Heathrow to Covent Garden Station after 10pm

simply book a car service if you think you will not make the tube - it will remove all of the hassle

e.g. https://www.justairports.com/

If I had unlimited money to spend, I gladly would. I can't believe everyone who arrives later in the evening has no other option.

Check the tube timetable on www.tfl.gov.uk. It looks as if the last tube from Heathrow to Covent Garden is 23.45 on Mondays to Thursdays. You should have no trouble making that.

On Fridays and Saturdays they run right through the night.

Thank you . Just want to be prepared especially since I"m traveling with my son . I typed in directions from Heathrow to Covent Station and kept getting a rather convoluted route which made me think the tube stopped before we could access it. THis is a definite relief esp. since our Air BnB is only a block form the station. And I'd rather save the cab fare for food and the sights.

TfL defaults to the quickest route, which is nominally the Heathrow Express, which would then result in the convuluted route that you're seeing.

Far simpler just to search for the tube timetable for the route you're doing - or to play around with the search filters to rule out all forms of transport rather than tube.

after the Piccadilly line closes it is replaced by the N9 night bus (starts from Terminal 5 also calling at Heathrow central bus station) which calls at the end of Southampton Street 150 yards south of Covent Garden just before reaching the Aldwych terminus. every 20-30 minutes but obviously a bit slower than the train. How exactly you get a ticket for it isn't clear, Transport for London aren't very interested in people who can't vote in London.

But you have 3 hours before the last Underground train. And last Paddington train is around midnight.

By the way. what time does the AirBNB keyholder give up waiting for you?

very good point from emma. And it applies to Google Maps direction planning, you must change "Leave Now" to your real departure time (or when you need to arrive at the destination).

We are traveling with other people who will be checking into the airbnb earlier so no one will be waiting for us with a key.

You had better be prepared to call someone who will have the key.
Some AirBnB's charge extra for late-night arrivals.
Make sure that you call the person who owns the apartment in advance to make everything clear - arrival times, etc.

How exactly you get a ticket for it isn't clear, Transport for London aren't very interested in people who can't vote in London.

Bit puzzled by this as there seems to be plenty to me on the TfL website about how to pay on the bus; being at night makes no special difference and many of the routes are the same as during the day. Key thing is no cash - Oyster or contactless payment or travelcard only.

exactly Marco, how do you get an Oyster/ Travel card at Heathrow after the TfL Visitor Centre shuts at 8:30PM? And why would you buy a Travelcard just before midnight anyway? Even if the visitor has a contactless card TfL themselves warn that "some" foreign cards may not work, and the fact they drew attention to the problem suggests that "some" means quite a lot. So they run a bus service from the UK s most important airport every 20-30 minutes which many foreign visitors cannot get a ticket for.

Plane landed early, and even if it had not, catching tube to our station was piece of cake. Helpful signs and station employee and we were on the train in no time

Excellent! Enjoy your time in London!

card at Heathrow after the TfL Visitor Centre shuts at 8:30PM

There are vending machines which can be accessed 24/7.

The situation where buses do not accept cash (but would visitors necessarily have that either?) cause problems all day but allowing some to travel free apparently is cheaper than handling cash.