francetrip

One family with two girls who have never been to London before with a layover while enroute from Toronto to Spain.

My philosophy is you only go around once, so what should we do?

Windsor Castle?
Ride a Double decker tour?
Wander around from Trafalger Sq?

What would you do?

janisj

first get "7 hours" out of your mind. W/ taxi/gate arrival, de-planing, walking a long ways to immigration, and then on to which ever transport you choose, plus the nearly hour it will take from the arrivals hall to get most anywhere interesting, in London, an hour back, and security -- think more like 2 hours free.

So what do you want to do w/ 2 hours in London? A walk past Big Ben, climb on the lions in Trafalgar Square, and eat lunch - that is one choice.

Or - if you choose to go to Windsor by taxi, you'll have about 3 hours to see the outside of the castle, have lunch, see the river.

Robespierre

It might take an hour or more to clear immigration and get to the Tube station.

Buy a one-day 6-zone Travelcard and get on the next train. You will be riding the Piccadilly line, which goes near many interesting sights. See map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/centlond.pdf

Once you get out of the Tube, you can ride buses from one sight to the next. See map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...al_bus_map.pdf

Provide three hours to get back to the airport, get checked in, and through security.

Vttraveler

I think I would pick Windsor with the short time you have available.

LilyLace

Yes I agree that you should plan a 3 hour excursion. Windsor will be perfect.

Have a great time! Oh, and go prepared. From my own experience, it is always cold & wet in London!

caroline_edinburgh

OTOH, it may be hot - in the 30s C.

TheFlannerpooch

By Toronto standards - which presumably are those of the poster - it's never cold in London.

travel_buzzing

2 girls?
go shopping on oxford street, followed by a nice pub lunch.

travel_buzzing

however, remember not to buy any over-100ml bottles of anything so they dont get swiped back at airport security..

LilyLace

LOL! Yes it might be warm....and I understand the poster is coming from Toronto....but going to Spain in which case (depending on final destination in Spain) they may pack for very warm weather.

I only mentioned it because on our way to a safari in Tanzania (where it was 110F)we also took advantage of a 12 hour layover and froze.

BeachGirl247

I'm going to agree with Robespierre. I would stay in the city as it has so much to offer. The double-decker buses will provide you with the sites and opportunity to jump on and off as you wish to visit them. Then catch the next bus to continue the rest of the city tour. Well worth it and a must if your girls haven't seen London.

You never know how long security lines will be at Heathrow so allow lots of extra time. And besides, there will be shops and cafes to interest you and the girls while you're waiting for your next flight.

francetrip

Thx for the tips! Toronto is bloody freezing and had the most snow in 30+ years - so London will be balmy regardless. I was there on business two weeks ago and it was lovely. Not only that, on arrival in the customs hall there was not one single person there - very weird.

Anyone have any ideas how long it could be mid afternoon to clear customs on BA enroute to the even warmer south of spain? Always a crap shoot.

thx and cheers

caroline_edinburgh

Like others have said, there are never queues in customs here. Where you will almost certainly find queues is immigration - like Robespierre saud, "It might take an hour or more to clear immigration and get to the Tube station."

LilyLace

I too have experience long lines (an hour) at immigration in Heathrow. Other than that it is a decent airport for layover.

Cheers & best of fun!