I'll be on an 11-hr layover in London on Dec 16, on my way to Nigeria. Has anyone ever had to do this, if yes, what were some of the things that you were able to do/see with this amount of time? My flight gets into Heathrow around 11:00AM and leaves for Nigeria around 10:35PM, so I figured that I could grab lunch, do some sightseeing, grab dinner, and take a shower (I know a friend's relative who lives in London) Thanks a lot!!!

We were just in London this July and you need to leave plenty of time to get to and from the airport (Heathrow). It took us a good hour and I understand that's pretty fast. They have a subway train which goes directly from Paddington to Heathrow. It took our taxi driver a good half hour to go about 4 miles during traffic 4-6 p.m. You could easily take the subway from Heathrow to London. We took the "Big Red Bus" tour which can be started at many points and at almost any time makes stops all over the city for one price. If you took the tour from say 12 p.m., and you'd get a nice overview of the city within the 2 hours the tour takes to make the round. You can stop at any attraction e.g. Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, etc. and get back on the next bus that happens by (usually about 15 minute intervals). This could take up your afternoon nicely, and then you could have a quick dinner and head back to Heathrow at around 7 for your flight at 10:30. I would search the "Big Red Bus" tour to get a better sense of timing and protocol. We found it to be a comfortable and informative overview of the city.

Thanks for your idea, Tux. I think the 2-hr city tour sounds like it would work out best for me. The Tower of London might be a bit too much to explore on a crunch time, because the last time I was there, I was there almost the whole day and it didnt seem enough. Anyone else?

The bus tour is a great idea if you spend the day in London. Another idea would be to spend the day in Windsor, which is very near the airport. The town is lovely and you will have time to visit the castle. You might be able to get your shower at the airport, but I'm not sure. Just a thought.

Does Heathrow have shower stalls? I dont remember seeing one... hmm... I'd look up ideas on Windsor, thanks for the idea PM!

It seems like a big airport like LHR would have showers. If you don't get an answer tonight, you should top this thread in the morning and maybe a British poster will answer.

"Terminal 1 and 2
The Flight connection Centre (FCC) has shower facilities in its Comfort and Care Level - Passenger Lounge. This is located after security.

Terminal 3 - departure lounge
The showers are currently closed for refurbishment and should be open again in November 2006.

Terminal 4
Available in the toilet areas on the arrivals level, before security. Further facilities are available after security control."

I believe there are shower facilities at Victoria station

I have been on a layover in London for approx the same amount of time. We found it was more than enough time to do a bus tour and a river cruise, visit Buckingham Palace, shop in Harrod's and get back to the airport with plenty of time to check in and wait for our flight. Enjoy! It is a great city for a day trip.

I can only help with one little thing, but yes I have taken a shower at Heathrow on a layover. The one I used was at the beginning of Terminal 1 (I was in transit between term 4 and term 2).

It was 6GBP (small change appreciated) which got you a private white tiled room, shower, toilet, sink, hair dryer, towel and a couple packages of liquid soap.

Wow, thanks a lot to everyone who posted. I definitely would love to check out Harrod's, maybe on my way back so that I dont carry my goodies all the way to Nigeria and back...