Some background--we are definitely going to the Uk late this summer. I have to be at fiction conference in Southampton on the 5th and 6th of September. We is myself, my DH, and our adult son with very mild delays and wide ranging interests.

DH has discovered the existence of the Harry Potter Studio Tour. It is now on his bucket list. I feel this is reasonable, and if we go into Central London, we can obviously get a train from Euston Station to Watford, and WB has its own bus shuttle. We're not sure we want to get involved in Central London this trip, and we're clearly going to need a hire car at some point. Would it be a sane act to drive from Heathrow to Watford? It seems to be about 40 minutes, and all motorway.

We would not hop straight into the car, but rather likely get an early check in room, take a nap, have DH pick up the car and practice with it in the absence of nervous passengers, and set off the next morning.

This is exactly the kind of trip I would think Uber/Lyft was perfect for in the US, but I can't get any sensible answers off the internet about ride sharing apps in the UK, beyond the obvious that they haven't caught on the same way as they have here, and the City of London keeps banning Uber.

The easiest way would be to take a car-service someone like justairports who do a good service, janisj is a good person to advise on alternatives. You prebook on the internet, one price and they meet you at the airport or hotel.

Or you catch a bus 724 to Watford Junction
then a 10 or 306
I suspect if there are three of you the bus will be more money

https://www.traveline.info/ is a fully integrated UK public transport tool.

BTW City of London is the name for the historic city and is a tiny part of "London" which is the big thing.

If you want an app for public transport within London then some of these may help

• Citymapper.
• TFL Oyster App.
• Santander Cycles App.
• TubeMap.
• MBNA Thames Clippers.
• Tube Exits.
• UK Bus Checker.

I'd use a car service. There is no place in/near LHR where one can 'practice' driving and since one needs timed tickets for the Studio tour, getting a day room and hoping to be OK to drive in time is iffy at best (and knowing if you are OK to drive even iffier).

Where are you spending the first night after arriving at LHR?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Not a day room, but an early check-in for a night. I realize Heathrow is not the world's most exciting place to spend the night in, but I'm always completely wrecked after a transatlantic flight, and no-one else is perky either. We'll have a better time if we leave any real tourism for the next day, particularly between the car issues and the expensive and much desired attraction thatt will be better appreciated by people who are not jetlagged. We might find something very nearby where we're staying in the afternoon/early evening if we're perky, and DH loves airports. If we were getting involved in Central London, we'd probably go there after the flight, but since I think we're probably not, I thought this might make sense.

Although it did just occur to me that if we were doing a car service, we could take it to Watford, stay the night there and have advenures with hire cars at some point. By the time we turned up, it might not really be early check in anyway. No airplanes for DH, but I'm sure there'd be something amuse him. I had been thinking Heathrow at least partly because airports tend to be well supplied with both hotels and hire cars, but I'm sure they must have these things in Watford.

Thanks Bilbo. The transport info is very helpful.

You can take a bus from LHR to Watford Junction and there is a Holiday Inn close to the station. There are rental locations in Watford, it is a busy town with lots of traffic etc.
Heathrow might not be exciting but you are not far from a decent place for a meal, whether in a local pub or a bus ride away from Southall.

While I am still not completely sure if bus or car service makes sense to Watford, I think we have a tentative first day's plan!

It appears there is something called Hounslow Urban Farm more or less in walking distance from the Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow, in close proximity to at least one nice looking pub and a Tesco. I am also, after squinting at Google maps, of the opinion that this is not where DH should start driving. Assuming that I can get that Hilton reasonably booked once I have a firm arrival date, this looks like a nice low stakes attraction that could be skipped, and a good chance to settle ourselves in (without being completely hostage to the hotel's restaurant--not that we always mind eating at those), and a very short cab ride if it's not as walkable as I think it is.

As always, the advice here is great, and even if not specifically how we end up doing something, often sends me off in a useful direction.

"It appears there is something called Hounslow Urban Farm more or less in walking distance from the Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow, in close proximity to at least one nice looking pub and a Tesco."

Yes I suggested the Urban Farm to another poster yesterday. It is in walking distance from the HGI, I've passed it 1000s of times on the way to LHR. There is the Green Man pub and yes a Tesco. The Pheasant Inn close to the Marriott is a better pub. There is another one called the Ostrich Inn in Colnbrook, a taxi ride away. There is also a Sixt car rental location opposite Hatton Garden tube station, it might be an easier location to pick up a car rather than the other rental locations on the LHR perimeter roads if you want to start driving from there. And there is the newly opened Atrium Hotel, which is across the road from the HGI, sadly the reviews aren't great but hope it is just teething problems.

Thanks, Odin! It's really good to know it is walkable, because sometimes it's hard to tell for sure from Google maps. The Urban Farm, while possibly more geared to people traveling with small children, looks very nice, and we should enjoy it. DS pulled up a couple of videos on You Tube, and we all like zoos and animal attractions. I'll check out the Pheasant Inn as well as the Atrium Hotel, although it was the Green Man that had caught my eye intially, and their menu looks like it would work for us (many things DS would actively like to eat, several things DH will eat, and a good selection for me as well).

I have checked out the Pheasant Inn. Wow. I'm really surprised that this is so close to Heathrow. I am not sure we are actually going to visit it, since it appears to be not really walkable from the HGI, a little more expensive, and possibly a little harder to feed DH in. That said, it looks unbelievably awesome, and is the kind of thing we fly 3000 miles for. I'm almost afraid to show DS their menu, since he may decide that is now our very highest priority for that segment.

I also took a look at the Atrium. I'm not ruling it out, but I will say that while their public areas look awesome, particularly the pool, the rooms look small and a bit weirdly laid out, even by urban hotel in Europe standards. The triple seems to have a row of twins with separate headboards flush against each other, looking rather like a storybook illustration of a family's worth of beds.

You might consider a hotel in Windsor for a few nights upon arrival. It is very close to Heathrow. We had a trip to the UK planned for last Christmas but DH and I took turns getting sick and had to cancel. We were going to stay in Windsor before our flight home and discovered it is about 30 minute taxi ride to Warner Bros Harry Potter Studios. A hotel in Windsor will give you access to restaurants, shops and the castle as well.

" We were going to stay in Windsor before our flight home and discovered it is about 30 minute taxi ride to Warner Bros Harry Potter Studios."

Windsor is good option -- but the drive would take 30 minutes only IF all the stars align, there is no traffic, and it is 10 PM on a Sunday night. Count on 45-60 mins depending on the traffic and could take longer. 2/3 of the journey is on the busiest motorway in western Europe . . .

Its a short bus ride from Hatton Cross bus station, routes 90/285 or 423, get off at Hatton Road North, then cross to the other side of the Bath Road and walk up one of the side streets eg New Road which is by the Marriott. It is too far to walk, the pub is always very busy as it is popular with locals esp those working at the airport.

Right now we're thinking we may just bite the bullet and pick up the car at Heathrow on Sunday morning, trying for more or less midday tickets at Harry Potter, so that we're out of there in time to find a Sunday carvery for DS (he wants one, it will be easy to feed my husband, and I will like it). We're heading for Hastings on Monday, so we'll probably book a hotel slightly in that direction.

Windsor is good option -- but the drive would take 30 minutes only IF all the stars align, there is no traffic, and it is 10 PM on a Sunday night. Count on 45-60 mins depending on the traffic and could take longer. 2/3 of the journey is on the busiest motorway in western Europe . . .[/QUOTE]

Godd to know janisj, I was going by optimistic online estimates.