Best public transit route Heathrow to Canterbury

I don’t know about the trains to Canterbury, but given the choice between the Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines, I’d choose the Elizabeth line route as being faster.

There is an Option 3- Piccadilly line to Hammersmith or Barons Court, cross the platform onto a District Line tube to Victoria, train Victoria to Canterbury.

At Stratford the Canterbury train departs from Stratford International- not the same station as Stratford where the Elizabeth Line calls- the two stations are linked by a one stop ride on the DLR.

The very easiest route (but probably the slowest) would be Elizabeth Line to Abbey Wood (the terminus), train Abbey Wood to Rochester, train Rochester to Canterbury East (23 minutes between trains at Rochester).

Another route is the National Express Bus at 0725, 0945, 1125, 1455 and 1650, change at Victoria.

The driver on each bus looks after your luggage, you just have to carry it over the road at Victoria from the arrivals hall to the departures hall. Canterbury Bus Station is right in the City Centre.

given the choice between the Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines, I’d choose the Elizabeth line route as being faster.

On Google I am seeing 23 stops in 56 minutes on the Piccadilly line and 10 stops in 45 minutes on the Ellizabeth line, so that is correct. However, for the total journey the Elizabeth line shows as taking longer and requiring 10 minutes more walking. Thus, my confusion.

Apart from the fact that the Elizabeth Line does not run to the same station at Stratford as the Canterbury trains leave from (as stated above) there are only 2 Elizabeth Line trains per hour from Heathrow to Stratford. On other Elizabeth Line trains to Abbey Wood you have to do a same platform change for Stratford at a central core station- other Stratford bound trains start from Reading or Paddington.

At Stratford, rather than take the DLR to switch stations, you could take the long walk through the Shopping Centre- probably what you are looking at.

Compare that to a Piccadilly Line train every few minutes.

There is only one train an hour from St Pancras and Stratford to Canterbury. Two an hour from Victoria.

Each route has its pros and cons. There is no outright winner, but I think that Stratford is the worst route of the bunch.

I agree with Stuart that Stratford is the worst choice - having made the trek a few times through Westfield shopping centre, and disagree with him on going around the sun to get to the moon via Rochester.

I'd plump for Piccadilly to Kings Cross St Pancras, upstairs at St Pancras (on the Kings Cross side) and the fast Javelin service to Canterbury.

Via Victoria not as nice a train, more stops. And with whatever Victoria has to offer it isn't nearly as nice an environment as St Pancras.

Forget about "number of stops." The Piccadilly line will take about an hour to get to Kings Cross/St Pancras. From there you go upstairs, and get your train to Canterbury. Very easy. (I have done this.)

Your chances of getting a seat on the Piccadilly Line, since you are getting on when it begins at Heathrow, is very good.

At Stratford, you could walk between Stratford and Stratford Interntional but I would not suggest that. The fastest/shortest route is through the shopping center and it is always crowded. Not a good choice with luggage. (I have stayed at a hotel in the shopping centre and know the area very well.)

My choice from experience would either be Piccadilly line to Kings Cross/St. Pancras or National Express bus.

The train operating company is Southeastern -- https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/

One option is the direct trains from St Pancras to Canterbury West. These are the highspeed trains and usually depart hourly at 37-40 minutes after the hour, with a 54-58 minute journey time. The Piccadilly Line goes direct from LHR to St Pancras.

The other option is London Victoria to Canterbury East. These trains depart at 10 minutes after the hour with a journey time of 1:30. Midday there is a second train departing 40 minutes after the hour. From Heathrow you can take the Piccadilly Line to South Kensington, switch to Circle or District Line go two stops to Victoria. Exit the tube station and walk to Victoria train station.

Personally I'd go Piccadilly Line direct to St Pancras, then the highspeed train to Canterbury West.

if contemplating the Victoria alternative the best places to change lines from the Piccadilly to the District are at either Hammersmith or Barons Court where the two lines are side by side and the change is just crossing the platform. At South Kensington they are above each other, with the Piccadilly under the District line, which means that to change involves stairs or escalator to the other level.

Thank you all for your help! This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for and it's so nice to have advice from people who have literally done the same thing. Looks like Piccadilly to Kings Cross and then train to Canterbury is the option I will use.

Thrilled to find this information. We will be arriving at Southampton Cunard docks and head to the train station. We are traveling to Canterbury and, looking at route options I kept getting confused regarding St Pancras. I have arrived many times at LHR and taken the express to Paddington then onward to Cornwall. Canterbury is a new destination and I’d prefer the train over a bus.

We are both old ladies with lousy knees so I was going to taxi it from the docks to the train station. Since it doesn’t seem that taxis wait for prospective patrons, what taxi service should I contact?

Now that I can finally enter my December travel dates it only routes me to Waterloo. Hmmm. Thanks very much for your suggestions.

Well, all direct trains from Southampton to London do go to Waterloo.

But there is also a twice an hour train from Waterloo East station (it starts across the river at Charing Cross) to Canterbury West (journey time 1hr 40 minutes). The two stations (Waterloo and Waterloo East) are next to each other and linked by inside escalators and elevators, thus you do not have to cross London to get from Southampton to Canterbury.

If for some reason you wanted to end up at Paddington from Southampton (then across the city to St Pancras) you would take the hourly Cross Country train to Reading, then GWR or Elizabeth Line into London but that is a long way round.

You could also take a National Express Bus from Southampton to London Victoria changing there for another bus to Canterbury. The benefit there is that the driver takes care of your luggage, except for the level transfer between buses at Victoria.

Thank you for the information! Everyone seems to like the National Bus experience so I did some investigating. What a great deal! As a Texan I was reluctant, but here we can ride a bus for 12 hours and still be in Texas! I also remember a trip to Bath I took solo in Nov. 2021 and my 2 pieces of luggage caused some consternation on the train. So, a senior coachcard costs £15/year and has sizable discounts per use. This way we can also do some day trips from Canterbury, the options are endless. I will be in Ireland in October and might be able to use it there!