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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
12 Hour London Layover
David Bond, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Muncie | IN | United States | Posted: 10:45 PM on 06.06.09 |
->> I'll be traveling to Egypt for Christmas and New Years this coming December, and one of the cheapest flight options gives me a 12 hour layover in London from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm. Does anyone who is familiar with the London area know of what I would have time to see during this short window of opportunity? I'd love to put this time to good use and not sit around Heathrow all day, but since I know little about the city, I wasn't sure if 12 hours would be enough to do anything and get back through security and all that junk.
If anyone has any ideas, let me know! |
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Stew Milne, Photographer
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Providence | RI | USA | Posted: 11:05 PM on 06.06.09 |
->> The train from Heathrow to London city center takes about an hour.
I'd head to the Tower of London and the Tower bridge is close by that too. Or over to Parliment, Big Ben and the Westminster Abbey. |
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Tim Huntington, Photographer
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Monterey | CA | USA | Posted: 12:01 AM on 06.07.09 |
->> If you take the Heathrow Express train, it's a 15 minute journey from Heathrow to Paddington and it's a frequent service too. It's more expensive that the tube (which takes an hour to get into the equivalent of Paddington).
Once at Paddington, you can transfer to the tube to get around easily and see whatever attractions you want as you're already close to nearly all of them.
Once you get back to Paddington it's on to Heathrow again in 15 minutes for the fun at security. Assuming you're already ticketed, this should just be the entering the secure area bit, so shouldn't be as time consuming as checking in etc.
So, assuming you're awake this whole time, I'd pick one or two things you've always wanted to see and go for it - there are tube stations close to nearly all the cool things to see.
Tim |
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Jared Wickerham, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Pittsburgh | PA | U.S.A. | Posted: 12:27 AM on 06.07.09 |
| ->> Ask SS member Jack Megaw as well. He lives here in Pgh but is from London. |
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Wally Nell, Photographer
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CAIRO | EG | EGYPT | Posted: 1:09 AM on 06.07.09 |
| ->> Egypt? We will have to have our own little SS gettogether. Look me up when you get here. |
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Jack Megaw, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Pittsburgh | PA | America | Posted: 2:13 AM on 06.07.09 |
->> Thanks for the plug Jared :)
I'd say get the tube into the centre of London - see Big Ben - Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, they're all in close proximity to each other which should make it easy to see a lot. Also you can go to the parks which I always rush back to whenever I get home. You could easily do that in a morning.
You might get to see Changing the Guard at Buckingham palace, but they run it on a limited schedule. It can be found here.
http://www.changing-the-guard.com/sched.htm
The best way to get around London is by the Tube. If you are just there for the one day get a Travelcard, and that will allow you to travel on the tube, busses and other services.
Ignore the things people say about British food! Get to a nice pub and enjoy!
Security at Heathrow can be a bit of a nightmare sometimes, I haven't been at Heathrow for almost a year, but I'm sure somebody else can shed some light
on that.
Have a great time, London is absolutely magical at Christmas time!
Feel free to email me for more information.
-Jack |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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Live HVN : Work SFO-NYC | | | Posted: 8:19 AM on 06.07.09 |
->> "The train from Heathrow to London city center takes about an hour."
The Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes. It is more expensive than The Tube, but it shaves off 45-55minutes.
12 hours in with a 530am arrive needs to account for 60-90min at Immigrations, depending on the terminal you arrive in. 75min is the average time beween 5:30am and 7:00am for LHR in-bound processing.
If you have bags you'll need to take them to 'Left Luggage" that should be 20min, 10-20min walk to, and wait for, the train.
15min Heathrow Express ride into London.
On the back end leave at least 20 min to reclaim your Left Luggage, 30min for security and in T3 essepcially you can have a 20min walk to you gate and you must be at the gate no later than 30min prior to departure.
You still end up with 7-8hrs on London, which is plenty of time to take in many of the sights of London. Back in 2003 I used a layover in London to get out and photograph a riot and catch my connecting flight to the Middle East :0)
Just remember to keep all your times in order so you don't short change yourself from enjoying a solid 6 hours in the city. |
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David Bond, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Muncie | IN | United States | Posted: 6:22 PM on 06.07.09 |
| ->> Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm glad it looks like there will be enough time to see some of the sights. I'd hate to go to London and only see the inside of the airport. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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Live HVN : Work SFO-NYC | | | Posted: 7:28 PM on 06.07.09 |
->> David,
If you end up exhausted at LHR you have some options as well.
1) Yotel : Cheap hotel in the airport that rents rooms, with a shower, by the hour (minimum 4hrs). I have used Yotel in Amsterdam/Schiphol and think they are great
2) Terminal 2 : There is some fairly well padded flooring near the T-Mobile charging and wifi station (although wifi is everywhere). Also a convenient place to lock up your bag and sleep for a short while.
3) Terminal 3 : The prayer room near the video game arcade on the upper level, near arrivals. It is quiet and no one will disturb you during a short nap.
...If you're flying BA, or from T5 I've got nothing. I do not use T5 for my travels.
Happy Flying!
www.flyingwithfish.com |
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Max Waugh, Photographer
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Bothell | WA | USA | Posted: 11:38 PM on 06.07.09 |
->> If you go to the Tower of London, latch onto the Yeoman's (Beefeater) tour. They're fairly entertaining guides and it can be pretty informative.
If you like art, stop at the National Gallery. It's free, and you can buzz through and see some fairly famous pieces.
Max |
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Neil Turner, Photographer
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Bournemouth | UK | United Kingdom | Posted: 12:08 PM on 06.08.09 |
->> Remember that in December the weather here could be anything from +10 degrees Celsius to -5 degrees and anything from bright sunshine to almost dark all day. I would make a couple of plans and mix and match them according to the weather.
My favourite interior space is the British Museum and the best attraction is probably the London Eye. Parliament is an interesting building as is Buckingham Palace. The Tower of London is full of real history whereas Madam Tussauds (the waxwork museum that attracts every single coach tour) is all fake ;-)
The parks are great if the sun is out and The Serpentine is a lovely place to walk. Fish and I have shared a beer in a couple of great pubs. The British newspaper industry was based on Fleet Street (near St Pauls Cathedral) for a very long time and there are some very atmospheric pubs along there (especially the 1666 vintage Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - the spiritual home of press photography) which serve the best warm beer going.
Any specific questions, email me off list. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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Live HVN : Work SFO-NYC | | | Posted: 12:39 PM on 06.08.09 |
->> "Fish and I have shared a beer in a couple of great pubs."
Neil,
If the British Gov't would bring its transit & airport taxes in line with the rest of Europe I'd be happy to plan my trips via LHR as I am pretty sure I owe you a meal and a beer :0) |
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