I have no dog in this fight - I've done all the options mentioned here, and I still find the Heathrow Connect plus cab the most economical and easiest way into central london.

PQ -- I know you don't agree w/ anything I ever post . . . However to say there is no traffic in central London is ludicrous.

Did you happen to see jamikins post? >>I took it once and the taxi ride from paddington to St. Paul's took longer than the train ride..<< jamikins actually <i>lives</i> in London. Is she wrong as well?

And to give an idea - two trips ago I took a cab from The Royal Academy to Paddington and it took nearly 25 minutes. A distance of less than 3 miles. . . .

PQ -- I know you don't agree w/ anything I ever post . . . However to say there is no traffic in central London is ludicrous.>

Again janis please try to wrap your head around the fact that from Heathrow you have to get into central London and getting there is IME often bumper to bumper due to a lack of real freeways into central London - if going to southern London you have to suffer the perpetually congested South Circular Road, which I have driven umpteen times to Heathrow and back from Crystal Palace - takes hours

but once you and your personal driver get into central London you have the same traffic to fight as you do from Paddinton - but from Paddington it will be much quicker as the HEX takes you there in 15 minutes.

Say something nice about the Heathrow Express? Try to put yourself into other folks shoes - do you not think that a couple with two kids who can go round trip on the HEX for a total of 50 pounds - that that could not be a great deal?

And your ballyhooed private drivers/cars - how much do you have to tip the driver, a driver who may have to wait for delayed planes, customs backups, etc - I'd say you would be expected to tip him well - how much do you tip a private driver? Less than a cabbie from Paddington I'd venture.

janis - please say one little thing positive about the Heathrow Express!

BTW - what is you preferred private driver from Heathrow?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFcClwXKys4

janis I think you have never ever hopped the Heathrow Express so I'll show you this video so you can see how plush and comfy it is!

>>janis I think you have never ever hopped the Heathrow Express so I'll show you this video so you can see how plush and comfy it is!<<

Don't be silly. Of course I have ridden the HEX several times - probably 6 or 7. Still doesn't make it a good or economical way to get into London unless one needs to get to Paddington.

re a car service: A very small tip is nice -- £5 or less. Since I always only have carry ons, the driver doesn't have to schlepp anything so usually £3-£4. Big tips aren't the norm in the UK as you probably already know - or should.

anyone going to the vicinity of the London Eye can take the air bus to nearby Feltham and hop SW trains right into Waterloo - that is a viable option for some going to that area. Especially those landing in terminal 4, practically within eyeshot of Feltham.

The few times I had appointments in London that made it seem practical to take the tube up to town, I regretted I had not taken Heathrow Express to Paddington and changed to the tube there. Later I learned to book hotels near Paddington, just for convenience's sake. Buses and the tube are easy from Paddington, and no, it's not Siberia.

However, I've also learned to fly in through London City Airport. I do hate Heathrow.

Looks like Pal and Jan have run out of ammo. Fight is over. :)

Nah. ;). He'll never 'win' . . .

Leave it........ <i>Leave it.....</i>

Travelling to London on my own recently, and going to Notting Hill, about 10 pm - clearly the HEX is the best way to go.

Tube would be cheaper, but would take much longer, is less comfortable and requires change of line, with luggage (at South Ken - waiting for the circle line, can take quite some time in the evening). And for 1 person, the car service would be more expensive than HEX + taxi.

If you arrive at LHR, in the morning rush hour, a car service would take a long time, and the tube is crowded.

These are two examples of cases where the HEX is best.

If you are with more people, not arriving during rush hour, and do not need to be anywhere near Paddington - take the tube or a car service.

The efficacy of taking the Tube from Heathrow is better depending on where in London you need to end up - if in Knightsbridge, Earls Court, etc then it is a simple short enough tube ride there and trains are unlikely to be mobbed until after those west-side places - but if you have to take across London and perhaps change then it can be a nightmare for some folk at least who have a lot of baggage.

So in some case taking the Tube will be more practical and cheaper than taking the Heathrow Express - so it all depends.