Getting to Leicster Tube station from Heathrow
 

Hi there,

My plane gets in from LAX at 2:15 and I am renting an apartment. I would rather take the Heathrow express and tube station to the flat rather than pay a service. Is it doable to think that I can get to the flat by 4:30?

Thanks,
Laura

Are you arriving in the afternoon nor early hours of the morning and what day are you arriving on? Is it doable I doubt it, you are only allowing yourself 2 1/4 hours to negotiate, reclaiming any checked luggage, immigration and customs and walking to the tube. I am also assuming you mean Leicester Square station and not Leicester, the midland town. I would allow at least another hour, although once on the tube you don't have to change. Just a hint if you have ask the way you will need to state whether the road you want is a road, square, crescent, avenue, or whatever the same with the tube station, ie Piccadilly Circus, Leister Square, Tottenham Court Road, I could go on. The Heathrow Express is no help at all to you, it goes to Paddington and then you have to get the underground and change more than once.

"<i>My plane gets in from LAX at 2:15 and I am renting an apartment. I would rather take the Heathrow express and tube station to the flat rather than pay a service. Is it doable to think that I can get to the flat by 4:30?</i>"


First of all the Heathrow Express makes absolutely <u>no</u> sense for this journey. The tube from Paddington station to Leicester Sq takes two line changes. The HEX is very expensive and if you take a cab from Paddington to your flat -- the total will cost a fortune.

If you can handle your bags and don't mind fairly long walks and stairs the tube from LHR to Leicester Sq straight through w/ no changes - at a fraction the cost of the HEX.

A car service is by far the easiest - and for one person less expensive than the HEX+taxi, a bit more expensive than the HEX+tube.

But none of these options will guarantee getting you to Leicester SQ by 4:30. A lot depends on whether your plane is on time, gets a gate right away, the queues at immigration, luggage, etc.

IF you land on time and IF immigration is smooth - then you could make it by either tube or car service. But any glitches - no . . .

If speed is what matters, then the quickerst options are:

1. HEX to Paddington, direct Bakerloo Line tube to Piccadilly Circus, then walk. 35 mins from getting on the train at LHR
2. Direct tube. 59 mins
3. Taxi or whatever At least an hour, though by 1630, getting closer to 90 minutes+

Tipsygus is right to say that your time problem isn't the journey: it's the unpredictability of how long it will take you to get through immigration and reclaim your bags.

Re flanner's comment about walking from Piccadilly Circus (and the rest of our comments for that matter) - quite a bit depends on exactly where the flat is. If Leicester Sq is the nearest tube station -- it could be quite close to Piccadilly Circus too -- or a 20 minute walk.

So - where is the flat?

Thanks all for the response.

My husband and I arrive 2:15 pm from a direct flight out of LAX. It is the Leicester Square station. The flat we are renting is on Cambridge Circus. I only referenced Heathrow Express as I had taken this before.

Sounds like there isn't enough time to get there and I should just take a service. I'm using London Connections and they said the service is 55 pounds for us both. We are planning on only 1 roller bag each so I wasn't worried about carrying luggage.

I believe Cambridge Circus is where the Palace Theatre is locastted...it is about a four block walk up Charing Cross Road from Leicester Square station....not really a bad walk but lots of people. Maybe I missed it in the original post, what's the necessity of getting there by 1630 (might as well get used to the 24 hour clock)...actually since as noted Leicester Square station is right on the Picadilly line, taking the Hex will not save you all that much time over the direct no change ride on the Picadilly (colored black or is it dark navy blue on the maps)....Leicester Square station requires a short flight of steps followed by a really long escalator to the booking office at ground level and then about I would say 30 steps up to the street.

Actually, at 1415, immigration lines aren't bad at LHR...I don't know which terminal you're coming into...the worst would be Terminal 3 (naturally the one I'm most familiar with) where after immigration it's up a flight of steps. I must say when I arrive at LHR in the early morning, queues are pretty long. By 1100, they're usually gone and I usually get upstairs to luggage reclaim and customs before the baggage comes off the plane but say 45 minutes through immigration and customs at 1415 is not outrageous..iin terminal 3 it's about a 10 minute walk to the tube station while both terminal 4 and terminal 5 basically are right on the station...then it's about an hour to Leicester Square so it's not impossible to make it by 1630 but no guarantee obviously as so much can go a bit wrong...plane is late, other planes arrive at the same time yada yada yada....but can you make it...yes but I wouldn't count on it.

I just realized...Picadilly line is dark navy blue...Northern line is black on maps (which happens to stop at Leicester Square also but that's irrelevant to this discussion).

<u>Don't</u> take any service that costs £55 -- that is almost as much as a regular cab would run you.

Use a pre-booked car service like justairports.com Should cost about £35, maybe a bit less if you pay cash. And they will meet you inside the terminal as you exit Arrivals

I'm not sure a car service will save you much time. The Tube takes about an hour from LHR and it could hardly be easier for you - direct line the entire way to Leicester Square, followed by a crowded but straightforward walk up Charing Cross. I've only taken a car from LHR once, but it took us at least 45 minutes to get to St. Pancras, if I recall correctly (flanner's post seems to corroborate that). As several others have said, the main thing will be the lines at immigration (I assume both your bags are carryon size, so you won't have to wait for luggage?).

Basically, I think if your plane is on time, you don't have a terribly long wait at immigration and you get straight on the Tube, you might make it. But I wouldn't absolutely count on it (and I wouldn't absolutely count on a car service getting you there faster).

Thanks again everyone. The time constraint is because we have to meet the person with the keys by appt and if we don't get there by 5pm they will charge us an extra fee.

Do they know your flight details? Maybe they'll give you a little leeway if they're aware of the situation. Personally, I think if your plane lands on time, you have to wait a normal amount of time at immigration, don't have bags and take the Tube, you'll probably be there by 5 or a bit after. The plane and the immigration are pretty big ifs. Do you have a phone that will work in the UK so you could call them?

Hi there, yes they know my flight details. I have an iphone that I can have international turned on which I will do so I guess I will just call them and take my chance. The feel is still cheaper than the car service although I will look into the one JANISJ said.

JanisJ- London Connections told me the closest tube is the Liecester Square.

I have used the car service booked through London Connectionnand recoomend it highly.

Yes -Leicester Sq is closest to Cambridge Circus - it is a reasonable walk, but not the easiest dragging even small bags.

"<i>The feel is still cheaper than the car service although I will look into the one JANISJ said.</i>"

Not quite sure exactly what you mean by that. Are you saying "they" (London Connections) feel their transfer is cheaper than a car service? If so - no way. £35 is definitely cheaper than the £55 they quoted.

Or did you mean the tube is cheaper - No question that is true.

If they are charging extra after 5PM because it is 'after hours' - that can be a legitimate fee. And there is nothing you can do to speed things up. If everything is straightforward the tube will get you there in time. If you run into problems nothing will . . . So just plan on paying if you get delayed.

Thanks JANISJ for all your help. My statement that I meant to say was the FEE for after 5 may still be the cheaper way to go.

I do agree with janisj....there is a reasonable chance you can make it......(BTW which airline are you using....terminal 3 has the longest walk to the tube but the most service as all tube trains from Heathrow back into London (the final destination is cockfosters, a name I always found funny but itr passes Leicester Square) while 1/2 the trains come from terminal 4 and half from terminal 5 but service is frequent so that shouldn't be a problem...as we've all said if the flight is on time, if there is a gate, if lines at immigration are reasonable, if the airline can get your baggge to baggage reclaim, all of these things will be the same no matter how you choose to go, if you're out of Heathrow by say 1515, you should be able to get there by 1700 so I say go for the tube (incidentally, are you familiar with all your ticketing options on the tube and their relationships to possible discounts?

Hi,

I am flying American and it says we land in terminal 3. I just did a travel route on the underground web site and it says to take the Picadilly line direct from Terminal 3 to the Leicester Square station. It says it should only take a little over an hour so if we can get through customs in an hour we should be good. Hopefully leaving LAX we will be on time and it is a direct flight.

Yes indeed AA cp,es omtp Terminal 3...they have done quite a bit of work and immigration is a much improved moe cheery looking place...but the UK government, like all governments, is on an austerity kick and you have no idea how many stations will be open but as noted afternoons are nowhere near as busy as early mornings at Terminal 3....customs and baggage reclaim is one floor above...when you claim your luggage you go through the green channel (nothing to declare, I assume you're not bringing booze into the country or whatever)...look for the underground sign which will take you down a flight of stairs and then there are as I remember (I was just there two weeks ago) three moving walkways to the Terminal 1,2,3 tube station...