How do I take Heathrow Connect or Express to Paddington from T3 - Virgin Atlantic from USA?

Question

i.e. does Connect or Express pick up at T3 - or do we have to go to another location at Heathrow? And how much longer will Connect take to Paddington than Express on a summer Sunday? thanks!

Or should I just catch National Express Coach to Victoria from T3 (a July sunday at approx 830am)- and which of these modes would be better with luggage and kids?

Answer 1

I wouldn't worry about buying tickets in advance. There is a machine where you can use your credit cards. If you see a train coming and you don't want to wait 15 minutes you can just jump on the train and pay the conductor (surcharge of about 1 GBP per ticket).

------------------------------

If there are four of you then it might be easier to take a taxi the entire way. Four tickets are pretty expensive.

------------------------------

You didn't say where your hotel was. My problem with the Heathrow Express is that I never want to be near Paddington. I usually take the underground since I can usually walk to where I want to go from a tube stop. If your hotel is closer to Victoria (which is very likely) take the Coach.

------------------------------

The disadvantage of the underground in addition to it being slow, is that there are no luggage racks. There is extra floor space near the doors compared to a normal subway, but once you get near center city people sit on your luggage. Many of the stations do not have escalators so you have to drag your luggage up flights of stairs.

Answer 2

get the heathrow express to paddington station (one of London's main underground and railway stations)

it is an express service and will get you into central London in 15 Min's it very fast.

a bus from heathrow to victoria will take ove an hour and fifteen minuites

and the underground will take about 45 mins

take the exspress service

hope this helps :)

Answer 3

Connect and Express both stop at a train station called "Terminal 123", which serves 1,2 and 3. Terminals 4 and 5 have their own stations.

So your answer is yes, Connect and Express stop at Terminal 3. Heathrow Connect is really designed for people who live between Paddington and Heathrow and therefore it would be silly for them to go all the way into London just to go out again! I've linked the Heathrow Connect timetable in the source - it looks like it comes twice an hour on a Sunday during the day.

The Heathrow Express comes four times an hour on Sunday (again, linked in the sources) and it makes no stops on the 15 minute journey to Paddington.

I've never taken the National Express, but I can't imagine it will be a very pleasant experience, but it will certainly be cheaper. Heathrow Express is £28 for a return. Heathrow is a long way from Victoria and who knows how long the journey will take, especially with traffic. Over an hour would not be out of the question.

One big advantage of the Express after it's speed into the city, is that the trains are designed for people carrying large amounts of luggage. Lots of space and storage!

One more alternative is to take the London Underground, which will be about £4 for a single journey into Central London, and will take a little over 40 minutes.

UPDATED:

You can buy Connect or Express tickets from The Train Line (http://www.thetrainline.com) - if you search Heathrow to London Paddington, then that will bring back results for both services. Obviously the slightly slower one (26 min when I searched) is the Connect service.