matthew64832

I'm traveling the second Sunday in July through LHR; I arrive at 7:40am on KLM and depart at 3:35pm on VS. I was thinking this might be enough time to get out of the airport and actually see something, since I've never been to London. I'm traveling from AMS so I don't think there should be any customs/immigration to go through?

Is this enough time to get into the City, and if so is there any place in the airport to store my bags?

Also, any suggestions as to the best way to spend my limited time would be greatly appreciated.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

You will have to go through immigration at LHR .

If you can get your bags checked from AMS to your final destination you will not have to worry about getting your bags at LHR.

You can then get a train from LHR to Paddington and then the underground to many places in central london for a few hours.

If you have access to the Virgin Clubhouse at LHR then it is a very good place to spend a few hours.

Regards

TBS

rwoman

That should be sufficient time to make it into London. If you choose to do so, you'd need to clear passport control; the UK is not part of Schengen.

As KL uses LHR T4, I'd take the Tube to Piccadilly Circus - lots of places to wander from there. You could also change from the Piccadilly Line to the District Line at Hammersmith and get off at Westminster to see Big Ben, the Eye, Westminster Abbey, and other nearby places. They usually have London guides (they're red) in the jetways.

To return, you could take the Piccadilly Line back.

Each LHR terminal has Left Luggage (£8-9 / $15-16) in the Arrivals Hall.

As your VS flight uses T3, you'd need to give yourself enough time to retrieve your bag (be it T3 or T4). T3 and T4 are a train ride apart and you cannot walk between the two.

This thread may be useful:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...london-dl.html

Canarsie

The new home for this discussion is now the U.K. and Ireland forum, as it is about what to do on a long layover at London Heathrow Airport.

Regards,

Canarsie
Co-Moderator, Delta Air Lines | SkyMiles forum

matthew64832

Thanks for the replies!

Thanks for correcting me about immigration, I've never been to the UK. Should I be worried about this? I have a US passport so I assume I can still get into the UK but it will just take longer (i.e. no visa required for tourism visit of 1 day).

Regarding the clubhouse, I'll be a PM flying in coach on VS from LHR to Canada, so I'm not sure whether that gets me access... DL website seems to indicate PM and DM get access but it's been wrong before, and also it seems sometimes partner lounges simply don't follow the rules.

Good to know about left luggage, that's exactly what I am looking for. But it sounds like it might make more sense to drop my luggage off at the VS/departure terminal so I have that out of the way before going into town. It looks like the same tube line hits both the main/1-2-3 terminal and T4, but it's not clear how often the trains run between the terminals. If I arrive on KL in T4, transit to T3 to leave my luggage, is going into the city significantly different leaving from T3 vs leaving from T4?

Aviatrix

Is this on one ticket or two? If it's on one ticket you won't have to retrieve and re-check baggage.

rwoman

Yes, you can enter the UK on your passport.

As a PM you do get VS Clubhouse access.

After clearing immigration in T4, it takes about 10-20 minutes for the (free) train to get from T4 to T123. Left Luggage in T3 is in the arrivals area.

The difference in taking the Tube from T4 or T123 is negligible. It takes about 45-50 minutes to get into central London. If you're tight on time, you could take the (expensive) Heathrow Express, which is 15 minutes to Paddington, but you would then need the Tube to get closer to the main tourist areas.

BearX220

I think if you are heading from T4 into central London, the Heathrow Express loses its advantage. You wait for the shuttle to T1/T3, then wait for the HeX, then go downstairs at Paddington and wait for the District or Circle lines... or just jump on the Piccadilly line right from T4 for a fraction of the price and probably get to Piccadilly / Leicester Square / Westminster just as quickly if not more so.

rwoman

Agreed, but the OP wants to leave their carry on bag at left luggage in T3 (where their VS flight departs from).

dobba

Rather than left luggage, wouldn't it be better just to check it in? (Assuming it hasn't been checked through from AMS which sounds like the best solution.)

rwoman

OP should be able to have any checked baggage checked through and will not have to pick it up. I thought they were referring to any carry on bags.

matthew64832

Yes, sorry for any ambiguity, hoping not to bring any checked bags this trip but will have my two carryon bags with me which I don't want to lug around on trains and such. These are the bags I would like to leave. Trip is all on one ticket.

I assume the left luggage is landside, but it's still at the airport so it must have some security or something?

I think I have a pretty good idea of what to do: clear immigration, transfer to T3, drop bags, then take train in. Probably try to be back at the airport 2.5-3 hours before the flight just in case. I won't have any of the right cash but hopefully can find some places to take my chipped AMEX/MC or my unchipped Visa/Discover cards.

Thanks for all the info!

NewbieRunner

Yes, left luggage is landside and there's no need to clearl security to get there. Charges are very high as rwoman mentioned already.