London and Paris train questions

[sand2270]

I am trying to work out what trains we will need to take where for our 2012 trip. My questions are more specific to the London segment but I see a lot of conversations about that up here so was hoping someone would be able to help.

My question is I plan to take the train from the St. Pancras station (after taking the Eurostar direct back from Paris Disney) to Heathrow, staying at the Heathrow Holiday Inn. Am I correct there is not a direct connection and we will have to change trains at some point? How difficult are the stations to maneuver with luggage? We will probably have one large rolling duffle in addition to our personal bags.

I am also planning the following train routes...hoping these won't be too difficult for me and my DD to maneuver with our bags:

1. Heathrow Express to Paddington station. 5 minute walk to hotel.
2. Paddington Station to St. Pancras (to catch direct Eurostar)

Thanks.

 

[MollyandLucy'sMum]

Some london stations are a pain with luggage but sorry I can't remember which ones I'm sure someone will though.

Thought the national rail site might be really helpful to you as it has station maps so you can see how to get from platform to platforms where the loos are etc in advance.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/pad/details.html

 

[A Small World]

You can go direct from St Pancras to Heathrow without changing on the underground but if you want the Heathrow Express (its faster) it only goes from Paddington so you will need to change

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

 

[LJH77]

On the Transport For London website, there is a journey planner on the right hand side that is useful. I've used it before and found it to be helpful.

If you put in your Departure and arrival stations then it will give you different options of getting to your destination and will tell you what underground lines to take from what station,where to get off and how long it will take and how long transfers should take.

I did a wee example, if you just copy and paste into your browser (although it might not work):
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/us...pSelection=on&command=nop&calculateDistance=1

You can then also download an underground map so you can look at the route you'll be taking in advance.

Hope this helps a little.

Unfortunatley I don't know about how accessible the stations are in terms of luggage - sorry! Hopefully someone more familiar with London can help with that.

All the best - and safe trip!
Laura

 

[MichelinMan]

If you have luggage with you, then I would recommend getting a taxi from St Pancras / Kings Cross to Paddington, then catch the Heathrow Express - much quicker and easier. A taxi will set you back about £10 (but does depend how busy it is and time of day).

The tube to Heathrow takes ages (about an hour) and isn't the nicest of journeys - I did it once, and wouldn't repeat it in a hurry.

Once you get to Heathrow, how far is the hotel from the station? Because you may have to get a taxi the other end too. It might just be easier (and probably not much more money) to get a taxi direct from St Pancras to the hotel - and will be much less hassle and stress. You might be able to negotiate a good fixed price if you phone in advance with a cab company. On the meter it would be around £50 one way.

There is a good site you can get taxi fare estimates from:

http://www.worldtaximeter.com/london/london+st+pancras/heathrow+airport

That link shows the price to Heathrow Airport, which is around £56, but a lot of the Heathrow hotels are outside of the airport, so won't be that much.

 

[sand2270]

Some london stations are a pain with luggage but sorry I can't remember which ones I'm sure someone will though.

Thought the national rail site might be really helpful to you as it has station maps so you can see how to get from platform to platforms where the loos are etc in advance.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/pad/details.html

Thank you I will take a look. As long as there are escalators and/or elevators I think we would be ok.

You can go direct from St Pancras to Heathrow without changing on the underground but if you want the Heathrow Express (its faster) it only goes from Paddington so you will need to change

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

Thank you, I plan to take the express when we arrive but I knew we wouldn't be able to take it back unless we took it from Paddington. Glad to hear though we can take a direct from St. Pancras in case we don't want to change trains.

 

[sand2270]

On the Transport For London website, there is a journey planner on the right hand side that is useful. I've used it before and found it to be helpful.

If you put in your Departure and arrival stations then it will give you different options of getting to your destination and will tell you what underground lines to take from what station,where to get off and how long it will take and how long transfers should take.

I did a wee example, if you just copy and paste into your browser (although it might not work):
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/us...pSelection=on&command=nop&calculateDistance=1

You can then also download an underground map so you can look at the route you'll be taking in advance.

Hope this helps a little.

Unfortunatley I don't know about how accessible the stations are in terms of luggage - sorry! Hopefully someone more familiar with London can help with that.

All the best - and safe trip!
Laura

Thank you I will take a look!

If you have luggage with you, then I would recommend getting a taxi from St Pancras / Kings Cross to Paddington, then catch the Heathrow Express - much quicker and easier. A taxi will set you back about £10 (but does depend how busy it is and time of day).

The tube to Heathrow takes ages (about an hour) and isn't the nicest of journeys - I did it once, and wouldn't repeat it in a hurry.

Once you get to Heathrow, how far is the hotel from the station? Because you may have to get a taxi the other end too. It might just be easier (and probably not much more money) to get a taxi direct from St Pancras to the hotel - and will be much less hassle and stress. You might be able to negotiate a good fixed price if you phone in advance with a cab company. On the meter it would be around £50 one way.

There is a good site you can get taxi fare estimates from:

http://www.worldtaximeter.com/london/london+st+pancras/heathrow+airport

That link shows the price to Heathrow Airport, which is around £56, but a lot of the Heathrow hotels are outside of the airport, so won't be that much.

hmm thanks that makes sense. It's the Holiday Inn at the airport, not sure the exact location.

 

[living20057]

We just did this trip. We took the tube from Heathrow to kings cross. It was me and my two kids. We each had a bag. It was okay to work. They had escalators.

 

[queenmother]

Living20057 did you do the tube and not the National Express? How long did it take to get to Central London? I am looking at going from Heathrow to the Euston Rd St Pancras area with 2 kids and luggage, considering private car (85 pounds or 141 dollars), National Express plus cab or National Express plus Tube. 60 pounds.

 

[A Small World]

I used the tube to get from Heathrow to Central London (St Pancras) and it took about a hour. It was a long time on the tube but was Ok as it started at Heathrow so was easy to get a seat.
I was heading for Euston but decided it was easier to to it like that and walk from St Pancras to Euston (about 10 mins walk along the main road) rather than try and change and also rather than get the Heathrow Express which would have meant changing at Paddington.
The other advantage of doing it this way is that children are free on the tube but I would have had to pay for DD on the Heathrow Express