EKG1

My family of two adults, an almost 2 year old and an almost 4 year old will be arriving at Heathrow on a weeknight at 9:45pm (after flying from CA). We will stay three nights and then leave early on a weekend am. flight. We will be doing this on a limited budget. I would like suggestions:

1) Do you recommend staying at a B & B near heathrow and taking the tube into Central London to site-see both days?

2) Will we be able to get through customs in-time to catch last Heathrow Express Train at 23:30pm? Is it safe to walk from from Paddington station to hotel in vicinity late at night with luggage?

Thanks very much for your thoughts.

sunsurfsand

Yes, I would recommend a B&B near Heathrow - for the first night at least - you have to get those young sprouts to bed.

janisj

The kids will probably be in better shape than you will so don't worry too much about them.

How early is your flight out? Makes a big difference whether a LHR or London hotel makes sense for the last night.

You could stay ay LHR the first night too. But staying there 3 straight nights - not a very pleasant thought IMHO. You will spend LOTS of time and/or money running back and forth to London every day. Unfortunately - you have a fairly nasty itinerary, arriving late at night, a spare day/night in the middle, and then an early morning departure.

If your plane lands on time you should be fine for the HEX. But if you are delayed you may be sort of stuck. Whether immigration (not customs BTW) takes a lot or little time depends mostly on how many other flights land about the same time. So if it were me and I decided to stay in central London - I'd book a car service instead of taking the train. It will be a little more expensive than the HEX - but it will be door-to-door service and you won't have to schlepp to your hotel late at night. At that time of night there won't be much traffic and it should take only 30-35 minutes or a bit more. And you wouldn't be limited to staying in Paddington.

Another thought: Have you been to London before and are you planning on heavy sightseeing -- OR are you just stuck w/ this because of a layover enroute and not that interested in London?? If London isn't all that important, I might consider staying in Windsor instead. It is close to LHR, has the castle,and Legoland.

"budget" means different things to different people - what are you hoping to pay for your room?

bobdownunder

There are hotels around Heathrow but no B&B's. The Hotel (Hoppa) Bus Service will charge you 4 GBP each way to and from the terminal building. This trip can take 40 mins in peak times. The charge is per adult - your kids are free. This means 16 GBP + train/tube fares for each trip to central London!
- the only hotel that you may walk to from the terminal is the Hilton at Terminal 4 but their rooms start at about 200 GBP per night for a double.

I recommend (strongly) that you:

1) Book a central London chain hotel such as Novotel, Premier Travel Inn or Travelodge where 2 childrens' beds (and their breakfasts) are free. (NOT a B&B which are more suited to couples; - children are often charged at adult or near adult rates).

2) When you arrive at Heathrow DON'T fiddle about trying to work out the cheapest way to get to the hotel - just shove your bags, exhausted kids and their exhausted parents into nearest black cab and tell the cabbie where to go!

You can then relax all the way from your departure in CA right through to your first slumber in London. On the flight you can discuss things like "...hmmm ...we'll visit Buckingham Palace first & then stroll back through Green Park before breakfast at the hotel..."
rather than;

"...ummmm...what'll we do if the plane gets in late? / ...urgh...I hope the kids don't whinge too loudly when we wake them up the 5th time" or "...No, we can't afford our 1 hr 30 min trip to London tomorrow until 9:30 when the off-peak travelcard rate applies...".
...and of course, think of the smells from all those extra public toilets you'll be visiting (some quite urgently) if your hotel is well away from the sights!!

W9London

I'm in favour of staying in London instead of at the airport. Especially important as your children may be jet-lagged and need a nap during the day. If you stay in central London, you always have an option of retiring to the room...
You should be able to get the last Heathrow Express, under the normal circumstances. Passport control queue is usually not that bad compared to early morning arrival. You can also take an airport bus. Paddington area is safe, but I'm more inclined to recommend taking a taxi, esp with the children and luggage.
Do you also need some tips for attractions/activities for the children? London Zoo and Science Museum were big hits for my kids. Aside from big parks (Hyde Park, Regent's Park), many small neighbourhood parks have children's playground.

ma23peas

1. I would recommend staying in London and not switching hotels....too much trouble with little ones and a waste of good travel time. I would recommend getting a taxi (www.justairports.com) for the least cumbersome route to your hotel/B&B...the other option is to take the trains in to Victoria Station and tube in or taxi to your hotel...there are other tubes I think you can train into, just not sure with Heathrow...we fly into Gatwick.

2. With a budget, and some research, you might want to check into priceline...we were able to get 2 rooms at Holiday Inn Kensington Forum for $168 US for both rooms ($84 per night) for five nights. This saved us over $240 a night from the best deal I could come up with in a decent area and B&B or hotel review that didn't contain bedbugs somewhere.

3. You can take the National Rail line into London http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use..._TRIP_REQUEST2
sample journey...their trains run longer than the Express so you wouldn't miss it...but I don't think you'd have a problem making the last flight of Express. Use the journey planner when you find out your hotel and they'll show you how to get there with the rail system..and if you buy a 3 day Travelcard (thinking they still have these) your transport from the airport might be included in that by using their rail system..not sure if Express is included. I would think it would be safe in most areas...if you do priceline stick with 4* hotels...they're usually in Kensington or Mayfair (the ones that have won bids...check out www.biddingfortravel.com )

You didn't ask about things to do but with that age they'd love Hyde Park playgrounds and Holland Park..also the toy store (Hamleys?) on Regent STreet would be fun!

Have a great trip!
Tara

And don't forget to check out the website for 2 for 1 entry for UK sites...can't think of it just google that title and you'll find good coupons to print out to save you some $$

janisj

I REALLY wouldn't mess w/ the train/tube at that time of night w/ two little kids in tow.

And I also wouldn't "just shove your bags, exhausted kids and their exhausted parents into nearest black cab and tell the cabbie where to go!" That would cost about £55 at that time of night.

A car service like justairports.com They will pick you up right at arrivals and only caos about £30.

W9London

Good rec from janisj. We travel to/from LHR frequently with two young kids ourselves, and we use car services for arrival. I haven't used Just Airports but never had problems with Airport Executives or Airport Express. Ask them you'll need childrens car seats (cost some extra) when you book.
Do NOT recommend black cabs from LHR, unless someone else is picking up the bill.

janisj

&quot;caos&quot; - what's w/ that??? &quot;<u>cost</u>&quot;

Bluehour

Definitely go straight into London. Car service, cab, Tube, whatever you're comfortable with. I think the car service would be money well spent, even with a limited budget, and would cost not that much more than HE for all of you, and no lugging your bags. Solves your other 2 problems as well.

It will take you as long, sometimes longer, to get from the airport to an airport hotel -- and then -- oh, right, where are you? You're still at the airport hotel! You're not in London, not on a tube or bus line, so every time you want to go somewhere, you've got to get back on the hopper, or whatever, go back to the airport or other source of mass transit, or call a cab or whatever, and go into London.
Then the 2-year-old has a blowout, but the 4-year-old and mom are having the time of their lives. But everyone has to call it a day and go back to the airport hotel. Whereupon, everyone is so exhausted, there they will remain for the rest of the day, going back and forth, back and forth over the airport hotel's headache-inducing hall carpet to satisfy the 4-year-old's inexhaustible fascination with the ice machine. Besides, there's nothing else to do.
So just stay in London, as the others have suggested. You can pop in and out of the hotel as needed for changes, naps, forgets etc.

London is a living storybook for children. I know a few American children from different families who spent part of their childhoods there and really felt it was enchanted. Have a great trip!

bobdownunder

Why be so opposed to London's famous black cabs?!! They're convenient, extremely spacious, clean (unlike some private car services I've used), and add to the appeal of a London visit! My 2 kids (aged 4 and 6 at the time) got a buzz out of their 2 trips in black cabs. The twenty GBP extra was our only shot at Business Class travel!

PatrickLondon

You'll find children's playgrounds of various sorts in most parts of London, and of course you'll have the parks, but one you might want to find time for is Coram's Fields:

http://www.coramsfields.org

W9London

If you're really stuck in bad weather (hope not) and bored kids, London has some indoor playgrounds, usually attached to local leisure centre.
The one in Swiss Cottage is very close to the tube station, has soft-play area with soft plastic balls. They also have great children's swimming pool (though gets crowded on weekends). You don't have to be a resident to use them. OK, not really particularly London attraction, but you never know what pleases toddlers. Just a thought...
Foodwise, many restaurants have highchairs or booster seats.

Lori

If you can stand it said one more time do not mess with public transporation (and that includes HX) with small kids &amp; luggage. Get a car service, it's money well spent. I'd cut corners someplace else on the budget. I (my opinion only) cannot imagine a worst scenario then toddlers, luggage, public transport, jetlag ... and maybe bad weather as you decide to walk to your hotel. Don't do it, go for some comfort and convenience. I doubt if those kids will be in great shape upon arrival (I know I'm not and we've flown from the West Coast many times).

As others say B&amp;B's are not a great choice, look into a hotel where &quot;kids stay free&quot; .. i.e., perhaps the Holiday Inn Express near Victoria Station. The Premier Travel Inn at County Hall (next to London Eye) is also an economical choice (at least for London). Do NOT stay at the airport. You will spend more time and money running back and forth. There are NO free shuttle buses to the a/p hotels like we are used to in the U.S. It can get costly very quickly.

janisj

bobdownunder: &quot;<i>Why be so opposed to London's famous black cabs?!! They're convenient, extremely spacious, clean (unlike some private car services I've used), and add to the appeal of a London visit!</i>&quot;

Absolutely nothing wrong w/ black cabs. Great for short trips w/i London. I LOVE London Taxis. But if one hires a reputable car service like justairports, in from LHR, you will save quite a bit of money. Spending an extra &pound;25+ for a black cab to get in to town at 11:30 at night doesn't seem a good use of money. If a car service takes longer it might make sense - but it doesn't.

TaniaP

Another recommendation for Just Airports - we took our kids (7 and 5) to London at Christmas, and found Just Airports to be ideal for getting into the city with a minimum of hassle.

In London, we stayed at the Travel Inn at County Hall - large room, OK breakfast (not included, but worth it). I would strongly recommend somewhere like this when travelling with little ones.

Enjoy!
Tania

KidsToLondon

I agree that staying in central London makes sense, with a couple of provisos:

--it may be 11.00-11.30 p.m. before you reach your hotel (taking a shuttle from Justairports or another car service). But if you DO take the Heathrow Express, you should have enough time to catch the 11.30 train. I'd opt for a taxi from the train station to your hotel in this case.

--On your return flight, if you are leaving REALLY early, then staying at the at the airport probably makes sense. Hilton is only hotel actually connected to Heathrow--you can walk from the lobby to Terminal 4 departure area. Hilton is super convenient only if you are departing from Terminal 4. (Hilton is not cheap though).

--in choosing a hotel, you might try for those located in west-central London since these are marginally faster to reach from the airport than those further east.

More suggestion for your kids while in London--the Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. One of best playgrounds in the city. Also the Science Museum, which is not far away, has wonderful hands-on areas for even young children.

Dave
[email protected]

zupermaus

off topic, but check out the Princess Diana playground in Kensington Gardens for the kids. It was the memorial to her before the fountain idea got lobbied in years later. The pirate ship is fab and the kids will love the place.