I have an 8 hour layover in London on July 16th landing at 1:30 pm. Landing at Heathrow Airport.
I was wonder if there is anything that can be accomplished in London and see in that amount of time?
Thanks for any suggestions you may have. It will be my families first time in Europe so fun to see anything we can.
Paul
It will take you at lest an hour to get out of the airport and you need to be back 2 hours before your next flight,mbut it can be done. I suggest you take the fastest way into London---the Heathrow Express. You are fortunate to be arriving on a Sunday, when adult tickets are only £5.50 each way IF you buy them 90+ days in advance. ( You could buy them now.)
https://www.heathrowexpress.com/tickets-deals/discounts-deals
Kids 15 and under are free.
The train will take you to Paddington Station, on the north side of Hyde Park. You could walk to a few things from there, but for the quintessential London experience I suggest you take the Circle or District tube lines to St. James Park or Westminster station. From either you can easily walk to see Big Ben and the Parliament. Buildings, and cross Westminster Bridge for iconic views of these buildings. Walk along the Thames Path past the London Eye, maybe get an early dinner at one of the riverfront cafes along there. You will need to head back to the airport by 6:30 pr 7 pm---you can reverse your path and return to Paddington for the Heathrow Express, or take the Piccadilly Line straight to the airport (takes 49 minutes or more). Or take a Black Cab back to Paddington instead of the Tube for another London experience.
You could also just use the Piccadilly line in both directions, but it is slower. If you do this, disembark near Trafalgar Square or Covent Garden (those may not be the correct station names so check the Tube map. This is another area to go for that "You're in London" feeling.
Just do not try to get on the Tube during evening rush hour. We tried once at 5 pm and gave up---it is way too crowded.
Assuming that your flight is on time, as has already been stated, it will take at least an hour to get through the airport. If you are heading to the States, the recommended check in time is 3 hours before the flight and 2 hours if travelling to Europe and 4 hours if flying to Israel.
Will you have luggage? If you have to use the left luggage facility at Heathrow, this could add another half hour to drop and collect.
The Heathrow Express is quick, but it terminates at Paddington, which isn't that helpful if you want to see the sights! You will then need to get onto the Underground. If you were to head to say Westminster (for the Houses of Parliament), this takes the same time door to door on the tube vs the Heathrow Express and involves only one change (two on the HE). Tubes run more frequently than the HE. I would allow an hour to get back to Heathrow.
It's too early to check if there would be any engineering work on either the HE or the Underground, which, being a Sunday is possible - check tfl.gov.uk website closer to your travel date for info.
Shops have their opening hours restricted on a Sunday - most open noon - 6pm in central London, but some are 11-5 pm. Cafes and restaurants are not restricted.
You may have something like 2.5 hours actually in London - time to walk past Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, grab lunch and pop into the National Gallery or Covent Garden. This all assumes that your flight is on time....
Lola and Jen -
Thank you very much for your advice and information!
We are arriving from the States and will be travelling on to Africa if that makes any difference in amount of time we need when coming back to the airport later that night (our flight leaves at 9:00 pm. As far as luggage goes, our main luggage will transfer to our plane and we'll just have backpacks that we bring on the plane (not sure if we'll want to ditch those or not - if it means less time in London then we probably will just take those with us into London).
I appreciate you taking the time to write. This gives me some great information to work with.
Have you booked a through flight to Africa or two separate flights? If the latter, you will have to collect your baggage at Heathrow and check it in again.
If you are flying onward to Africa you should be back at the airport by 6 pm. Three hours ahead is the standard for international flights, as Jennifer mentioned.
Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the information and links!
Yes, flight is booked all the way through to Africa.
I don't wish to put the mockers on things but getting out of Heathrow, up to town, seeing stuff and then getting back again, safely on time, is a bit of an ask if you are not familiar with things. However, Windsor Castle or Hampton Court Palace might be a better bet. They are both west of London. You can get a couple of buses to HCP. I'm not sure about WC, maybe a cab (pre booked minicab) but there might be a bus. I don't know what current prices for entry to these are but I'm sure it's on their websites. (I'm an ex resident of west London)
