotta be one in Wales... maybe Cardiff?), and more. Most of these are directly on the overground train system, which can get you to London from any overground train station (though it might take a couple of hours).
---- Helpful websites: (By the way, be careful with the endings of the website names in the UK; they can take various forms, and often using the wrong ending will take you to a spammy/scammy site instead of popping you over to the one you really wanted.)
Transport for London site: official site for the Underground, bus service, tram service, etc. etc. of London www.tfl.gov.uk
National Rail site: for all overground trains (except for Heathrow Express) www.nationalrail.co.uk
You may have been joking, but if you were being serious, or if any reader would think that you were seriously advocating hitchhiking there, this would be my response:
Given the number of bodies that have been discovered in car trunks in the UK this year, I would not recommend this course of action. Granted, those have mainly been people known to their assailants, but presumably many stranger-abductors are a little smarter about disposing of victims' bodies!
judicska said: Don't forget hitchhiking!
2 years ago I was sitting in Trafalgar Square on a beautiful evening around 11 pm, and a young (18-20 year old) Chinese/Japanese-Asian girl with a tiny wheelie suitcase came up to me and told me that she didn't bring enough money to London with her and she couldn't find any cheap hostel rooms or hotel rooms in London for the night, and didn't have a place to stay, and asked if she could come home with me and sleep on my floor for the night. (I'm female too, and there was really no suggestion that there would be any sex or anything as an exchange. I think she came up to me because I looked friendly and nice.)
Well, I was not going to go for letting a stranger into my place (even a tiny female one), and I knew that she was right about there being no hostel rooms or cheap nearby rooms available, so I told her to check with the police (I showed her where to find them, a 5 minute walk away) to see what they recommended she do, and, if there was nothing else available, that she could sit up at Waterloo station (a 10 minute walk away) overnight, where there would always be some people around, cctv cameras, and bathrooms. Back in the day, I had sat up all night at a couple European train stations, and it's reasonably safe and a good experience to have a time or two when you are 20. Not comfortable, warm or restful, but instructive.
However, instead of taking my advice she probably just kept asking people around Trafalgar Square if she could go home with them, which was really asking to be taken advantage of, assaulted, robbed, who knows what.
London is safer than US cities in some ways (gun violence, for example), but it's full of danger, as any urban (or suburban or rural) place is.
It is my opinion that hitchhiking and the like, even for strong men, is never a good idea in today's world.
OP consider taking a local bus. A single adult fare for anywhere in London is £2. Also Heathrow can be reached by bike via a network of cycle paths. Almost always a good idea to look at the airport site for the options.
I wrote my original post in answer to the thread that (at the time) was just below it, which has now been deleted. In that thread, the thread's author was brazenly advertising a particular company's private car service for FW members flying into London airports, and to counteract it, I decided to let FW users know of the many ways to get from London airports into central London, approximate costs, timing, etc., just out of a spirit of sharing useful information.
My thread may now seem simplistic, without viewing it in the original context, but I think that this "Travel Discussion" forum could be a lot more useful to the average person if it contained substantial, basic information like this, in addition to the few focuses it has (e.g., Las Vegas).
--- Obviously you are joking about bicycling from Heathrow, since most FW travellers from the US would not arrive at Heathrow and be prepared or equipped to ride a bicycle to central London.
As I said in my OP, taking a local bus from Heathrow to central London would be an absolute nightmare. [Even from East Molesey (in SW travel zone 6) to Heathrow, such a local bus takes about 80 minutes. ...Horrible memories of Sunday rail closures, aaugh.]
NB: I didn't mention grabbing a ride on a Thames house boat, if any of them wanted to leave their moorings, but with a little zigging and zagging to get to the river from Hounslow, it could be done. Not sure where the houseboats have to stop... Chelsea? Hmm, is that why they are all piled up there across from Battersea -- Heathrow-to-town fares, but no return passengers?
There is always the hot air balloon method -- this just happened two days ago, and they even opened up Tower Bridge for it: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1217630/Tower-Bridge-raised-hot-air-balloon-pass-time.html. Nearest central station... um, I'd say to head for Charing Cross, and avoid Tower Bridge entirely.
Or if you remembered to pack your inflatible rowboat, this little guide (followed backwards) can get you and your pup to Kingston station (zone 4), whence a trundly 25 minute ride into Waterloo station (central London). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Men_in_a_Boat
Or, upon landing at Heathrow, one could get a quick flight to Paris and then take the Eurostar right into St. Pancras station (central London).
Mieko
Member
posted: Oct. 6, 2009 @ 12:10a
Thanks for this post! Stuff like this can be very difficult to find in travel books, so it's great to have someone with experience to share their info! We did the train (I actually can't remember which airport we came into), and it was fairly easy, but we did have to lug our bags up and down a few sets of staircases/escalators.
If you're using a Britrail pass and flying into Gatwick, consider using a day on your pass if it's economical. For example, if you only have a 3-day, non-consecutive pass, each travel day is pretty valuable on the pass--so you'd probably just pay cash for Gatwick Express. However, if you're on a pass with more days (say 7+), it can save time and hassle to go ahead and validate the pass at Gatwick and hop on the train.
Honestly, the last 2 trips (been there 5 times), we just stayed outside of London for about 60%-80% less cost and took the morning commuter trains into town (30-60 minutes). It's a wee bit more hassle, but far less cost...and the small towns in Surrey/Sussex/Kent are an interesting balance for the craziness of London.
Heathrow is closer to town, so this advice doesn't apply quite as much--but near Heathrow, you can stay in Windsor for a lot less than London and take local trains in each day. Windsor also has plenty of touristy stuff to do.
Staying outside London (somewhere between the airport and central London) is a good idea and much cheaper than trying to stay in London, but make sure to pick your hotel/inn/b&b wisely, so that you aren't so far out in the country that you can't easily get to a train station without taking a taxi just to get to one. Ideally, you want to stay in a countryside town at lodgings within walking distance to a train station, small supermarket, Drugstore, etc.
As an example, I am thinking of a big town such as Tunbridge Wells (relatively close to Leeds Castle, Churchill's home, and many other attractions) but I have no idea what the price of lodgings there is.
Also, Sevenoaks is sleepy, near several wonderful stately homes (including Ightham Mote, a personal favorite), site of beautiful hiking countryside, but is just 1 station beyond London's 6 Travelzones (making it cheap to commute into the center of town - ask for advice about how to tack on the 1 station's worth of travel to your 6-zone Oyster card),
A city like Canterbury (where I lived for 1 year) is too far away by train to make commuting into London for days in a row enjoyable. Just because it looks like it might be a quick train ride from looking at a map, don't assume that it will be so.
Don't rule out Brighton, which although it's beyond Gatwick (opposite to London), is only a 1-hour ride into London, the train station is big and busy, and there is a lot to do in Brighton. A big plus is that many trains to Brighton go through Gatwick station - it might be just 30 mins to Brighton right from the airport train station.
As suggested above, Windsor is definitely close to many attractions, and the River Thames around there is just lovely to walk along, you can go along the walking path for miles and miles (in fact, it is walkable from its source far inland all the way through London and out to the sea), and there are villages, pubs, swans, etc. - and stately homes galore - right on the walking path near Windsor. Windsor is only about 30 mins into London.
And certainly, staying in Oxford and Cambridge are viable options -- Cambridge about an hour into London, Oxford maybe an hour 20 mins... I lived in Woodstock near Oxford for a year, bit of a journey, but Woodstock is adorable & twee to the maximum, home of Blenheim Palace, gravesite of Churchill, etc. Of course, Cambridge and Oxford have many things to see and do. Cambridge is more restful, peaceful, pretty - Oxford is more of a city with old manufacturing activity, more traffic. But the countryside near Cambridge is just so-so (flat fenland - ugh, not my thing) while the countryside near Oxford quickly gets into Cotswold magnificence - sheep, honey colored stone, stately homes galore. [Of course there are many stately homes near Cambridge too. Actually you almost can't move on that island without tripping over one. Can you see that I like stately homes?]
Make sure that where you want to stay is a nice, restful, clean area of the countryside -- there are many places that are really grim and ugly - don't just trust what the hotel building itself looks like, research the town a bit too.
One negative to staying in a countryside town is that there may not be rail connections between the airport and your town that do not first require you to go to London on the train and then come back out to the town on a different train, so if the lodgings don't provide free airport transportation for guests, check to see how much the taxi ride would be between the airport and the town you want to stay in.
You could also, of course, rent a car to take you between the airport and the countryside location, but I don't recommend it unless you feel you can handle the other-side-of-the-road driving, different rules, European road signs that don't have words on them (just indecipherable symbols), and crazy-tiny streets that native drivers speed along. One plus is that a rental car will give you great access to all sorts of places that can be difficult or time-consuming to get to by train (such as Rye [home of Henry James], many stately homes/castles, some coastal regions, much of Wales, etc.)
Another big negative to staying in a countryside town is that the trains often don't run that late from London -- in some places, the last train to a countryside station may leave London at 10pm, and doesn't run again until the next day at 7 am or so! So if you plan on going to the theater, a leisurely dinner, a concert, etc. -- you've gotta watch your train times closely so that you can get to the London station in time to catch your train home. Also, train service at many smaller stations may be only once every hour or every 2 or 4 hours, and during commuting times the train prices can be much higher than at off-peak times, so you may not wish to travel until after 9:30 am. My advice would be to check the train schedule for the town you are thinking of staying in, so you can know what your travel options are before booking the hotel.
Also, Saturday service on trains is sometimes not as extensive as M-F. Sunday service is usually curtailed, with even earlier finishing times of trains. (This holds on the tube/underground as well -- the London "subway".)
WATCH OUT for "engineering works" = when sections of the rail system and/or whole or partial underground/tube lines can be shut for a Saturday or a Sunday, or on both days, for maintenance. This can come up on you unawares and can really screw up your plans, unless you make sure there aren't any engineering works scheduled, before you make your plans. I think I recently read that the Jubilee line of the tube is going to be shut on weekends until Christmas, or something that crazy. Just because a hotel or a town is ON a train or tube line, don't assume that the normal/regularly scheduled train service will be working to that particular station during the dates of your visit, without asking/researching to confirm.
Some transport schedules scale back in the winter, and routes can change without a lot of fanfare (especially bus routes) during the several periods during the year when it's not "termtime" (schools are out of session).
Of course, be aware that if you are visiting between October and April that many attractions also scale back their opening hours or close entirely.
Fantastic tranportation-related resources:
Official National Rail timetable, ticket prices, maps, attraction coupons, etc. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
Official London-area timetable, ticket prices, maps, etc. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
=== By the way, stand on the right on escalators (walk up or down only on the left side), talk softly on the tube (or anywhere there), and try not to make much direct eye contact with strangers.
4634717
New Member
posted: Oct. 15, 2009 @ 8:51a
Folks,
Just returned from 10 days in London. Among, my many trips going to from Heathrow/Gatwick, I only now, enjoyed my best ever, Heathrow to Central London, airport transfer! Check: http://www.dot2.com/ A brilliant, sane way to transfer into and from Central London to/from Heathrow (As well as other places).
The Heathrow Express direct train has become I believe, very expensive. Then, the change at Paddington is to normally, to a cab, also, at an additional expense. And, finally, (as in our case)to the hotel. Yes, there is also the "Tube" - but, with baggage, after a long international flight, the time of trip, etc. Questionable working escalators or elevators - my mental health is worth more.
A small, clean, leather chaired, air-conditioned 10 - 12 person coach bus, with ample storage placed in the back for luggage. You are taken you via an accomplished, experienced driver into of from London, airports, etc. Stops en route are that of either dropping people off or picking them up for the direct trip. (Normally, no more then 3 stops) Attendant personnel met us at their counter at Terminal 5, walked us to the coach. 2 stops en route and we were at the hotel. Times, etc, quotes for a rate, as well as payment, all arranged by email or telephone! Again, Brilliant.
dont forget if u are doing the stately homes (uknow full of the estate working class whoes lives are not on display) join the Royal Oak society it is cheaper than National Trust and pays for its membership many times over.
Now how to get cheap rail tickets on the multi line privatized trains in the UK, that is another question.... it makes the much better run and less expensive Swiss SBB look like such a bargan
4634717
New Member
posted: Oct. 20, 2009 @ 10:40p
Folks -
Maybe I should re-state my earlier post, in an attempt to clarify.
There were two of us traveling from Terminal 5, at Heathrow to WC1V, London, returning back to Heathrow’s Terminal 5 at weeks end. The round-trip fare just on the Heathrow Express, (Heathrow to Paddington Station & returning) in economy class, would have been 64 GBP ($106.00 +/-). Again, for the two of us.
Dot2Dot’s (http://www.dot2.com/) round-trip cost, door to door, for the two of us was 68.30 GBP ($112.00 USD (+/-). While we experienced 2 brief stops at other hotels, both from and to Heathrow. We did not experience getting transportation either to or from Paddington Station, the carrying of baggage or making connections. This was a great transportation option, which worked for us.
I’m not sure of the “Passenger Focus” reference? I would hope that for a relatively modern - Point to Point, expensive train, of a 15 minute ride duration, with no “as like” direct competition - that it should score high in some type of survey?
I recently noted that Dot2Dot is owned by “National Express” a major transportation entity in the UK. This may further the development of Dot2Dot to and from all the airports and other terminus's in the greater London and surrounding area.
I am not against any travel option. I am glad that 4634717 has suggested this shuttle option between Heathrow and London. It's great to know that he had a good experience with it.
Since no price was mentioned in the post, I was thinking that dot-2-dot was only a private hire company, which would be much more expensive. For example, if you do hire dot2dot as a private hire company (only taking your party, and taking you just when you want them to, and waiting for you at the airport, etc.), the cost would be 160 pounds one-way between the airport and city center. http://dot2.com/private_hire. Obviously, that isn't much of a FW approach to travel.
However, my assumption was mistaken, because it's mainly a bus service with much cheaper rates than the private-hire rates. As a mini-coach service that takes different groups of people on the journey, it's not a bad price.
I'd say the dot2dot price is comparable to the Heathrow Express price, but the hassle and journey time of dot2dot would be greater than that of the Heathrow Express (in many but not all circumstances). The dot2dot price is a lot more than the price of the Heathrow Connect overground train, and still the hassle and journey time of dot2dot is greater than the Heathrow Connect (in many but not all circumstances).
This is their page to get a price quote for your proposed journey: http://dot2.hudsonltd.net/res
Out of interest, on that page I typed in a hypothetical round-trip arriving this Sat at 10:30 am and leaving the following Friday at 12 pm, from Heathrow to the NW8 postcode, St. John's Wood, where I used to live, and then back again to Heathrow. The cost for me (one person) with 3 bags was quoted at 38.40 pounds. The trip each way was suggested by the company to take 1 hour and a half.
[However, that quoted price seems low, because on the standard price chart of their site, http://dot2.com/pricing, that same roundtrip for one person with 3 bags would be 34.40 plus 20.00 extra for having 2 more than the 1 included suitcase, so 54.40 in total. I would not put it past the driver to charge me the 10 pounds for each extra suitcase, even if the internet reservations had not done so. That would be something that might be worth a pre-flight telephone call to clarify.]
I could get a round-trip on the Heathrow Express for 32 pounds, and the trip from Heathrow to Paddington would take 15 minutes, or I could get a round-trip on the Heathrow Connect overground train for 14.80 pounds, and the trip from Heathrow to Paddington would take 25 minutes. A taxi from Paddington to NW8 takes no more than 10 minutes and probably costs no more than 10 pounds. To me, saving an hour of travel time in each direction, and not being at the mercy of the unpredictable highway traffic, is worth taking the Heathrow Express or Connect. Two of my 3 suitcases stack on top of each other, and all are on wheels, so it's do-able for me on my own to get myself on and off the train. But I am thinking of the hypothetical journey from a certain location of the city, and Paddington is definitely not as accessible to most neighborhoods in the city as it is to NW8.
Other information: the Dot2Dot's area of service is currently limited to this map, plus Canary Wharf: http://dot2.com/popups_areas_we_serve. As mentioned by the poster, their site says that they will be expanding their service in the near future.
Used Dot2dot on my last trip to London. The travel experience went quite well. I had pre-booked and pre-paid. When I returned home, there was a new charge from Dot2dot for luggage. I had only given the driver one suitcase and this mistake took a lot of time to correct. Even though Dot2dot did agree it was their mistake, I had to ask the credit card company (AMEX) to remove the charge. I might use Dot2dot again, but I probably would avoid pre-paying by credit card. I did have to wait almost 45 minutes at Heathrow before they rounded up all the passengers for my bus.
If you're a true bargain seeker and have time, the regular underground blue line will provide probably the least expensive option. The ride can take from 45 minutes to an hour depending on which stop you take. You have to be able to handle your luggage in various conditions including walking up broken escalators. If that's not a problem and you have the time, the tube is a good inexpensive option. Be prepared - there will be a lot of stops. However, if you're on holiday and arriving early on a weekend, the trains and stations won't be too crowded. Weekday mornings are just the opposite - very busy. Of course, you'll be boarding at Heathrow and almost always will get a seat for the ride.
bippie said: Used Dot2dot on my last trip to London. The travel experience went quite well. I had pre-booked and pre-paid. When I returned home, there was a new charge from Dot2dot for luggage. I had only given the driver one suitcase and this mistake took a lot of time to correct. Even though Dot2dot did agree it was their mistake, I had to ask the credit card company (AMEX) to remove the charge. I might use Dot2dot again, but I probably would avoid pre-paying by credit card. I did have to wait almost 45 minutes at Heathrow before they rounded up all the passengers for my bus.
If you're a true bargain seeker and have time, the regular underground blue line will provide probably the least expensive option. The ride can take from 45 minutes to an hour depending on which stop you take. You have to be able to handle your luggage in various conditions including walking up broken escalators. If that's not a problem and you have the time, the tube is a good inexpensive option. Be prepared - there will be a lot of stops. However, if you're on holiday and arriving early on a weekend, the trains and stations won't be too crowded. Weekday mornings are just the opposite - very busy. Of course, you'll be boarding at Heathrow and almost always will get a seat for the ride. Why wouldn't you prepay? Because you may not make the trip, etc? I worry about prepaying some, especially like using Priceline to book cars, but since airline tickets are like this, I sort of just assume I am going to lose some money because of cancelled plans. Usually the reason for the cancellation trumps the loss of deposits, etc Thanks, OP for the great posting. Hopefully, this will encourage others to post their travel experiences. I think that connections from major city airports is one of the best things to spend my time researching, if there is enough info around! E.g., I can get to and from Midtown from LGA, with bags, and stopover at US Open tennis on the way out, using bus and subway. Very comfortable doing this now, and I get a feel for NYC during the trip. It's faster than (only) street transport, and probably helicopter too! Anyway, I'll share my info if anyone requests.
Cattlet, I think Bippie wouldn't pre-pay by credit card because they mis-charged him/her for extra luggage on the card without his/her knowledge until he/she received the credit card bill. I think Bippie would rather pay them on the spot for the service, when it would be easier to contest any extra charges they tried to put through, by showing the cashier the number of bags that he/she has.
I also got a strange feeling from the Dot-2-dot site, when their price calculator didn't charge their extra charges for the 3 pieces of luggage that I entered in the calculator. (See my post above for more explanation.) That oversight in their calculator may be a way to lure people in, and then when they get on the bus and are a captive audience, they have to cough up 10 pounds extra for each piece of luggage beyond the first piece. For me, I've always got more than 1 bag - usually I have 3, and paying 10 pounds for just one extra bag on the Dot-2-dot bus would cover my ride on the Heathrow Connect train....
--- Bippie, you are very right to point out the Tube/Underground option from Heathrow to London, which I totally left out in my big post at the top! I have now added a section on taking the underground from Heathrow.
The reason I forgot about it is because the Heathrow Connect train from Heathrow to Paddington costs just a little more than the tube and takes a lot less time, with no stairs, and more dedicated room for luggage storage on the carriages.
---
For everyone -- I've added a lot more information in the original post, including helpful websites.
NantucketSunrise said: Cattlet, I think Bippie wouldn't pre-pay by credit card because they mis-charged him/her for extra luggage on the card without his/her knowledge until he/she received the credit card bill. I think Bippie would rather pay them on the spot for the service, when it would be easier to contest any extra charges they tried to put through, by showing the cashier the number of bags that he/she has.
I also got a strange feeling from the Dot-2-dot site, when their price calculator didn't charge their extra charges for the 3 pieces of luggage that I entered in the calculator. (See my post above for more explanation.) That oversight in their calculator may be a way to lure people in, and then when they get on the bus and are a captive audience, they have to cough up 10 pounds extra for each piece of luggage beyond the first piece. For me, I've always got more than 1 bag - usually I have 3, and paying 10 pounds for just one extra bag on the Dot-2-dot bus would cover my ride on the Heathrow Connect train....
--- Bippie, you are very right to point out the Tube/Underground option from Heathrow to London, which I totally left out in my big post at the top! I have now added a section on taking the underground from Heathrow.
The reason I forgot about it is because the Heathrow Connect train from Heathrow to Paddington costs the same price as the tube and takes a lot less time, with no stairs, and more dedicated room for luggage storage on the carriages.
---
For everyone -- I've added a lot more information in the original post, including helpful websites.I sort of understand that point, but I figure I can dispute the extra charge with my credit card company later anyway. I figure after an 8-12 hour flight(s) overnight, I probably wouldn't want to set up alternative transport into the city on the spot anyway, and probably wouldn't feel like arguing either. I tend to not sleep on planes and work hard just trying to not lose my wallet on the first day.
Thank you for correcting me. I think in dollars, I think in pounds; sometimes I remember the number but not the currency!
The last time I had to take the underground from Heathrow to inner London zone 1, I remember it was about 7 somethings. Looks like it was about 7 dollars, not 7 pounds. That was when the exchange rate was 2.02 dollars to 1 pound.
Here are the current one-way fares on the tube from Heathrow to London Zone One (central London):
Cash: 4 pounds Oyster card: 3.80 pounds between 6:30 am and 9:30 am, and between 4 pm and 7 pm Oyster card: 2.20 pounds between 9:30 am and 4 pm, and from 7 pm to about midnight
robstrash said: The underground to central London is about 2-3 GBP, not 7 (unless you meant round trip). I don't remember the exact fare as I used my Oyster card.
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