Hi folks,
My wife and I have an 8 hour layover at Heathrow. I cannot think of staying in the airport this long with London so close. I recognize I need a good hour to get through customs etc.and I would like to be back 2 hours before my flight. This gives me 4 1/2 to 5 hours to play with. Any suggested itenararies and travel tips to get into the city?
Thanks!

Go to the Tube station and get a 6-zone, 1-day Travelcard. Ride the Piccadilly Line to Hyde Park Corner. Walk around Buck House. Get on a bus or Tube. See maps (available on paper at the station):

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/tr...p.pdf#page%3d2

First time in London or have you been there before?

The tube takes about an hour each way from Heathrow into central London. It would be more expensive, but you would have more time in London if you took the Heathrow Express.

Another popular excursion from Heathrow is the nearby town of Windsor. We spent one night there last year and it was lovely. You can tour Windsor Castle or if time allows, take a boat ride. And of course, walking around town is a pleasure as well.

I would take a few hours in Windsor. You would spend too much time getting into London, seeing anything of interest, and scurrying back. Way too hectic, in my opinion.

Windsor is worth it and you can wander thru town to Eton and not waste a lot of time.

Don't know how to get there from Heathrow; maybe a taxi would be best. Others can supply an answer.

You don't actually have any more time to sightsee by riding the Heathrow Express. It terminates in the upper-left corner of London, and the places you'll want to see are strung across the bottom of the page.

LHR to Hyde Park Corner
Tube: 45 minutes
HX + Bus: 47 minutes

We had a 14 hr stop over at heathrow and took the HX - it actually only takes 15 minutes to get to Paddington station and then we took the brown line to oxford - the picadilly stop is just the next one over. It was seriously so worth it. If you arrive after a certain time - I think it's 1pm - the ride is cheaper. even if you just walk around the shops and stop in at a pub, it's way better than the airport, which you can roam around while waiting for your flight anyway.

Tip: Make sure you go through the exit and not follow the signs for transfer flights. Just tell customs that you are going to visit london while you're waiting - people do this all the time and they totally don't care.

Thanks for the feedback. First time to London. We arrive at 1:50pm and depart at 9:05pm.

What I am finding is 15 minutes HX to Paddington and 15 minutes Brown Line to Trafalgar Square. Is this reliable? Trafalgar Square seems like a decent point to start some sight seeing.

According to the Journey Planner at www.tfl.gov.uk, it's a 10-minute walk from Paddington train station to Paddington tube station, 12 minutes by tube on the Bakerloo line from Paddington to Charing Cross, and an 8-minute walk from there to Trafalgar Square.

As I said: it takes 45 minutes to get to the sights by Express or Tube, with a little more walking for the former.

The only real difference is the money it costs to do it via Paddington.

6-Zone Travelcard £6.30 $12
2-Zone Travelcard + Visit London (13:00) £20.90 $40
2-Zone Travelcard + Express Return £30.90 $58

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This issue has come up before, you might find some value in searching this board using the terms "London layover".

With limited time, I also like the suggestion to take a taxi to (relatively) nearby Windsor.