Thinking of taking 8:35 AM flight to Rome Ciampino on a Saturday. How early do we need to get to the airport? Is it necessary to arrive 2 hrs before flight time?

Am aware Ryanair has strict 40 min minimum checkin. Prefer to stay in London, and have checked stanstedexpress.com - wondering how early we would need to leave London without cutting it too close.

Hi. I got there two hours before and had plenty, plenty of time. 1.5 should be just fine. It has never taken me very long to get through security at all, and I have only had a line of a few people at my RyanAir check in.

Take Stansted Express - it is a very good service and takes 45 minutes. I think it runs on the 15s. So you could take the 6:15 and probably be okay, or maybe the 6 if you want to be extra safe.

We took a morning Easyjet flight to CIA and got to STN 2 hours early and had tons of time to kill in the (not bad) duty free area and waiting for the gate-agent-that-never-came at the gate.

We stayed at a hotel near Bishops Stortford so can't comment on the train from central London.

I'd aim for 2 hours in advance, because it seems no matter where I plan to be around London, it always takes longer than anticipated. So aim for 2 hours in advance, and you'll probably be there 1.5 hours in advance.

Note this story, and later followup posts:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ryanair/message/19

Yes it is. There are a lot of flights leaving around that time of the day and the Ryanair check in desks usually have very long lines. It can also take a good 40 minutes to get through the security checks so unless you want to cut it close give yourself at least 2 hours - longer if you want to get something to eat.

Thanks, everybody, for responding.

This is my dilemma - Stansted Express runs every half hour on Sat mornings, so we would have to take 5:30 AM train from Liverpool St. Planning on bidding on priceline hotel in Kensington/Mayfair/Westminster - tube isn't up & running early enough. Can you get a taxi fairly easily in central London at 5 AM?

Have been to London many times, but have never wandered around at this ungodly hour.

You could also take the National Express coach from Victoria Coach Station. Check www.NationalExpress.com for the schedules. I would hope that at that time of the morning there'd be little congestion, but perhaps others can comment.

You can get the National Express coach to Stansted at other stops besides Victoria Coach Station, but given that I saw bus drivers leave desperate passengers behind at Golders Green and Marble Arch, I'd consider getting on at the start.

Perhaps you may want to consider a Westminster Priceline bid instead of Kensington and you'd be very close to the Victoria Coach Station, as well as the train and underground too. It would make an early morning getaway easier, and still be a good location for sightseeing.

ask your hotel to book you at cab. And then call down before you leave to make sure they've boked one!! At that hour the roads will be clear. Everyone in London tends to sleep in on Saturday mornings!!

Or stay at the Radisson Hotel at Stansted the night before. Much less stressful, no getting up in the middle of the night for taxi/coach/whatever etc.

I definitely agree w/ Diz01. I lke to spend every possiblr last minute in London - but with an early morning flight it would be much easier to stay at Stansted.

To get there in time from central London you would have to get up by 4:30 at the very latest. Whereas, if you stayed in London until after dinner, or even after a play/concert, and then took the train up to Stansted you could get a decent night's sleep and not have to fret about cabs/trains on Saturday morning.

Thanks everybody. Agree that staying the night in Stansted seems to make more sense.

The only thing is, we arrive in Heathrow around 1:30 PM Fri. I'm wondering if we wouldn't then be spending most of Fri afternoon going Heathrow - Stansted, then Stansted - Central London. Seems much simpler just to go into London and stay there.

If we take a later flight on Sat, would be losing time in Rome, as the next flight doesn't leave til 12:35. I guess there's no easy answer.

You could take the National Express bus straight from Heathrow Airport to Stansted Airport, check into your hotel near Stansted, and then head out to a nearby town for the remainder of the day, rather than going into London at all. Cambridge is often recommended for this purpose.

Not really any problem. You could head straight into London and leave your bags in Left Luggage at Liverpool Street train station (or Victoria coach station if you opt for the National Express bus to Stansted instead of the train)

Then you can wander all around London w/o toting any stuff until after dinner. Then just pick up your bags from Left Luggage before you get on the train.

How are you getting to London?

Reason for asking is that Easyjet run from LGW to CIA, comparably priced to most LCCs from STN, and LGW is just a breeze to get to from central London. If you happen to be arriving in London at LGW in the first place, so much the better.

We are arriving at LHR. I did check all London airports to Rome, the only LGW morning flight (Easyjet) is as I recall at 6:40 AM - even earlier!

LHR - Rome would be nice of course, but the cheapest fare is hundreds higher.

Cambridge is an interesting suggestion, don't know if I could stand to miss my London fix however have never been to Cambridge, might be fun.

Left luggage is also a good suggestion, my only concern is their operating hours. I know they state they are open til 11 PM but I have vague memories from a couple of years ago of seeing fellow travelers gazing longingly at their jailed luggage at a facility that was supposed to be open, but was not - but maybe that was in Scotland?

Anyway really appreciate all the ideas.

Yet another suggestion (I'm obsessed with optimizing this sort of thing, as I always fly into London first). You could take the National Express bus from Heathrow to Gatwick. Use Priceline to get a hotel near Gatwick. Go from your hotel to Gatwick Airport, and get day return tickets into London. Return as late as you like, and early in the morning go from your hotel to Gatwick Airport. BFT reports people getting the Gatwick Holiday Inn for a bid of $47 lately.