I know there is many posts regarding this and I have read them all. Quick question, your opinion...2 adults 2 children (not toddlers) very light luggage...hilton metropole which is walking distance from Paddington Station and Edgware Road Tube Station...low funds but will pay if the time difference between the two options is big..any opinions? Thanks a bunch

You do not say what time of day - but I would not take the tube. Your journey would involve a change of lines, and since most transatlantic flights arrive in the morning you would be fighting commute crowds through that change. Pretty tough on your own let alone with kids in tow. And the trip would take about 70+ minutes. The Tube is terrific if you are staying along the Picadilly line, but not if you need to change.<BR><BR>I'm not sure if the heathrow express offers children discount fares. If it does take the train. If not, your best choice would be a car service - less that &pound;30 door to door w/o any hiking.

The time difference between the two will be big. The hotel is about 5, maybe 7-8 mins walk from Paddington Station. If your luggage is OK to carry/wheel that far, then the Heathrow Express will be quickest and simplest. It takes 15 minutes and runs every 15 minutes, so your total journey time, excluding waiting at Heathrow, will be something like 20-25 mins.<BR><BR>The tube will take around an hour. You will also have to change tubes, so it will be less straightforward than the Heathrow Express.<BR><BR>The cost difference is substantial, but so is the time difference. One last comment, if you're arriving at Heathrow in the early morning and are likely to be travelling during the morning rush hour - that's definitely another argument in favour of the Heathrow Express. The tube is hell in the mornings even without luggage. With luggage and jet lag, hell will seem appealing in comparison!

The tube is definitely the cheapest, you just have to take in the considerations above.<BR>But I also question the idea of the Heathrow Express.<BR>If you book on the internet you will get a discount on the Express tickets--making the two adult ones 11.70 pounds each and the two children (if over 4) 5.40 each. That's a total of 34.20 pounds or about $56.00 US one way. For 25 pounds -- about $41.00 US you can call Swiss Cottage cars (44-207-431-2700)which will meet you as you exit customs and deliver you to your hotel door. It will not be so quick -- up to an hour door to door as opposed to about 30 or 35 minutes total.<BR>Ray Skinner transfers is also mentioned a lot. But I believe they now charge 39 pounds from Heathrow or about $22 US more than Swiss Cottage Cars. <BR>If money is the object here, the tube is the way to go (but yes, I did it once and it does border on Hell). Second costwise would be a car service such as Swiss Cottage Cars. And more expensive but a bit of a time saver is the Heathrow Express.

I'm sorry....I disagree with the person who said the tube is hell. I don't find it that way at all in terms of everything considered. Yes...Heathrow Express is faster no question about it but compare the costs. If you will be doing any travelling in London at all that same day, and it is after 9:30, you can buy a family 1 day travelcard for something like &pound;8.50 which covers your trip in from the airport and all your transportation in London for the rest of the day. As you are getting on the train at the start of its trip, you will most assuredly get a seat and it won't be terribly uncomfortable until you get pretty close to central London. My suggestion is to change at Gluester Rd. for the circle line service rather than at Earls Court for the District line train as Earls Court can be an intimidating experience (you will need the Edgware Rd. train). As a zone 1 &amp; 2 family travelcard only costs &pound;1.60 less, in effect your trip in from Heathrow will cost you total &pound;1.60 at the expense of about 40 minutes travel time.<BR><BR>I always find naysayers who put down travel on the tube as uninformed. The big provision, of course, is can you manage the luggage. If it is very light, as you say, you will not find the tube such a terrible way to go. At Glouester Rd., you take a lift up from the Picadilly line to the Circle line platforms, so you have to manage 1 not terribly long, flight of steps from the lift level to the circle line platform.<BR><BR>To me, part of travel, is seeing how locals live and interacting. The Heathrow Express is great for business people for whom time is money and money is time and the company is probly paying anyway...but I've taken the tube every time I've gone to London and it is economical, faster than car service and is not the problem so many think it is.<BR><BR>Just my humble opinion.

My opinion on the tube being &quot;hell&quot; is not an uninformed one -- it is one based on personal experience. I love the tube in London, but we did it from Heathrow to Leicester Square station once to get to our Covent Garden flat. It actually took us longer door to door than it has ever taken us since with a car service, including the very long walk at Heathrow to get to it, waiting for the next train as we had just missed one, getting up the steps at Leicester Square and the three block walk to our flat -- but yes it was cheaper!!<BR>We did not get a seat when he got on it at Heathrow -- perhaps because we hadn't moved far enough forward. There were two of us each with a pretty large suitcase and a &quot;daypack&quot;. We stood and straddled our suitcases the whole way, trying to stay out of the way of the doors, wedged against the center back of the car -- but constantly getting nasty looks from everyone who got on the tube. It was raining out and everyone who got on was dripping wet. We were packed in like flies, it was hot and stuffy -- yes it was rushhour in the morning. It was somewhat like HELL for me. It was one of the most miserable starts to a vacation I have ever had, and one which I will never repeat.

xyz: All of the above &quot;naysayers&quot; - me included - use the tube all the time. It is a wonderful thing. <BR><BR>The problem for this family is that first of all it is a family - children. We don't know how old but I suspect pretty young because Annie added &quot;not toddlers&quot;. Even the staunchest tube champion would not think taking the tube in the early morning with two little kids, luggage (even light luggage) through a transfer, after an overnight flight is a piece of cake. <BR><BR>We are not trying to dissuade them from EVER taking the tube - just not as a first jet-lagged experience of London. And with the possible tube problems it could be worse than HELL.<BR><BR>Anniebbbb: If Patrick's prices are current - the Swiss Cottage would be your best compromise of time and price.

Not questioning you had a bad experience...but to me that's the exception not the rule. <BR><BR>The difference in this case is the people are not going all the way to Leicester Square and the tube doesn't badly crowd up, usually, that much until Earls Court but perhaps on that day there had been a delay on the Picadilly line and so the tube was more crowded than usual...I have never gotten on a tube train at Heathrow and had any trouble getting a seat; it is the start of the line and there is room in the carriages for luggage. As far as getting dirty looks, well the commuters on the Picadilly line are used to people coming in from Heathrow with luggage, I see them at all hours while riding the Picadilly line no matter what the hour.<BR><BR>I stand by my opinion although I will modify it slightly, usually the tube is far from hell on earth. Under the wrong circumstances, sometimes, it can be. But then again so can car service (accidents blocking the motorway etc.), so can the Heathrow Express, so can anything. On the whole, the tube is a very economical efficient way of getting from Heathrow to most parts of Central London.

Anytime you couple jetlag, luggage, kids and the tube you could very well end up with the trip from hell, particularly if you hit rush hour or experience one of the many delays the tube is famous for. Nothing against kids or luggage (even light luggage) but as Patrick stated it can quickly turn into a horrible ride. We ride the tube a lot in London and it is great, but we use a car service to get from Heathrow in to London (and out again). It may cost more but you cannot beat the convenience and it's a far better way to start your trip then being crammed into the train with hundreds of other people. Remember also, Paddington is a very busy station and you have to walk quite a bit to get outside it, and then on to your hotel. This may not be fun if it is raining.

I just got back from a trip to London during the Martin Luther King holiday with a friend and three (12 year old) girls...it wasn't the slightest problem and the kids enjoyed it...<BR><BR>But again, please, I don't question that other ways may be more convenient. But using the family 1 day travelcards, it cost us a total of &pound;1.60 total, not per person, and we had travelcards for the rest of the day.<BR><BR>To me and the girls, it was certainly worth it.

Let me just make one more point on this whole issue, not to disagree with others because everybody has to balance cost vs. comfort and people should have a whole bunch of opinions to make an informed decision, regarding time.<BR><BR>If you are arriving early in the AM, for the most part it won't do you all that much good to rush to get to your hotel (a flat might be different) as chances are your room will not be ready so my feeling, and it is my feeling not that I am necessarily right and others are wrong, is not to rush to get to my hotel to be told the room is not ready. They will hold your baggage but then you will be on your own perhaps anyway....<BR><BR>Again there are pros and cons in everything. Make your own decision based on what you consider best for yourself.<BR><BR>Best of trips to you<BR><BR>xyz123

Wow! Thanks for all the info. To clairfy, it will be 11:00am when we arrive and kids are 8 and 10 and have travelled a lot and yes light luggage as in we each have small rolling backpack. Going to take all the info into consideration and figure out what to do now. Again thanks so much for the info and opinions (all of them!)

How about the airbus to Kings Cross?

If you check the Heathrow site - http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/heathrow/ - you can find all the options in one place.<BR>We've used the Airbus a few times and the cost ROUNDTRIP for 2 adults and 2 children is under $60. The stop at Lancaster Gate is not a long walk to Paddington and the kids enjoyed the ride on the top of the bus.