My wife and I are flying into Heathrow on May 2. We plan to rent a car and drive around England and Scotland. We land at 7pm, so after getting luggage and Customs it will probably be 9pm. I don't want to get the car at night while tired, so I would like to stay at least one night near Heathrow.
Anybody have any suggestions on a hotel and things we could do without a car if we stay a few extra days.

There is the road to the north of the airport main entrance that is littered with hotels, easy access by a hopper bus or taxi you can pay from £70 to £500 a night so we need a bit more information.

Without a car there are local buses and of course catching the train into town. It makes little sense to commute to London from here, so lets focus on bus rides near the airport.

Windsor is an obvious visit. Use http://www.traveline.info/ to get trains or buses.

>>Anybody have any suggestions on a hotel and things we could do without a car if we stay a few extra days.<<

Which airport hotel partly depends on which terminal you are arriving at. The road bilboburgler mention (the Bath Road/A4) is convenient for T 2 and 3. Other areas are better for T 4 and T 5. But I would only use an airport hotel if I was staying one night.

If you plan on staying longer -- then depending on you interests/plans I'd stay in Windsor or go into London . . .

We like to stay at the Sofitel at Terminal 5. Excellent restaurant there too. We've stayed at the Hilton too. Both good choices. Sofitel includes breakfast.

The Sofitel is convenient to T-5 and the Hilton to T-4 - neither is good for T2 or T3

I have stayed at Premier Inn and Ibis on Bath Road. Reasonably priced and easy to get to all terminals via the Hoppa Bus or taxi. Sofitel is convenient but a very expensive option.

I believe my flight come into terminal 2.
How hard would it be to get to Sofitel on foot?

Bindery I have stayed at the Sofitel and made my way over there from Terminal 2. It was a bit of a hike but perfectly doable. It was all indoors.
I like the Sofitel and it was worth the walk to me.

Pardon me Bindery, let me clarify as it just occurred to me that a train was involved as well. You can get a free express train every 15 minutes from T2 to T5.
The walking part was getting to and from the train. It seemed like a bit more walking than I had anticipated to the train and then at T5, from the train to the hotel, but it was doable.

<i>How hard would it be to get to Sofitel on foot?</i>

A really long schlep but easy if you use the shuttle train to T5 and walk from there - http://www.heathrow.com/airport-guid...ween-terminals

Here is a new plan (the plan changes alot), let me know what you think.
Stay at the Sofitel(walk to it) or the Premier Inn or Ibis on Bath Road. (use the Hoppa Bus). I dont know what a cab would cost. Come back to the terminal and take the Subway into London, stay there 2 nights, then rent a car from Hertz at London - Victoria Coach Station (Central London), travel around England (got to see the Harry Potter Warner Brothers) up to Scotland, then drop car off at Heathrow before we fly out.

If you want a couple of nights in London I would go directly into London rather than spending one night at an airport hotel. There is a lot to do and see in London so you may want more than two nights, depending on your interests.
Give us your budget for hotels and we can recommend some.

Personally I would not collect a rental car in central London. It would be far easier to take a cab or the tube back out to Heathrow and collect it there.

Need to clarify . . . You CANNOT walk to the Sofitel from T-2. It is a very long way, almost in a different county. Plus there is no way to walk it.

If you want to stay a couple of nights in London, then do not stay at the airport! Head directly in to London either by tube or with a pre booked car service like justairports.com. Depending on the location of your hotel, a car service will run £30-£40 door to door.

It makes no sense to schlep to a LHR hotel just to schlep the next morning into London.

>>If you want a couple of nights in London I would go directly into London rather than spending one night at an airport hotel.<<

I agree. That way you'll be in London and ready to explore, rather than having to check out of your Heathrow hotel in the morning, then traveling into the city.

Lee Ann

<i>Come back to the terminal and take the Subway into London, stay there 2 nights, then rent a car from Hertz at London - Victoria Coach Station (Central London), travel around England <b>(got to see the Harry Potter Warner Brothers)</b> up to Scotland, then drop car off at Heathrow before we fly out.

Isn't the WB studio in Watford? It couldn't be more convenient to Heathrow, either coming or going; central London, not so much.

Your trip of course, but what about landing at LHR (coming from Iceland, right? So not too much jetlag) and spending the night in Windsor instead? Easy access from the airport, very enjoyable place to walk around. Stay at the Macdonald Hotel in the High Street, basically across the street from Windsor Castle (and umpteen cafes, restaurants, shops, pubs within yards) - and you can pick up an Avis car right there. Then it's a hop on the M4 to the M25, zip up to Diagon Alley, and north on the M1. https://goo.gl/maps/LUCXamaCuS22 and https://goo.gl/maps/VJG9iUiY1ro

Plan B, in reverse. Head into central London when you land rather than fussing with the Horrid Hateful Hoppa Bus, then take a train to some suitable country town and get the car there. Do your touring, then stop at the WB studios as you return to drop the car at Heathrow.

Sorry about not canceling the italics. Editing function/new forum layout, please!

>>then rent a car from Hertz at London - Victoria Coach Station (Central London), travel around England (got to see the Harry Potter Warner Brothers) up to Scotland, then drop car off at Heathrow before we fly out.<<

>>It couldn't be more convenient to Heathrow, either coming or going; central London, not so much.<<

The WB studio is VERY convenient from central London -- just not by car. Train and then the shuttle bus to the studio.

You do NOT want to rent a car from anywhere near Victoria coach station. Just dreadful traffic leaving London from there.

Maybe tell us more about your plans/itinerary. Driving from London may or may not be best -- depending on where you are going and where you are flying home from. Just as an example -- if you are flying home from LHR and heading up to Scotland it would be MUCH better to take the train or fly up to Scotland then collect a car and travel south eventually ending up at LHR.

Or if you are flying home from Scotland -- a few days in London, then out to LHR to collect a car and travel north through England & Scotland, and fly home.

When you hit the WB studio tour also depends on the rest of your itinerary -- either by public transport from London OR by car from LHR

Thanks to everyone who replied.
When we travel I find the help I get here very valuable, and I find I change plans alot according to the good advice I receive here.
The reason I wanted to stay 1 night at Heathrow is our plane lands at 8pm, with getting luggage and customs I believe it would be 9pm, then an hour to London. I dont want to be looking for the hotel at that time. I thought just getting something to eat then staying by the airport, wake up fresh and head to London.
Maybe if I do a car service and it would drop us right at the hotel.
We have rented a car before in Germany and drove around then into Switzerland and we enjoyed the freedom of stopping and seeing things along the way.
We have our plane tickets to fly out of Heathrow already.
As for cost of hotels, trying to stay around $150 a night. As we travel I might try B&Bs.
Please reply with any advise.

You still haven't told us your plans. To help we need to know what you plan to do.

I would highly recommend a car service to get to your hotel the night you arrive. Breakfast in London will be much more enjoyable and you can hit the ground running. If you stay at the hotel you will likely waste all morning getting ready and to the hotel and the room might not be available till mid-afternoon.

I always stay at a Premier Travel Inn (but I'm British) the rooms are very standard but you get great value. There are loads in Central London.

The logic is choose an area inside the Central line but absolutely near a tube stop.