Heathrow to Bath

I would say that with carry on most days you would make the 11.35 but there are no guarantees and you would certainly not have to hang around.

There is a 4th option to the ones you have listed. That is to take the Elizabeth line to Hayes & Harlington station, the first stop from the airport. There you can change to another Elizabeth line train to Reading and then change again for a train to Bath. A little more fiddly with two changes but quicker than the other two train options at between 1 hour 50 minutes and 2 hours. You can get a walk up Super Off Peak single for that option for £47. As you say there will be cheaper options but committing you to a specific train which would mean you leaving plenty of contingency time and probably meaning you hanging around a lot.

The only assumption that can be made about why the guidebook says that National Express is hourly is that there is an hourly bus to Bristol. Change there for a local bus back to Bath.

That is fine, except that National Express through fare to Bath on that service is far higher than the sum of the fare to Bristol, then paying the Bristol to Bath fare on the bus. It is not a bad route, but is a bit of a convoluted and long route. There was a more frequent Heathrow to Bath bus before the Pandemic which has not been reinstated. To me that is a guidebook error which should have been updated. You are reading the schedule correctly.

If you land at Terminal 2 or 3 on time you stand a good chance (depending on immigration on the day) of making the 1135 bus, if you land at T5 it is tighter as you would have to transfer by landside train to Terminal 2/3 to catch the bus at the Central Bus Station. Not out of the question, but becoming a bit stressful.

The guidebook should IMO mention the via Reading route. Personally to me that is an omission

Heathrow to Reading to Bath is £54.40 if bought on the day as a through fare. I am writing this at 0955, there are last minute Advance (train specific fares) on the 1023 bus/train combo for £52 so a tiny bit cheaper.
That combo arrives at Bath at 1218

The problem of buying a through rail fare via Paddington is that it assumes that you are taking Heathrow Express to Paddington, hence the price of £66.90. But in that case the 1017 from Heathrow T2/3 gets you to Bath at 1218 as well.

If you buy it as the slightly slower Elizabeth Line train on the day as 2 tickets- Heathrow to Paddington, and Paddington to Bath it is £12.20 + £41.90= £54.10. Bar a few pennies the same price as via Reading.
In this example you would take the 1015 Elizabeth Line, arrive Paddington 1047, depart 1100, arrive at Bath (you've guessed it) at 1218.

So little to choose money wise, nothing to choose time wise, it is all personal preference.

Time wise, personally, after a long flight (if I wasn't taking the Nat Ex bus) I would probably settle back on the bus to Reading, step off the bus at the station entrance, onto the platform and on the train. But everyone's preference will vary.

You are looking at the 2023 guidebook which means is was written sometime in 2022.

That's two years ago. Things change.

Does it mention the Elizabeth Line that will get you to Paddington at half the cost of the Heathrow Express unless you book the latter weeks in advance?

Please don't just rely on one guidebook. Any guidebook. Use it as a resource and not as gospel.

You are looking at the 2023 guidebook which means is was written sometime in 2022.

Well, we traveled in 2023, using the 2023 guidebook (written in 2022) and there was no hourly bus direct to Bath then either. It isn't a matter of things being different now, two years later, I just don't think they put the correct information in the book. The book makes it sound like there is a bus to Bath every hour. It doesn't clarify that it actually goes to Bristol.

We chose to take the Elizabeth line to Hayes/Harlington, then train to Reading, train to Bath. I saw no benefit to traveling to Paddington, which is the opposite direction. Easy and affordable.

They probably didn’t want to have to rewrite the whole book. If they were honest about it being a bit of a schlep to get to Bath from Heathrow then the logic of starting your trip there starts to unravel.

The buses take too long and are not frequent enough. You can’t be sure exactly when you will land and be ready to head off to Bath.

To give you maximum flexibility at the lowest price and with the greatest speed, I would suggest that you take the Elizabeth Line (every 30 minutes) the short distance to Hays & Harlington where you change* trains for one going west to Reading where you switch trains for a GWR Inter City Express to Bath. This train will stop at Swindon on the way and we can lower the price by splitting the fare here - even though you don’t get off the train. Sounds bonkers but true & perfectly legal. Journey time is around 1 hour 50 minutes.
* You will arrive from Heathrow on Platform 4 and need to go over the bridge to P3 to proceed west to Reading.

Presumably you are going to return & if so I would suggest the following:> Super Off Peak Return Heathrow to Swindon £58.70 plus Off Peak Return Swindon to Bath = £17.30 = £76 total per person (without Railcard discount). If you are not going back to Heathrow from Bath but going to London instead, then that ticket will get you back east as far as Reading.

For those tickets to be valid, you can leave Heathrow on the 9.55am or later and from Bath after 9.30am to comply with the off peak times - which apply on weekdays only. I think the evening peak kicks in around 4pm so obviously not valid then.

If you just want to go one way from Heathrow to Bath during those off peak times, a Super Off Peak Single is £47 (non Railcard price) with first valid departure from Heathrow being 9.55am and then every half hour.

Be aware that the connection at Hayes and Harlington is 4 minutes to cross over the bridge between platforms, or 34 minutes. For someone who doesn't know the station and is tired 4 minutes is a bit tight. That is why Paddington is normally suggested as the change point.

Also the Hayes & Harlington route is slower than it once was. GWR no longer regularly stops at this station with its semi-fast trains to Reading (& Didcot beyond) leaving the mainly slower all-station Elizabeth line trains only.

On the other hand Railair coach frequency increased a couple of months or so to 3 times an hour through most of the day (except Sunday).

The relative merits of the routes shift frequently although none are a knock out.

one great advantage that the Paddington choice has is that the train originates there, so somebody with some luggage doesn't have to rush to board, can be more selective in seating, and has all the food outlets in the station to pack up a picnic or snax.

I mentioned earlier that fares can be reduced by splitting the ticket at Swindon when travelling to Bath. The same also applies to most other routes that go through Swindon such as to south Wales and Bristol.

I suggested that the odds are that people will return to Heathrow from places out in the west and therefore it may well be better to purchased return tickets and travel during the off peak period - generally after 9.30 and before 4pm on weekdays.

Leaving Heathrow at 9.55am (first valid super off peak service) on the Elizabeth line to Hayes & Harlington where you change for a westbound stopper to Reading and then switch to a GWR Inter City Express for your journey west costs £58.70 return to Swindon. (The 10.48am back from Swindon is the first of the morning with this cheaper Super Off Peak Return fare). The journey takes around 1 hour 24 minutes from Heathrow to Swindon.

It has been suggested that you should travel from Heathrow by train into London (Paddington) and then board the GWR Inter City Express for your journey out west. Note that if you do this, the Super off Peak Return fare as far as Swindon jumps to a whopping £98.50 and gives little or no time saving over the Hayes & Harlington route where the return Super off Peak fare as far as Swindon is £58.70 return. All fares quoted do not include a railcard discount.

If you are intending to return from Bath or wherever on the GWR via Swindon route to London in any case, then the dearer route via Paddington may make more sense.

The OP has asked for a single, not a return in which case splitting fares across Swindon does not work.
The usual reason for asking for a single to Bath is to join the RS tour which starts in Bath and ends in London. So the OP would be returning to Heathrow from central London.
If you calculate the fare correctly on the via Paddington route (ie, don't use Heathrow Express to Paddington) then a off peak return to Swindon is £60 + 2 x £12.20= £84.40, and Bath Spa is £72.60 + 2x £12.20= £95.

If you were doing a return you may well buy an Advance fare for the return leg, as the time of travel will be known, thus lowering the fare difference again.
And you may conceivably buy an on the day Advance fare minutes before travel on the outward leg, which again lowers the fare difference.

An on the day Advance should be the first fare offered by a ticket machine.

"Be aware that the connection at Hayes and Harlington is 4 minutes to cross over the bridge between platforms, or 34 minutes."

That's only true for the train connections shown on websites. There are 10 trains an hour from T2/T3 to Hayes and Harlington and 4 trains an hour from there to Reading. So just taking a train a bit before the one recommended will give more time to change platforms for anyone concerned.

johnnew52 (above) offers sound advice. Just get on an Elizabeth Line train to Hayes & Harlington and then switch to one going west to Reading. The important restriction regarding time (weekdays only) is when you join the GWR InterCity Express at Reading.

The current Elizabeth Line timetable has 6 trains per hour from Terminal 2/3- one every 15 minutes from Terminal 4, and one every 30 minutes from Terminal 5.
Nor are they on an even 10 minute frequency, but the T5's are tight behind a T4.
When the line opened I thought the service was more frequent.
There are 2, not 4, trains per hour in the off peak to Reading, and 2 others which terminate at Maidenhead. In the peaks the Maidenheads extend to Reading.
A further 9 trains per hour turn round at Paddington to/from the East, so maintaining the 4 minute headway in the Central Core.

I had just looked again at the early morning trains on the timetable, when for some reason there are 4 trains an hour from Hayes & Harlington to Reading, but these stop just after 9am. Curiously the 4 trains an hour does not re-start in the evening rush when you might have assumed there was more demand.

In any event you can make a connection at Hayes & Harlington with a better than 4 minute connection if you feel that's not long enough.

Thanks everybody for the help. I thought I had this all sewn up only to realize a few days before my trip that the bus schedule was not as promised in the guidebook or on Rick Steve's updates for any changes to his guidebook.

And, another issue is the guidebook didn't really mention the Elizabeth option either for connections to Bath.

He only mentions the Elizabeth train option only if you go to the part in his book about London connections, but Rick only writes one sentence about the Elizabeth while devoting several paragraphs to the Heathrow Express option.

I'm assuming Rick Steves isn't a fan of the Elizabeth option because its more complicated so that might be a wee bit too much for an American traveler who will be tired and unfamiliar with the stations. To be honest, the thing I like about the National Express option is that you don't have to worry about transfers.

I'm flying into Terminal 3 at Heathrow. Where would you buy the tickets for National express or the Railair bus? It looks like they closed their ticket office at Heathrow. You can't buy buy them from the bus driver? Is it either online or through the ticket machine?

For the National express bus and the Railair bus, are there functional bathrooms on the buses? I'm flying into Heathrow and flying out of Bristol airport to go to Croatia, and the Croatian buses don't seem to have functional bathrooms even if there's a bathroom in the bus.

For Nat Ex there are ticket machines at the Central Bus Station (or buy on your device). The CBS is between T2 and T3- linked to both by underground passage and clearly signed.

From the machines you will be charged a £2 booking fee. If you create a free account with National Express and buy from your 'phone (having logged in) you pay no booking fee. Or without an account the booking fee when you pay from your 'phone is £1.50.

Yes all Nat Ex buses have functional bathrooms on board. Just out the back door of Heathrow CBS waiting room there are also large clean, free bathrooms.

For the Rail Air bus, as you are buying a through ticket you can't buy that on your 'phone on arrival as that has to be a physical ticket. Therefore go to the rail station at whichever terminal you arrive at, buy your ticket from the machine (being careful to specify the origin point on the machines as 'Heathrow Bus') then go to Bus Stop 7/8 at Terminal 3 (NOT the Central Bus Station)

You have to do that to collect the physical tickets even if you have purchased on line ahead of time from home.

As for bathrooms I don't believe so. The fleet has just been re-equipped so if anyone has travelled in the last 3 months it would be useful to confirm that. But the journey time from T3 is 1 hour so use landside facilities in the terminal as you go from rail station to bus stop.

PS- From what is being said I think someone who has bought the book should submit an update about the Elizabeth Line to the RS organisation. I can't as I am a Brit so am not going to be buying an American guidebook about my own country!! That explains why so many people here focus on Heathrow Express HEx have again changed their fare structure, and if you book far enough ahead it now has early bird fares from as low as £10 (less than the Elizabeth Line)- or £6.65 with a railcard.

Printed updates to Guidebooks don't happen overnight.

The 2023 Great Britain Guidebook is the latest one. The next one comes out next month. That means it's already been printed and shipped to the distributors.

However, Rick knows updates are constantly happening. Every guidebook that Rick Steves sells has a page in his online shop. If you go to that guidebook's page, and scroll down, you will see a section marked "Updates and Feedback." In there is a highlighted link marked "post them." Click on that, scroll down to the London section, and there is updated information on the Elizabeth line.

Updates to the guidebook are available online. You just have to know to look for them and that information is not readily known.

Someone might have an easier link to the updates. If so, share it.

Anyone can send in an update. You don't have to be a purchaser of the book. The link is in the same section as "Updates and Feedback."

Here is the RS guidebook update:

For books printed before February 2024, the following may also apply:

The Elizabeth transit/railway line is now fully operational, connecting central London (Paddington, Bond, Tottenham Court Road, Farrington and Liverpool Street Tube stations) with outlying neighborhoods to the east and with Heathrow Airport and Reading to the west. Within the city center it's part of the Tube network, and uses the same tickets. It's a faster (and more expensive) option from Heathrow into the city than the Tube (£12.80–14.30 depending on payment method and destination; contactless credit card and Oyster card accepted).

Not that it will affect the vast majority of travellers on here but you can't use an Oyster card on the Elizabeth line west of West Drayton to Reading. Contactless is OK though.