What to do / see in London between 8am and 12 noon near Heathrow

[kpc]

We'll be arriving in LHR on QF 1 on a weekday at 0655, and leaving for LIS from LHR at 1520...we could spend the 8 hours in the BA F lounge at Terminal 3 or we could duck out and have about 4 hours to do something in London, preferably close to LHR. We can be picked by the complimentary QF chauffeur service but will need to take the tube back to LHR. Thoughts / Suggestions (been to London a few times before so done most of the touristy things)? Thanks

ps in May this year, we had a similarly long transit at LHR prior to our flight to BUD, and spent about 8 hours in the BA F lounge at T3...it was boriiiiiing!

 

[Bundy Bear]

I went to Greenwich and visited the Cutty Sark between my flight landing at 9:00am and leaving on LH at 6:00pm.

very enjoyable day, 1hr 30 each way kept me awake.

 

[opusman]

I would take the tube both ways with such limited time, the drive can easily be 2 hours if traffic is heavy. You won't see much from the M4.

 

[docjames]

Take tube into town, have a wander around, head back.

Alternative is Paddington express which is faster into and out of town.

Chauffeur drive too time consuming at that time of day.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Heathrow express to Paddington. Tube to BM, few hours browsing, light lunch, return to Heathrow. Or pop over to the Old or New Tate for couple of hours.


There are advance purchase discounts available, plus various special discounts from Amex or airlines one can find. GIYF.

BA F lounge is ok, Concorde lounge better, but only for a few hours. After 4 hrs there you'll probably be stir crazy.

 

[kelvedon]

You could consider a walk along the South Bank.

Take me the Heathrow Express to Paddington ( much quicker than the tube), change on to the circle line (yellow), get off at Westminster, walk across Westminster Bridge and turn left along South Bank. Cross back over the Thames and circle line back to Paddington from Temple, or Bakerloo line one from Embankment station.

Or visit Windsor.

chauffeur to Windsor, against traffic and the driver can avoid the M25. The castle itself opens at 9.30am, and taxi back to LHR. (About GBP40?). Or Hampton Court or Kew Gardens?

 

[serfty]

You should be eligible to use the AA arrivals lounge, although this can cause problems with the Chauffer.

There's the option of taking Heathrow Connect (Much cheaper the the 'Express' but ~15 minutes longer) to Paddington station and walk to Hyde park.

Or try Windsor castle.

One beauty is that most Paywave enabled cards (28°, Amex, Citibank Plus etc.) can be used instead of securing an oyster card.

There's a good app "Citymapper" that should take the worry of of using Public Transport and general navigation.

 

[dajop]

Take me the Heathrow Express to Paddington ( much quicker than the tube), change on to the circle line (yellow), get off at Westminster,?

Where does everyone get the idea from that Heathrow Express is "much" quicker than the tube. If you put into T1/2/3 to Westminster, for example. Into the tfl.gov.uk journey planner the HEX->tube takes 39 mins and using tube->tube takes 51 mins, and of course the HEX costs a lot more and indeed if you have to wait (it runs every 15mins vs the tube at every 5) the time savings can easily be eaten up.

It does of course depend on where you are going. If going anywhere on or near the Picadilly line the HEX has always seem barely worthwhile.

 

[Mal]

Where does everyone get the idea from that Heathrow Express is "much" quicker than the tube. If you put into T1/2/3 to Westminster, for example. Into the tfl.gov.uk journey planner the HEX->tube takes 39 mins and using tube->tube takes 51 mins, and of course the HEX costs a lot more and indeed if you have to wait (it runs every 15mins vs the tube at every 5) the time savings can easily be eaten up.

It does of course depend on where you are going. If going anywhere on or near the Picadilly line the HEX has always seem barely worthwhile.

Have to agree! If staying in Paddington, or nearby, Hex easily wins. But if more central London, tube wins for me (HEX plus cab is often decent, but expensive of course)

If Windsor hasn't already been done, then that's a good place for this style of stopover. Tube anywhere will effectively take up to 60-90 mins each way, so really Central London isn't that great an idea.

 

[CaptJCool]

Have to agree! If staying in Paddington, or nearby, Hex easily wins. But if more central London, tube wins for me (HEX plus cab is often decent, but expensive of course)

https://www.heathrowexpress.com/tickets-deals/discounts-deals

 

[kpc]

You should be eligible to use the AA arrivals lounge, although this can cause problems with the Chauffer.

It would be nice to have a quick shower and breakfast before taking the chauffeur car ride. Is it possible to book it say 1.5 hours after we land?

Or try Windsor castle.
.

If Windsor hasn't already been done, then that's a good place for this style of stopover.

Windsor Castle sounds like a good idea but it only opens at 0930, hence no rush to get there after arrival at LHR. 2 hours there seems fine.....how much would it roughly cost to catch a cab back to LHR? It seems it only takes 15 minutes by cab cf to nearly an hour by train / walking etc. There will be the 2 of us and we will have our carry on luggage with us

 

[Mal]

Windsor Castle sounds like a good idea but it only opens at 0930, hence no rush to get there after arrival at LHR. 2 hours there seems fine.....how much would it roughly cost to catch a cab back to LHR? It seems it only takes 15 minutes by cab cf to nearly an hour by train / walking etc. There will be the 2 of us and we will have our carry on luggage with us

Yep, I think 2 hours, maybe 2.5 would be more than enough. Only issue might be queue getting in, but now peak tourist season is over, doubt it will be there. Windsor itself is a nice town to walk around too btw.
Uber are quoting me £11-£15 for the journey, a cab would be perhaps £30-40 , although I don't tend to catch cabs much at all.

 

[CaptJCool]

And then there's Eton on the other side of the Thames

 

[kpc]

Kew Gardens might be another option....opens at 10am, and can easily get there and back by tube....also allows time for a nice hot shower to freshen up after the long flight from Sydney and breakfast at the AA Arrivals lounge

 

[pagingjoan]

It would be nice to have a quick shower and breakfast before taking the chauffeur car ride. Is it possible to book it say 1.5 hours after we land?

Windsor Castle sounds like a good idea but it only opens at 0930, hence no rush to get there after arrival at LHR. 2 hours there seems fine.....how much would it roughly cost to catch a cab back to LHR? It seems it only takes 15 minutes by cab cf to nearly an hour by train / walking etc. There will be the 2 of us and we will have our carry on luggage with us

Some good suggestions in the thread.
One question:
Will you have check-in bags also?
If so, keep in mind that you are unlikely to be able to through-check them.

 

[CaptJCool]

Some good suggestions in the thread.
One question:
Will you have check-in bags also?
If so, keep in mind that you are unlikely to be able to through-check them.

And what's the on-time track record of QF1?

check-in bags could suffer interline failure so yea good point as to where they might end up !

 

[kpc]

Flights are on one PNR so bags should / would be checked through to final destination.If QF 1 is really late, we will just stay at airport

 

[pagingjoan]

Flights are on one PNR so bags should / would be checked through to final destination.If QF 1 is really late, we will just stay at airport

Sounds as if you have plenty of options then.

Other than the carry-on bags, which are always a drag in those circumstances - but it's still worth the effort, if QF1 is on time.

I know it's always a bit of a gamble to deposit carry-ons somewhere, as they usually have more essentials in them than do the checked bags, at least in my packing regime. Too much hassle, if anything goes awry, so better to lug them, I feel.

 

[kpc]

Sounds as if you have plenty of options then.

Other than the carry-on bags, which are always a drag in those circumstances - but it's still worth the effort, if QF1 is on time.

I know it's always a bit of a gamble to deposit carry-ons somewhere, as they usually have more essentials in them than do the checked bags, at least in my packing regime. Too much hassle, if anything goes awry, so better to lug them, I feel.

Another reason Kew Gardens is looking like a better option than Windsor Castle. ..at the latter we have to leave our carry ons at the cloak room whereas with the former we can just take it with us

 

[pagingjoan]

Another reason Kew Gardens is looking like a better option than Windsor Castle. ..at the latter we have to leave our carry ons at the cloak room whereas with the former we can just take it with us

Kew Gardens are lovely and, if the day is fine, there is a very pleasant restaurant terrace for a break.
One word of warning: If I recall correctly, the entrance price is fairly steep.