Heathrow to Waterloo
 

Hi,<BR><BR>I'm flying into London later this year, yet am starting my vacation off in Paris. I arrive at Heathrow at 7am, and have a Eurostar leaving for Paris from London Waterloo at 1020am. <BR><BR>By the time I get my luggage, and do customs and whatnot, will I have enough time to make my train to Paris? I plan on taking the tube into London. Would I need to take Heathrow Express to make my connection, or should I be fine? <BR><BR>The Eurostar people say to be there 30 min ahead -- so about 945am.<BR><BR>Thoughts anyone?

Truth is, I would gain any extra time I could via any means available. The terribly unfortunate thing about the Tube is that, in a crunch, it can really let you down. A friend recently missed his plane because he was taking the Underground to Heathrow when an unexplained “terrorist” threat came through and they sat in a darkened car for nearly 90 minutes.<BR><BR>The odds of this happening are, admittedly, slight, but this summer I made it to the airport with mere minutes to spare because of “trouble” earlier on the Piccadilly line. Better to be safe than sorry.<BR>

Yeah, the Tube is a great thing, but push-come-to-shove, I'd take a cab UNLESS I had PLENTY of time.

While the Eurostar is a great way to get to Paris if one is already in central London, why would one go through the hassle and stress of getting from Heathrow to Waterloo when one way fares between LHR and CDG are available on BMI for as low as &pound;17.50?<BR><BR>If you still plan to go by train, the best public transport option is the Feltham rail air link (bus to Feltham train station and train direct to Waterloo).

Hi, to clarify.....<BR><BR>I already have tickets arriving to Heathrow by plane at 7am. I already have non-refundable tickets for Eurostar leaving Waterloo at 10:20. <BR><BR>Keeping in mind those 2 things are definite, I would appreciate advice for the best way to transfer from LHR to Waterloo.<BR><BR>Tube is about an hour. I know Heathrow Express is 15 min to Paddington, then how long is the tube ride to Waterloo? I heard the tube ride is free with my Heathrow Express ticket? <BR><BR>Im assuming I will have bags and customs done by 8am. (is that reasonable?) I imagine I can make it into London in 90 minutes? This will be on a Monday morning in late December.<BR><BR>Thanks.

This what thetube.com has to say:<BR>From: PADDINGTON <BR>To: WATERLOO <BR>Journey Duration: 20 mins.<BR> <BR>That is, of course. if there are no delays on the line that morning.<BR><BR>

Hi Aaron!<BR>First of all, Eurostar was an excellent choice! It is a great way to travel and the flights to Paris are rarely on time, so you are better off with the train. Secondly, I would recommend taking a taxi to Waterloo. Customs and baggage collection can sometimes take a ridiculous amount of time, the tube isn't reliable and you would be on it at peak morning travel (unless you are arriving over the weekend). Trying to deal with your luggage would be a huge hassle and the commuters are not very tolerant of people in their way. You would also have to change at Green Park to get to Waterloo from the Picadilly line. You are in the same boat if you take the Heathrow Express; you would have to get to the Tube and then change at Wesminster for Waterloo. You want to give yourself plenty of time once you reach the Waterloo station as they screen all luggage now and it is sometimes like a cattle call with everyone trying to go at once.

As far as I know, the Tube ticket to Waterloo isn't FREE. But what the Express offers is a combination train/tube ticket so that one doesn't have to stop and buy a seperate tube ticket when one arrives at Paddington.

No - you will not have time to take the tube - and will cit it close taking the Paddington express and tube.<BR><BR>Assuming you land on time there is a minimum 10 minute walk to the arrivals hall. Then you have to wait for your bags - a jumbo jet can jake anywhere from 20 to 45+ minutes to unload the luggage, then immigration - which can take mere minutes or MUCH longer. Then a SCHLEP with bags to either the tube or train - neither is a short walk. Then 50-60 minutes by tube or 15 minutes by train and 20+ tube. and the a walk from Waterloo to Waterloo International.<BR><BR>So you need to re-think two things<BR><BR>1) Think about packing lighter and take only a carry on - this can save you up to an hour if you don't have to wait for luggage and can get through immigration before everyone else on your flight.<BR><BR>and 2) consider a car service that will take you driectly from LHR Arrivals to Waterloo International. You won't have to drag your luggage ub and down train/tube platforms.

Thanks for the advice... when I booked these tickets I didn't think it would be cutting it that close. <BR><BR>How long will a taxi take considering it will be Monday morning rush hour?(Leaving Heathrow around 8am)<BR><BR>Any other suggestions for a quick way to Waterloo International?

Aaron, don't take a taxy from LHR - that would would cost &pound;50 or more. A car service would be 1/2 that. They will meet you at LHR and drop you off at Waterloo. A couple of good ones are Swiss Cottage and the seemingly "official" Fodorites' service, Ray Skinner at london Transfers. <BR><BR>What day of the week are you traveling? If it is a weekday, you will be in the thick of the morning commute. You'll fight commute traffic/crowds no matter which mode you take. If it's a weekend - especially Sunday, you'll have less to worry about.<BR><BR>

OOPS - I missed the "monday morning" bit. You may have a problem - Monday morning traffic is probably the worst. But if you can get out of LHR by 8AM you should be OK.

With luggage, I see the Feltham change as the best idea. Leave Heathrow on bus number 285 at 0755, 0805 or 0815. Reach Feltham in an hour. Leave Feltham 0915, reach Waterloo 0944. But if time is short then by tube. Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith, cross the platform to the District Line, at Westminster change to the Jubilee line, reach Waterloo. Roughly 50 minutes.<BR><BR>Ben Haines

What a tight squeeze - glad it is you not me trying to make the train.

Ok.... So I realized I do not have to check luggage. Therefore I hope to get off the plane at 7am, and be through customs by 8am? (Does this sound reasonable considering I will jump ahead of everyone else on my flight who needs to wait for baggage?) I was thinking of taking Heathrow Express to Paddington, then take the Tube or a taxi from Paddington to Waterloo. I need to be at Waterloo around 9:30am.<BR><BR>Sound doable?

Sure its doable. Whether or not you have checked luggage is irrelevant. The slowness is in the immigration queue; by the time you get through immigration, the bags are going round and round on the carousel. And going through customs is a non-event unless they choose to stop you.<BR><BR>The only things that would mess you up would be a delayed flight, behaviour or profile that alerted customs or immigration, or a major ground transportation slowdown, which are relatively rare.<BR><BR>Along with Ben Haines, I still think the Feltham Waterloo link is better than the Paddington link - 1/3rd to 1/5th the cost, less walking, as quick or quicker and as reliable.

Every weekday morning I have to do the London commute. It is bad enough with just a brief-case and armed with 10 years of practical knowledge about what short cuts to take and alternative routes to use when things go wrong - and as other posters have said things can and do go wrong.<BR><BR>So for this reason I would strongly suggest that you go via feltham. All things considered this seems like one of the most useful bits of london travel advice I have ever seen posted on this board. I just feel it in my bones that it will be less stressful and less hassle. <BR><BR>If you want to check out the times of the trains go to www.railtrack.com then click on timetables.<BR><BR>PS And the drivers of the tube trains are also taking strike action at the moment - check out the tube.com for latest info.

The Feltham link will be MUCH better than taking the paddington express and tube or taxi. On a Monday morning there will be a massive queue for taxis at Paddington and the tube will be VERY crowded.It would be hard to take the Bakerloo line to waterloo with even a small suitcase. Listen to the others - IF you decide against a car service take the train via Feltham.<BR><BR>Otherwise you will have a hard time making your connection.

Personally if i were you I wouldn't take the Eurostar from London to Paris. because you can fly on Ryan Airlines from London National to Paris National for 0.01 Pounds. Although this deal is from October 1, 2002 until December 13,2002 . In Italy eurostars are great. It isn't worth buying first class because the difference is that in first class seats move electronically with the touch of a button and in regular class you have to do that with your hand. Good Luck! Have Fun!

Big help Bob - Aaron ALREADY has his tickets! What good does it do to tell him NOW that he should fly?