U.K. and Ireland - London Train & Tube questions

Guys and girls,

I'm taking my 6 year old daughter to London for the first time. We're staying at the Hilton Olympia and plan on visiting Legoland amongst other things.

I have two questions that I hope will be answered.

Firstly, we're going to get the tube from LHR to the hotel. The hotel's website states that the Kensington Olympia station is closest to the hotel followed by High Street Kensington. Given that the Kensington Olympia station is much closer I'd prefer to use this option, however when I looked on the tube map it only appears to be in use at the weekend or when special events are on. As we are travelling midweek this isn't of much use to us. Can anyone let me know on what other days train will run to this station? (we are travelling to LHR on Wed 4th July and back on Fri 6th.

Secondly, we will be visiting Legoland on Thursday 5th July (tickets are already bought), I can see there are several options for getting there. I'd prefer to travel by train rather than bus. Can anyone advise on the best way to go about this, departing from our hotel?

TIA

G

Guys and girls,

I'm taking my 6 year old daughter to London for the first time. We're staying at the Hilton Olympia and plan on visiting Legoland amongst other things.

I have two questions that I hope will be answered.

Firstly, we're going to get the tube from LHR to the hotel. The hotel's website states that the Kensington Olympia station is closest to the hotel followed by High Street Kensington. Given that the Kensington Olympia station is much closer I'd prefer to use this option, however when I looked on the tube map it only appears to be in use at the weekend or when special events are on. As we are travelling midweek this isn't of much use to us. Can anyone let me know on what other days train will run to this station? (we are travelling to LHR on Wed 4th July and back on Fri 6th.

Secondly, we will be visiting Legoland on Thursday 5th July (tickets are already bought), I can see there are several options for getting there. I'd prefer to travel by train rather than bus. Can anyone advise on the best way to go about this, departing from our hotel?

TIA

G

Hello Guster,

I am genuinely sorry, but I think you have been sold a pup, so far as public transport goes with the Kensington Olympia Hotel and its proximity to Kensington Olympia Station.

FWIW, here is the Underground (Tube) timetable: http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/AHF/TLJJP09P1__00003dff.pdf This http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-ireland/1345643-west-london-parliamentary-trains-cease.html is the reason why.

Getting to Legoland by train sounds like fun; this was taken from the Legoland website:

Just half an hour from London Paddington to Windsor & Eton Central, via Slough on the First Great Western. Or direct from London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside on South West Trains (Link South West Trains to www.southwesttrains.co.uk). Approximate journey time from London Waterloo is less than 1 hour.

There is a shuttle bus service to the park from stops close to both rail stations; please note that this is a chargeable service and is not operated by the park. For times, please visit www.legolandshuttle.com

Alternatively you may call Windsor Radio Cars on 01753 677677 for a taxi.

Money saving packages to LEGOLAND Windsor are available which include LEGOLAND admission, rail travel and shuttle bus. These inclusive tickets are available from most major stations in mainland Britain or through Rail Telesales and accredited travel agents.

For train times and fares, call 08457 48 49 50.* (24 hrs, call may be recorded,
*calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras



Feel free to PM me if you want to know more about "things every six-year old would love to see in London"!

The Tube service at Olympia is now very limited, but the slack is taken up by the London Overground service, which runs every 15 minutes. This is of limited use in getting from LHR, sadly, so I suspect you'll be better off heading for High St Ken, or just getting off the Piccadilly Line at Barons Court and hailing a cab.

For Legoland, however, you can get the train from Olympia to Clapham Junction and change there for Windsor. South West Trains, linked to above, do offer train & Legoland packages - see the website for details.

Feel free to PM me if you want to know more about "things every six-year old would love to see in London"!

By all means do PM each other, but this kind of thing is great to share for other visitors to this forum!

For Legoland, however, you can get the train from Olympia to Clapham Junction and change there for Windsor.

That must be the lower river level station across the river from the castle (not that it matters)?

Go to Paddington on the Heathrow Express / Connect and grab a cab from there. Kensington isn't far and would be surprised if its more than £15. It is also a lot faster than getting the Piccadilly line and changing / walking / cabbing.

As for LegoLand, again, Paddington is your friend. The fast train to Slough takes just under 20mins and drops you right next to the Windsor and Eton platform 1. Trains are every 15mins or so and take about 6 mins, after great views of Slough, you get great views of Windsor castle on the way in. If you are going weekend check that the services aren't affected by engineering work, I sometimes see people being hoarded in to taxis at Slough when they haven't got the Windsor shuttle service running.

Beware of overpriced food in LegoLand, take a few snacks and grab a nice meal in Windsor after ;)

Have to disagree about Heathrow Express. Why pay for a really expensive train that goes nowhere near your hotel and overall won't save any time?
The Express from T5 to Paddington takes 25 minutes. Meanwhile, if you take the Piccadilly line from Heathrow you get off at Hammersmith after 35 minutes. From there either take a bus (route 9 / 10 or 27) or taxi from there. I really don't see that going via HEx to Paddington will save any time but it will cost a lot more. All London buses have "next stop" announcements linked to GPS - really easy to use.
Plan the journey with this tool
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en

A one day all zones travelcard from Heathrow (after 0930) is £8.50 per adult and covers all tubes / buses for the rest of the day.

That must be the lower river level station across the river from the castle (not that it matters)?

Windsor has two stations, but they're both on the same side of the river and both less than 5 minutes walk from the castle.

Windsor & Eton Central - branch line from Slough connecting to fast trains to London Paddington.
Windsor & Eton Riverside - direct line to Clapham Junction & Waterloo (but slower, stopping trains)

From Kensington Olympia, you also have the option of taking Green Line coaches direct to Windsor:
http://www.greenline.co.uk/serviceInformation.aspx?id=12593

Windsor has two stations, but they're both on the same side of the river and both less than 5 minutes walk from the castle.

Windsor & Eton Central - branch line from Slough connecting to fast trains to London Paddington.
Windsor & Eton Riverside - direct line to Clapham Junction & Waterloo (but slower, stopping trains)

From Kensington Olympia, you also have the option of taking Green Line coaches direct to Windsor:
http://www.greenline.co.uk/serviceInformation.aspx?id=12593
Since I live in SW4, I've never done the Paddington-Slough-Windsor & Eton Central route, but I would think that from Kensington Olympia, taking the Overground to Clapham Junction and then Southwest Trains onward to Windsor & Eton Riverside makes the most sense. It might be a bit slower than the Paddington route, but with a six year old, I'd say fewer changes are better. Also, I think the SWT route is kind of nice, as the last bit tracks along the Thames a fair bit from what I recall. Paddington-Slough is certainly nothing worth noting.

I guess my experiences of getting the Piccadilly line from Heathrow have not been the same as yours. I even prefer Heathrow connect to the underground from Heathrow. I guess my experiences are based on going in to Central London (e.g. Kings Cross)

In terms of convenience, the express train and cab from Heathrow would still be my preferred option. Being a regular commuter, I try and avoid underground trains whenever possible.

I guess my experiences of getting the Piccadilly line from Heathrow have not been the same as yours. I even prefer Heathrow connect to the underground from Heathrow. I guess my experiences are based on going in to Central London (e.g. Kings Cross)

In terms of convenience, the express train and cab from Heathrow would still be my preferred option. Being a regular commuter, I try and avoid underground trains whenever possible.

I think the HEx could be slightly better on overall travel time assuming no taxi queue at Pad and light traffic. For OP's purposes though I'd say assume that travel time is equal between the two, and base the decision on ambiance. HEx - bit more space and nicer surroundings, but overall journey for the two of them will cost about 3x that of the tube option.

I visit London fairly often. When work is paying I take the HEx, and when I'm paying I take the tube! :)

I only took Heathrow Express once, usually take Heathrow Connect if I am travelling for myself and only takes 10mins longer. No 27 bus also stops outside Pad too. ;)

....Trains are every 15mins or so and take about 6 mins, after great views of Slough, you get great views of Windsor castle on the way in....

I am sitting here chuckling about the whole concept of getting "great views of Slough." :)

Its well known that Chalvey is one of the best parts of Slough

Maybe I should have done the same in my previous post :)

Thanks for all the advice guys.
We're going to get the tube from LHR (I'm paying from my own pocket) and will try the train from Kensington to Clapham and connect from there.
Guster

May be a little too late on this but that hotel is a ways from the tube stations but has busses running from the stations. Was a bit confusing when I stayed there a few days not too long ago but figured it out by the time I checked out. I just did more walking than I would have preffered.

I hope you have enjoyed your stay.