Heathrow T3 to Hampton Inn Waterloo...taking the Tube???

[fishman620]

We (5 persons) will be arriving @ Heathrow Terminal 3 on a Friday, in early August, arriving @ 10 a.m. We are all in our early and late 60's and will have 2 pieces of luggage each.......Trying to save the cost of a private transfer from Heathrow to pre-cruise hotel..... So we are thinking about attempting taking the Tube to our hotel, Hampton Inn London Waterloo.....could someone please tell us what line we would take, preferably without stairs because of our luggage, is it a direct line or would we have to change lines?....and how close it would be to our hotel, since we will have luggage in tow.... Thank you for any help, I would appreciate it.....is this going to be too big of an adventure for us old farts?! 

Edited June 24, 2023 by fishman620
changed wording

[Island2Dweller]

Your hotel is about 400-500 yards from Waterloo station.   That's a major rail station (trains to Southampton as many on this board will know) and mutiple tube lines.

If you are prepared to walk that last distance from Waterloo to your hotel - here is your "tube all the way" option.  Take Piccadilly line from Heathrow to Green Park.  Change there for Jubilee line (direction Stratford) to Waterloo.  There are lifts and escalators so the change is not too difficult.  Depending on which end of the tube you get out of, there can be a fair bit of walking and multiple escalators.  Even as someone who uses public transport by default, I'm not sure I'd be keen on this with bags in tow.

To make life slightly easier.  Take Piccadilly line to Hammersmith.  Cross platform onto District line (direction Upmister, don't get an Edgware Road train) and get off at Westminster.  Lifts to street level.  Then jump in a taxi (there will be loads driving by) for the last mile to your hotel.

Cost for the tube ride is about £6 per adult, pay with bank card or phone.  If you add on the taxi, that should be about £10 or slightly more if traffic is grdilocked.  (Which can happen at any point in London)

[gumshoe958]

I too would go for the second of the options suggested by @Island2Dweller - but you should know that, although many people take luggage on the tube it isn’t really designed for it: there are no racks or anything, it can get very busy and two cases each might not be terribly easy.

 

Not trying to put you off - I always use the tube or Elizabeth line to get to Heathrow - but don’t underestimate the amount of dragging of cases on and off trains, elevators and moving walkways you’ll have to do (Terminal 3 to the tube station is about a 10 minute walk on its own). Only you know how up for that you are!

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by gumshoe958

[Cotswold Eagle]

5 hours ago, Island2Dweller said:

Take Piccadilly line from Heathrow to Green Park.  Change there for Jubilee line (direction Stratford) to Waterloo.  There are lifts and escalators so the change is not too difficult. 

I have had a flat on the south-east reaches of the Jubilee Line for 20 years and live by the old rule, “never change at Green Park, particularly with luggage” 😀

If you must, don’t follow signs for the Jubilee Line, head up the escalator for the exit instead. When you get to ticket hall level, don’t go out through the barriers, turn and go straight back down the escalator to the Jubilee Line. 

Edited June 24, 2023 by Cotswold Eagle

[Meander Ingwa]

I would take the Elizabeth line to Bond Street and transfer to the Jubilee line to Waterloo as described before Bond Street can be intimidating, but the Elizabeth and its stations are designed for people.  I love the Piccadilly, but it feels like hauling cattle and not always easy transfers

[gumshoe958]

5 hours ago, Meander Ingwa said:

I would take the Elizabeth line to Bond Street and transfer to the Jubilee line to Waterloo as described before Bond Street can be intimidating, but the Elizabeth and its stations are designed for people.  I love the Piccadilly, but it feels like hauling cattle and not always easy transfers

The Elizabeth line costs about £13 each, so for five people you may as well take a cab.

[John Bull]

As an Irish friend of mine would have said, the easiest way to get to Hampton Inn Waterloo would be to not start at Heathrow 😏.

 

But IMHO Island2's second suggestion is the way to go.

Take the Piccadilly line  from Heathrow - it's the end of the line, so impossible to get on a train going in the wrong direction, trains every 3 to 5 minutes, train will be pretty empty so no problem getting seats together and keeping your luggage with you. Train will get busier later on, but still outside the sardine part of its route.

Change trains at Hammersmith onto the District line, it's the opposite side of the same platform so the easiest possible change. You need a District line train which is going to Upminster, not Edgeware Road  (check the illuminated signs above the platform). If you miss your change at Hammersmith, no worries - it's the same routine at the next station, Barons Court.

Get off that District line train after about 8 stops at Westminster.

Hail a taxi - with 5 plus luggage you'll need two - to your hotel, just under a mile. 

 

As Island2 mentioned, Waterloo is the station for trains to Southampton Central (or Waterloo East station for trains to Dover Priory). Buy your "Advance" train tickets now - they're about a third of the price of the walk-up fare (eg  to Southampton £14.50 instead of £52). The price of an advance ticket is dynamic, as the date draws closer it will go up & might even sell out. 

Advance tickets are non-refundable, non-amendable, and only good for the train time that you book - so don't miss that train or you'll all have to throw away those tickets & pay the walk-up fare for the next one.

 

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf

 

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

JB 🙂

[Globaliser]

18 hours ago, Island2Dweller said:

Take Piccadilly line to Hammersmith.  Cross platform onto District line (direction Upmister, don't get an Edgware Road train) and get off at Westminster.

 

Even for an all-Tube route, I would recommend doing this route to Westminster and then changing on to the Jubilee Line there for the one stop to Waterloo - there are plenty of escalators and lifts inside the station. I think this is preferable to trying to change at Green Park, so I always change twice if going from Heathrow in the direction of Cotswold Eagle's flat.

 

At Waterloo, the exit from the Jubilee Line to street level tips you out onto Waterloo Road, hence it's an easy walk south to this particular hotel.

[Cotswold Eagle]

25 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

I always change twice if going from Heathrow in the direction of Cotswold Eagle's flat.

Well, pop in next time 🤣

[phabric]

After a long overnight flight, you will be tired/exhausted, do you really want to drag yourself and luggage maybe using stairs/elevators on different trains.

 

Since there are 5 people, use a car service, you will be met after you exit the baggage area and be dropped off at the door of your hotel.

[dd likes to cruise]

I am tired just reading about how to do it, using the tube!  🥱😵‍💫. I think I would try to price out a Taxi. 

[WatchHill]

We are arriving at LHR T-3, mid morning in October and have reservations at a hotel near Waterloo Rail. Having done the LHR Express/rail/coach/tube many times, we decided with age comes a bit more wisdom. We could manage luggage with a bit of grumbling, but plan to reserve a car service meeting us at the airport for a trip to the hotel. We'll no doubt be tired from the overnight flight and are getting to the age where convenience prevails. On prior trips to London, we stay near Paddington, thus it's a easy  two block walk, with luggage,  to the hotel. Our quotes are between 92-100 GBP. 

 

Darcy

[phabric]

I have used this car service from LHR to my London hotel and from London hotel to LHR.  Use your hotel’s postal code to get a quote.

 

www.justairports.com

[WatchHill]

1 minute ago, phabric said:

I have used this car service from LHR to my London hotel and from London hotel to LHR.  Use your hotel’s postal code to get a quote.

 

www.justairports.com

Thank you for the recommendation. This will be the only service we'll need as friends [more like family] are driving  from Southbourne to collect us at the hotel and then we do Hampton Court before we return with them to their home for a few days. They will drive us, via Lyndhurst for cream tea, to Southampton to meet the ship.

 

Darcy

[Globaliser]

21 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Well, pop in next time 🤣

 

Thank you! Can I bring my luggage?