ajburgess

Hello, my name is Amanda and I am new to this website. In the next few months I will be traveling with a cousin to Africa. We have a 9.5 hour layover on the way there (arriving at appx 11:30am and leaving at 9pm) and an overnight 15.5 hour layover (arriving at 4pm and departing at 7:30am) on the return flight.

If possible we'd love to go out and see London but don't feel that we'd have enough time. Having never been aboard before, neither of us are sure what to expect. I've read the US citizens don't need visas, so we should easily be able to check in and out of the airport (by claiming nothing with customs on the way back in). Is this true?

We will only have one carry on each so we will not have to drag much luggage around. We would like to stay somewhere for somewhere around $200 if possible. And most of all we'd love to have lunch or dinner somewhere where we feel we've gotten a small taste of London. Is there anywhere near the airport that would offer this?

Also, does anyone have any recommendations on hotels, nearby restaurants and travel around town (if necessary)?

We will only have US dollars. Is there a way to switch our currency into Euros?

Thank you!

flanneruk

You'll go through immigration on the way in. No-one will ask impertinent questions about your luggage.

Euros are about as useful in Britain as Swazi Lilangeni are in the US. WE have these things called cash machines, and they'll be perfectly happy to dispense real money. I appreciate someone might have told you you need dollars in Africa - but you'll find cash machines almost as ubiquitous in most of Africa as here.

The nearest places to the airport (this is serious, BTW) offering a "small taste of London" are the Indian restaurants around Southall station, about 8 minutes away by the Heathrow Connect railway service.

South Asian food is the single most common cuisine eaten here. No poncified Olde Englishe restaurant, art directed to look like a refugee from a Downton Abbey set, is remotely as typical of how Londoners eat as a decent Indian.

Buy a return ticket to Paddington. Get off at Southall and have your Indian, keeping the ticket. Get back onto any Paddington-bound train, then follow your nose at Paddington for Hyde Park. Walk across it to Buckingham Palace, then be back (assuming you've got your ongoing boarding pass) at Paddington by 1830 for the return Heathrow Connect. The ticket is NOT valid for the pricier and faster Heathrow Express .

nytraveler

With limited time you might want to avoid London and head for Windsor instead.

You layover on the way in is really only about 5.5 hours (you need to allow at least an hour from wheels down to getting through Immigration and out of the airport and need to be back at Heathrow at least 2 hours before your next flight departs - which means leaving wherever by 6 pm or so).

Windsor is only about 30 minutes from the airport and you can easily have a look at Windsor Castle, look around the town and have a very early dinner before heading back to Heathrow. (If you head into central London you will spend about 30 minutes more in transit each way and have only about 4.5 hours there.)

suec1

On the return, you might want to spend the night at the Swan Inn in Staines - it is very close to Heathrow but feels like you are in the English countryside. It is located riverside to the Thames and has a lovely outdoor patio as well as an inside area and serves pretty decent pub food. You can watch the swans, ducks and scull crews out on the river. It is in your price range and much nicer than an airport hotel. I'm sure they could arrange for the early taxi to LHR - it will be a quick ride.

And yes, you need GBP, not euros in England - I'd use credit cards as much as possible so you don't carry home unused pence.

suze

If you have a debit card you can get just a small amount of GBP from an ATM at the airport.
(sorry can't help with anything else)

ajburgess

Thank you for the helpful advice and my apologies for my ignorance.

Is this the right link for the Swann Inn that was recommended? http://swanstaines.co.uk

How are the taxi rates? I'm assuming we should take out ample cash at the airport to pay for the taxi? Would transportation be available in the early morning to take us back to the hotel (figuring we'd have to leave by no later than 5:00am to make a 7:30am flight)?

Also, are there any other forms of transportation that could take us to Staines or Windsor?

Thanks again!! You guys are so helpful

suec1

The link you posted is the correct one. I emailed them before I stayed there asking about taxis / taxi rates - the staff is very responsive and helpful, another thing I liked about the place. I would assume an early morning taxi to LHR would not be a problem as a lot of their clientel muct be airport connected, but I'm sure they can verify that in an email.

You can also find more transportation info on The London Tool Kit - I found some info on bus routes that covered LHR / Staines / Windsor. This info may be located in the "Windsor section" of the website.

NorCal_Jo

I would guess the hotel could arrange a car service for you as normal taxi's are usually the worst deal. I live about 15 minutes further west from Staines (in Sunningdale) and I always use "Ascot Cars" (http://www.ascot-cars.com) when I travel to/from Heathrow. From my house, it is flat rate £25 door to door so I would guess they would charge less from Staines to LHR or the hotel might recommend a Staines based car services. When I first moved here I made the mistake of jumping in a regular tax and it cost £90 to my house!

As other posters said, on your outbound, you could easily hop a train into London from LHR (either the regular train if on a budget or the 20 minute Heathrow express if you want the fastest way - costs about £20) and wander around London for the afternoon. Or you could take a car (try Windsors Cars - windsorcars.com guessing would be about £15) to Windsor and see Windsor castle and walk around the town.

On your return, if you decide to stay at the Staines Swan hotel which is a pretty good idea (or you could try to find a reasonable hotel in London but would have to wake up earlier) you could be at your hotel around 5:30pm and then hop on the Southwest train (nationalrail.co.uk or southwesttrains.co.uk for times/ticket prices) at Staines into London for dinner (is about 30 minutes ride from Staines to Waterloo station). Walk out of Waterloo and 5 min walk to London Eye and/or you can walk across Westminster Bridge, etc. Depending on budget and ambition, you could even get tix to a West End show/musical at 7:30pm and catch a late train back to Staines for sleep and early up to catch your flight. Lots of options and suggest you do a little surfing of other postings on London to see what strikes your fancy/budget within your two short layovers.

nytraveler

No - your times are way off. Heathrow is a huge airport and flights to the US take extra time. If a flight leaves at 7:30 am I would be AT the airport before 5 am.

Lines can be VERY long for both check in and security (I've waited more than 40 minutes to get through security even early in the am - since, for whatever reason, there seem to be a large number of clueless passengers who don;t know the rules and slow up the works with questions and lack of brisk cooperation.