12 hour nightime layover in London
 

Does anyone have any ideas on how to pass the time? It's basically 7:30pm to 7:30am, so I was thinking about a night tour of london, then, well, sleep. Has anyone taken one of these-- I'd love your input. Oh-- I'm also an 18 yr. old female who will be traveling alone, which raises some issues, sadly.

Putting myself in your place, I think I'd opt for an airport hotel and a good nite's sleep--however since you're eighteen and nothing is impossible, a dinner cruise of the Thames or a 'ghost walk' would probably keep you occupied. Getting from the airport into London and back is an issue. You didn't mention your budget. Have fun! BMK

If I were 18 (male or female), I'd leave my bags at the airport, get a copy of Time Out, then read it on the tube into town.

I'd probably arrive in town that way about 2130-2200. I'd have chosen places to bop from Time Out or by posting a question on the Thorntree board. I'd then bop till 0430, get a taxi to Paddington to catch the 0510 or 0525 train back to Heathrow, (the first tube leaves Piccadilly Circus at 0545, which gets to Heathrow T3 station at 0636, which means you get to the checkin queue round 0650 if you're unfamiliar with the airport), then catch up with sleep on the plane.

Which airport are you flying into and out of? If it's Gatwick, you can book a cheap room at Yotel for the part of the night that you want to sleep. (You can book in 4 hour increments.) Tiny rooms, but comfortable ones with showers, movies, etc.

At Heathrow, the Jurys Inn Heathrow at Hatton Cross Tube stop is usually reasonably priced (for an airport hotel) for a single person - around 50 pounds or so.

Alternatively, investigate airport sleeping arrangements at www.sleepinginairports.com.

Note that if your flight is scheduled to arrive at 7:30 and your other flight is scheduled to leave at 7:30, you don't really have 12 hours available. Count on a delayed arrival (about 30 minutes), about 45-60 minutes to clear Customs and pick up bags (unless you can use the EU/UK Customs line-up, in which in case you might save 15 minutes). If you have to travel on the cheap into London by tube, it will take about 60-70 minutes on the Piccadilly Line. Going back to the airport, you need to budget at least 30 minutes to get through security, plus another 15-30 minutes to drop off your bags. Add another 30 minutes to check-in if you haven't already been able to check in online or haven't been given your boarding pass for the 2nd flight at the time you checked in for your first flight.

My budget is, well, that of a college student who is incredibly lucky to have scraped together the money for the flight while paying for college...this will be my first fri night "on the town" in months. So, catching a taxi could be a little bit too pricey for me, which is why I'm hoping that the tube is ok to use in the wee hours. I'm flying in/out of Heathrow.

the tube doesn't run in the "wee hours" -- but night buses do.

7:30pm arrival means around 9:30pm in Central London - and a 7:30am flight means leaving Central London at around 4:00am.

And work out what you are going to do with your luggage - the left luggage offices at Heathrow aren't 24 hour - so you need to pick the correct one and allow time to desposit & reclaim luggage

http://www.excess-baggage.com/airpor...l_services.php