Need help with my itinerary!

I see this as a breakneck speed, check off the boxes, don't actually see anything trip. Is that what you intended?

I'll start with your arrival. You have a 10:40 arrival and you hope to catch a Heathrow Connect 17 minutes later?

I'll suggest that you have a snowball's in July chance.

I've never cleared Heathrow in less than 90 minutes - I allow 2 hours or so. It will take you over 17 minutes just to get to the station. You do realise that the scheduled arrival time is wheels down on the tarmac, not doors open, right? And that many flights at Heathrow park out on the tarmac and passengers are carried in buses to the gate?

Are you a VIP who will be met and put into a cart and whisked through border control and Customs?

Realistically, a few things may have to fall by the wayside ...

November 12, Thursday
Trafalgar Square
National Gallery (1800)
Piccadilly Circus

November 13, Friday
10am Buckingham Palace: Changing of the guards
St James's Park
Horse Guards + No 10
Westminster Abbey
Houses of Parliament
London Eye 10-2030

November 14, Saturday
Tower Bridge 9:30-1700
Tower of London 9-1630
St. Paul’s cathedral 8:30-16:30
Globe Theatre
Tate Modern 1000-2000

November 15, Sunday
Royal Albert Hall
V&A Museum (10-17:45:free)
Natural History Museum (10-1750:free)
Hyde Park – Kensington Gardens, Palace (10-1800: 2 4 1)

November 16, Monday
Day trip

November 17, Tuesday
IWM Museum
British Museum (10am- 1730)

I'd echo the above comments - pick maybe two things in each day's list you really want to see and enjoy, and you just might be able to do that. It is tempting to want to try to see a lot if you have a short time, but I always try to think about the experiences I want to have in preference to the places I want to see.

Part of the charm of London (or any place, really) is poking around the neighbourhoods and seeing how people live. You can't do that very effectively if you spend most of your time racing around to see places that are mainly filled with other tourists. Think about taking one of the bus tours on the first day so you can get a sense of the layout of the city and have the ability to hop on and off. You can also see which neighbourhoods appeal to you and where you would like to go back to spend more time. The history of ths amazing city is layered in the small alleys and squares and doorways and street markets in ways you can't see until you walk around and slowly let them unfold.

Whilst all the places you list are worth seeing, they are also worth savouring and enjoying. You can probably 'do' all the things on your lists, but you probably won't remember them after such a short time with each. Stop for afternoon tea, and have a pint in a pub. You will remember the conversation you had in a pub, or the person who described her grandfathers hat that is on display because it was his shop originally. You can find the shops where the barristers buy their wigs and robes. Maybe you will spot a cute boutique or a tea shop or a funny shoe store unlike anything you've ever seen before. So my advice is to plan less, and wander more. Then you will create the memories that you treasure, because they are personal to you.

PS: The fastest you can pass though immigration and the miles of walking at Heathrow from the time you leave the plane is ~one hour, and that is if you know what you are doing; it is definitely not like landing at a US airport.

Thanks djp_syd and Sabrina!

I see this as a breakneck speed, check off the boxes, don't actually see anything trip. Is that what you intended?

That is an honest appraisal of what you wrote, with so many things each day. That is why I asked if that is what you had intended. Some people do like drive-by visits. You see it here a lot. I wanted to know which you preferred so you could be helped in a custom fit way - not one size fits all.

I'll start with your arrival. You have a 10:40 arrival and you hope to
catch a Heathrow Connect 17 minutes later? I'll suggest that you have
a snowball's in July chance.

As others have said here, that is a virtually impossible connection. I wanted to make it clear to you so that you didn't make all your very tight plans based on that connection - or even one an hour later because it would be likely that that wouldn't work either.

I've never cleared Heathrow in less than 90 minutes - I allow 2 hours
or so. It will take you over 17 minutes just to get to the station.

No fluff there, ehlee126. I've been in and out of airports in London, Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, and now London Southend since 1961. I know of what I speak. I am a voice of experience. Ask if others can do it in 17 minutes. I'm saving you worry.

You do realise that the scheduled arrival time is wheels down on the
tarmac, not doors open, right? And that many flights at Heathrow park
out on the tarmac and passengers are carried in buses to the gate?

I've never met you and you give no clue in your question about how much experience you have flying in and out of Heathrow. Both questions are based on fact, not fluff.

Are you a VIP who will be met and put into a cart and whisked through
border control and Customs?

This is a serious question. Before we can give you custom answers we need to understand you and your special differences. All sorts of people read and write here, from all over the world. All I know about you are the questions you write (and how you reply to volunteers who answer you) and what name you call yourself. ehlee126 doesn't say a lot about you. If you are a movie star, a celebrity of some sort, the 17 minutes might be possible because you have handlers meet you, preclear you with Border Control, take you in a special vehicle to another part of the airport on a restricted route. That's not fluff, that's fact.

Just to provide some background. it is my first trip to Europe and therefore, London. So, I have no idea what to expect in addition to that fact that many flights at Heathrow park out on the tarmac and passengers are carried in buses to the gate. Furthermore, I will not have any checked bags and so, expect to cut some time with that.

But please feel free to advise me on setting more realistic times for each activity and how much time I should give myself for transit to places. I would appreciate it if you can provide me with assistance in setting more concrete times. Since you are more knowledgeable in how long it might take for me to get on the heathrow connect, to how long the heathrow connect gets to paddington, the tube to central london and so forth. The times I post on my itinerary is always flexible (exception to my flight in and flight out time) and it's just for me to have some idea/time frame of what to expect/aim for. However, I won't be sour if it doesn't work out the way I planned.

Fyi, I've made some edits to this thread to remove a dispute that seems to have been resolved. I hope you all find this to be acceptable for the sake of other readers and in line with our preference to keep disputes off the boards. Thanks!

I don't have the experience others have had but have flown in to Heathrow 3 times in 3 years. I've never had to be bused from the plane to the terminal at Heathrow, all three times I used the jetway to get to Immigration. From wheels on the tarmac, this last time it was 15 minutes til we were parked at the gate and the door was open. I was in Economy Plus, so toward the front of the plane. It took another 10 minutes to get to the jetway, then probably 15 from there thru the really long corridor (plus a quick stop at the bathroom) to the beginning of the line to pass thru Immigration. This last time I was very lucky as for some reason there was no one ahead of me in the line for those with US passports and I was thru in 5 minutes. This is terribly unusual. I have stood in this line for 90 minutes. I had only carry on luggage, walked thru the Nothing to Declare Customs door and got myself to the Tube. If I had been heading for the Heathrow Connect line instead, I would guess another 15 minutes to purchase a ticket before you go down in the elevator to the platforms to catch the Connect. The Connect runs less freqently than the Express so you may have up to 30 minutes to wait if you have just missed one. You don't need to buy a ticket ahead for a certain train, just get on whichever Connect comes along. So, from wheels down to getting on the train for me would be a minimum of probably 1 hr 15 minutes if everything is clicking along.

I usually expect that I will be at my hotel 3 hours after my landing time. If I am there earlier, that's great.

BTW, I notice today there is a notice on the Heathrow Connect website that trains are running on a delayed schedule right now.

Thanks for the advice!

Pat, i saw on their website today that all services are running normally. Mind if I ask where you on the website you saw the notice?

Yes, it was on their main website.

https://www.heathrowconnect.com/home

I see now there is a statement that everything is running normally but earlier (when I posted) there were 10-30 minute delays out to Heathrow and 5-10 minute delays in to Paddington. Some kind of switch breakdown I think it said.

Where exactly is your accommodation, Wendover House ??

I am very disappointed on the odd occasion that it takes more than 1 hour for me to get from the plane to the arrivals hall at Heathrow. Most of the time it is well inside that and my record is about 25 minutes - and that was with checked bags. However, this is as a British citizen and the immigration queue for non-EEA/Swiss citizens tends to be longer, more variable or both. There is of course a bit more time to add on to get to the train/bus etc

Terminal 2 has relatively little use of remote stands, but it requires a lot of walking, particularly if you arrive at 2B which is likely from the USA. This could eat up 15 minutes on its own, without considering any other waiting.

Note for the future - now buy Heathrow Express tickets in advance if you want to take the route to Paddington. Quicker and more frequent than the Connect and if bought 90 days in advance cheaper. Even 30 days ahead they are only 65p dearer. Although you haven't said which of the 3 Wendover Houses you may be staying in.