Help! Done some research but not sure I've got all the facts. My boyfriend and I are going to London for a long weekend in Nov. to see friends and are adding a 3-4 day sidetrip to Edinburgh. Returning from Heathrow on a sat at 1 pm, want to go directly from Scotland to the airport and board.

Are we best off taking a British Airways flight to HTW? If EasyJet, what is the best way to get from Gatwick to Heathrow? Or are we best off taking a train?? Want to maximize precious vacation time, so that is more of a factor than $, though economy is appreciated.

THANKS! I'm also posting separately about must-sees so let me know if you've got any!

Julie

I assume by HTW you mean Heathrow (Heathrow is LHR)

British Midland also flies from Edinburgh to LHR so you might be able to find better fares w/ them.

If you fly into Gatwick (LGW) you can take the direct Speedlink coach that travels frequently between the two airports. Allow a minimum of 3 hours though - the coach ride alone can be over an hour and then you have to check in 2 hours ahead (or 3 hours ahead on some airlines)

Flying into LHR would be a LOT more convenient.

The train would be a REAL hassle because you would end up at Kings Cross all the way across London from LHR. Unless you took the overnight sleeper train, you would have a hard time making a 1 PM flight.

As Janis says, a little indirectly, the sleeper offers a good final night. You book cheaply and in advanced: I can advise you. There are two berth and single sleepers, you board in Edinburgh at 2300 or 2330, stay asleep in London Euston, leave the train at 0800 (and not a minute before), breakfast at a nice cafe I can tell you about. drop bags somewhere central like Victoria station, stroll London, and procede at leisure by District Line and Piccadilly line to Heathrow.

That way you have a full evening in Edinburgh (concert, theatre, restaurant?), no rush in London, and a night without a hotel bill.

Welcome to Britain.

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Ben's probably right.

But if you do your web searches on a return plane trip LHR-EDI (on either BA or bmi), and play with a lot of alternative timings, you'll probably find the flight as cheap as the train.

If you need to be at LHR for a 1300 flight, you'll probably want to be there by 1100. The tube from Kings Cross is 50 minutes, so there'll be limited scope for doing anything in London that morning. If you do get the train back, I'd check my bags at Kings Cross, go to Ben's cafe, then spend the time from 0900 at the British Library (the best free show in London,if books are at all important to you) and doing the Harry Potter stuff in the station. Or, on Saturday, looking at Camden Passage market (Angel tube, or a half mile walk from KX station).

I like flanneruk s ideas if you have those morning hours (the British Library is indeed a joy), and forgot to tell you that quote my unquote nice café and other details are on line, at http://victorianresearch.org/hainesontrains.html/. There is a friendly historian in Chicago who gives me web space.

Ben Haines

We flew Easyjet from Aberdeen to Lutton (only another 20 min train ride into London, and it was only 8 pounds)which was great.

I'd definitely fly over train.

Thank you all for the advice! We will do research... ben, if you are still there, beware of future email from me! I spent 3 months in London in my early 20s.. looking forward to spending time with money in pocket.

You are of course most welcome to e-mail me, but as you see an advantage of using Fodors forum is that we have peer review, and you read various advice from various people. One way is to e-mail me and copy the e-mail to the forum.

Please do not hope too much. London in your twenties with empty pockets is an experience more intense than we older people can hope to recover. On the other hand, we can now be comfortable.

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Janis is right when she says you'll get a cheaper ticket on British Midland than on British Airways. And you won't need to allow time for the transfer by bus from Gatwick to Heathrow that would be necessary if you flew easyJet. By the way, three hours is not nearly enough time to make that transfer. Five is a bare minimum--and six is better. A late arrival at Gatwick and heavy traffic between the airports will eat up your margin in a hurry. So if you fly, I'd recommend BMI. I also like Ben's suggestion to take the sleeper train and have a leisurely breakfast after you arrive in London.

I don't agree that you will necessarily get a cheaper ticket on any airline other than BA. Since about a year ago, BA has really got its act together. Often, flights are cheapest when booked on www.ba.com rather than through an agency. (Just booked 2x return London-Miami tix for December, and the BA site had the best deal, plus a £10 reduction for booking online.)

Nigello is correct about BA being very competitive in price these days for certain flights - although any flight early morning on a week day will not be the cheapest because of commuters/business travellers. Equally, train fares shoot up for the same reason.

Given that you'll need to be at your departure check-in by at least 11am, I don't think you've really got time to be floating round Kings Cross and the British Library.

Why stress yourself? I'd fly BMI or BA direct to Heathrow and save myself both the worry about time and the hassle of dragging my bags across town.

i was in ur situation 2 yrs ago: flew into london, traveled to scotland, and on the final morning had a leisurely breakfast, then flew bmi directly to heathrow and made an easy transfer to my united flight home.

the major advantages were the convenience and time savings. also, since bmi is a mileage plus partner, i believe we cked luggage thru from scotland to home. didn't have to deal w/ it until entering u.s.

only disadvantage, and this may not apply to u, was that this tacked a couple of hours onto a killer flight schedule that ended in honolulu. was unable to spk by the time i got off the last plane.