10 hour Heathrow layover...
 

On the way to Egypt, I'll have a 10 hour layover in Heathrow on Dec. 19. I'll be back in London on the 27th for 5 days.

My flight gets into Heathrow at 6:40am, and leaves again at 4:55pm. Even with my being OCD about being on time for a flight, that seems like a long time to just hang around in an airport. My suitcase should be checked through to Cairo, so I shouldn't have to deal with that. Is there anything open near the airport at 7:30am on a Saturday that I could get to relatively quickly, hang out until 1:00 or so and then head back to the airport? I'd think being back to the airport by 1:30 or 2:00 would be plenty of time for a 4:55 flight.

I've looked at the Yotel. I could at least shower and take a short nap that way, but honestly I'll sleep on the flight over and be pretty awake.

Any ideas? :)

You could head over to Windsor, have a nice breakfast and spend a few hours in the castle.

Besides Yotel, some of the hotels near Heathrow used to have day rates, but the one I remember, Radisson Edwardian, wasn't very cheap. Since you don't think you'll want to sleep, that would be a waste.

Oh, do always check with your airline, but I don't think you would have to be back before 2:55 pm.

I'd also suggest Windsor. It opens at 9:45 so that should fit in nicely with the time you've got. Also enjoy the town and get some lunch before heading back to LHR.

Windsor is a very easy and inexpensive bus trip from heathrow and has some pleasant shops and pubs besides the castle. We also took a boat ride during our long layover a few years ago.

Thanks for the help :) Windsor sounds like a good choice and I'll know if I want to spend the time to go back when I'm in London again 2 weeks later.

Kew Gardens is a great choice! jack

Kew on Dec. 19th wouldn't be such a great option (see OP).

Hi,

I have the exact same situation as "Iowa_Redhead" with the ~10hrs layover. The only difference is that it will be on the 25th of Dec. I know there are no public transportations on christmas day and I don't know what to do.
I have spent 7 hrs before at Heathrow and it was very bad.

Hope you can help with this

Well you really can't do much. There HEX runs but it would only get you to Paddington. If the weather isn't dreadful, you could walk over to Hyde Park. If long walks are OK, you could go to services at the Brompton Oratory or another church.

But I'd think about either getting a hotel at LHR - should be going for very cheap that day, or use one of the airline lounges if you qualify.

Ouch Serina, that stinks :) Hopefully you'll be on your way to somewhere really fun.

I don't know how much a hotel room at Heathrow costs, but I do remember looking into the Yotel (think of it as a mini-hotel room). It might be cheaper than a true hotel room and great for your situation. You can nap, shower, whatever.

Good luck :)

I am counting on the fun in Egypt to make up this day for me :).

I am trying to leave the hotel or Yotel as a last option. I'd rather do long walks. I was wondering of it is safe enough for that. I would expect streets to be empty on that day.

Thanks for the advice though. I will definitely consider it.

The Charles Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury is open on Christmas Day. http://www.dickensmuseum.com/

I can't imagine it won't be safe in London in most places.

Obviously to get to Bloomsbury you'd have to rely on an expensive cab or prebooked car service, or a very long walk from Paddington.

Well, not that long a walk. According to Google Maps, it will take about 1 hour (2.8 miles).

There's no Heathrow Express on Xmas Day, AFAIK. Hasn't been for years, and no-one's said anything about one this year.

There's a bus to and from Paddington every 15 mins. But, on account of that pillock Livingstone fixed the traffic lights to discourage driving, it'll take a minimum of 45 mins, even if Mrs F's driving.

Your choice:
- Stay at the airport, get a few good books (few airports have bookshops as good as Heathrow's, though that sentence says more about the awfulness of airport bookshops everywhere else - and probably the illiteracy of most non-British flyers - than about the quality of books here), find somewhere to read them and stop moaning. You chose this fatheaded routing: deal with it, or

- Get the bus to Paddington. You can have a nice stroll around and from Paddington's canals, or Hyde Park. Or remember that most Western music is descended from Christian church music, nowhere on earth does Christian church music as well as London (and Oxford or at a stretch Leeds) Catholic/Anglican churches, and Xmas day is the High Holiday of English Catholicism/ Anglicanism. Personally I find the London Oratory a bit baroque, and its grasp of Latin tenuous. I'd probably walk to St James in Spanish Place, Westminster Cathedral or Westminster Abbey. But there's at least a DOZEN outstanding choirs doing the Xmas liturgy within 45 mins walk of Paddington (including a couple of Orthodox cathedrals that celebrate Xmas on Dec 25). If you like great music, this is your lucky day.

Thanks WillTravel! I like the museum idea. I have all the time in the world to do this trip to the museum :).


I didn't have many options to choose from when I made this "FATHEADED" option. I can moan as much as I want and you don't have to give me advice. However, I appreciate your suggestions. Thanks.

What I don't understand is why, when making flights, why not spend a full day and leave the next day or night?

Rogeruktm, I'm going to answer for Serina because I have a very similar flight plan a week before. The flights from the US to Cairo can be a complete pain in the behind. :)

The reason to not spend a full day and leave the next day is because it means another full day off of work, another night hotel, more transport costs, etc. Serina's flight gets in to London on Christmas, what would she do in town for that day if she took a flight the next day? It seems to me that she pretty well had the option of a 10 hour lay over on Christmas, or spending Christmas and that night in a hotel in town. I'd rather get on with my trip and have the 10 hour layover.

I chose a 10 hour layover in London because that's simply how the flights to Cairo worked out. I'm lucky because my layover is the week before and I can go see Windsor Castle instead of sitting in the airport. It's a great place for a long layover when public transit is running. Almost all of Serina's headache here is coming from the fact that her flights happen to be on Christmas.

<i>What I don't understand is why, when making flights, why not spend a full day and leave the next day or night?</i>

In my experience, the several times I tried to make the London layover to be over 24 hours (on AA.com), the only way I can make it happen is to change the itinerary to a multi-city itinerary. The multi-city itinerary ends up being hundred of dollars more than a regular r/t ticket. As much as I love spending an overnight in London so that I can spend a day there, I simply cannot afford it.

If anyone has suggestions on how to do this (extra day in the layover) without incurring extra charges, please tell me.