Planning a trip to Newcastle-Is this daft?
 

I need some opinions from my UK based FT friends...

I'm going to be in London for a few days and was thinking about taking a day flight up to Newcastle and back. I found a reasonable fare from LHR on BA. The flight would depart LHR at 0845 (IIRC) and get back in at 1900.

1. For a domestic flight, how early to get to T5 (no luggage planned)? I would be staying at T4 the night prior.

2. I did look at the National Rail, and it is slightly cheaper, but the train tride is almost 4 hours each way. However, if I have to be at the airport 2 hrs prior for both flights, I'm not really saving much in the way of time.

3. I've never flown domestic in the UK before, so are the queues as bad for those flights as they are for international flights (my point of reference here is BA T4 departures to the states)?

4. Luggage storage in T5?

Any input is appreciated. In NCL I would be using public transportation to get around.

Are you travelling on a Sunday? Normally, the journey time from King's Cross to Newcastle is a little uner 3 hours, which makes it far more attractive a way to travel (particularly with good value First Class fares and onboard Wi-Fi).

(Oh, unless you're staying at Heathrow anyway and need to get over to King's Cross for the train...)

In Newcastle itself, you're well served by public transport - the Metro system is excellent. I love the city - I grew up there, and it's got a fantastic spirit, and more attractions that you can shake a stick at.

I am about to book a train too. Getting 1st return for 90 quid. Not bad! I feel that a flight is only of use if coming in from a long haul with checked in luggage.

Correct me if I am wrong but LHR to Kings cross should be 45min max via Underground?? It is on the same line?

It would be a Thursday. BA is offering an 84 pound, all taxes inclusive return. Flight time looks to be at one hour each way.

My handy-dandy tube map says that the Piccadilly tube line from Heathrow goes straight in to King's Cross, and then change for the Nat'l Rail. The Nat. Rail website put the tube journey at 45 minutes.

As stut has said, the train journey *should* be under 3 hours each way on a normal day, so 4 hours would suggest that you're getting hit by weekend/ easter engineering works (or you've specified some departure point other than King's Cross).

If prices are equal, I have tended in the past to fly southbound and get the train northbound. This is because Newcastle Airport is small and manageable compared to the hell of LHR/ STN (and the unreliability of transport in the capital). T5 promises to make the northbound trip a bit more reliable...

The queues for check-in (if you need to do that) and security at LHR/ NCL will be the same whether you are travelling domestically or internationally. They're promising no queues at T5. At either airport, 2 hours is overkill unless you like airports. At NCL, there's no sweat arriving at T-30 mins if you've OLCI'd and have no baggage. You'll most probably be airside within 5 minutes of arriving on the Metro, and the BA gate is one of the closest to the departure lounge - 3 mins walk max. At LHR T5, there is to be a 35 minute cut-off time by which you must have passed through security. I'll let someone more expert than me tell you how long it will take from your T4 hotel to T5.

Newcastle's a great city. The centre is about 25 min from the Airport by metro. Get off at either Haymarket or Monument (can recommend a few places for brunch if you like) and you can either wander through the compact city centre and down Grey Street (the most elegant street in the UK, apparently) or switch to a bus to take you down to the Quayside area (Tyne Bridge, Baltic Arts Centre (great views from the top floor), the Castle Keep, Millennium Bridge, there's also bike hire if that's your thing).

Carry on walking (downstream) and you get to the Ouseburn Valley and Jesmond Dene - a small river flowing into the Tyne along which various funky pubs ply their trade. You can walk up the Ouseburn into the suburb of Jesmond and eventually end up back in the city centre.

If it's a nice day, you can catch the Metro out to the beach at Tynemouth. There's a market in the Victorian station on the weekend.

If you're walking back into Haymarket/ Monument station at 1730, you'll have plenty of time for a 1900 flight.

Hope this helps - feel free to ask any more questions.

Ah, that explains things. It's three hours or so on the train from King's Cross, but starting from a hotel at LHR obviously skews things in favour of flying. The Heathrow Express is not a great deal of help to you.

I don't know where you want to end up in the evening, but there's nothing to stop you from flying one way and train the other. The BA price you mentioned sounds like 2 x one-way fares. If you look on http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/ you can see the various fare options for one-ways on the train. The cheapest inflexible fares start at about £10, but are more typically in the £30-£50 range.

How about a trip to Durham - one the world's greatest buildings in an unforgettable setting with the wooded riverside wending it's way around

Then you can get the train back to London

I'm actually ending up at the Hilton London Kensington that evening (Holland Park tube stop). Coming back into LHR, I'd probably take the Heathrow Connect back to Paddington and do the tube transfers from there. I looked at one way fares-it is 11 pounds each way, but the taxes and fees drive it up to 84 pounds r/t (vs. 52 pounds one way). I'm going to have to sleep on this one...$170 is a lot of money for a few hours (and I don't get any BA EC tier points, either), although great memories are priceless.

Let me do a little research on that. How long is the train ride from central London to Durham?

Durham is about 15-20 minutes by train from Newcastle - about 2h45m from London

So you could fly up, take the Metro to Newcastle Central Station, get a train to Durham then train back to London

You could also fly to "Durham Tees Valley" with BMI, take the free bus to Darlington station and then the train to Durham - it would also mean not having to deal with T5

Durham is about 15-20 minutes south of Newcastle, so you can subtract that from the journey time from London. Do be aware that the direct journey time Newcastle-London varies between 2:50 and 3:25 depending on which train you take.

You won't get TPs on the cheap BA flights, but you will get some miles. Although at 125, it's hardly worth getting excited about.

You could also look at easyJet if you want to save cash. It can be as little as £14 including tax each way, although you will probably pay as much again to schlepp out to Stansted. Again, the southbound journey is a lot smoother than the northbound one.

If you're going to take Heathrow Connect, you should get off it at Ealing Broadway and get a direct tube from there to Holland Park. That will save you either a change of tube or the walk from Paddington to Lancaster Gate.

If he's going back to Central London then getting the train south from Newcastle / Durham would be a better option

I'm having trouble justifying the $170 r/t to myself for an afternoon in Newcastle (or the 9,000 miles & $121 option). It's not off the table yet, but it is looking more and more like too much of a hassle for the cost. However, being a FTer, this may still occur. If I do, what is the transportation between T4 and T5? It looks like HEX makes the journey, but is there an easier or quicker way? How much time between T4 and T5 plus check-in, security (Thursday morning)?

I am also considering a morning or afternoon in Epping instead. I take it that there are some nice walks in the forest? Any pub recommendations for lunch?

Had a question about the LHR to NCL journey. I am going up via the train but not sure how to get from T3 to Kings Cross with two full suitcases, one strolley. Don't want to drag them around on the underground? Did that the last time around and it was an horrible experiance. Will land at 7pm.

Would it make more sense to get the hex to Paddington and then taxi it to Kings Cross? How much would that cost?