How to get to

[NewCruiserMPC]

We are staying at London House Hotel in Bayswater Central West London.

What is the easiest way to get there from Heathrow Airport? This is our first time to London and are not familiar with the metro/underground system.

We plan to go to Buckingham Palace and all the tourist sites in the area. Will is be easy to get to from where we are staying? Which would be the easiest way to get there?

[John Bull]

Your hotel is just a little further west than ideal, but no great problem - you're a four minute walk from Bayswater tube station & the tube will get you to anywhere in central London

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/standard-tube-map.pdf

 

Bayswater tube station is on the yellow (Circle) line & the green (District) line.

Don't bother to print-off, plenty of free tube maps available, also included on tourist maps of London, and plenty of maps on station walls. Bear in mind that the tube map is schematic, great for navigation underground but very definitely not to scale or accurate for distances etc above ground. So you use a regular tourist map to find the nearest tube stations to your start & finish points, then the tube map to figure how to get between those stations. Literature for tourist sites usually quote the nearest tube station.

 

But the tube is not great for travel to/from Heathrow, because it's not luggage-friendly, can get very crowded, and there's no direct route - you'd have to change to the dark blue (Piccadilly) line at somewhere like Earls' Court or South Kensington or Hammersmith. If you do choose to take the tube, ask for advice about the easiest place to change with luggage, quoting the day-of-the-week and time-of-day and hopefully an experienced Londoner can respond.

But you're only a 15 to 20 min walk (or short taxi ride) from hotel to Paddington station.

The Heathrow Express is ideal - direct from Paddington to Heathrow in 15 minutes, good for luggage, a train every 10 to 15 minutes. But expensive - over £20 pp. https://www.heathrowexpress.com/

The Heathrow Connect is the same route as the Heathrow Express but is half the cost, and takes just five minutes longer. From your hotel location, it's what I'd choose. https://www.heathrowconnect.com/

 

Both of the major ho-ho operators have feeder routes which pass fairly close to your hotel

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/tour-information/tour-routes.htm

http://eng.bigbustours.com/london/home.html

I'd advise against Golden Tours hop-on service. They're an experienced coach operator offering good day trips, but they're new to hop-on & their service is very limited on both routes & frequency.

 

Mind the gap ;)

 

JB :)

Edited March 12, 2015 by John Bull

[Bob++]

While public transport is fairly easy, you might prefer to book a private car to take you and your luggage directly to the hotel. There are many companies that offer a good service, google "Heathrow taxi" and get thousands. You are best to choose one based near the airport.

 

The hoho bus is a good way to get a taste of what there is to see, but if you have any kind of bucket list, I suggest that you pick out a few 'must do's' and play the rest by ear.

 

You don't say when or for how long you are here, but if you want to do the Buckingham Palace tour, you need to check times and dates on their website here pre-book.

 

You might also check out the threads on 'Oyster Cards' and the two-for-one offers that you can get if you do use the Heathrow Express train.

 

If you have a smartphone or a tablet, download this app http://walkit.com/ which is excellent for getting anywhere in London on foot

Edited March 12, 2015 by Bob++

[insanemagnet]

If you have a smartphone or a tablet, download this app http://walkit.com/ which is excellent for getting anywhere in London on foot

 

Having tried a few apps, the best app I find for travel in London is Citymapper - https://citymapper.com/london

 

It does walking direction, Boris Bike, tube, bus, train, etc, includes costs, and even offers 'dry' routes when it is raining.