I am arriving at Heathrow terminal 1 at 6:15am and catching the bus at 11:45am. Any suggestions about how to spend my time/things I should do/see? I realise that I will have limited time.

What bus? Are you catching the bus the same day? If you only have 5 1/2 hours then you won't have time to see much of anything. It took us a couple of hours to queue for passport control etc.

Assuming you have a little time to spare, then Windsor Castle isn't far from the airport.

Please clarify - are you catching a bus from Heathrow at 11:45? Assuming that is what you meant, you won't have much time to see/do anything except have a meal and do a bit of shopping at the airport. Or possibly relax in an airport lounge if you have entry.

Lots of Transatlantic flights land in the early AM so immigration can take a bit of time. Same w/ baggage. Plus w/ so many flights landing around the same time, there is sometimes a wait just to park at a gate.

So assuming all goes like clock work, you will have your luggage and clear immigration by about 8AM. W/ only 3 hours you don't really have time to go anywhere. You'd have to deal w/ your bags. If you check them at LHR, you'd have to queue to leave the bags and queue again to retrieve them. So count on an extra 30 mins or so from your 'free' time.

Windsor? It is only about 15 mins. away by taxi -- but over 30 mins by bus.

So if you caught the 9:02 bus from T-5 (you'd have to get from T-1 to T-5), you'd get to Windsor around 9:45. You'd have to catch the bus back @ 10:18 to arrive at T-5 at 10:51. Then you'd have to retrieve your bags and get to the bus station.

As you can see - not really a practical option.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote that "hell is like a railway station waiting room." GBS never lived long enough to experience Heathrow which is worse than any known railway station waiting room.

I'm not sure why LHR gets such a bad reputation as an international airport. I've been flying in/out of there for years, and it's certainly no worse than most. And, if you happen to end up at T5, even better.

Ok, I'll just chill somewhere on a bench and watch the world go by until it is time to catch the bus. I am sure that could be interesting as well. I wouldn't want to miss the bus because I went off to wherever just to squeeze in a sight to see.

See ya!