15 hour layover in London with children, should we leave the airport?
 

Hi My husband, myself and our three young children(ages 10, 8, 7) will be flying into London in November. We arrive at Heathrow terminal 5 at 6:30am and leave to fly out at 8:50pm. Do you think this is enough time to go sightseeing with children? if so, what is the safest, cost effective way to do this, and where should we go?

Yes leave your bags at the luggage storage - those that are not checked thru that is and go hands free on the London Tube - worth the experience itself into the center of London and just stroll around or go to a few sites - like riding the big Ferris Wheel that lets you see all of London from the air

have a pub lunch - kids allowed in - maybe take a boat ride on the Thames (from right near the Ferrish Wheel - Eye Over London I guess it is called. Houses of parliament and Buckingham Palace not far away. Kids should get discounted rates on the Tube.

Tuber will take no more than an hour each way - probably less - anyway better than sitting in an airport all day even though there are many amenities there.

Or take ataxi to Windsor Castle or nearby Hampton Court palace and spend the day in one of those - Windsor is a neat town too - you'll only need your credit card to buy anything in London.

Your kids will go stir crazy in T5 all day - plenty of airport shops and food options but after a few hours, they will be climbing the walls even if you have access to a BA or other airline lounge.

As PalenQ says, very easy to take tube into London or you can take a car service to Windsor or somewhere nearby. Given you are arriving 6:30am I assume you are coming from the US and kids will be a bit jet legged so weather depending you can try to go somewhere you could walk around a bit to get fresh air.

London is an easy answer and lots of places to explore for a few hours.

If that feels intimidating (although I assure you it is quite easy) you could just call for a car (assuming you will have cell phone that works internationally) to drop you in Windsor which is about 20 minute drive and you can see Windsor castle or merely walk around the town/along the Thames which is really nice.

If you go that route, I definitely suggest to call a local car service vs black cab as the rates are much better for a pre-booked car service and you could call once you landed (e.g., GBP 25-30 vs GBP 80+ for a black cab). Couple of ones I used to use and even if I forgot to call ahead I would just call when I landed and never more than 30 minutes for them to arrive...

http://ascot-cars.com/index.html
http://www.windsorcars.com/about.html

From Heathrow take the Tube's Piccadilly Line direct to Piccadilly Circus - the heart of tourist London and mosey over to Covent Garden and down to the Thames - the Eye Over London Ferrish Wheel is close by - walk if kids don't bulk thru St James Park - rest or have a picnic there - lots of fowl to watch and then may Houses of Parliament and back to the Piccadilly line at any of its several stops in central London.

Or for the fun of it take another Tube ride and change one - quite an experience for kids - my kid at those ages loved the Tube about as much as anything in London or ride on the upper deck of a double-decker bus!

There is no way I would stay at the airport all that time. But for kids that age (and will they have lost a night's sleep?) I think London is too much. Instead I would head to Windsor, have a visit to the castle, a decent lunch and then find a place to relax until time to head back to the airport.

Will you luggage be checked through - or will you have to find a place to put it for the layover?

Are you coming to London via a long flight? Many people advise against taking naps after these flights, but I would feel ill to the point of vomiting if I landed at 6:30 a.m. and then tried to do a full-day of touring followed by another flight.

You know what your family's needs are, but you should consider getting a cheap hotel room somewhere and catching about four hours of sleep plus a shower. This could actually leave enough time for a quick underground ride into London.

You don't say where you're heading to. Is your luggage being forwarded on to a connecting flight? Are you going to a Schengen country?
You need to pass through immigration. Is this going to be a hassle for you for a few hours dragging tired kids here and there? If you take a car service out to Windsor I would imagine they will all fall asleep in the car and you would need a vehicle over a certain size to fit you all in - which will be expensive.

If you wanted to just get out of the airport for a few hours but not go too far. there is an urban farm within walking distance of Hatton Cross tube station that the kids might like, if they can stay awake and if the weather is ok.

http://hounslowurbanfarm.co.uk/

If I had young kids likely jet lagged, the last place I'd take them is Piccadilly Circus. Masses of people and a VERY busy, sometimes frantic tube station.

The farm near Hatton Cross, or the tube to Gloucester Rd (for Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens) or Green Park (for Green/St. James's parks) . . . IF the weather is decent.

In Kensington gardens are the Princess Diana playground and the Orangerie for tea/lunch), the Peter Pan statue, etc, etc, etc. In St James's there are Inn the Park for food and a lake, birds, running space.

Depending upon the times of your flights and the age and energy level of your kids, you might consider the Windsor Legoland Park, about 20 minutes from the airport.

In any event, I think it would be best to not underestimate the time needed to collect your hand luggage and go through security on your return. The staff at left luggage and immigration have been most helpful with their estimates of time needed in our experience.

their luggage should be checked thru to their final destination, right?

Doesn't really matter if it is or not - if it is checked though great, if it isn't simply leave it at Left Luggage.

Well if luggage is checked thru it would make getting from plane to Tube much quicker would it not?

I think the OP has fled, but in case she is still following I would strongly advise her to leave enough time to retrieve any luggage you check. My experience has been that the lines can be long and move slowly.

Wow thank you for all your replies. We are flying through to South Africa leaving at 8:50pm, and our luggage is going right though to south africa. which is helpful. We are coming from Canada.
I guess my concern with the left luggage is that they charge 20$ CAD per bag and we will have one carry on each and one backpack/laptop bag, which seems a lot to spend for our luggage to sit there :-( .
I really appreciate a lot of the ideas that are child friendly as I have only been looking at the tours :-)
In terms of the tube, is it wise to attempt taking it during rush hour with children?
norcal_jo I love the car options, I hadn't considered this!

if you think that you will all be too jet lagged to enjoy a day in London, for about the same price as checking all of your luggage at the airport.. you can get a day rate at one of the heathrow hotels, some have family rooms; the rates, particularly on weekends. not all that bad. you could rest a bit, use a hotel pool, and go to the bowling alley that is near by, have a few meals and then go back to the terminal with your luggage in hand

Perhaps less fun or less stressful than spending part of the day in London, but far better than spending the day in the terminal.

whether going into London or to a hotel you will have to pass through passport control and on re-entering the airport security. be sure to allow enough time for this.

<<In terms of the tube, is it wise to attempt taking it during rush hour with children?>> The Piccadilly line is very busy at the start of the line at Heathrow and gets busier as it gets closer to central London. By the time it reaches Piccadilly Circus, it is a sea of people. If you take a car service to Windsor or central London, the risk is you will be stuck in traffic but since the day of the week of your arrival is not mentioned, it is hard to say for sure.

Oh I see - going from Canada to South Africa - tough on the sleeping! So your challenge is going to be to try to have the kids sleep enough on the overnight to UK, function during the day enough such that they can then try to sleep on the overnight to South Africa.

If I were in your shoes with 3 kids from 7-10 years old, I would probably choose one of the following options based on how well you think they might actually sleep on the plane:

1) If you think they won't sleep well on plane, then you might want to go ahead and get a day hotel room at Sofitel at T5 or elsewhere and actually allow them to take a nap/relax so you don't end up with 2 nights in a row with kids who haven't slept! (My 7 year old would not do well if she didn't get decent sleep at least one of those nights)...

2) If you want to try to get them fresh air (will likely be cloudy/50F ish in Nov) and keep them generally awake between the two flights... Take a car to Windsor - you shouldn't have bad traffic going that direction and the driver could route to avoid M25/M4 - and consider one or more of the following:
- see Windsor Castle - there is no food/drink facility (you can get in/out wristband)but there are benches throughout to sit down and the kids would like Queen Mary's doll house.
- Just across the street from the castle is a shopping centre (Windsor Royal Shopping Centre - see Windsor.gov.uk )that is has a large covered area and has cafes, shops, etc where you could browse or just sit and relax. There is a big department store called Daniels that has a great toy section for hands on/browsing and just past the kids clothing section on the same floor is a little café tucked in the corner that is nice and quiet (there are other cafes in Daniels but I have gone here if I just wanted a bit of peace to sit with my kids and a simple Panini or tea).
- Walk along the river - if the weather is decent, about 5-10 min walk from the castle down the hill is the Thames and you could walk along it and kids can buy food to feed the swans at the little ice cream/snack shack by the bridge to Eton. Boat rides typically finish up for the season around Nov so not sure that would be an option or not. There are a few pubs or hotels with nice lounges (for example the Christopher Wren) around there that you could stop in to relax and have a bite.
- visit the library - not too fair from the castle is the Windsor library that I used to take my kids as it had a little family friendly café. I mention this option only because I can imagine the kids might fall into a mid-day lull and this could be a quiet place to relax without feeling you are being bustled around.

Then just call for a car to pick you up and take you back to T5! I'm trying to remember what I used to pay Ascot car service for a transfer from my house to T5 in a "people carrier" with room for 5. Might have been around GBP 30-35. I wish I could think of an option for your hand luggage!

p.s - someone mentioned LEGOLAND and I haven't listed that because it is closed for the season by November plus that is not where I would take my jetlagged kids... :)

Wow NorCal_Jo some great suggestions, I just spent a lot of time googling the Windsor Castle and I think my children would love it there!
So after much thought and taking all your ideas in consideration, I have booked a hotel close to the airport that has a pool and charges for day use at 103CAD. which is what we'll use to drop our luggage while we take the car service to Winsdor castle. After that, I think we'll just have to wait and see how our children are doing, whether they can handle more sightseeing or just going back to the hotel for a swim and possible nap, although there is so much I want to do and see, I agree that it really depends on how well they sleep on the plane on the way to London.
Thank you all for your suggestions I really gained a lot!

Great plan! You'll see there are a ton of pubs and other restaurants within 5-10 min walk of the castle to grab lunch. It is a really nice place to stroll and explore so you'll have a great time even for a few hours. Good luck on getting kids to sleep on the flight!