8 hours at Heathrow

[YRP]

It looks like I will have a long connection at Heathrow on a flight from Nairobi to Ottawa in March - 5:45 arrival at T4, and 14:00 departure from T3.

Is it foolishness to think that this is enough time to zip into central London for 2-3 hour stroll around? Is there anywhere closer to Heathrow that would be nice for a brief visit? Even just a nice park/garden would be better than an airport terminal.

I gather this is a busy arrival time for customs and such. But I can play that part by ear. A bigger concern is passing security on the way out. Would it be busy in the early afternoon?

Any good ideas on how to spend the time? (hmm... I can see the sort of responses I am inviting here :) )

[wiggy]

Well if you want a park to stroll in the easy answer would be take the tube from Heathrow to Hyde Park corner or Green Park and take it from there - it's a straightforward journey on the Piccadilly line. I haven't done the journey into town for a while but from memory the one way journey time would be around 35-45 minutes...one downside might be the cost of the ticket, cost me an arm and a leg to get from LHR to Hounslow Central recently.

Edited to add that the other option might be taking a bus out to Windsor and checking out Windor Great Park.

[TopBunk]

Any good ideas on how to spend the time? (hmm... I can see the sort of responses I am inviting here :) )

Well then, I won't suggest getting a taxi to Spearmint Rhino then;)

[apaddyinuk]

You could pop into Kensington for a bit of shopping. Should only take 25 minutes on the tube each way!

[Globaliser]

It looks like I will have a long connection at Heathrow on a flight from Nairobi to Ottawa in March - 5:45 arrival at T4, and 14:00 departure from T3.Do you know whether you're going to be able to get your bags through-checked? Or will you have to collect them at LHR, schlep them over to T3 and check them in there (probably after putting them into left luggage, and then retrieving them again before check-in)? That will have an important effect on how much time you really have for a trip into town.

[WHBM]

The journey time on the Underground from Heathrow T4 to Knightsbridge is 45 minutes each way. Your main difficulty is that you'll be in Central London by 0800 or before and tourist things don't really open until 0930 - 1000.

You can go to one of the main London hotels and splurge on a breakfast. The Hyde Park Hotel is opposite Knightsbridge station, the Ritz opposite Green Park. Both are also next to the big parks so you can go for a walkaround first or afterwards, look at Buckingham Palace etc.

If you had a bit more time available I would suggest getting off at Piccadilly Circus and getting on the open top bus tour. They start about 0930, run frequently, take about 2 hours, and drive past most of the key sights in London.

On the way back Knightsbridge station is next to Harrods which can form a good stop-off.

If you leave Central London at 1130 you will be back at Heathrow security entrance by 1230 which is plenty of time for a 1400 flight. I assume you do not need to check in again on your return.

[neilia]

You could hop off the Piccadilly Line at South Kensington for a quick poke round one of the museums, V&A Museum, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, if that sort of thing floats your boat. They all open at 10am and are all free.

V&A Museum (http://www.vam.ac.uk/)
Science Museum (http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/)
Natural History Museum (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/)

[Pax Vobiscum]

If we're talking museums, it has to be The British Museum (http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/), the world's greatest cultural experience (OK, OK but definitely in the top ten)! Nearest tube Russell Square or Holborn, also conveniently on the Piccadilly line. The only trouble is that you need 4 weeks to see it all :)

[YRP]

These are all great suggestions, thanks. I done a bit of sightseeing in London before but zipping in for breakfast, walk around Buckingham etc, and maybe at Harrod's or Kensington sounds like a decent morning. Even just a nice walk around would be nice. The main thing is knowing what time to head back, so thanks for the input. The Air Force museum - might be too much risk of forgetting to check the time there :).

Windsor might be interesting too. I'll look into it.

Do you know whether you're going to be able to get your bags through-checked?

I would think they should be checked through. It will be a transfer from Kenya Airways to Air Canada, but all on one ticket. Should work, no? Or am I unlikely to get the onward boarding pass in Nairobi?

Is 8 hours even enough time to make the connection if I have to check in again? :O

[KiloMIke]

Your bags should be through checked if you are holding one ticket. Not sure if KQ can thru check you onto AC but if not once you have gone through immigration you could go to AC check in T3 ( a 3 min train ride from T4 ) and get a boarding pass for your flight.
Hopefully this link will take you to buses from LHR to Windsor. Sadly there is no express service so it takes almost as long as the tube into London.

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/southeast/berkshirethames/timetables/timetable.php?day=1&source_id=2&service=77&routeid=1007423

[Globaliser]

I would think they should be checked through. It will be a transfer from Kenya Airways to Air Canada, but all on one ticket. Should work, no? At a guess, this should be fine. The only possible problem might be if KQ doesn't have an interline baggage agreement with AC, but somehow I doubt that this would be the case.Or am I unlikely to get the onward boarding pass in Nairobi?

Is 8 hours even enough time to make the connection if I have to check in again? :ODon't know about getting the boarding pass in NBO. But all this really means is that you'd have to get back to LHR before check-in closure to pick up a boarding pass, which would probably be something like 60 minutes before departure time. To be safe, you'd want to be back at LHR by that sort of time, anyway. So if you can get straight out of the airport on arrival without having to wait for bags, then that should be enough time for a worthwhile trip into town.

One other consideration, though: Have you got a pre-allocated seat on the AC flight? If you don't, and you turn up at LHR just before check-in closes, there's a risk that you'll get allocated only the dross that's left at the end. Worth thinking about.

[YRP]

One other consideration, though: Have you got a pre-allocated seat on the AC flight?

I doubt that I do at the fare I am paying. But I can always do as KM suggested and check in before leaving the airport.

Hopefully this link will take you to buses from LHR to Windsor. Sadly there is no express service so it takes almost as long as the tube into London.

The link worked very well, thanks KM. Looks to be only 40 minutes. That might be a nice outing.

[red 7]

I would recommend the trip to windsor, its close, theres lots to see close by and there are many coffee shops and cafes by the castle to sit in and pass the time!
And if it alls goes wrong, a cab from windsor to LHR is a set fare of £15 by the 2 local cab companies!
Just be careful, the bus is not as straightforward as it seems, whilst it drops you off in the centre of town I believe the return is not the same place to get on, so check on your way in!
But I reckon you should be in T1 checked in and on the 0745 easily, windsor peascod st is the town centre arrives 0835!
And the 1130 dep gets you back to T3 at 1222 so an 1hr40 before dep, which if you are checked in should be plenty of time.
Have fun, say hi to queenie!
R
ps those times are for mon-fri, sat is very similar and still works, if its a sunday you may want to go first then come back and check in as the buses are only hourly returning!