LHR to Nailsworth

With such a short time frame I think it would be good to use a car service. I can’t recommend one but there will definitely be operators serving this market.

On your return day I do think it would be risky staying in Nailsworth. You’d ideally arrive at Heathrow around 9am which means travelling through very heavy rush hour traffic. If there is an accident on the roads then you could miss your flight. Authorities here are very quick to close roads completely when an accident occurs which means serious delays are more common than you might imagine.

This is very helpful. Thank you!

I've never done that exact trip, but lets try to figure it out...

figure 2 to 2 and a half hours by car service if the traffic gods are playing ball and the weather gods - this is January trip you say - make nice. At the moment most of England is under a Yellow weather warning for cold, and significant snow is expected in the next few days in some parts. If the weather gods don't play ball all bets are off. Snow, even not a lot of snow, turns this country's roads upside down.

Your flight is at noon? So check in at 9? So 2/3 of your journey will be on the M4 in the rush hour?

So I think it might be doable - you would be courageous - and it might go swimmingly.

What could go wrong? What contingency would you have if it did?

Helen - another M4 denizen - and I were writing simultaneously

I think we say about the same thing

Nigel - Thank for your optimism AND realism. I know I need both. We are just hoping all the stars align as this is a mother-daughter trip. We don't actually have a back-up plan so I'll work on that.
We are coming from a state that has cold, snowy winters, but travel is not usually too negatively impacted so it's good to have this on our radar. We also don't have public transportation and while I have traveled a fair amount, I always get a bit nervous each time I am responsible for figuring out all the logistics. I appreciate your input!

The obvious public transport connection is a very early taxi to Stroud for the 5am National Express bus direct to Heathrow, arrive 7.20 am.
Looking at the connection times I think that's a better option than the 5.27am train from Stroud.

The problem is that the south of England doesn’t get much snow, so drivers have little experience of how to deal with it nor do the authorities have a great deal of snow moving kit. So, as Nigel noted, even a relatively small snowfall can be very disruptive to road travel.

I really wouldn’t plan to get to LHR for 9am in January from Nailsworth. I’d aim to stay somewhere much closer.

The Cotswolds basically shuts down if it snows, but snow is pretty rare in this part of the world. It might snow to an extent that there is some disruption once every 2-3 years if that. I’d be more concerned about the usual issues with traffic. If you went to Heathrow the night before you could get there as late as you like and still have most of Sunday. It’s very dark at that time of year so evening activities are limited to pubs and dining basically.

Nailsworth is a pretty town. A lot of British celebs live nearby. I’ve seen several in Williams restaurant and I’ve only been there about 3 times.

If you were to get to Heathrow on Sunday night you would be able to take your time, trains and roads would be much less crowded, and each terminal has hotels either in or attached to the terminal, so a nice breakfast in the morning and a stroll to check in.

Terminal 4 has my fav, a Crowne Plaza (killer breakfast, very nice rooms and bathrooms, an excellent Club), a Hilton, a Holiday Inn Express (same building as the Crowne Plaza) and a Premier Inn, all linked to Departures by an all weather covered walkway that I think of as an above ground tunnel

Terminal 5 has a Sofitel attached

Terminals 2/3 have a couple of choices - a very well spoken of Hilton Garden Inn (not to be confused with its sister outside the airport) in the carpark of T2 and all indoors to both T2 and T3. Aerotel is in Terminal 3 near arrivals but available to non-arrivals.

Don't be confused by the official Heathrow website which only lists 3 hotels, the Aerotel, Hilton T4 and Sofitel - probably sponsorship money - the T2/3 Hilton Garden Inn, the T4 group of Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express and Premier Inn all really do exist are busy. I stayed at the Crowne Plaza last Saturday night.

Don't assume that because they are on the airport instead of nearby the prices will be through the roof - they vary by demand, Sunday nights are the lowest usually, and January is usually slower.

If you let us know your terminal we can give more help if desired

oh, and Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express and the Tube link the terminals and are free for those short trip although needing free tickets from the machines near the Heathrow Express and Elizabeth Line platforms and free tap in tap out on the Tube. Note that the Tube is one way only between T4 and T2/3.

Have a look at https://www.heathrow.com/content/dam/heathrow/web/common/documents/transport/Heathrow-free-travel-map.pdf

Each Saturday and Sunday in January there is major rail engineering work between Swindon and Reading- so trains from Stroud to Swindon, then a 1 hour bus ride to Reading for trains or the airlink bus forward.
The last National Express bus of the day from Stroud on a Sunday is at 0910, but there are journeys from Swindon Fleming Way direct to Heathrow Central Bus Station at 1245, 1515 and 1720 taking just 90 minutes.