Hello. My husband and I are planning a trip to London in April. We are staying in Central London, near Trafalgar Square. I have been investigating the Heathrow Express Train (into Paddington) then taking a black taxi to the hotel. Does anyone have any experience taking the HRW Express? It almost sounds too good to be true. I'm wondering if the old adage "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," applies to the LHR Express. Our plane from DTW is scheduled to arrive at 6:40 AM at HWR. I look forward to hearing about experiences any of you have had, both good and bad. Thanks!!

Sorry if I used the wrong initials. Obviously LHR for London Heathrow (not HWR). Thx.

The Heathrow Express is only a good deal if your hotel is within easy walking distance of Paddington Station. Don't recall the current number for two tickets but think it may be around 12 GBP each and if you need a taxi, it'll cost more. By getting a car service form LHR ( Just Airport, Blackberry and Addison are good ones ) you'll likely pay only a bit more than for the cost of HRE tickets alone, but they wait for you at Arrivals, help with your luggage to car, and drive you directly to your hotel. Sorry I can't remember the price for car services from LHR to most places in London as I always use a car service it' s just so much easier.

Your method is costly. The Piccadilly line goes directly from Heathrow to central London. We used it to and from london on our trip in 2018 (I have a trip report if you are interested also). We only had carry on luggage. The access to the Tube is very easy at Heathrow. It takes only a moment to get an Oyster card loaded with the fares you will need to and in London. There are even employees that will help you if needed. It was quite easy. It was cheap. More information is at
https://freetoursbyfoot.com/heathrow...t-underground/
and other places. Google is your friend.

Too good to be true? How so? Certainly not the price, which will cost five times more compared to a simple subway ride -- before the cost of the taxi.

To see the comparisons, use https://tfl.gov.uk/ (the site will be useful throughout your visit.)

You will see you can take the Piccadilly line and make one change to get to Charing Cross, then a seven-minute walk to Trafalgar Square. Total time just over an hour.

The Express will take a third of that to Piccadilly, plus the taxi, and be more comfortable. But there will be seats on the Tube carriage at Heathrow before the route gets crowded. And you will have saved the price of a very good lunch.

I found it to be very fast on two different trips to London. Saved us a lot of time compared to what google maps was projecting with traffic. It is more expensive than the subway, but vacation time is valuable... Last time we used it we had a 12-hour layover in London. We stowed our bags at Heathrow, jumped on the Express, had a great day in London, took the Express back -- totally worth it for us!

tera_denten's situation is 100% different than yours. Makes no sense for you. If one is trying to get in to London and back to LHR quickly there might be a reason to use the HEX but ONLY if one wanted to get to Paddington or maybe the parks.

For someone staying in central London the HEX almost never makes sense. 'Near Trafalgar Square' could mean lots of different places - which hotel specifically that would tell us which tube station(s) - that would determine how much of a hassle taking the tube.

But for door-to-door service considerably cheaper than the HEX + a taxi and no schlepping of bags at either LHR or Paddington . . . book a car service.
Cheap = the tube;
Comfortable for a little more £ = a car service;
Blowing money and less convenient = the HEX+taxi.

Thank you everyone for the advice! My husband 'is all' in for the car service, I was trying to save money by taking the Heathrow Express. The website I was looking at said the cost if booked about 90 days out is £5.50 each, one way. Sounds like a bargain! But I don't know how much it is to take a taxi from Paddington. Our hotel is near the Charring Cross station. Cost of car service is about £55-£65.

Unless you have a boatload of luggage a car service like justairports should not cost £55-£65. More like £40-ish (if you pay cash it will be less than if you book with a credit card). On their website don't 'over count' your luggage. Me for instance -- I travel carry only and enter 0 luggage on the booking form. What they need to know is how many large/checked bags you have. Most times a couple only needs a saloon (sedan) but if you have a ton of stuff you could ned a people mover/SUV/Mini van. So if you have two regualr suitcases and two carry ons you count '2' luggage.

A taxi from Paddinington to Trafalgar Sq in the middle of the day will cost between £25 and £35 depending on traffic, sometimes more. So even IF you get a discount on the HEX it would cost more. But a bigger deal IMO is the inconvenience. There is a long walk/schlepp at LHR to the HEX and a relatively long walk to the taxi queue at Paddington and then you have to wait. There are lots of cabs -- but even more passengers.

Janise is spot on about what the various luggage options. They overestimate.

Likewise, there can be a bit more walking on the tube than you might expect. The options there are:
- change at Hammersmith (a few steps across the platform) to the eastbound District Line, get off at Embankment (some stairs) and walk up Villiers Street to Charing Cross (or, if you're staying in Northumberland Ave., walk through to there under the railway bridge)
or
- get out at Leicester Square (awkward and narrow staircases to the street, given your luggage) and walk down Charing Cross Road (if you're staying North of Trafalgar Square)
or
- change at Piccadilly Circus to the Bakerloo Line to Charing Cross (again, some walking and stairs to the exit you need, depending on where your hotel is)