LONDON: Alternatives to Heathrow Express

I've been to the UK a couple of times traveling on Virgin Atlantic and
am wondering if there is a better way to get from the airport to
London than the Heathrow Express. I haven't had any problems with it,
per se; it's just that the last time we were there, we noticed the
haul from the baggage claim to the area where one catches the Heathrow
Express is incredibly long and I was wondering if it was less of a
walk to go right outside and take a bus. I've looked on the Heathrow
Aiport website and since I don't currently know what terminal we will
be coming into, it's hard to tell what our alternatives are.

I noticed there were buses for about half the price (which I assume
probably would mean twice the travel time) but I'm not so much
concerned about the price as I am the long walk with all our luggage.
After a 11 hour flight, it's something we'd like to avoid. Any ideas
out there on alternatives? We will probably be staying somewhere near
either Victoria Station or Paddington station (for just the night; we
are traveling out the next day to either York or Cardiff.)
TIA,
Jennifer

On 21 Nov 2003 21:25:20 -0800, (midunjen)
wrote:

I've been to the UK a couple of times traveling on Virgin Atlantic and
am wondering if there is a better way to get from the airport to
London than the Heathrow Express. I haven't had any problems with it,
per se; it's just that the last time we were there, we noticed the
haul from the baggage claim to the area where one catches the Heathrow
Express is incredibly long and I was wondering if it was less of a
walk to go right outside and take a bus.

Which terminal did you arrive at? Heathrow has four/

I've looked on the Heathrow
Aiport website and since I don't currently know what terminal we will
be coming into, it's hard to tell what our alternatives are.

May I suggest the Underground? Where in London are you headed?

I noticed there were buses for about half the price (which I assume
probably would mean twice the travel time) but I'm not so much
concerned about the price as I am the long walk with all our luggage.
After a 11 hour flight, it's something we'd like to avoid. Any ideas
out there on alternatives? We will probably be staying somewhere near
either Victoria Station or Paddington station (for just the night; we
are traveling out the next day to either York or Cardiff.)

Underground.


************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

In article , Hatunen
wrote:

On 21 Nov 2003 21:25:20 -0800, (midunjen)
wrote:


I noticed there were buses for about half the price (which I assume
probably would mean twice the travel time) but I'm not so much
concerned about the price as I am the long walk with all our luggage.
After a 11 hour flight, it's something we'd like to avoid. Any ideas
out there on alternatives? We will probably be staying somewhere near
either Victoria Station or Paddington station (for just the night; we
are traveling out the next day to either York or Cardiff.)

Underground.


Well, unfortunately the walk to the Underground is probably just as
long, if not longer, than to the Heathrow Express, not to mention that
they'll have to carry their luggage up staircases and escalators to get
out of the tube station wherever they're heading.

If the price is not such a big concern, why not the taxi then? Ride to
central London for one person costs about 50 pounds, right? I don't
know how much it will go up if you have more people though, but I
imagine as the number of people increase, it is also proportionately
not that much more expensive than taking the Heathrow Express with the
same number of people. (ugh, I hope that makes sense)


Vicky

On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 01:35:56 -0500, Vicky
wrote:

In article , Hatunen
wrote:

On 21 Nov 2003 21:25:20 -0800, (midunjen)
wrote:


I noticed there were buses for about half the price (which I assume
probably would mean twice the travel time) but I'm not so much
concerned about the price as I am the long walk with all our luggage.
After a 11 hour flight, it's something we'd like to avoid. Any ideas
out there on alternatives? We will probably be staying somewhere near
either Victoria Station or Paddington station (for just the night; we
are traveling out the next day to either York or Cardiff.)

Underground.


Well, unfortunately the walk to the Underground is probably just as
long, if not longer, than to the Heathrow Express,

Depending, of course, on where they are starting from. At
Heathrow 4 it's not bad at all.

not to mention that
they'll have to carry their luggage up staircases and escalators to get
out of the tube station wherever they're heading.

Been there, done that. No big deal, usually.

If the price is not such a big concern, why not the taxi then? Ride to
central London for one person costs about 50 pounds, right? I don't
know how much it will go up if you have more people though, but I
imagine as the number of people increase, it is also proportionately
not that much more expensive than taking the Heathrow Express with the
same number of people. (ugh, I hope that makes sense)

If they intend tgo stay near Paddington station maybe HE is a
good idea, good idea beign a highlyh subjective thing. If they
intend to go to York, they will want to depart form Kings Cross,
and the Picadilly lien from Heathorw will tkae them straigh
there (maybe stay around Russell Square). if they take the
Heathwor Exprewss and want to go to York then they will have to
find their way from Paddington to Kings Cross.

We really don't have enough information.

If they are going tu Cardiff or York I can't imagine why they
would stay near Victoria Station, though.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:52:04 -0700, Hatunen
wrote:

Well, unfortunately the walk to the Underground is probably just as
long, if not longer, than to the Heathrow Express,

Depending, of course, on where they are starting from. At
Heathrow 4 it's not bad at all.

not to mention that
they'll have to carry their luggage up staircases and escalators to get
out of the tube station wherever they're heading.

Been there, done that. No big deal, usually.

If the price is not such a big concern, why not the taxi then? Ride to
central London for one person costs about 50 pounds, right? I don't
know how much it will go up if you have more people though, but I
imagine as the number of people increase, it is also proportionately
not that much more expensive than taking the Heathrow Express with the
same number of people. (ugh, I hope that makes sense)

If they intend tgo stay near Paddington station maybe HE is a
good idea, good idea beign a highlyh subjective thing. If they
intend to go to York, they will want to depart form Kings Cross,
and the Picadilly lien from Heathorw will tkae them straigh
there (maybe stay around Russell Square). if they take the
Heathwor Exprewss and want to go to York then they will have to
find their way from Paddington to Kings Cross.

Good lord, is that ever messed up. My apologies, and time to go
to bed.


************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

In article , Hatunen
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 01:35:56 -0500, Vicky
wrote:

In article , Hatunen
wrote:


Depending, of course, on where they are starting from. At
Heathrow 4 it's not bad at all.

The OP said they're flying Virgin Atlantic, so that will take them into
terminal 3, if I recall correctly.

not to mention that
they'll have to carry their luggage up staircases and escalators to get
out of the tube station wherever they're heading.

Been there, done that. No big deal, usually.

Well, I definitely agree, as I've done it many times. But then, I also
found that it was not a big deal to walk the distance to either HE or
the tube to begin with. Seems to be fine. But if the OP finds the
walk to HE unappealing, it's very unlikely that they'll find the tube
more convenient/less tiring in that sense.

Anyway, given my bias against buses, I suppose I really don't have a
good perspective to give good suggestions to the OP. If the walk is
really too long for them, should make sure they get a luggage cart.
There are elevators to accomodate for that to the HE. Taking the bus
just seems such a drastic measure (takes much longer and much less
comfortable) to avoid that relatively short walk. The only thing I can
think of is the taxi as an alternative, although it's much more
expensive and much slower. Last time I took the taxi, it took me an
hour to get to my destination and it costs me $$$. Well, next time I
took the tube to the exact destination - took me 50 minutes, for 1.5
pounds. And whenever I am running really late and need to get to
Heathrow very fast, I take a cab to Paddington and jump onto the HE.
Still much cheaper and much faster than any other alternatives. Really
no comparison in my mind.

Ugh - my two cents, anyway.


Vicky

In article , Vicky
wrote:

In article , Hatunen
wrote:


Depending, of course, on where they are starting from. At
Heathrow 4 it's not bad at all.

The OP said they're flying Virgin Atlantic, so that will take them into
terminal 3, if I recall correctly.


Oops, my mistake. OP does not know which airline they'll flying, so
don't know which terminal they'll be arriving at. Still, I am putting
my bet on 3.


Vicky

In article , Hatunen
writes
not to mention that
they'll have to carry their luggage up staircases and escalators to get
out of the tube station wherever they're heading.

Been there, done that. No big deal, usually.


Does that not depend rather on the age and physical ability of the
traveller and the amount of luggage?

Taxis are much more convenient.
--
Marie Lewis

Original poster here.... lots of good advice, here's a few
clarifications...

If they intend tgo stay near Paddington station maybe HE is a
good idea, good idea beign a highlyh subjective thing. If they
intend to go to York, they will want to depart form Kings Cross,
and the Picadilly lien from Heathorw will tkae them straigh
there (maybe stay around Russell Square). if they take the
Heathwor Exprewss and want to go to York then they will have to
find their way from Paddington to Kings Cross.

We really don't have enough information.

If they are going tu Cardiff or York I can't imagine why they
would stay near Victoria Station, though.

We'll stay near Paddington if we intend to go west into Cardiff the
next day... but you are right, I'm not sure what I was thinking when I
thought we'd stay near Victoria Station if we go to York.... problem
is, I know the area around Paddington really well and just a few
blocks' walk are lots of cheap hotels. I'd consider staying near
Kings' Cross if I knew it better, or got a great deal. I'll have to do
some research there, if indeed we end up going north. But if I recall,
it's a pretty quick tube hop from Paddington to King's Cross either
way.

I'll look into Russell Square, though... any suggestions are always
appreciated!


The OP said they're flying Virgin Atlantic, so that will take them into
terminal 3, if I recall correctly.

We are flying Virgin and I checked our itinerary and also called to
verify... it's terminal 3. She said actually, on our route, it's
always terminal 3. So I know that walk pretty well.

Unfortunately we will also be chasing the daylight, as we are coming
in late January and we arrive around 3:45PM. I was in the UK for a
month two years ago for almost all of January and I know the days are
very short.

That said, along with travel time considerations I guess we will be
taking the HE... fortunately with each trip our luggage burden becomes
less and less as we learn to pack LIGHT to accommodate all those
spiral staircases! ;-)

"midunjen" wrote in message
m...

We'll stay near Paddington if we intend to go west into Cardiff the
next day...

If you just want a bed for the night, and London itself isn't an attraction,
an alternative might be to take the RailAir bus to Reading, a major station
on the line to Cardiff. You could probably get a cheaper night's
accommodation there than in London, or even leap straight on a train to
Cardiff.

Alan Harrison