I'm trying to do something that may be impossible...help would be
appreciated. I will be arriving Friday night at Heathrow in a few
weeks. I imagine I'll be out of customs by 10:00 pm. Is there any way
I can arrive in Blackheath, where I will be staying by 11:00 pm? Here
are some questions...

1. If I got a cab at the airport, how long would it take and about how
much would that cost (approximately) to get to Blackheath? (I'm afraid
to hear the answer, because I recall that cabs in London were a King's
ransom.)

2. Can I take either the Heathrow Express or the Underground at
Heathrow and get off someplace in London from which I could get a cab?
What stop would I get out at? Would this save time or money? Would it
be safe?

3. Does the Heathrow Express make stops between the Airport and
Paddington? Where do you catch the Picadilly Line at Heathrow?

I look forward to receiving information.

Thank you.

JKF

"Jkf" wrote:
I'm trying to do something that may be impossible...help would be
appreciated. I will be arriving Friday night at Heathrow in a few
weeks. I imagine I'll be out of customs by 10:00 pm. Is there any way
I can arrive in Blackheath, where I will be staying by 11:00 pm?

You should manage it within the hour, I'd have thought.

1. If I got a cab at the airport, how long would it take and about how
much would that cost (approximately) to get to Blackheath? (I'm afraid
to hear the answer, because I recall that cabs in London were a King's
ransom.)

There's a London cabbie that hangs around in here (Mike Hughes IIRC) so he
should be able to answer that one.....

2. Can I take either the Heathrow Express or the Underground at
Heathrow and get off someplace in London from which I could get a cab?
What stop would I get out at? Would this save time or money? Would it
be safe?

Depends how much luggage you've got. The Piccadilly line is a slow trek
into London so I wouldn't recommend that, but OTOH the Heathrow Express is
expensive, but much quicker. If you take the latter, the Bakerloo Line is
the easiest to get to from the mainline trains, which is handy as that's
what you want. From there you could either stay on until Charing Cross and
get the mainline train to Blackheath, or change at Baker Street for the
Jubilee Line, get off at London Bridge, and get a train from there. That's
possibly easier as there's quite a walk from the Bakerloo Line to the
mainline station at Charing Cross, and I *think* that it's easier at London
Bridge. Also, changing at Baker Street is very easy as it's a
cross-platform interchange, so a quick dash across the platforms - no
stairs/escalators involved.

Have a look on www.journeyplanner.org - a quick look says it'll take about 1
hour 8 minutes. At a guess a taxi should easily beat that, but obviously it
comes at a price.

3. Does the Heathrow Express make stops between the Airport and
Paddington? Where do you catch the Picadilly Line at Heathrow?

Either the main T1-2-3 or T4 station - not completely sure on that one to be
honest, but I think they're part of the same stations as the tube stations.

--
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."

On 6 Oct 2006 14:31:31 -0700, "Jkf" wrote:

I'm trying to do something that may be impossible...help would be
appreciated. I will be arriving Friday night at Heathrow in a few
weeks. I imagine I'll be out of customs by 10:00 pm. Is there any way
I can arrive in Blackheath, where I will be staying by 11:00 pm? Here
are some questions...

The TfL Journey Planner says you can make the trip in 1hr 6 mins which I
think is pretty good for late evening. I cannot see a cab beating that
sort of time because it can be a long slog just to Central London from
Heathrow and there are no real fast routes through South London and the
trip you are making is a long one by road.

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use...T2?language=en


1. If I got a cab at the airport, how long would it take and about how
much would that cost (approximately) to get to Blackheath? (I'm afraid
to hear the answer, because I recall that cabs in London were a King's
ransom.)

No idea about taxis - never use them. I understand cabs from Heathrow
will charge you a premium. You may also struggle to get one to take you
to Blackheath as opposed to Central London.

2. Can I take either the Heathrow Express or the Underground at
Heathrow and get off someplace in London from which I could get a cab?
What stop would I get out at? Would this save time or money? Would it
be safe?

Why get a cab? - trains and tube will get you there quickly

Heathrow will be busy, Paddington will be busy and Central London will
be busy on a Friday night. It is very unlikely anywhere will feel
unsafe.

3. Does the Heathrow Express make stops between the Airport and
Paddington? Where do you catch the Picadilly Line at Heathrow?

The Journey Planner recommends you take HEX from Heathrow T123 (I made
that assumption - the journey will be slightly longer if you are landing
at Terminal 4 and would take the train from there). Note that HEX
charges a premium fare so you will pay for the fast and comfortable
journey. It takes 17 minutes and is non stop to Paddington. This is the
22.02 departure from Heathrow T123 HEX station arriving at Paddington at
22.19. You will arrive at platforms 6 or 7 in the main line (above
ground station). Follow the signs for "Underground" - there is a big
entrance heading down off the main concourse. There are escalators and
steps. The underground ticket office / machines are on your left. The
ticket gates are in front of you - once through them follow the signs
for the brown Bakerloo line. This is to your left, down a corridor, into
another ticket hall and there are escalators heading downstairs. At the
bottom you want the right hand platform and the train destination should
show Elephant and Castle. This train will take you to Charing Cross.

From Paddington you will need to take the Southbound Bakerloo Line (any
train from that platform) to Charing Cross. Journey Planner says there
is a train at 22.28 - trains are very frequent though. When getting off
the tube follow the Way Out signs and then the signs for Charing Cross
Main Line Station (Signed as National Rail).

At Charing Cross Tube you come up an escalator into the ticket hall.
Once through the gates turn to your right and make sure you follow the
signs for the Main Line Station. There is a big underground subway
complex here and it is easy to get lost - however there will be a decent
flow of people heading this way. There is an escalator to take you up
into the main line station.

In Charing Cross you will take a train to Blackheath. This is the 22.49
departure - its final destination will be Dartford so look for that and
the time on the departure boards to find your platform. Charing Cross
is a busy but compact station - there are not many platforms to choose
from. Your train will arrive at Blackheath at 23.08.

Now the one thing I am not sure about is whether you can buy one ticket
all the way through from Heathrow on HEX plus the tube plus the train to
Blackheath. It will be convenient if you can but I think HEX is
separately ticketed from the rest of the main line network - I'm sure
someone "in the know" will pop up. My best recommendation is to at
least ask at Heathrow HEX station as to whether they can sell you a
through ticket all the way - their website is silent about this. If they
cannot then buy a single to Paddington. At Paddington Tube Station ask
for a through single ticket to Blackheath at the ticket office - they
should be able to sell you one. The National Rail website says the
ticket should cost £5.40.

http://nationalrail.co.uk/index.html

What you have not said is how encumbered you will be. If you have 27
suitcases with you then the above route will be difficult as there are
escalators and stairs to deal with at each of the stations. If you are
not too encumbered then you should be fine.

I can't do any more detail than the above (!) so I hope you find it
useful.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Paul Corfield wrote:
On 6 Oct 2006 14:31:31 -0700, "Jkf" wrote:

I'm trying to do something that may be impossible...help would be
appreciated. I will be arriving Friday night at Heathrow in a few
weeks. I imagine I'll be out of customs by 10:00 pm. Is there any way
I can arrive in Blackheath, where I will be staying by 11:00 pm? Here
are some questions...

The TfL Journey Planner says you can make the trip in 1hr 6 mins which I
think is pretty good for late evening. I cannot see a cab beating that
sort of time because it can be a long slog just to Central London from
Heathrow and there are no real fast routes through South London and the
trip you are making is a long one by road.

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use...T2?language=en


1. If I got a cab at the airport, how long would it take and about how
much would that cost (approximately) to get to Blackheath? (I'm afraid
to hear the answer, because I recall that cabs in London were a King's
ransom.)

No idea about taxis - never use them. I understand cabs from Heathrow
will charge you a premium. You may also struggle to get one to take you
to Blackheath as opposed to Central London.

2. Can I take either the Heathrow Express or the Underground at
Heathrow and get off someplace in London from which I could get a cab?
What stop would I get out at? Would this save time or money? Would it
be safe?

Why get a cab? - trains and tube will get you there quickly

Heathrow will be busy, Paddington will be busy and Central London will
be busy on a Friday night. It is very unlikely anywhere will feel
unsafe.

3. Does the Heathrow Express make stops between the Airport and
Paddington? Where do you catch the Picadilly Line at Heathrow?

The Journey Planner recommends you take HEX from Heathrow T123 (I made
that assumption - the journey will be slightly longer if you are landing
at Terminal 4 and would take the train from there). Note that HEX
charges a premium fare so you will pay for the fast and comfortable
journey. It takes 17 minutes and is non stop to Paddington. This is the
22.02 departure from Heathrow T123 HEX station arriving at Paddington at
22.19. You will arrive at platforms 6 or 7 in the main line (above
ground station). Follow the signs for "Underground" - there is a big
entrance heading down off the main concourse. There are escalators and
steps. The underground ticket office / machines are on your left. The
ticket gates are in front of you - once through them follow the signs
for the brown Bakerloo line. This is to your left, down a corridor, into
another ticket hall and there are escalators heading downstairs. At the
bottom you want the right hand platform and the train destination should
show Elephant and Castle. This train will take you to Charing Cross.

From Paddington you will need to take the Southbound Bakerloo Line (any
train from that platform) to Charing Cross. Journey Planner says there
is a train at 22.28 - trains are very frequent though. When getting off
the tube follow the Way Out signs and then the signs for Charing Cross
Main Line Station (Signed as National Rail).

At Charing Cross Tube you come up an escalator into the ticket hall.
Once through the gates turn to your right and make sure you follow the
signs for the Main Line Station. There is a big underground subway
complex here and it is easy to get lost - however there will be a decent
flow of people heading this way. There is an escalator to take you up
into the main line station.

In Charing Cross you will take a train to Blackheath. This is the 22.49
departure - its final destination will be Dartford so look for that and
the time on the departure boards to find your platform. Charing Cross
is a busy but compact station - there are not many platforms to choose
from. Your train will arrive at Blackheath at 23.08.

Now the one thing I am not sure about is whether you can buy one ticket
all the way through from Heathrow on HEX plus the tube plus the train to
Blackheath. It will be convenient if you can but I think HEX is
separately ticketed from the rest of the main line network - I'm sure
someone "in the know" will pop up. My best recommendation is to at
least ask at Heathrow HEX station as to whether they can sell you a
through ticket all the way - their website is silent about this. If they
cannot then buy a single to Paddington. At Paddington Tube Station ask
for a through single ticket to Blackheath at the ticket office - they
should be able to sell you one. The National Rail website says the
ticket should cost £5.40.

http://nationalrail.co.uk/index.html

What you have not said is how encumbered you will be. If you have 27
suitcases with you then the above route will be difficult as there are
escalators and stairs to deal with at each of the stations. If you are
not too encumbered then you should be fine.

I can't do any more detail than the above (!) so I hope you find it
useful.
--
Paul C



Just an extra thought about changing with luggage. Charing Cross and
London Bridge will both be horrible interchanges, although Bakerloo to
Jubilee is very easy at Baker Street.

London Bridge is thoroughly horrible and you have to walk miles.

Charing Cross because you are arriving on the Bakerloo. The Bakerloo
really calls at the old Trafalgar Square station. The first escalator
takes you up to Trafalgar Square, but the National Rail signs take you
along a passage under the Strand so that you come up under Charing
Cross after a long walk.

So I wonder if it might be slightly better to do the Baker Street
change and get out at Southwark instead, where the walk to Waterloo
East isn't as long as either Charing Cross or London Bridge I think.
Trains are timetabled to depart Waterloo East three minutes after
Charing Cross.

Jkf wrote:

I'm trying to do something that may be impossible...help would be
appreciated. I will be arriving Friday night at Heathrow in a few
weeks. I imagine I'll be out of customs by 10:00 pm. Is there any way
I can arrive in Blackheath, where I will be staying by 11:00 pm? Here
are some questions...

I don't have answers to all questions but I have some ideas if you want
to save some money. It is possible to make this journey much cheaper if
you avoid Heathrow Express or cabs. Heathrow Express - tube through
central London - train to Blackheath with cash single tickets will cost
you 14.50+3+2.40 = £19.90 and by tube to Charing Cross - train to
Blackheath only the price of a Z1-6 day travelcard, £6.30.

The difference in time is about 10-20 minutes, Heathrow - Charing Cross
is about 50-60 minutes by tube and about 40-45 minutes by HEX+tube.

The most optimal tube journey in my opinion is Piccadilly Line to
Piccadilly Circus and then Bakerloo Line to Charing Cross. However with
much luggage it might be difficult with escalators and then it might be
better to change to District Line at Hammersmith and go to Embankment
Station and then walk to the Charing Cross main line station from there.

An even cheaper alternative is tube - bus but according to TfL Journey
Planner it will take between 1:33 and 1:44. With cash single tickets it
will cost you 4+1.50 = £5.50. If you want to try this I recommend
Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith, then District Line to Westminster,
Jubilee Line to North Greenwich and then bus 108 (or maybe 422 depending
on where in Blackheath you want to go).
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/...-greenwich.pdf

--
Olof Lagerkvist
ICQ: 724451
Web: http://here.is/olof

Unfortunately I think you'll be very lucky to land at 10pm and get to
Blackheath by 11pm.

One thing to take into account is that Heathrow is a nightmare airport
to exit. It can take quite a while to talk from your arrival gate to
passport control. If you have a European Union passport, you can
usually get through passport control fairly quickly. However if you
don't, the queues can often be quite long.

Best case, with an EU passport and hand luggage only, I think you could
possibly be out of customs by 10.15pm, assuming your plane lands on
time.

As outlined elsewhere in this thread, train/tube options would take at
least an hour.

I've found that the best possible taxi time from Heathrow to Blackheath
across central London is about 45 minutes. However this only works in
the early hours of the morning (6am). At 10-11pm on a Friday night,
central London will be very busy and I think it would take about 90
minutes but this is very variable.

Going around the M25 would be quicker at this time of night (though
more expensive). I would guess a journey time of 65-70 minutes (make
sure the driver leaves the M25 at junction 2 - longer but quicker as
compared to exitting at junction 3).

Cheaper than a black cab taxi would be to pre-book a minicab. A company
that provides a reasonable service and is fairly reliable is Blackheath
Cars. I haven't done Heathrow to Blackheath for a while but if memory
serves, the fixed cost (ie there's no meter) is about £55-60 across
central London (more expensive around the M25).

Blackheath Cars can have somebody waiting for you after you exit
customs. Note that you'll lose a few minutes over getting a black cab
as you'll need to walk to where the driver has parked in the short-term
car park and the driver will need to pay for the parking charges.

Blackheath Cars can be contacted on +44-20-8318-5432.

Given the above, on a Friday night, I reckon train and tube options are
better (and cheaper).

Are you committed to Heathrow though? Much more convenient for
Blackheath is London City airport (to which you can fly from several
European locations). You can usually exit City airport in about 5
minutes and a taxi to Blackheath should only take 10-15 minutes
(assuming the Blackwall tunnel isn't closed for maintenance - it does
happen, search the web).

I usually just get a black cab from City airport to Blackheath as the
premium isn't too much over a minicab. Obviously you could also book
Blackheath Cars as above.

Good luck!

On Fri, 6 Oct 2006 Jkf wrote:

I'm trying to do something that may be impossible...help would be
appreciated. I will be arriving Friday night at Heathrow in a few
weeks. I imagine I'll be out of customs by 10:00 pm. Is there any way
I can arrive in Blackheath, where I will be staying by 11:00 pm? Here
are some questions...

1. If I got a cab at the airport, how long would it take and about how
much would that cost (approximately) to get to Blackheath? (I'm afraid
to hear the answer, because I recall that cabs in London were a King's
ransom.)

2. Can I take either the Heathrow Express or the Underground at
Heathrow and get off someplace in London from which I could get a cab?
What stop would I get out at? Would this save time or money? Would it
be safe?

3. Does the Heathrow Express make stops between the Airport and
Paddington? Where do you catch the Picadilly Line at Heathrow?

Just a thought about an alternative route to Blackheath, though this
takes longer and wouldn't get you there by 11 p.m.

Take not the Heathrow Express but Heathrow Connect to Ealing Broadway.
Change there to the Central Line to Stratford. Just outside the station
is the bus station, from where the 108 bus goes to Blackheath.

zin92 wrote:

Unfortunately I think you'll be very lucky to land at 10pm and get to
Blackheath by 11pm.


Paul C's route described elsewhere on this thread sounds solid but
nontheless I also think trying to do it in an hour is pushing it. If
you took a taxi I can't help but imagine you'd get stuck up in traffic
(friday night is party night after all), though this could possibly be
avoided by going round the M25, but that's just much further -
depending upon which route you used to get into Blackheath you could
end up doing almost a half circle of the M25 - which would eat up time
too.

Earlier flight?

"Mizter T" wrote:
Unfortunately I think you'll be very lucky to land at 10pm and get to
Blackheath by 11pm.

Paul C's route described elsewhere on this thread sounds solid but
nontheless I also think trying to do it in an hour is pushing it. If
you took a taxi I can't help but imagine you'd get stuck up in traffic
(friday night is party night after all), though this could possibly be
avoided by going round the M25, but that's just much further -
depending upon which route you used to get into Blackheath you could
end up doing almost a half circle of the M25 - which would eat up time
too.

Indeed - just worked it out very roughly on Memory-Map Navigator and it's
around 49 miles from J15 to the J3 for the M20/A20 - there's no way in the
world you could beat the direct route at that time by going that way. Or,
indeed, at most times.

One suggestion might be to get a train to Lewisham - you might possibly get
a slightly quicker train that might only call at more major stations on the
way out to somewhere further out, than a more local stopping service.
Wouldn't knock much off the time, but there might be slightly more trains to
Lewisham, and depending on where in Blackheath the OP is heading for, it
might be almost as close anyway.

And from what someone else said, going from the tube to mainline station at
London Bridge is probably almost as much of a pain in the neck as it is at
Charing Cross from the Bakerloo line. I wouldn't bother with Southwark to
Waterloo East though - a quick look on a map reveals it to be a longer walk
than at Charing Cross.

--
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."

In message . com, Jkf
writes
I'm trying to do something that may be impossible...help would be
appreciated. I will be arriving Friday night at Heathrow in a few
weeks. I imagine I'll be out of customs by 10:00 pm. Is there any way
I can arrive in Blackheath, where I will be staying by 11:00 pm? Here
are some questions...

1. If I got a cab at the airport, how long would it take and about how
much would that cost (approximately) to get to Blackheath? (I'm afraid
to hear the answer, because I recall that cabs in London were a King's
ransom.)

I've read some of the other replies, some of which do not seem to have
read your original post correctly. Let me see if I can help you from a
taxi driver's point of view.

First of all you state that you imagine you'll be out of customs at
about 10 p.m. Do you know which terminal you will be arriving at? (If
it's long haul BA it will probably be T4, long haul (most) other
carriers T3, European T2. In my experience most people take about 45
minutes to collect luggage and complete customs (those who have been
away for one day on business with no luggage are usually out within 15
minutes). From this can you confirm that your flight is scheduled to
land at about 9.15 p.m.?

Time on a Friday - you should do that within the hour. Note that the
route the driver should choose would avoid the west end.

Cost. The fare is on the meter and would probably be in the region of 75
GBP. There is a Heathrow pick up charge of 2.00 GPB (which is half the
4.00 GBP we get charged to be allowed to pick up !) and that would be
shown on the meter as an 'extra'. There is no other premium.

Taxis are not forced to take a fare to Blackheath as it is well outside
the compulsory 20 mile limit (for Heathrow - 12 miles in town). However,
most drivers would be willing to take such a fare.

For one person a taxi is obviously a relatively expensive option (unless
the business is paying). For two it is marginal, but for 3, 4 or 5
people a taxi is usually cheaper (especially at night when the traffic
moves) that the Heathrow Express.

There is also the consideration of luggage. How much will you have and
how easy is it to move around. If you post more details then I can give
you more definitive information.

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England