To and From Heathrow Airport: It's Not Walking Distance Saturday, April 25, 2009

There are several ways of getting to and from the explosion of humanity that is Heathrow Airport. In order of expense from cheapest to most expensive, the four most common ways go roughly:

a) Tube (£4)

b) Heathrow Connect (£6.50)

c) Heathrow Express (£16.50)

d) Taxi (at least £40)

The only people who should ever take a taxi to/from Heathrow Airport are friends splitting the costs, families traveling with small children, people who have had hemispherectomies, and the Queen. Cabs are disgustingly expensive and their prices fluctuate depending on the time of day. Plus, if you’ve made the unfortunate decision to take a cab during rush hour, you could be figuring out how to say “Do you take VISA?” in Cockney.

The Tube is assuredly the cheapest option, but even cheapskates understand that there is no point saving money in London just to end up unhappy. The Tube is at least an hour-long journey on a progressively packed tin can. And just how many bags do you have?

No, you need to step it up to Heathrow Connect. Like its more expensive brethren - the Heathrow Express - Heathrow Connect is a train that travels from Heathrow Airport to Paddington Station, a convenient point for subsequent connections. Express is triple the price because it is an uninterrupted journey. Connect makes a couple of stops.

So how much more time will Connect require? Ten minutes. That’s right: Express takes 15 minutes to get into the city while Connect takes a whopping 25. £6.50 vs. £16.50: your choice.

Is getting there ten minutes earlier really worth £10 to you?

Introduction

You are here because you are smart.

You want to visit London and you want to have fun. Maybe you're one of the millions of people who flock to London every year for a taste of battered cod, a chance to run their hand over stone walls, or the thrill of getting ripped off by a Camden Street electronics dealer.

Your motives are your own, but the common thread that runs through all visitors is the painful understanding that London is a very, very expensive city. This blog will help you save money.

You will spend money. You will cringe at some of your choices. But you will get by better than the average person who thinks that £6.00 for a beer is a good deal.