Lindsey

Two of us are arriving at Heathrow on a mid morning week day flight, for a stay in a hotel at Canary Wharf. We will each have a moderate size wheelie bag and a small carry-on bag. Trying to weigh the various ways to get to the hotel, in terms of cost, hassle, time, etc.

I understand the cheapest way is just Tube all the way. Then there is Heathrow Connect to Paddington, connecting to the Tube. But according to the Tube website, the escalators at Canary Wharf are out of service. There is no elevator service listed, yet it says it's accessible for handicapped travelers. Can I assume we won't have to drag the bags up a huge staircase?
Would a taxi from Paddington to Canary Wharf be godawful expensive? Will the traffic be horrendous midday? Long queue for a taxi at Paddington?
Any other suggestions?

asalamy

In my opinion, Paddington doesn't help you at all - its on the other corner of London.

I would take the tube and am pretty sure there are lifts in Canary Wharf. Although there is an occassional escaltor that is out at the station, I've never seen all of them out ... if that is the case, you can always walk through the shopping mall and use those lifts to get to street level.

alanRow

As they say "if I were you I wouldn't start from here".

Forget about going to Paddington - all you'll do is spend a lot of money and it won't be any better than taking the Tube / DLR all of the way.

Your choices are cheap, somewhat stressful and slow or expensive, no stress and slow.

The latter is a car service from LHR which will cost less than train & taxi plus will take you door to door. Probably cost about £50

The former is a a number of Tube rides. Take the Tube from Heathrow to Hammersmith. There get off the Tube train and walk 10 foot to the adjacent platform. Take a District Line Tube to Westminster. Use the elevators there to get to the Jubilee Line. The take it to Canary Wharf. Will cost £4 one way each

Do however check that your hotel is near Canary Wharf station as in the past other stations in that area have turned out to be nearer

asalamy

One additional thing to consider in case you are returning to Heathrow on a weekend ... the Jubilee Line often has planned engineering works so the station is closed. Check ahead on the TFL website -

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use..._TRIP_REQUEST2
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

alanRow

BTW if it says a station is disabled accessible it means that there will be at least one route to the surface without using stairs or escalators

asalamy

You wouldn't need to change trains at Hammersmith - you could change at Green Park from the Picadilly line to the Jubilee line. There will be some walking in the station, but you wouldn't need to 10-minute external walk to change trains. The trip overall would take about an hour and 20 minutes. (see above Journey Planner link)

Lindsey

Thanks everyone. Sounds like Tube all the way is the thing to do. I was considering Heathrow Connect because it seemed faster and more comfortable, but sounds like Paddington is too much of a detour to make it worthwhile. I'm planning to buy Oyster Cards at Heathrow anyway and putting 7 day TravelCards on each one. So I assume I will need to top up a bit more to cover this trip.

PatrickLondon

>>You wouldn't need to change trains at Hammersmith - you could change at Green Park from the Picadilly line to the Jubilee line. There will be some walking in the station, but you wouldn't need to 10-minute external walk to change trains.<<

Nor would you if you changed at Hammersmith (this is not the Hammersmith and City Line station). You just walk across the platform from the Piccadilly Line train to the District Line train, and at Westminster, as well as Canary Wharf, there are escalators and lifts.

At Green Park, there is a long walk and stairs.

>>So I assume I will need to top up a bit more to cover this trip.<<
Yes. Your travelcard only needs to cover zones 1 and 2, plus the add-on for Heathrow, which is a small amount.

You say your hotel is at Canary Wharf. You will have quite a walk to the hotels I know of. If it's the Marriott, I would seriously recommend that you get the DLR from Heron Quays station to West India Quay for the Marriott (it's well signposted, and covered by the travelcard). To get to the Four Seasons, you'll be walking about half a mile. The Hilton or the Britannia are closer - come out of the west (main) exit of the tube station, turn left through the West Wintergarden and across the footbridge to South Quay.

asalamy

Of course, Patrick - I didn't read the comment very well and was indeed thinking of the change on Hammersmith & City. I will be silent now ...

Lindsey

We are staying at the Four Seasons and half a mile is a bit much to drag a suitcase, even if it's not a big one. After looking at the map, I think the DLR is closer. If we come into the city on the Tube, where is the best place to connect to that line?

laurie_ann

If you want to end up at DLR, consider to take Picadilly from Heathrow to Holborn, then Central Line to Bank street and then DLR from there to Canary Wharf. Don't know if it is easy for connections at either station, maybe others can advise.

On FS website it says DLR is 0.1 km to hotel and gives these directions to get there:

Turn right as you exit Westferry Docklands Light Railway Station

Walk straight along Westferry Road for approximately 5 minutes

Straight ahead, you will see the Hotel's very distinctive green copper roof

Take the stairs from the Westferry Road level to the Hotel