We will have a 5 hour layover mid-day on Easter Sunday at Heathrow on our way back to the U.S. Would love to get a mini spin to London but not sure if there is enough time and what is the best method. Any suggestions? Limo? The Tube? If there's not enough time to get to London, any suggestions for a worthwhile stop on the Tube not far from the airport? We will be with our 10 year old who would LOVE to catch even a little glimpse of GB! Thanks.

That depends on how risky you like to be.

My husband and I, we play it pretty risky and once went into Tokyo with a 7 hour layover. It cost us $50 each to take the fast train into town and that took over an hour each way. We only ended actually being IN Tokyo for about 3 hours because we had to make a certain train back to the airport BUT, it was so worth it.

My advice? Go for it.

Obviously, you can't actually go SEE any type of museum or anything (plus it'll be a holiday) so what I would do (especially with a 10 year old) is go directly to Trafalgar Square, take some pictures with birds on your head, walk around for 20 minutes and then head back.

Your 10 year old will probably love it and you'll get a classic some classic "tourist shots" of London with the square, the fountain, the birds, etc.

To this day, one of my favorite travel pics is one of me with a pigeon on my head and one on each shoulder. Naturally, I also have a very amusing look on my face! It's a priceless photo.

All you have to do is catch the Tube directly from Heathrow to Charing Cross. That's the stop nearest the square. And bring lots of film.

But remember, allow for problems and things going wrong and don't try to do too many things and make extra stops. Just pick one place, go there, and then go back to the airport.

Five hours is not a lot of time. And you will actually have less than that once you get off the plane and through customs and immigration.
It'll take about an hour to get to central London on the Underground. So 2+ hours will be for travel time alone. You also have to allow for time to get back through security and to your gate. Check the rules of your airline for the minimum time that you need to be at the gate for boarding.
If you go to London, you will be cutting it very close. You probably won't be able to spend more than an hour there. However, you may have enough time to ride on one of the sightseeing buses. You can get off and on at multiple places and it'll give you a good overview of the city. And the guide will tell you a bit about what you're seeing.
Windsor is another possibility. I think it is a little closer than London so you may be able to spend a little more time there.

With the limited time I would definitely take the Heathrow Express. Much more expensive (about 25BP R/T), but it will get you from the airport to Paddington Station in 15 minutes. The trains leave every 15 minutes, so 30 minutes is the max time you'll spend on a train. Besides you could plan, as they do go by schedule.
www.heathrowexpress.com

From Paddington Station it's just few minutes walk to Hyde Park and few more minutes to Kensington Palace and Gardens. It would be ideal way to spend about an 1-1.5 hours and actually see a palace.
http://www.royalparks.gov.uk/parks/hyde_park/about.cfm

The underground is a bad idea, as it will take an hour each way and especially on Sunday when the trains don't run as often. It would save you tons of money, but basically you be riding the trains, not seeing any part of London. IMHO. I would also strongly suggest that you are back at the airport about an hour and a 1/2 before as you will have to go through security again and Heathrow could be a mess sometimes, plus the gate could be a long walk, another famous feature of Heathrow.

Have a great trip!

Forgot about Heathrow Express. Agree with AAFF. That's the best way to get into London quickly.

It might be worth a try. Five hours at Heathrow sounds quite unpleasant.

BTDT. I had a layover at Heathrow on my first trip to Europe in 1975. I can't recall how long it was, maybe 4 or 5 hours. I went out to the curb, hired a taxi, had him give me a tour of the city, and then get me back to the airport in time for a connection to Rome. It was expensive, maybe 30 pounds IIRC, but it was worth it. He knew the places and all I had to do was sit back and look and listen, and take a few photos. See Big Ben, the guards at Buckingham Palace, the Tower, Trafalgar Square, and all the places with no sweat. You might even have time for a quick pint in a London pub. The "holy hour" was in effect on my visit so I had to wait a few years for my first London lager.

London taxi drivers are the most civilized of the species so you won't get ripped off. Just tell the cabbie what you want to do and ask him to give you a quote. I'm sure it will be a taxi ride you will long remember.

Oh, yes. I would definitely do the Heathrow Express and go see a bit of London. I would think your son would love to ride on the top of a double-decker bus (sorry don't know the schedule) and see a bit of London that way. One of the sightseeing buses is another great idea. Also, you could just take a taxi and ask to be driven by certain spots that you'd really like to see (Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, etc.) You'll have a much better time than waiting at Heathrow!

The other option often mentioned here for a LHR layover is a trip to Windsor. There's a bus from Heathrow ( a search on this board will yield specifics) or if budget allows, take a cab. The trip is 10+ miles and takes perhaps 20 minutes.

Is your luggage checked through?

Don't take any kind of car or cab from Heathrow into London. Holiday traffic is unpredictable, and you can easily find yourself in some kind of bottleneck.

Tube or Heathrow Express should both be fine. But even though neither have announced engineeering works, holiday weekends are when they do them, so check at the tube or HEX information desk before leaving LHR. Try to make sure you have an boarding pass BEFORE leaving the airport.

MarcieLynn's suggestion of a quick trip to Trafalgar Square while on the 5 hour layover at Heathrow is a real good one, except for the part about photo ops wth the pigeons - Trafalgar Square has now been "de-pigeonized" with the employments of several trained hawks whose job is to scare aware those disease-carrying rats with wings. The square is a better place to visit without them.

Is your coonection on the same airline with luggage checked through. We had exactly that amount of time from an
Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to BA flight back to the US. We needed most of the time just checkin at BA.

A word of warning: We were in London last week and just as we were about to enter Paddington Station to take Heathrow Express to the airport, the station was evacuated due to a security alert. We ended up having to take the tube instead. Fortunately, we had allowed ample time and had no difficulty making our flight. But you should be aware of this possibility when you have such a tight time schedule. During our week in London, the tube, especially the Picadilly Line, was often delayed due to equipment malfunctions or security alerts.

Just a bit of a reality check (some of my friends think I'm a teensy bit over cautious - but I've never missed a flight)

If you truly mean you have 5 hours between the two flights I would not leave the airport at all. (If, on the other hand you mean you guesstimate you'll have 5 hours free ex-immigration and security/check-in you can ignore the rest of my post.)

Most airlines require 2 hours advance check in at LHR and a few require 3 hours for transtlantic flights. So (assuming you have checked your bags through) you will have probably 35 to 45 minutes between touch down and clearing immigration. Then you'll have a 5 to 10 minute walk to the HEX train, 20 minutes into London, 20 minutes back to LHR, 5 to 10 min walk back to terminal and the 2 to 3 hour advance check in. All this takes up 3.25 to 4.5 hours of your 5 hours. (The HEX only takes 15 minutes but I counted it as 20 mins simply because unless you walk up just as the train is leaving you will have to wait at least a few minutes for it to depart)

I hate sitting idly around LHR as much as the next person, but there are plenty of shopping and restaurants to fill your time in the terminal.

What about Kew Gardens? It appears to be very close to LHR. We are going to have a 6 hr layoever there in June, and I am hoping to take a taxi, check out the gardens (sunlight is the best antidote for jet-lag), then go back to the airport. Has anyone done this?

No pigeons? That's too bad. They were a blast

Yes, the security might be a problem. I guess this is all going to boil down to how adventurous you are and EXACTLY how much time you really do have.

You may have to wing it and make the decision when you get there. As some have said, if getting through customs and such takes too long it won't be worth it.

Knowing what Heathrow is like if it were me, I wouldn't take the chance. I'd return to London to see it properly instead of a quick 5 hours or less.

Janis is normally spot-on on everything. But there's a flaw in her maths - and an important general lesson

BNL might well have got an onward boarding pass before leaving BNL's first airport. If not, BNL - or anyone else contemplating this - can usually check in for the onward flight at the Flight Connections Centre airside - ie without going through Immigration.

Armed with this pass, you need only be at the departure gate the 30 or 15 minutes before departure required by the airline. You need to allow time for security (though, if you're in a premium class and have FastTrak, that's usually not very long. But 30 mins at least in cattle class).

So you should do the sums about whether it's worth the risk to go through Immigration and leave the airport once you've got a pass in your hand.

Remember that the only things at Heathrow the other side of Immigration are sunshine (well, kerosene-scented air), a chapel and escape to the real world. Many shopping malls have fewer shops, restaurants and bars than Heathrow's departure lounges: killing 4-5 hours in them isn't pleasant, but it's rarely boring. There's rarely any point in going through Immigration unless you've calculated you can get to Paddington, the South Ken museums or Windsor - and back - in the time.

Rachel:
Appearances can be deceptive. Kew's 10 miles away, but allow at least 30 mins once you're in the cab, plus if there's a traffic problem (eg when it's raining, or in rush hours).

The Heathrow express takes you to Paddington (right?) which is not terribly close to much of the main attractions. You'd still need a bit more tube riding to get to the "downtown" stuff.

My experience in late 2002 was that the tube was so disorganized and unpredictable - in 3 days I encountered 4 shutdowns of lines and 2 major delays. I hope they're better.

Isn't Heathrow in the neighbourhood of Windsor castle? Maybe that would be a better cab ride - going away from the downtown.

Also, yes, the regular tube line to Heathrow was a 1 hour each way trip, IIRC.

As I also recall, nothing in Heathrow shops was really a bargain...