Heathrow to Central London

cooperguy

What is the quickest/cheapest way of traveling from Heathrow Airport to Covent Garden in central London. I was just looking at a tube timetable and it say it will take nearly an hour. I was under the impression it took less time than that.

Any suggestions?

wandererz

Take the Heathrow Express to Paddigton - 15mins.
Then tube to Covent Garden.

lostinsuperfunk

The Piccadilly tube line runs directly from Heathrow to Convent Garden, no need to change, so I would just get that.
Getting the Heathrow Express to Paddington and changing to the tube there will only be marginally faster, and it will be a lot more expensive.

Have a look at the journey planner on the TFL site:
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/

xebec

A single journey on the Heathrow Express costs £14.50, then you'll have a £4 (used to be £3, but I think they've put it up) tube charge to get down to Covent Garden, this journey will take at least 40 minutes and could take up to an hour depending on how long you have to wait between trains.

As lostinsuperfunk said the Picadilly line runs direct from Heathrow T1 to Covent Garden, trains leave every ~4 mins and the journey will take about an hour. Can't remember the exact price for this journey, think it's ~£5 (a whole day pass for zones 1-6 costs £6.70). This would be my preferred method of getting into London -- unless someone else is paying for your tickets!

BuffyBot

For that trip the Piccadilly line is the best option.

Darren

Definitely the Piccadilly line. Might be worth investing in an Oyster card.

gandalf

Have you booked the flights yet? If not why not fly into London City Airport and get the DLR to Bank and then from there the tube to where you need to go, all for £4.

therecklessone

gandalf wrote:

Have you booked the flights yet? If not why not fly into London City Airport and get the DLR to Bank and then from there the tube to where you need to go, all for £4.

At a guess I'd say the Cityjet flights would work out more expensive. Taxes alone work out at €80+

I could be wrong though, wonders never cease...:D

John R

Heathrow-Covent Garden takes about 45-50mns on the Piccadilly Line, you would save maybe 10-15 mns tops by using the Heathrow Express and tube from Paddington but it will cost £15 more.

If you are using the tube or bus at all during your stay then get an oyster card at Heathrow. It costs £3 for a deposit and whatever amount of credit you want to put on it but the single fares are MUCH cheaper.

A tube cash single is now £4, with oyster it is £1.50. bus is £2 or £1 with oyster.

Ruu_Old

Consider Cityjet the next time maybe, they might be more expensive but for convenience and comfort can't be beaten when going to London, for me anyway.

John R

Ruu wrote:

Consider Cityjet the next time maybe, they might be more expensive but for convenience and comfort can't be beaten when going to London, for me anyway.

The cheapest you can get an a cityjet DUB-LCY for is €150 return at weekends. Mon-Fri they are over €250 return.

At most you would save 30 minutes on a trip to central London over an Aer Lingus Heathrow flight. In my book they are very bad value for anyone not on an expense account.

cooperguy

As a matter of interest how long does it take from Stanstead To Covent Garden I have friends flying into there, its supposed to take longer isnt it?

xebec

Stansted Express takes about 45 minutes iirc. That takes you to Liverpool St station. From Liverpool St it shouldn't take more than 30 mins to get to Covent Garden (Central Line to Holborn then one stop on Picadilly line to Covent Garden or ten minute walk from Holborn). Total journey shouldn't take much more than 90 minutes allowing for waiting for trains etc.

gandalf

John R wrote:

The cheapest you can get an a cityjet DUB-LCY for is €150 return at weekends. Mon-Fri they are over €250 return.

At most you would save 30 minutes on a trip to central London over an Aer Lingus Heathrow flight. In my book they are very bad value for anyone not on an expense account.

Always book through the Air France website, the flights are normally cheaper. The last time I flew over the price was the same for Cityjet as for Aer Lingus.