I will be taking British airways overseas, and I have a 12 hour layover at Heathrow airport in London. Has anyone had such a long layover? If so, were you able to check your bags into either the airport are the lounge? What would you do in the city into such a short timeframe? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'd go to the BA Lounge, get a 90 minute massage, take a nice shower and then take a nap!

12 hours...I would get a day rate at the Heathrow Hilton. You can walk from the terminal.

The last time I went through LHR one could just stay in the international terminal and avoid customs and immigration (twice). The massage, shower and nap sounds like a wonderful plan to me.

Best regards,

RA1

I will be taking British airways overseas, and I have a 12 hour layover at Heathrow airport in London. Has anyone had such a long layover? If so, were you able to check your bags into either the airport are the lounge? What would you do in the city into such a short timeframe? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Although I have been to Heathrow countless times, I have never experienced a long layover there, much less a twelve hour layover.

If your connecting flight is with BA or another One World partner, you should be able to check your bags, assuming that the check in counter is open at the carrier you are using.

It you can get free of your luggage and want to have some fun on your layover, why not visit Villa Gianni in London? The address is in this forum. If you cannot find the address and directions, I can post it for you.

After getting rid of your luggage, you can go downstairs and find the underground (tube). The only line that runs at Heathrow is the Piccadilly Line. It runs often and will take you to Earl's Court station after one change. Villa Gianni, is about a ten minute walk from the Earl's Court station.

It costs ninety pounds (Sterling) for a one hour visit with a guy of your choice. There is quite a variety of guys there. You could easily get to the place, have some fun, then get back to Heathrow all by using the tube (underground).

On the other hand, if you don't feel up to Villa Gianni, you can take the Piccadilly line and explore parts of London. It is a splendid city to visit. There is a lot to see and do, as you no doubt know.

You do not want take a taxi because you never know about the traffic in London. The underground does not get delayed because of traffic. There was a strike on the underground a few weeks ago but that is all settled.

I cannot imagine staying at Heathrow for 12 hours.

Mvan1's advice is spot-on.

All I can add as a Londoner is that if you want to come into central London by the fastest route, take the Heathrow Express train from the airport to Paddington station. It's much more expensive than the Tube but is also much faster, taking only 15-20 minutes depending on at which terminal you board.

Incidentally, the dispute on the Tube system (about the introduction of an all-night service) is continuing. The next strike is scheduled to start for 24 hours from 6.30pm Wednesday 5 August.

OZ +1 for Mvan's suggestion! I have done a long layover at Heathrow and I checked my bags, went down to the tube entrance and took it to Earls Court stop, if I remember about 40 mins. maybe less, got off walked two blocks to Villa Gianni, hooked up with a Hungarian and a Italian, had a drink at VG's bar, walked back to the Earl's Court tube station, got back to Hearthrow approximately 4-1/2 hrs. later, and still had 4 hours to burn so went to the BA lounge rented a "room" it's a single bed, wth bathroom/shower, took a 2 hour nap and caught a flight to Prague! Trust me this is the itinerary you should do!! :-)