Should I leave Heathrow during my seven hour layover?

Question

I have a seven hour layover in London. Should I leave the airport? I know it will take some to get through customs, but I'd love to get some eye candy if I can.

Answer 1

You may as well... you can take the Piccadilly Line to Knightsbridge and check out Harrod's, or get off at Piccadilly Circus and check out Trafalgar Square... then get a bus towards Westminster and see Big Ben and The River Thames.  

All the tourist sites in London are in a fairly compact area, so even if you're only in the city for a couple of hours you could still see lots and be back at Heathrow with plenty of time to spare for your next flight.

Answer 2

Yes, if you're prepared to spend a bit of money - taking the Heathrow Express to Paddington is the fastest way to the centre but costs GBP25-30 return.

If you don't have luggage to collect (i.e. your luggage was checked all the way through), then you may have a bit of time:

Getting to & through passport control: 30mins

Getting to the train, waiting for it & travel to London: 45mins

Paddington to, say, Leicester Square: 30mins.

Return the same: 1hr 15mins

Check back in: Standard 2 hours

So - 5 hours travel, check-in leaves 2 hours in central London (assuming nothing goes wrong, inward flight on time).

Personally, I don't think it's worth it; I'd get too worried about being late or rushing around but it's a personal choice.

Answer 3

I would say no. Heathrow is a massive airport and the travel time around London is far longer than one would expect. It would be too risky and you would be very rushed! That's my advice, but have a good, safe trip!

Answer 4

Go for it just aloow youself enough time to get back through passport control and security checks

Answer 5

It all depends on what you would like to see. Getting from LHR in Zone 6 of the Underground network to the usual London sights in Zone 1 can take up to 1 and one half hours. It may not be worthwhile heading out of LHR to Zone 1 if you add the journey time to and fro Zone 1 to the one and one half hour to get out of customs and the additional hr in various queues and security check kiosks when you try to get back into the departure lounge at LHR. If you are indeed keen on catching some sights, perhaps you can try the slightly less famous ones in Zones 4, 5 or 6, e.g. Kew Gardens, Marble Hill House (Richmond), Chiswick House etc

Answer 6

Well, if you are not hauling around too much carry-on luggage it might be worth it.

Heathrow is on the subway system and it is about 30 minutes (by subway) from some good site-seeing.

It may take up to 2 hours to clear customs and 2 hours to check in again.  Together with the subway time, that doesn't leave much time.

What you could do is plan to go into London, but see how it goes.  If your plane is late, or if getting through arrival customs is taking too long, then scrap the plan.