Traveling into Heathrow in late April. I will be flying USAir from Philly and my friend is coming in from Atlanta on Delta. I’ve checked the Heathrow website and it looks like I will arrive in Terminal 1 and my friend will come into Terminal 4. Since I will arrive about 2 hours earlier than my friend I plan to wait for her at the airport (can’t get into our apartment at that early hour anyway).

My question is, which terminal has more restaurants, cafes, shops to occupy my time? Should I hang around my terminal (#1) for a while or use the Heathrow Connect rail shuttle over to her terminal (#4)?

Thanks

This doesn't directly answer your question, but here is a Fodor's blog from today on killing time at airports. Heathrow is the second airport listed.

http://www.fodors.com/news/story_5342.html

There's also a link in this story to Heathrow Today, a daily updated site on shops, restaurants, etc....

I could be mistaken but I believe most shops and restaurants are on the air side and inaccessible once you've come through immigration.

If that's so, and others will correct or confirm, why not meet your friend in town, somewhere near your destination. I think you'd enjoy it more and it wouldn't be out of the way for your friend. Or just go into town and meet him/her at the apartment later.

No terminal has much more accessible landside than a coffee shop, a small newsagent and occasionally a Boots. It's just about possible at T1, with a terminal plan, to duck out of the flow the system tries to impose on you and meander round the shops in the airside departure lounge before going through immigration - though obviously there's a limit on how long you can do this without your arriving checked in bags being hauled off to the "lost luggage" dept.

Terminal plans are at http://www.heathrowairport.com/heath...e/airport-maps. Given the unpredictability of the time it'll take for your bags and to get across SE England (T4's literally miles away, and the trains are infrequent) I'd take a good book over to the T4 coffee shop. Or get the 555 free bus outside T1, which at least gives you some (admittedly kerosene-laden) fresh air

PS:

The Fodors article cited - unsurprisingly given our hosts' appalling editorial standards - is completely irrelevant to your situation.

Whether that's because the author just hasn't ever transited a European airport, or is too inexperienced a traveller to understand the airside/landside issue is unclear. Either way: not worth the paper you might be tempted to print it out on.

Thanks everyone for the comments/suggestions. I'm giving further thought to meeting at the airport, although I may take flanneruk's suggestion about the "good book at the coffee shop."