How long to get out of Heathrow?

[Lskravy]

I'm heading out on a British Isles cruise in July and staying in London the night before the cruise. My plan is to take National Express from LHR to Victoria Station (where we are staying). My question is how long do you think it will take to get from plane landed to wherever we need to get on the bus? It has been quite some time since I've been to LHR, but last time it took 2-3 hours from what I can remember. I would like to pre-book my National Express tickets. Thank you 🙂

[gumshoe958]

It’s perfectly possible to do it in less than an hour if your passport works at the automatic border gates (US passports generally do).

 

The big unknown is always baggage delivery.

 

If you allow 2 hours you should be fine. But you might consider paying £5 for the Change & Go add-on that allows you to use any coach 12 hours either side of the one you booked, as long as there’s space.

 

Or - use the tube which runs every 5-10 minutes from all terminals so no need to worry about missing it. Piccadilly line to Barons Court, then a simple cross-platform interchange to the District line to Victoria with elevators at both ends if required.

 

 

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, Lskravy said:

... to Victoria Station (where we are staying). ...

 

1 hour ago, gumshoe958 said:

Or - use the tube which runs every 5-10 minutes from all terminals so no need to worry about missing it. Piccadilly line to Barons Court, then a simple cross-platform interchange to the District line to Victoria with elevators at both ends if required.

 

And the relative merits of these routes depend on where exactly you are staying. Victoria Coach Station is about half a mile from Victoria Tube (especially if you're using the District Line), which is underneath the northern end of London Victoria mainline railway station.

 

So if your hotel is (for example) the Clermont Victoria, which is actually in Victoria station, taking the National Express coach isn't the best route, because it leaves you with a long walk that would be entirely avoidable if you take the Tube.

 

And the Tube is cheaper (even if you don't pay £5 extra to National Express for Change and Go).

 

And you don't have to worry about picking a time.

[Meander Ingwa]

I agree, it is likely more efficient and timely to take the Elizabeth Line and tube into town rather than a bus, particularly one you must book.

 

With more info we may be able to help you more specifically 

[Globaliser]

56 minutes ago, Meander Ingwa said:

I agree, it is likely more efficient and timely to take the Elizabeth Line and tube into town ...

 

If going to Victoria (as the OP is), there's no point using the Elizabeth Line.

[Meander Ingwa]

 

 

Piccadilly and exchange at Barons Court is fine, but the local nature of that route is slow and often very crowded.  I use to love the Pic, simply because I was there.  The Elizabeth Line is such a game changer and transfer to a tube line is likely faster, but that depends on the actual location of their hotel relative to location.  A taxi transfer at Paddington is also an efficient use of time

 

I am pretty sure my last two arrivals in early Dec and mid Feb were 1 hour plane to Elizabeth.  Most of that what feels like endless walking.  Immigration and baggage claim were very quick.  The new electronic passport scans are very efficient 

[Globaliser]

6 hours ago, Meander Ingwa said:

Piccadilly and exchange at Barons Court is fine, but the local nature of that route is slow and often very crowded. ...  A taxi transfer at Paddington is also an efficient use of time

 

The Piccadilly Line is not much slower than the Elizabeth Line, which can also be very crowded at peak times (although they are much nicer trains). Any speed advantage of the Elizabeth Line can quickly be eaten up by the time it takes to change to a Tube line (compared to the cross-platform change at Barons Court) or to get a taxi (because the taxi queue at Paddington can be long). Whether the Elizabeth Line makes sense is very journey dependent.

 

It's a bit like taking the National Express coach from Heathrow to Central London. Unless you're changing to another coach or you have some good reason to stay right next to Victoria Coach Station, it seldom makes sense.

[Cotswold Eagle]

9 hours ago, Meander Ingwa said:

The Elizabeth Line is such a game change

It is on some journeys, but not really to Paddington. 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Cotswold Eagle

[Grumpella]

I was there 2 months ago and I prebooked my National Express tickets and also paid extra for reserved seats.  We were done and "out of the airport" in 2 hours.  However, you never leave the airport to get to the National Express station, it is attached and there are signs at the baggage claim.  

[debsjc]

Time to get out of Heathrow varies a lot. 2 hours should be okay, as long as there are no unexpected issues. 

[atlast95]

On 6/2/2023 at 11:32 AM, Globaliser said:

 

 

And the relative merits of these routes depend on where exactly you are staying. Victoria Coach Station is about half a mile from Victoria Tube (especially if you're using the District Line), which is underneath the northern end of London Victoria mainline railway station.

 

So if your hotel is (for example) the Clermont Victoria, which is actually in Victoria station, taking the National Express coach isn't the best route, because it leaves you with a long walk that would be entirely avoidable if you take the Tube.

 

And the Tube is cheaper (even if you don't pay £5 extra to National Express for Change and Go).

 

And you don't have to worry about picking a time.

Thanks so much for this helpful information as we are staying at the Clermont Victoria in September. I was going to do National Express but we are now going to do the tube.

[kaseyoz]

We came through Heathrow last night.

30 minutes from landing till arriving at bus station. Wendid fly business which probably made baggage collection easy.

no wait at all at immigration and straight through customs….

[MichelleR1963]

On 6/2/2023 at 9:57 AM, gumshoe958 said:

It’s perfectly possible to do it in less than an hour if your passport works at the automatic border gates (US passports generally do).

 

The big unknown is always baggage delivery.

 

If you allow 2 hours you should be fine. But you might consider paying £5 for the Change & Go add-on that allows you to use any coach 12 hours either side of the one you booked, as long as there’s space.

 

Or - use the tube which runs every 5-10 minutes from all terminals so no need to worry about missing it. Piccadilly line to Barons Court, then a simple cross-platform interchange to the District line to Victoria with elevators at both ends if required.

 

 

Following this thread... We arrive at 6 am on a Sunday in August at Heathrow.. We are planning to take the National Express bus to Southampton.  Choice is an 8:15 or a 10:00 departure.  It sounds like the 8 would work.  Do you add the Change and Go when you book?  I didn't go that far in the app.  Also I'm assuming the flow is after deplaning, get the bags go through customs and find bus..  Where/How does the automatic border gates work?  Sorry for the stupid question, but first trip to Europe!  🙂  Thanks!

[gumshoe958]

The 8.15 bus should be fine, but you can add the Change & Go supplement during the booking process if you wish.

 

After deplaning you will first clear passport control. Assuming you have a biometric US passport (most now are) you can use the automatic E-gates rather than queue for an immigration officer. You just put your passport in the machine, look at the camera and hopefully it matches your face and lets you through. 

 

After that you reclaim your bags and walk through customs, then you’re landside. If you arrive at Terminal 2 or 3 (all US airlines and Virgin) you’ll need to make your way via the underground walkways to the Central Bus Station. It’s a 5-10 minute walk and clearly signed.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by gumshoe958

[MichelleR1963]

32 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

The 8.15 bus should be fine, but you can add the Change & Go supplement during the booking process if you wish.

 

After deplaning you will first clear passport control. Assuming you have a biometric US passport (most now are) you can use the automatic E-gates rather than queue for an immigration officer. You just put your passport in the machine, look at the camera and hopefully it matches your face and lets you through. 

 

After that you reclaim your bags and walk through customs, then you’re landside. If you arrive at Terminal 2 or 3 (all US airlines and Virgin) you’ll need to make your way via the underground walkways to the Central Bus Station. It’s a 5-10 minute walk and clearly signed.

 

 

Thank you so much for the info.  

[chismrules]

Following also, can I ask, we are going to St. James Park w/big luggage. You have mentioned taking Piccadilly changing at Baron's Ct. I didn't realize you can change there I thought it was just the ones like South Kensington that has the connecting circles. So which would be better and easier with luggage, we are landing at 6:45 so I would think we would be in the 8:30 morning mess. Also can we use our American Express contactless card? Thanks

[Globaliser]

6 minutes ago, chismrules said:

Following also, can I ask, we are going to St. James Park w/big luggage. You have mentioned taking Piccadilly changing at Baron's Ct. I didn't realize you can change there I thought it was just the ones like South Kensington that has the connecting circles. So which would be better and easier with luggage, we are landing at 6:45 so I would think we would be in the 8:30 morning mess. Also can we use our American Express contactless card?

 

Actually, the current Tube map does show Barons Court as an interchange (with the connected circles), although I think that you're right that previous editions haven't always done so. The reason that Barons Court is so good is that the Piccadilly Line and the District Line stop on either side of the same island platform. So you get off the first train, walk about 10 feet across the platform to the other side, and get on the second train there.

 

At the time of day that you're travelling (assuming it's a weekday), I think you may be better off changing one stop earlier, at Hammersmith. The cross-platform walk is the same, except that it's about twice as long. The reason why Hammersmith is better during the morning peak is because more people get off the District Line train at Hammersmith than at Barons Court, so getting on to that train can be easier at Hammersmith (even though a lot of people may then be getting on it with you). The rest of the day, it really doesn't make any difference.

 

Amex contactless is absolutely fine.

 

You will probably want to bear in mind that St James's Park station does not have either escalators or lifts (elevators), so you will have to carry your bags up the stairs - probably about the equivalent of two storeys of a house.