getting from Paddinton Station to Royal Air Force Museum with Colindale station closure

There only seems to be one bus route (number 303] that goes to the museum itself. The route with the least walking would seem to be Elizabeth line from Paddington to Farringdon, a Thameslink train to Mill Hill Broadway and the 303 bus from there to the museum.

The Thameslink trains are “full size” not underground trains and go about every 15 mins, I think.

The RAF museum is free but it’s worth getting a timed entry ticket- it’s all done by email.

If you’re interested in aviation history, RAF Duxford is well worth a visit. It’s an ex WW2 airfield and whilst there are flying days there are extensive static displays.

It’s north of London near the road to Cambridge. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to get to by public transport - the website gives details- but I’d guess a taxi from the nearest train station would be easiest.

There is an additional (free) bus route #NL6 running every 15 minutes from Hendon Central Northern Line tube station to Colindale Tube Station- https://tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/major-works-and-events/colindale

for the 303 bus. The 303 in the other direction goes on to Edgware (the end of the Northern line and 2 stops beyond Colindale, 3 beyond Hendon Central

I should have added that Duxford isn’t free to enter.

Duxford is IWM Duxford, a (non-free) part of the Imperial War Museum. Yet, it is most excellent.

The RAF museum is also very good.

At both be sure that you have plenty of shoe leather on the bottoms of your shoes.

Thank you for your assistance! We are from OHIO in USA and have the largest Air Museum in the world here. But there are at least 3 planes that are ONLY found in England and my husband is definitely wanting to see them. The other museum/air field sounds like fun. We will see how to start at Paddington Station and get there.

I hope you enjoy both the RAF museum and Duxford. My suggestion for getting to Duxford is to take the underground from Padding ton to Kings Cross/St Pancras and a train from there to Royston and pick up a taxi from the Taxi Rank there. Interestingly, and confusingly, some trains appear to depart from Kings X and other from St Pancras (they are different stations but next door to each other).

Also, not cheap - standard rail fare return appears to be around £55 per adult on a weekday, although I am no expert on getting cheap rail fares. Royston is way outside the Transport for London 'Oyster Zone' which lets you touch a credit/debit card to pay fares and you'll need a separate ticket.. (The RAF museum is well inside the zone). Don't forget that even on a nice day in September (we get a few) that there can be a strong (and not warm) wind across the flat countryside of Cambridgeshire.

BTW: I'm off to the RAF museum with my grandsons on Friday, but driving makes it easy.

£55 can't be right to Royston- it would only be that if you bought two singles. Buy an Off Peak Day Return (after 0930 weekdays, anytime weekends) and it is £30, or an Anytime Day Return is £37. Those give full flexibility on your return time.

Whittlesford Parkway is the closest station, from which you need to pre-order taxis.

That's before thinking about cheaper train specific Advance Fares to Cambridge from Liverpool Street on Greater Anglia.

thanks everyone!
As we get closer I plan on trying to get the tickets.
Do they still use oyster cards ?

Does whom still use Oyster Cards?

you can certainly use an Oyster in London, if you already have one. The cost £7 if you need to buy one, and you never get that back. You can also use contactless cards.

To go to Cambridgeshire you need a real ticket, electronic or paper.

If you’re starting from Paddington, it’s possible to get to the RAF museum on 2 buses, the 46 then change to the 113 at Queens Grove. There is a final 15 min walk to the museum but it’s £1.75 in total each to get there. Total time should be about 90 minutes.

You might also be interested in the DeHaviland Museum (only Comet left with original square windows) and the flight galleries at the Science Museum (Vickers Vimy -first nonstop trans Atlantic flight.) There’s also the control tower tour at the old Croydon airport, and if you wish to go further afield there’s the Fleet Air Arm Museum and the museum at Brooklands. Well worth looking at their websites to get a sense of what’s there.

I had the same issue last year. When Colindale was closed, I got off at Hendon Central and took the 303 bus to the museum. It worked out pretty well for me! You could also try Burnt Oak and catch the 382 if that’s easier.

Is the 303 bus easy to find outside of Hendon Central?

This has all got very confused- this is the Bus Spider Map for the area- https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/grahame-park-and-raf-museum-hendon-a4-010723.pdf

The only bus which actually stops at the Museum is the 303. That does NOT stop at Hendon Central and the 382 does not serve the Museum either (but stops close by)

The 303 runs from Edgware Station, Mill Hill Broadway Station, from Burnt Oak Broadway (not the station) and Kingsbury Circle (near Kingsbury station).

This is the timetable- http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/303.htm

Ok, today was our day for Royal Air Force Museum.
Went to Paddington Station and got on Elizabeth line towards Abbey Woods to Farringdon.
Then took Thameslink towards St Albans and got off at Mill Hill Broadway.
Exited to bus line Platform B to 303 bus and got off at Royal Air Force Museum stop right in Front! Had a great day. Paid 10 pounds each for the Cold War tour and also was outstanding.
Return trip was crossing street by museum to get 303 toward Edgeware in order to get back to Mill Hill Broadway and reverse our directions to get back to Paddington area hotel.
Thanks for all the suggestions! My husband was so excited and thankful for an easy trip to a great air museum.

Pleased it all went well

Thank you so much for coming back with an update. Sometimes the directions see so simple when the Brits on the forum are describing them but sometimes in person it is not quite so evident. I'm so happy this was easy and all worked out for you.

I did want to ask what 3 planes your husband wanted to see that you don't have in Dayton?

that's a result!!

Thank you for this post. I'm hoping to get to the RAF Museum on one of our trips. I, too, am interested which 3 planes your husband wanted to see.

Re: Stranraer 920

This spring when my brother (77 years old) visited us, he reminisced about a biplane flying boat which had been used in submarine patrol and training on the west coast of British Columbia. It was later used with civilian passengers ((CPA & QCA) and then went on to have some rebuilding and use by private companies.

My brother was 14 or 15, working at the airport. (My father was soon to leave his job as an aircraft mechanic/sheet metal mechanic with Canadian Pacific Airlines to move to a smaller company. We often had floats--plane pontoons--in our basement as his side work). At that time, we lived on Sea Island a few blocks from the airport fence. The hangars and terminals were across the field and tarmac from our small WWII housing community. This was just about the time they were beginning work on the current Vancouver International Airport terminals which are on a different part of the island (where there had been a farming community). I was in elementary school. My brother was working around the various seaplanes and floatplanes.

As I recall his story (I wish I'd been recording), apparently the biplane "flying boat" needed 3 people to anchor it so my brother was tasked to help. The plane was then needed to fly out to the Abbotsford Air Show. The pilot asked my brother if he could go to help them. He recalled checking with a parent and then going---no seat for him (it might have been used for transporting goods at that time)-- just instructed to hang on to some part of the plane. It was quite a thrill. He said he was very sad when he heard the plane had left Canada. He wondered if he was one (or the) youngest who had been on the plane. As he was telling the story, my husband was searching on the internet finding and confirming many of the details. Along with other info, my brother remembered the guy's name and part of the call letters (BXO) and that the plane was referred to as the box. My brother had work at Vancouver and Victoria airports into his early 20s.

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/supermarine-stranraer/

https://caspir.warplane.com/asrc/acn/200001564 (Stranraer 920 in the list is the plane my brother was on, now at RAF Museum)

Oh Cherie! That is such a cool story!

Hello everyone,
The 3 airplanes not at Dayton or anywhere else we have visited are:
1) English Electric Lightning
2) Avro Vulcan
3) Lancaster ( there was a Canadian one at Oshkosh
4) De Havilland Vampire

My husband loved all the planes but those in particular!
-Marylou