Heathrow express to Paddington on layover-worth it for a short time?

Look at a London map. Paddington is on the edge of the central London area and there is absolutely nothing around Paddington except the wax museum (awful) and hotels. Personally think the 6,7 hour layovers are sucker play (I have been there.) You think you have plenty of time to do something but really don't when you start adding up the time wasters. If you really want to get out for a couple of hours. Take that same $75 and hire a private driver for a tour or take a taxi to somewhere nice around the airport. You would have more time.

So if you buy those tickets now, even with a discount, are you prepared to walk away from them if your transatlantic flight is delayed, or you spend 2 hours in immigration rather than the one hour you are hoping for, or if one of your party decides that they are a zombie on landing and really don't want to go?

Two nice options for a walk near Paddington, should you decide to do it, would be Hyde Park (or Kensington Gardens), or Little Venice.

From Paddington Station it’s only a 10 minute walk to Hyde Park/Kensington Garden (they run together) you can walk through them, walk up to Kensington Palace (it’s at the end of Kensington Gardens). Looks are the Gardens at the palace, get something to eat at the palace cafe. If you have time sit on a bench and enjoy the beauty.

You could get on the Circle Line metro at the Paddington underground station, and it is just one stop to Hyde Park. Our cab ride to the Paddington train station last week from Hyde Park was longer than 10 minutes. The underground can get you to all the big tourist sights on just a few minutes.

The place I usually suggest for a leg-stretching few hours is Osterley Park and House. Just a few stops down the Piccadilly Line (Osterley), so not too long to travel. You can stay in the garden or visit the house. Weather forecast is favourable - around 68F with sunny intervals.

Thanks everyone-
Frank-I totally get what you are saying about not having the time you think. I know even in optimal conditions, it will be 2 or less hours of sightseeing. Do you know how much a private driver would be? Or a cab? We would need round trip transport...and it is the day of the Royal wedding so traffic may be bad? Idk...the 15 minute ride on LHR express was appealing.

Nigel-I have considered that it may be throwing away $75 and I think I am ok with it.

Lola, Robin, David and Marco-thank you for the suggestions. I pulled up Paddington station on google maps and it did not look far from some interesting sights (Kensington garden/palace and Hyde park were on my short list)!

So far, no one has said I am crazy so that is a good sign :)

I'd skip it and not tempt fate. I just got back from a trip when a lot of things went just slightly wrong, but enough to cause stress. Heathrow is one of those airports which prohibits marking up prices. So, you'll be paying London prices but nothing outrageous. Perhaps find a bar showing cricket or grab a British newspaper or magazine and enjoy it. I wouldn't waste my time clearing UK immigration, storing bags, waiting for a train, having 2 hours at best and then needing to get back to Heathrow and hope there's no idiot in some other part of the world doing something stupid which causes security to be extra strict up your return.

I've had a six hour layover at Heathrow and don't advise leaving the airport. By the time you de-plane, get on the bus to take you to the terminal, go through security, etc. you will have used up one hour already. Not to mention finding your gate before your connecting flight leaves. Heathrow has enough stores and restaurants to keep one busy for a few hours.

Thank you emma, Dale and heather-you all make fine points! I am leaning towards not doing it but we will see. :)

I would probably have a Plan A & B. Your plane ~could ~ arrive early if you get a good tail wind from the jet stream giving you a bit more time. You could hit a seam with Immigration where all booths are open and you sail through. Other side of the coin - we had a ground stop for lightening for 45 minutes coming out of SLC so got in about 40 minutes late. We were good coming thru Immigration but I noticed as I stood waiting for my brother and SIL that at 1130AM about half closed their kiosks to take a break.

It will also take you some time to walk to the train departure area. I did note several kiosks set up along the main route with people selling Heathrow Exprress tickets in case decide to buy the day of.

So far, no one has said I am crazy so that is a good sign :)

Please take this as good natured ribbing--

No one said it, as it was seen as an implied 'given'. It seemed it was a question of doing it or not, not how sensible it is.

As a previous post alluded to, its a lure into a pit of quicksand.

Choose wisely, good luck and have an enjoyable trip

The place I usually suggest for a leg-stretching few hours is Osterley Park and House. Just a few stops down the Piccadilly Line (Osterley), so not too long to travel.

Thank you, Marco for this recommendation. I am not travelling to London anytime soon, but this is the kind of tip I will squirrel away till needed. They have bluebells, too!

OP: I would consider this alternative. Look at the website. I HAVE done the Heathrow Express to Paddington as I was staying at a B&B across from Hyde Park. The area surrounding the station is a maze of streets. Finding my way out of the station and pointed in the right direction was a challenge. The area was full of construction (2 summers ago) causing me to reroute myself several times. I found the B&B, but too late to get to the London Walks tour I was planning on. I did stroll through the park on subsequent days, but it is not as if you pop out of the station and Kensington Palace is right there. It takes navigation, rerouting when necessary, and plenty of walking - and then the return trip.

If I left Heathrow, I would consider Marco's suggestion.

"None of us have been to London so this would be kind of exciting if we can pull it off."

Not much of a visit. You won't have time to see anything really even if you do go into Paddington. But I totally understand where you're coming from.

It is true you could do a walk to Hyde Park and look around. But you would be missing the great sights of London; Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London. All not even a glimpse. Think about whether it is worth it to you.

Hadn't you rather return for a visit and see it all?

Do you fly back through Heathrow (after your visit to Prague) to return home to Nashville ?
Can you change your flight back (Heathrow to Nashville) by two days and give yourself 2 nights in London at the end of your trip?
That would be worth it if you can do it.

If you were at all familiar with the tube in London (you're not) I would tell you to take the tube from Heathrow--Piccadilly line--switch to District line at Hammersmith, continue on to Westminster tube station. Walk out of the station, you're looking up at Big Ben. Come out and walk around, and you will see Parliament and Westminster Bridge. Walk a block west, a half block south, and you will be standing in front of Westminster Abbey.

You could then walk Birdcage Walk to Buckingham Palace. Follow the road around to the north of Buckingham Palace, which is Constitution Hill, and then a short distance to Hyde Park Corner. With a good map in hand, walk across Hyde Park along Serpentine Road, turning north above The Serpentine (a lake). Continue walking north until you exit the park and walk north to Paddington Station. Enter and take Heathrow Express back to Heathrow.

Note: While you are walking on the path above The Serpentine, you will see a small cafe, The Lido Cafe. If you are running ahead of schedule on time, good place to get a cup of coffee.

If you are not good on time, save the coffee break until you get back to Heathrow.

You will need a good map to do this. If you had time, I'd mail you one, but you are out of time.

Thanks all-joe-you are probably right ;) I think we finally decided to scrap the idea, just too many things need to fall into place to make it work. But we will see how the flight goes and how everyone feels, and maybe we can take a cab somewhere close by-possibly to the Osterley house (thanks Marco for the idea), as it seem to only be 20 min by car. Or we will just chill out in LHR. It's all good. We will probably do what my kids want to do, assuming it's feasible.
Rebecca-I wish we could do what you said, but we are not flying home though LHR, and we don't have any more days to extend the trip. London will have to wait for next time! (But thank you for the suggestions!)

Rebecca, where does one obtain such a “good map”? We are leaving in two weeks, and are staying near Paddington/Hyde Park. Is it something I can order now before we leave?

The Streetwise map of London will show that walk Rebecca described. We love that walk and do it on each visit, though usually in the opposite direction.

Looks like from your post that you have not gone yet, and Windsor is RIGHT nearby Heathrow, wedding already is over, best bet would be for a taxi to Windsor, to see the castle that you'll be able to see when you land, but in more detail. Staying nearby for your sightseeing would give you much more control over when you can get back to LHR, and Windsor Castle is an awesome sight. The pub at the gate was great when we went last, there are cute shops that had good sales when we went, other restaurants at good prices, great perfume store, lots of stuff right near the gate.
It would be very impressive, and very nearby.
Have fun!
-Alison

I would advise staying at Heathrow. Yeah it is 6 hours and seems like a lot but it really isn't. If you layover in the terminal I did, there was a Harry Potter store (small but really fun), a Harrods, and a number of other shops. The airports in Europe are set up a little differently from the way they are here in the states, at least it seems that way to me. You will wait in a central area, kinda like a mall area, shops, restaurants, and such. If you land 6ish hours before your next flight takes off you really only have 5 hours, cause most flights start boarding early.

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this but you may have to pick up your checked bags and then re-check them. Also even with a connecting flight you will have to go back through security at Heathrow after immigration.

Windsor is possible, I would take a taxi to avoid delays due to trains but it is going to be super rushed.

My advice having done I think a 7 hour layover at Heathrow on the way to Venice is to stay put. It will be better overall to have even a short time before the trip where you are not running to see a bunch of stuff, cause that might be what the whole trip is like.

Update from Germany: we did arrive on time but decided to stay in Heathrow. We were tired and the kids wanted to veg out. We did some window shopping (and a tiny bit of real shopping) and ate a leisurely meal. Felt kind of nice to not have to rush anywhere. Prague was spectacular, we all loved it. Germany is nice but it’s rainy here in Nürnberg. We are not doing much today because of the weather and everyone is tired from our first 4 very busy days. The kids are happy to not walk 10+ miles today lol. Hoping for some less rainy days ahead. We are looking forward to the Rhine valley. Thanks again everyone!