Hi flying into Heathrow in July. Is it possible to cycle into London or is it all motorways and best to take a train. Is it easy to train with a bicycle there? Used to Laos where everything is no problem. Suspect London might be different.
Heathrow
Sat, 2017-03-25 18:30
#1
WS Member
Heathrow
There's a fair bit of information here, assuming it's right up to date: http://www.heathrow.com/transport-and-directions/cycling
Personally I'd be looking to take my bike on the tube - cycling in central London can be fun, but I cannot imagine it's very entertaining through the suburbs from Heathrow. Someone who knows a good route may correct me of course!
Hi Trish,
Which terminal will you arrive at?
Its doable, and my husband (former Brit) and I will give you detailed guidance once you tell us WHICH terminal you arrive at and WHERE in London you want to go.
We cycled out of Heathrow in September 2014 going away from London. We had arrived at Terminal 3 and moved ourselves and boxed bikes to Terminal 5 to assemble and cycle away. Leaving by bike from Terminal 3 was not possible because of a tunnel. A bit of a haul to move stuff from 3 to 5. No serious problems leaving terminal 5 , which is where the commuter cyclists arrive and park their bikes in a shed. There was a bike path.
Margo
Thanks for your comments Margo. I will do more research on it. Sounds like it could be a challenge which could be okay if not too jet lagged. Getting myself and boxed bike to tube and working out how to navigate that system could be fun too.
We did it after a Vancouver to London flight: 9 sleepless hours and 8 hour time change. It was tough and I was really really cranky .....but the good part is that getting outside and doing excercise gets you over jet lag very quickly. We felt just fine the next morning.
I did it in 2002 from Heathrow to Kentish Town on a Greenspeed tandem recumbent tricycle assembled in T3. The biggest challenge I had was having to check a map every km or two to avoid getting too lost, but other than that it worked. I was riding the tandem alone, so I had lots of attention and a wide berth...
When we did it, my husband had his GPS capable smartphone on his handlebars, and THE VOICE (you could select gender and type of accent!) spoke to warn us of upcoming turns etc.. That was in 2014, and I was still smart-phone-resistant, so I left THE VOICE to him. Well it was really useful not to have to keep checking the map, and I've since been converted to owning and using a smart phone. That was the kind of situation where it really paid off to have it.
Trisha, I cycled through central London to Heathrow to catch a flight in 2014 (then cycled across London again in 2015). There are bike routes e.g. http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/51.4885/-0.3378&layers=C London is busy and the cars don't leave much space whilst passing. I'd advise avoiding the morning/evening rush if you can. I was pleasantly surprised by the existence of bike paths within the grounds of Heathrow itself although, as mentioned by others, it depends which Terminal you need to cycle from. When I arrived back at Heathrow I took the Heathrow Express (train) to Paddington with my bike. It wasn't a problem. In central London, the Tube seems to mostly prohibit non-folding bikes. Heathrow's website has a fairly good page http://www.heathrow.com/transport-and-directions/cycling
Thankyou all for your comments. I am coming in to Terminal 4 and plan to go to Camden. I fly in just after 7am so imagine by the time I figure out where I am and what day it is and assemble my bike the rush hour will be over. Maybe. Is it possible to dump a bike box somewhere. Also I woos out and choose the Paddington express option...does one assemble the bike to get it to the train station or hump it there box and all. Apologies for ignorance and thanks all for your help.
If things are as they were in 2014 when we did it, the answer is box and all. Awkward, but rules on thstvtrain stated no bikes.
Margo
So I have done the research...mapped out a route from Heathrow south to meet National cycle route 4 and then follow that into central london. Ready to go...Unless I am totally jet lagged and frazzled. But no, keen for the navigational challenge. Couple of queries though,
are you allowed to cycle on footpaths in London, and how about the tracks through the parks like Regent Park and Hyde Park. Are bikes allowed??
Cheers.