Most scenic ride from Heathrow to Waterloo
 

Plane tickets have changed for my son's friend on their trip to Turin by way of London and Paris. Can anyone tell me the most scenic route (but hopefully not the most expensive) way for an 18 yr old to get from Heathrow to Waterloo. He was supposed to have 24 hours in London, but because of his plane he will arrive in London around 7 a.m. and needs to meet my son and catch the Eurostar around 11 or so. Any advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! <BR> <BR>Tracy <BR>

This is tricky, as time is going to be short. Since the outskirts of London towards Heathrow are not particularly attractive, the only scenic bit would be central London. <BR> <BR>Now, there are two main ways to get into central London from Heathrow. The first is by tube - Piccadilly line, the second is the Heathrow Express to Paddington. <BR> <BR>The obvious choice for scenery is then a bus. There is no direct bus from Paddington to Waterloo (except the Stationlink but that is pretty infrequent), but he could get a number 15 or 23 from Paddington as far as the northern end of Waterloo bridge and then hop on one of the many buses from there to Waterloo. This would give him a pretty good range of sights: <BR>Marble Arch, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and then the view along the river from the bridge. <BR> <BR>Using the Piccadilly line the choice is less obvious, but he could get off at Knightsbridge and then get bus number 9, again to the north end of Waterloo bridge and hop on a bus to Waterloo. This way he will miss out on Marble Arch and Oxford Street, but will see Hyde Park Corner, Green Park and Piccadilly. <BR> <BR>I'm sure other people will have other ideas, but these two should work. The one problem with travelling this way is that it won't be fun with a lot of luggage, but if it's his only chance to see London, it may be worth the effort.

I can't think of a "scenic" route between Heathrow and Waterloo. If he's coming in at 7a.m. he'll be hitting commuter road traffic into London that will lengthen any cab or bus ride. I would take the tube unless hes'got tons of luggage. There's only one change and he should be able to make the trip in under an hour.

I have thought of a more scenic way that would work and would not be too expensive. If I had not been to London before, and would not be returning soon, I would take the Heathrow express train to Paddington Station. From there I would take a taxi to Waterloo. The driver could easily drive you past some of the best London sights and probably provide some good touist info along the way.

There's also the Airbus, a double decker that takes about 90 mins and does go by some scenic stuff on its route through the city. <BR> <BR>Heathrow is south of London, Waterloo is south of London; the direct route is the Underground, but then, he'll be underground. To see the city, he'll have to go out of his way (like the Express to Paddington or the Airbus). <BR> <BR>The timing: arrive 7am; clear the airport by 8; 90 mins by bus, 15 mins by Heathrow Express, or 60 mins by Underground, into London; 30 mins to get to Waterloo; be at station no later than 10:30 (gates to the Eurostar close 20mins before departure).

I didn't recommend the Airbus for one good reason - he'll be arriving during rush hour (unless it's a weekend) and with not a huge amount of spare time, the Airbus could easily get stuck in traffic, and there would be a risk of being late. <BR> <BR>One minor geographical point, by the way - Heathrow is actually due West of London, not South.

Ow! Sorry, that sounded really critical of elvira - sorry elvira, I didn't mean it to be. I'm just trying to be helpful, honest.

AnnaC, you weren't criticizing, you were clarifying. <BR> <BR>I sometimes shorthand stuff to make a point: Heathrow is indeed west of London; but as the crow flies, it's south of the center of London, and so is Waterloo. In order to "see" London, one would have to go out of one's way (zigzag north then south), which isn't the most efficient route between Heathrow and Waterloo. The most efficient route is the Underground, but it's the least - ahem - scenic. The Heathrow Express is efficient into the city, not scenic, but a bus or taxi from Paddington to Waterloo would definitely be scenic. The Airbus would be scenic, but has the disadvantage of traffic delays. <BR> <BR>I included the timing at the bottom of my post to show all the possibilities. <BR> <BR>Personally, I'd take the Express to Paddington, then a bus or a taxi to Waterloo...but that's far more expensive than the Underground or the Airbus/underground. <BR> <BR>See what you made me do?? Natter on... <BR> <BR>