London Eye
 

We have 6.5 hrs layover in London and we plan to take the express train to visit London EYE.
We land at 6:30am and departure time for our final destination is 1pm.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Mona

Are you landing at LHR? If so, the Heathrow Express takes about 15 minutes to get you to Paddington Station. Train times can be found here:
http://www.heathrowexpress.com/heath...rt-train-times

If you're landing at Gatwick, the Express takes about 30 minutes to get you to Victoria Station. Train times can be found here:
http://www.gatwickexpress.com/en/?tab=timeTable

From either station you'll have to get yourself across the river to the Eye by way of a taxi or the Tube.
The Tube planner http://www.tubeplanner.com/ is a useful tool.
Waterloo is the nearest Tube station to the Eye. It's about a 5 minute walk away.

The first ride on the Eye is at 10 a.m. each day. You are allowed to join the line 30 minutes prior to your scheduled boarding time. The ride takes takes 30 minutes. So, if you are able to take the very first ride of the day, and there are no hitches, the soonest you could be ready to return to the airport would be 10:30 am.

After your ride you will have to do the reverse of the journey you took to get to the Eye and also allow enough time to go through airport security.

Not to rain on your parade, but I don't think there will be enough time to make your flight.

Your plan won't work. And using the Express (Whether you mean the Heathrow or Gatwick Express) doesn't help.

Paddington is quite far from the Southbank/Eye so even if you could get off the Eye right at 10:30 - you will be at least an hour from Heathrow - and depending on your terminal - could be longer. It will take about 30 minutes to get from the Eye to Paddington by tube (walking across the river to Westminster) and 20 mins or so by cab.

Victoria is closer to the Eye -- but Gatwick is a longer trip so again at least an hour to the airport.

And those are best cases - even just a 15 minute delay getting on the Eye or a 15 minute wait for the next Express train and you are in the range of 90+ minutes to whichever airport.

I agree with janisj and Green, you are taking an unnecessary risk by trying to do this. I know 6.5 hours seems like a lot of time but it's not enough time. Please reconsider.

"The first ride on the Eye is at 10 a.m. each day."

By which time you should be on the way back to whatever airport you are using.

Agreed - your timing wont work unfortunately.

Thank you all for your feedback.
I will go sightseeing for a couple hours then go back to Heathrow airport to catch my flight.

Thanks again :)

you really don't have a couple of hours free.

Count on a minimum of 2 hours from arrival to getting to central London, but likely more since many long haul flights land in the early AM so immigration lines can be long. One hour getting back to LHR, and two hours at the airport.

assuming you land at 0630, in central London by 0900, then needing to leave London by 1000 to arrive back at LHR by 1100.

janisj, wouldn't the OP's time be better spent in Windsor? Or should she just stay at the airport?

Similar problem - the castle doesn't open until 9:45am which means they could only spend an hour there.

So even thought they could reach Windsor by 8:00am they'd have 2 hours of wandering the streets

yes, IMO Windsor would be better -- but probably not to see inside the castle.

Just to walk around - see the river, have a bite to eat, and head back to LHR.

Thank you all for your replies. What can we see if we stay close to the Paddington. Do you recommend a restaurant close by for a good breakfast before we head back to the airport?

How far is Big Ben and Buckingham from Paddington station?

You don't want to be near Paddington -- just because the HEX train is fast doesn't mean it makes sense -- you'd then need to take a cab or the tube to get anywhere else. The HEX is really not very useful for getting anywhere interesting. And it costs a fortune to get you nowhere interesting.

The only thing w/i walking distance is Hyde Park - and do you want to walk around a big park w/ your carry on bags? If you plan on leaving your carry ons at LHR you have to build in more time to drop/collect them at Left Luggage. Or if you leave them at Paddington -- same thing -- likely a queue to leave them and pick them up.

We aren't trying to rain on your parade - but anyway you look at it you'll have less than an hour in London.

If you really want to get out of the airport (and I definitely understand) - take a cab to Windsor -- it is only 7 miles/15 minutes away.

Oh - to clarify just a bit -- lots of things are w/i walking distance of Paddington -- IF you have all day

Please don't scold me for being picky, but Buckingham is a small town about 30 miles north-west of London. The tourist sight you may want to see is Buckingham Palace. They are too entirely different places, although one is indirectly named after the other.

You will have the same sort of problems if you say Liverpool Station, rather than Liverpool Street Station, and Gloucester if you mean Gloucester Road in Kensington.

mona, I understand you really want to see London and I don't blame you for that. But I think you should save that for another trip, or maybe another layover with a lot more time. It just doesn't make practical sense in this situation. You've received some great advice on this thread, I hope you will take it.