I will be concluding an Italy and Zambia trip with a stopover in London with about 7 hours to kill. I would like to get out of the airport and do something, but to be on the safe side, I should only allow about 5 hours. What can I do with 5 hours?

I am looking for a short tour, but most tour companies state that they will pick up from hotels in the city, only.

How far is London Heathrow from the action in the event that I just have a taxi drop me off somewhere? I will have from about Noon - 5PM to explore and hope to be back to the airport before 6PM for my 7:30PM flight to Los Angeles?

Thanks in advance.

Roccco, I asked a somewhat similar question yesterday, and Windsor was suggested. That might work well with the amount of time you have.

But if you want to go into London, my suggestion would be something like this:
Take the tube to Covent Garden (or thereabouts). Get out and enjoy walking in that area around London.
When you want to return, just hop on the tube (Piccadilly line) again and go back to Heathrow.

First of all - if your flight is at 7:30PM you will have to check in before 6PM. Most airlines require a minimum of 2 hours advance check-in, and a few demand 3 hours. Security for Transatlantic flights can be very time consuming.

So given that, you will only have maybe 4 hours total to play with. The tube into London will take you 45 min to 1 hour each way depending where you get off. So that would not be very practical. You can take the Heathrow Express that will get you to Paddington Station in 15 minutes - but then you are still a long way from any major tourist attraction.

So my advice is to stay at the airport and eat/drink/shop, OR get a day room at an airport hotel to relax for a couple of hours, OR take a cab over to Windsor and wander around the town and or castle for a couple of hours before heading back to LHR.

Thanks! I'd hate to be in London and not see ANYTHING but the inside of an airport.

Janis's advice is sensible; but if you would like to go to town, it is quite doable,I have done it many times.

Last month, with 4 hours(arrived at 1100, depature flight 1530),I went to Stanfords at Covent Garden for maps,had some noodle soup at Japanse Centre in Piccadilly,then back to Heathrow for the return flight.

If your flights are within the same network,ususally the luggage would be checked through,and boardpass ready, you won't need to waste time for check-in. If not,upon arrival, check in your luggage and get the boarding pass,then you will be free to go.

Following the sign to underground station, get an off-peak time one day card,tube map and london map at Travel Centre(right accross tube station,much shorter line-up for tickets). There is always train on the track(Piccadilly Line), so you won't have to wait.

Have you been to London? If yes, centainly you could visit old favorites,or just take a walk around. If not, off the tube at Leicester Square(about 45 minutes),walk down famous Charing Cross road (remember 84 Charing Cross?)to Trafalgar Square where Portrait Gallery,National Gallery located. If you like Impressionists', walk up National Gallery, turn right at the hall, quite a few masterpeces in the first 3 rooms.

From Trafalgar Square,you could see a huge arch on your right,walk under it, along the wide boulevard(The Mall),you would reach Buchingham Palace.

After admiring(?) it, trun left to St.James Park(one of my favorite parks),walk along the ponds,
There are usually some lovely flowers,and don't miss the pelicans.Walk to the little bridge in the ponds,look towards east,IMHP,it is one of most romantic views of London.

At the end of the pathes, you would reach Horse Guard road, turn right, then left at Birdcage Walk,take you to Westminster Abbey,House of Parliament. Then walk up to Westminster Bridge,have a look at River Thames and beautiful London Skylines.

Walk back, turn right at Whitehall,pass some intersting buildings and Downing Street. It would take you back to Tranfalgar sqare, then to Leicerter Square for tube to Heathrew. The walk shall take about 2-3 hours plus some time for tes and light meals.

With boarding pass ready, you only need time for security check.

I'm with Janis on this one. Dump some euros at the duty-free shop, belly up to the bar and have a cold one. You'd hate to miss London...but you'd hate to miss your flight even more.

Thanks for the responses. I booked my flights and I will arrive in London at 9:35AM (from Rome) and my next flight does not leave until 7:30PM (to Johannesburg, South Africa).

I figure that by the time I clear customs? (isn't this the EU now, do I still need to clear customs?) that I will check in my baggage at SAA or at a nearby checkin station and be ready to hit the streets by 10:30AM.

Hopefully, this would still allow about six hours. I would prefer to either catch a cab or have a tour guide pick me up, if possible. I do not trust myself one bit, as simple as "catching the tube" may be. Without my GPS feature in my Range Rover, I would drive around in circles like an idiot, so the last thing I want to do is start being responsible for my own destiny in a foreign city, with an international flight to catch a few hours later.

I would like to see Buckingham Palace and whatever other sites are closeby to it. Although I would probably have time to see Stonehenge, it would probably be a lot more fun just to hang out in the city, whether with a guide or just having a taxi drop me off and to take me back to the airport.

I figure that as long as I get myself back to the airport by 5PM, that I would have sufficient time to retrieve my luggage, if necessary, and then make my 7:30 PM flight. Does that sound accurate???

Thanks.

The logistics:

- You have to come through immigration control. The EU doesn't affect this. There is passport-free travel within the Schengen zone, but Britain isn't in that.
- Customs is a different issue. If you've checked your bags through to Zambia or Joburg, you obviously don't need to wait for them. If your bags are checked only to London, you have to collect them. You then have to walk them through the Blue (intra-EU) channel, which is virtually never subject to inspection, and never takes any time
- you're very unlikely to find the SAA counter open at that time. If there's not, if you've not checked your bags through and you've come in on BA, you'll probably need to leave your bags at the left luggage counter: if you've come in on Alitalia, you'll need to walk to Terminal 1 and then leave your bags at the T1 left luggage counter.
- In the worst case (where you've had to leave your bags, and they're not checked through) you probably need to allow at least an hour for faffing about in the morning, and you need to back at the airport in time to check in. In the very best case (where you've been able to check your bags through and you've also got a boarding pass for the ongoing flight before you leave Heathrow, you need allow less time in the morning, and you really don't need to be back hours before the flight. Simply allow enough time (30 mins max) to get through security plus however long before departure SAA want you at the gate (the UK has no outgoing passport control queue)

So how long you've got for your jaunt depends heavily on those logistics.

Returning to the airport, don't mess with taxis. You're going out in the rush hour (a period that lasts from 3.30 to 8)

flanneruk,

Thanks for the excellent feedback. I will print it out and tape it to my forehead!

The London Walks people do a taxi tour from the airport, so you get to see big ben, buckingham palace etc.

I've no idea what it costs.

http://london.walks.com/

go to "other tours" and it's the first thing.

Thanks David!