Public transport from Heathrow to London Victoria station

You can take the underground with one change or take a direct bus to Victoria coach Station. We have done both but now prefer the bus; much cheaper and luggage goes underneath so you don’t have to deal with it getting on and off. It wasn’t as nice as Heathrow Express train but it sure is nice not dealing with luggage at the train change.

From Heathrow, take the Piccadilly line to either Hammersmith or Baron's Court. Get off, cross the platform--less than 20 feet--and get the District Line to Victoria Station.

If you don't mind spending a bit more, you can take the National Express coach from Heathrow to the Victoria Coach Station. The Coach Station is a shorter walk to your accomodations than the Underground station.

Just to clarify you can't use your Oyster card on the National Express bus. Buy your tickets on arrival.

The extra over of using National Express is so small it isn't worth worrying about- less than the cost of a take out coffee and well worth the convenience.
The bus arrives in the arrivals hall in Eccleston Place, so just turn right on Eccleston Place then left on Elizabeth Street and straight on.

National Express works best if arriving at Terminals 2 or 3, as most services run from the Central Bus Station. From Terminal 4 you almost always have to change, and from Terminal 5 there is only one bus per hour.
So from T4 or T5 the tube is best.

Have you already got your Oyster cards? If not there is no need to buy them. They cost a non-refundable £7 and you can get the same fares by just using a contactless card or phone or smart watch pay. Just tap in and out for each journey on the tube - the system will store all your journeys for a day and then work out the cheapest option to charge you. If you use buses you just tap in once as it's a flat fare.

We are going to England in April - Oxford, London, the Cotswolds and possibly other locales. I was interested in the suggestion of using one’s smart watch to pay for public transportation fares. Would it be possible to explain further how that works?

I too agree that if you are going to London Victoria and you have luggage, your best bet is to take the Coach from Heathrow to Victoria as you will not have to deal with luggage on the Underground. That's what I would do for sure!

Enjoy your trip in London, it is one of my favorite cities to visit. I hope to be there in May this year.

Penn

better to start your own thread about watches - then it may be seen

Regarding paying for transport with your watch- on the London Underground (including overground etc) and London buses you can use Apple Pay via your iPhone or Apple watch. You need to set up Apple Pay in advance by linking it to a debit or credit card. To actually use it, I know for your phone you double tap the power button on the righthand side and then hold it near the reader- I've never had an Apple watch but I believe it's something similar.

Up until recently I used a Samsung Watch. I tried using it to pay for things on the Underground. More than half the time it needed to be tried more than once. People behind you will not be happy as you may be holding up a line. I found I had to hold it at a specific distance to make it work.

Too much hassle. I reverted back to my old, trusty Oyster Card.

By all means use an oyster card if you already have one, but if not, don't buy one for this holiday. Simply tap on and off with you contactless credit or debit card, one per person. You can't tap everyone on using just one card.
An exception is if you have children in your party, the oyster cards can be used to ensure they get the children's rate. Ask someone at the airport station to add a young persons discount to their card.

You are staying in one of our favorite areas of London so a couple of thoughts.........Using google maps look for Wilton Road, two blocks east of where you are staying, and you will find a good variety of restaurants and pubs whose customers are mostly locales. Across from Victoria Station is the Apollo Theater where Wicked is in residence. Stop by morning of the show and purchase your seats, the prices are excellent (especially in comparison to USA prices). The Victoria Place theater is one block north and Hamilton is in residence. This is a great way to spend an evening. Pimlico is an excellent area to enjoy strolling through any time of the day. Walk St Georges Dr towards the Thames and you will find a green shack on Lupus St, which is a bit of history concerning Taxi drivers. These are places for drivers to eat and sit and rapidly diminishing from London. Grab a coffee and anything on the menu. A nice way to experience a bit of history. Sainsbury grocery store is also on Wilton Road and if you are renting a flat this is a convenient place to shop. Also, Elizabeth Street has a Sainsbury plus a great bakery across the street from it. Suggest using google maps street view to help familiarize self with the walk from Victoria Station to your place. There is a bit of building construction ongoing in the area adjacent to Victoria which can be a bit confusing. Happy for you and a bit jealous.

Hey, all, I think you may have convinced me to take the bus from Heathrow with my two grandkids (11 and 15) in late March.

We're staying at The Resident Victoria for 10 nights, and I had been planning to take the tube there, but I think they will both like the bus better, even if it is a longer ride. And I like the idea of not having to deal with luggage on the tube.

Definitely taking the coach from Heathrow to Victoria Coach Station is the way to go if anyone is staying in the Victoria area.

We have done this every time we've come into London. We also use this method if we want to step off the coach (bus) and walk to a hotel in another part of town. We've even walked to the riverfront in Westminster from the coach station and taken the Thames Clipper/Uber boat all the way to Tower Hill for our hotel.
We just wanted the ride on the boat!!

Another time, we came into Victoria Coach Station, walked across the street to Victoria (train) Station and took the train to Canterbury. We did have the option of taking the coach to Canterbury from VCS.

Coaches leave from Victoria Coach Station going to many other cities and towns in England.
An inexpensive option instead of the trains.

The coaches from Heathrow into London are new, clean, with comfy seats (far better than airplane seats), AC, WiFi, and the driver will put your large luggage pieces in storage bins under the coach. Carry on bags go with you onto the coach.

One big plus is you get to see more of London from the coach than while riding on the tube. Our coach took a detour as the motorway was stopped (with traffic) coming into London. We rode through several neighborhoods--Chelsea, for one--along the riverbank--so I got to see townhouses, pubs, young women pushing baby carriages, a real treat to see London from that perspective.

Note for anyone else there is a red London bus runs from right outside VCS to Westminster, the #11, if you don't fancy what is one of London's great walks.
The walk takes about 30 minutes if you don't get waylaid by the various sights on the way as I do.

I agree adults do not need an Oyster card but minors below a certain age only get discounts if they have an Oyster card that has been programed for a minor. The service person at the airport (at the place they sell Oyster cards) should be able to program the card for a minor. I don't know the age cutoff. Other discount options may apply to you. Also, the train ticket purchased days in advance may be as cheap as the bus.

This is all such good info! Thank you so much ❣️