Hi! We will have spent 5 days in London & then 17 days in other countries, including flying from Vienna through London en route back to the US. We have a 7 hour layover and are wondering about the pros & cons of trying to do something other than hanging out in the lounge in terminal 4 in Healthrow while we wait for our flight. Is there much of interest to do in Heathrow? Is there something great to do for one last hurrah of London before heading back to the US? THere will be 4 of us--hubby & I and our two kids who are 20 & 22 years old. This is their 1st trip to Europe & our 2nd; not sure when any of us will be returning to Europe.

Thanks for your suggestions and advice!

The obvious thing to do is to get a taxi to Windsor as it's only 15 minutes from Heathrow.

You could also get the Tube into London and spend a couple of hours looking around the Westminster area or on a bad weather day the museums at South Kensington

You didn't say what time of day in which those seven hours fall, but alanRow is right about Windsor being the best choice. It is much closer than London proper and, even if you don't have time for a tour of the castle (though you might), you could at least walk through the pedestrianized area of the town and take a relaxing little boat ride on the Thames. Doesn't that sound much better than the terminal lounge?

We actually ended our trip with a day and two nights in Windsor before driving to Heathrow to drop off the car and fly out the next a.m. It really is only a matter of minutes away.

Sorry, arrive into LHR around 8:40 and depart 16:15. That would be some nice daylight hours, assuming we have nice weather

Well, Windsor is probably your best bet, but I would note that the 8:40 arrival could see some long lines at passport control, so be prepared. Who are you flying out of T4? The SkyTeam lounge there is very nice, should you find yourself short on time. It even has little nap rooms, massage chairs, and a nice food spread.

We are on Austria Airways from Vienna, partnered with Air New Zealand (taking the latter back to LAX), so we're in terminal 1. Only have access to the lounges where you pay an admission and can only stay for 3 hours maximum. They only have cheese, crackers and beverages. Doesn't sound all that inviting and also sounds crowded.

T1 is a different story. You had written T4, which must have been a typo.

If you don't have full lounge access, then I would definitely go to Windsor.

OK, sounds like T1 is not a great place to hang out for hours on end. Will definitely look into Windsor or other options. Thanks for the feedback.

Doesn't sound like many people fine Heathrow a great place to hang out, which is a pity, since some airports are actually pleasant places.