Since the tour starts in Bath, what is the recommended way to travel from Heathrow airport to Bath? Do you recommend arriving a day earlier (May 5th, for us) and taking either the Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect to Paddington Station. Then staying at a hotel near Paddington Station for the night before returning to Paddington Station to catch a train to Bath?
What hotel do you recommend that is near Paddington Station?
John
Always arrive at least one day early. Many (most?) people are mostly brain-dead on their arrival day, and sometimes the jetlag is still pronounced on Day 2. Tours are expensive; you want to be in good shape to fully enjoy what you're paying for.
I took the Best of England tour last year. I was already in London when I had to go to Bath to meet the tour. This is the information RS sent regarding how to get to Bath. If you feel your arrival is too late and you don't want to go directly to Bath the same day you arrive in England, then as you said stay at a hotel the night before near Paddington Station and then go to Bath the next morning. Do arrive at least one day before the tour starts as to relax and get rest. As well as if there are any problems flying in and avoid missing the tour due to plane delays. Are you staying at Brooks Guest House? Lovely B&B and once you arrive by train into Bath, it is an easy cab ride to the hotel. I took the train from Paddington Station directly to Bath and it was easy. I bought my tkts and reserved a seat before hand. I don't know of any hotels right near Paddington Station. But I stayed at the London House Hotel which is very reasonable and it is one tube stop away from Paddington or a 10 pound cab ride to the station and a very quick cab ride which is what I did.
Option 2: Train via London’s Paddington Station ~ You can take the Heathrow Express train (www.heathrowexpress.co.uk) for about £20 (4 per hour, 15 minutes), the Heathrow Connect train (www.heathrowconnect.com) for about £9.50 (2 per hour, 30 minutes) or the Tube (subway) for about £6 (departs every couple of minutes, 50 minutes) per person to Paddington Station. From Paddington you can then take a train to Bath. Trains leave for Bath from
Paddington Station about twice per hour, and the trip takes around 90 minutes. Tickets to Bath
start around £15 when purchased in advance at: www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk. Consider this option if there are no direct buses that work well with your arrival time at London Heathrow.
Option 3: Train via Reading ~ The RailAir Link Shuttle from Heathrow Central leaves frequently for Reading (pronounced Red-ing). The trip takes around 40 minutes and tickets are about £19. See www.railair.com. From Reading catch a train to Bath. This trip takes about 1 hour, and tickets start around £13 when booked in advance. See www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk.
I would take the coach direct from Heathrow to Bath. I wouldn't bother with Paddington at all either on arrival or departure - it's the wrong direction for Heathrow to/from Bath
By all means plan to arrive in Bath at least one day before the tour begins. Two days is even better if you can. In all probability you will not encounter any flight delays. But if you plan to arrive in Bath the day the tour begins and do encounter flight problems you may well miss out on some of the tour. We've seen it happen a couple of times.
You asked about getting to Bath from Heathrow. An English friend once jokingly said it can't be done -- one has to go somewhere else and start over. Technically not correct but close. The easiest way is a private car service. After a long flight, some jet lag, not being familiar with the area, there is nothing better than having your private driver meet you inside the terminal and whisk you to your hotel. It is not the cheapest way, but it is definitely the best. But if there are two or three of you it might not cost that much more. If you want to consider a car service let me know and I'll give you the contact information for a Bath based service we used that was very good.
Arrive at least one day earlier.
There is no need to go into London itself. You have the following choices:
Bus from Heathrow to Bath
Bus to Reading, Train to Bath
Private Hire Car from Heathrow to Bath.
Try to book a room at your hotel for the night before the tour starts as this will be easier the following day, should you have some jet lag. No travel necessary and you could just take the day and relax.
I took the coach from Heathrow to Bath. I waited to buy my ticket until after I arrived. I then went to the bus station to wait. I had plenty of time to freshen up in the WC, have a light breakfast and ease out before it was time to get on the bus. The coach had no on-board toilet, so using the facilities in the bus station are highly recommended.
I loved riding the bus. It was 2 May 2016. It was cheap and almost empty. We went through lots of little towns, but it was a direct route with no bus changes straight from Heathrow to the bus station in Bath. The bus station in Bath is next door to the train station.
By the time we arrived I was pretty tired, so I took a taxi to my hotel, got settled in, went for a walk, had an early dinner and tucked in for the night. I was definitely glad I didn't have to fool around with any of the other options mentioned in my jet-lagged state.
Hotels near the Paddington Station are discussed in a thread in the "Hotels and Restaurants Review, England" Forum. You may find some good info there.
Another vote to head to Bath! There is so much to see in Bath that the full day there was not enough for me.
I'd go with the direct choices from Heathrow - I was already in London before I went out to Bath for my tour. If you don't have your airline ticket already and if you have the time, I'd go for 2 nights ahead of the tour.
I took this tour last fall, arrived one day ahead in the early AM at Heathrow. I used the National Express Bus from Heathrow to Bath, and it all went very smoothly, and I highly recommend it. No reason to go into London. I made a reservation online ahead of time so I was sure of having a seat, allowing a couple of hours from my scheduled arrival. Received and printed a scannable ticket. It was easy to follow the signs in Heathrow to the adjacent bus station, and I didn't mind sitting there until the time for the bus. As I recall, you can pay a bit extra to make sure you can use your ticket on a later bus if your flight is delayed.
The next day in Bath, before the first tour meeting in the afternoon, I found plenty to see that was not on the tour schedule, including The Crescent, The Circus, and Victoria Park. Paid for entry to No. 1 Royal Crescent, which was much more interesting that I expected. I definitely recommend arriving a day early.
-Ben
In Bath I liked the Holburne art museum and, especially, the Museum of East Asian Art.
Concurring with the advice to take the National Express bus from Heathrow, as I've personally done that (though I wasn't on a tour).
And I also think spending your first night on Bath is a great idea. It's such a darling city. Be sure to take the Bizarre Bath walking tour - so much fun!
When we did this tour we used a car service for pick up at Heathrow for travel to the hotel in Bath:
https://www.airport-pickups-london.com/Heathrow/taxi-from-heathrow-to-bath.asp
We loved having the driver waiting for us at the airport after we were jet lagged from the international flight. In our case we stayed an extra couple of days at the very nice hotel in Bath before our tour began (for our tour we stayed at Brooks Guest House in Bath).
By the way, our tour started about the same date as yours and several people on the tour had seasonal allergies (hay fever) so if that might apply to you consider bringing some medication with you (sudafed, nasal spray etc.) just in case. We loved the cooler temperatures in May.
