Terminal 5 Heathrow- how far is the tube? how long to Victoria?

Or if you miss Hammersmith you can pop upstairs at South Kensington onto the Circle line.... agree that 1700 and finding the correct bus stand is "ambitious".

Thanks everyone, it really helps to know that we can catch the tube directly from Terminal 5. Wish me luck catching that bus!! If we don't catch that one, we'll just have to start in the morning, we were just kind of excited about getting a headstart on our HOHO bus. I know there's a night bus that leaves later so we may do that.

In my opinion, it's doubtful that you could catch a 5:00 bus at Victoria Station if your flight arrives at T5 at 3:15 (let alone the chance of a delay in getting there). Even with carryon only, you still have to go through passport control, and that can take a good while if several planes are arriving at the same time (and the non-EU line is usually much longer). Once you get out of the airport, it's roughly an hour into town.

The tube station for Terminal 5 is in the basement. And I agree with Nancy, getting to Victoria by 5 PM is really pushing it. You could try to make it but I wouldn't buy tickets in advance.

Although Piccadilly Line stops right in the basement of T5 there's no way you can get to Victoria Station using the tube. If your plane get's in at 15:15 you won't actually be in the Terminal until 16:00... then if you're lucky and with the Heathrow express you can be at Paddington station at 16:30. Now you need quite an ambitious cab driver to get you to Victoria by 17:00... in theory it's doable...

Here's how to get from Terminal 5 to Victoria by tube: Take the Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith. Walk a few feet to the other side of the platform and take the District Line to Victoria. The trip will take 55 minutes. I agree with Nancy. Getting to Victoria by 17:00 is possible, but I certainly wouldn't count on it. If your plane is only a little bit late or you are delayed in getting through immigration/passport control, you will be out of luck.

As Tim pointed out, and Nancy and I previously referenced, you CAN take the tube from Terminal 5 to Victoria Station. (You will have to change trains.) No need to take either the Heathrow Express or Connect. (And at that hour, I wouldn't think a cab would be faster than the tube.)

I also agree with Frank II. I didn't mean to leave him out.

You do need to transfer to Circle Line- and it is very easy at Hammersmith. Circle line is slower than Piccadilly (more stops). With the need to change tubes, and to find the bus at Victoria- chance of getting HOHO is ridiculously remote. Avoid heartburn and annoyance. Plan for the night tour or HOHO the next day. Why get aggravated right at the start

Claudette, another thought - you are busting a gut to get the last HoHo bus at 1700, right? Have you thought that 1700 is peak rush hour time and what you may see a lot of from your perch 16 feet up in the air is a lot of traffic trying to get home? And that the principle of a Hop-On,Hop-Off bus is to hop on and hop off at places of interest and that's why you pay the huge premium over local buses, and that of you are on the last one so you >Can't< Hop off and Hop on? Tell you what, get into London and ride the 11, 15, or 9 buses around that evening with a good tourbook you have previously read and see if you really need a HoHo the next day. BTW, when using local buses for a tourbus definately sit upstairs, and if you can steadily sneak up to the front. Mind your knees though, not much legroom in the first row!!

But the view from the front row upstaits cannot be beat, wherever you are

Claudette: Have you also considered that after a long flight from the west coast to Heathrow you just might be too tired to appreciate the view, even if you get a front seat on the HOHO? Why not start fresh in the morning? I have enjoyed HOHO buses all over Europe. The one I did not enjoy was late one evening when I was upstairs on a cowded bus in London and it started to rain. I was frozen and wet, even with a rain jacket and glad to get into a resaurant to warm up.

Iain, we're actually flying home from Italy, stopping in London for 2 nights. Wish we were staying 3 nights instead but can't change our flights. Sounds like making that bus is iffy so we'll probably hoho in the morning!

Claudette, just the thought of that much rushing around is making me stressed. :-) At the risk of sounding like the board drunk[INVALID]-relax. Take your time getting to your hotel, drop your stuff, go for a long walk, find a pub and have a couple of pints and a nice long leisurely supper The HOHO bus will still be there the next morning.

The HOHO buses don't actually leave from Victoria station, but from a block or two away, so you'll need to allow time to find your way from the Victoria tube station to the place where the HOHO buses park. (I forget where it is, but it's along a little triangular shaped square, as I recall.) Keep in mind that currently there is a lot of construction going on to get the Tube system all spiffed up for the 2012 Olympics, and many tube lines get shut down entirely or partly on weekends for that work. So whatever Tube route you work out in advance may or may not be available on Saturday or Sunday.Unless you don't mind rushing around, sweating it out waiting for a train car, dragging your baggage along with you, then just missing the last HOHO bus, and chalking it up to an interesting 'some day we'll laugh about this' story, I'd postpone the HOHO till the next morning.