I'm working on the details of my trip and booked a ticket from LHR on the Heathrow Express train to Paddington station. I'll only have a carry-on wheelie bag and enjoy walking...but it seems to be a long one to my destination to Covent Garden.
Not knowing the terrain or how busy the streets might be on a Saturday morning (or what a pain in the butt this might be!), I wonder if I should take another train. If so, which transfer would you suggest?
Thanks very much.
Lee
Probably the easiest route is to get the Piccadilly Line on the London Underground (subway) from Heathrow to Covent Garden station. It’s direct with no changes although it might be a few minutes quicker to get the Elizabeth Line to Tottenham Court Road and walk from there (about two thirds of a mile).
Others will correct me but I think the Piccadilly Line option is the cheapest.
If you are at LHR and want to go to Covent Garden either get the Piccadilly Line which goes directly to Covent Garden, or the Elizabeth Line that goes directly to Tottenham Court Road, a short walk from….Covent Garden. Not sure why Paddington Station figures in this but if you find yourself there for some reason you can get the Elizabeth Line to…. Tottenham Court Road. Or you could walk. It takes about 50 minutes rolling a small bag (I do this regularly when I arrive at Paddington from Cornwall).
It'll be busy, but if you're up for it, you can walk down to Hyde Park, cross into Mayfair, through Soho, then into Covent Garden. You can easily jump on a bus if you tire.
It is a long walk and would involve some crowded streets. I wouldn’t want to do it with a suitcase.
Personally, I would just take the Piccadilly line from Heathrow; it is easy and you’d have a direct route to Covent Garden. Since you have already bought a Heathrow Express ticket, you could transfer at Paddington to get closer to your hotel. Where exactly is your hotel located? From Paddington, you could either take the tube (Bakerloo line) to Charing Cross or the Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Road. Either of those locations would be 10 to 15 minutes from Covent Garden which would be much more manageable with a suitcase. Tottenham Court Road is north of Covent Garden and Charing Cross is south. Choose based on the location of your hotel.
If you hadn't already purchasd your Heathrow Express ticket, I would have said take the Piccadilly Line direct to Covent Garden.
But since you already have the ticket, you could take the Bakerloo Line from Paddington to Piccadilly Circus then transfer to the Piccadilly Line to Covent Garden. You will have to buy a separate ticket for the Underground from Paddington. If you had taken the Elizabeth Line to Paddington, it would have covered your entire journey in London.
Sadly, you picked the least convenient and most expensive option from Heathrow to Covent Garden.
Or you could walk. It's about 2.5 miles. The streets will be crowded. They're always crowded.
Mistake made: one ticket wasted unless I can give it away. Not sure it is allowed.
I was lured by the 15 minutes to London concept :)
Thanks for correcting me!
Lee
You could still use the ticket. If I were you I would walk or transfer to the Elizabeth Line at Paddington and go to Tottenham Court Road. But where exactly are you heading to as that would be a key bit of information for an accurate route?
For context the tube journey to Covent Garden would take about 53 minutes. HEX to Paddington 16 minutes. Change to Elizabeth Line 5 minutes. Maybe 8 minutes to Tottenham Court Road then a walk of 5 - 15 minutes to wherever in Covent Garden. So not enough in it to waste your HEX ticket. Either way not a huge issue.
You don't need to waste your ticket- and it's true that the fastest way into central London is the Heathrow Express. Just transfer to the Elizabeth Line once you get to Paddington and go to Tottenham Court Road, which is very close to Covent Garden as others have said. Even if you were starting this from scratch I wouldn't take the Piccadilly line. It takes forever and there is no space for luggage. As someone who lives here I would only use that route if the Elizabeth Line wasn't running.
Don't waste the ticket. You might as well use it.
Instead of just saying the Covent Garden area, why not tell us exactly where you are going. With that information, we can help with the easiest/most convenient/cost effective way to your destination.
It takes forever and there is no space for luggage. As someone who lives here I would only use that route if the Elizabeth Line wasn't running.
It takes about 50 minutes and thousands of people take their luggage on it every day. What did people do before the Elizabeth line I wonder?
The Piccadilly Line in from Heathrow has always felt like a bit of a slog to me, even before the Elizabeth Line. It's quite a long time on a tube train and with the number of stops it feels interminable. I've used the Piccadilly Line to go to and from Heathrow from Finsbury Park, which is even more of a trek. The Elizabeth Line is a much nicer option in terms of comfort unless your destination is really handy for a Piccadilly Line station imho.
I was just reading that the new Piccadilly Line trains are delayed again. Sometime between December 2026 and June 2027 is when they're now expected to go into service. That should improve the experience a lot.
What did they do before the Elizabeth Line? They created the Heathrow Express. The other options were so bad they could persuade people to pay £25 for a 15 minute journey.
And, for that matter, what did people do before the Piccadilly line opened to Heathrow in 1977?
They used the old Waterloo Air Terminal (before my time) then the West London Air Terminal on Cromwell Road (which I just remember) then Hatton Cross tube station, for bus connections to the terminals.
Dedicated non stop buses ran from the Air Terminals, at one stage routemasters with luggage trailers.
Also various other bus routes.
If you can get a cheap Heathrow Express ticket, then as of tomorrow, it is cheaper than the Elizabeth Line, even after you add on a Zone 1 tube fare.The
For many years from around 1955 there was also a scheduled helicopter service into central London. I'm not sure when that ended, probably early 90's.
That was bookeable as an add on to any normal flight ticket.
Originally the Heathrow Express was meant to go to Victoria, but that never came to fruition. That was in the 60's , the Piccadilly line extension was what came out of those abandoned plans as a cheaper solution.
Victoria was meant to have a new Heathrow and Gatwick air terminal to check in there, then take the express train.
My mother was born in a work house so I am not too much of a snob to do other than the Piccadilly Line.
Before the Elizabeth Line, I used to take the Piccadilly line, and I hated how slow it was (unless work was paying and I took Heathrow Express). The Elizabeth Line for me was a big upgrade for east/west journeys. And I know it's not just me, as this line reached it planned capacity much faster than anticipated, and quickly became one of the most popular railway lines in the country- it's a huge success story for large scale transport infrastructure investment.
The reason the Elizabeth Line is more expensive than the Piccadilly line going to Heathrow is that the tunnel between Heathrow and Hayes and Harlington (the last stop before Heathrow Terminal 2/3) is owned by the airport, and they charge TFL extra to use it. The rest of the line, within the normal TFL fare zones, costs the same as the tube.
I booked far enough in advance that my ticket was (only) 10 pounds.
My destination is Covent Garden, in front of St Paul's Church/CG.
I welcome your suggestions! Thanks.
