In message . com, zin92
writes
Unfortunately I think you'll be very lucky to land at 10pm and get to
Blackheath by 11pm.

The OP posted that they expected to clear customs by that time so it
would be reasonable to assume that the flight lands before that time.

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.

One hour should not be a problem. That's where the knowledge of London
comes in, enabling a taxi driver to choose the best route to avoid the
Friday night jams (clue: Vauxhall Bridge is usually best). Remember that
taxis can also use bus lanes which does help, even at night times since
many people do not realise that they are legally allowed to use most of
them but don't leaving it clear for buses and taxis.

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).

Not a lot different from a licensed taxi - and you don't have to go
around the M25 which will be at least treble the distance of going
through town.

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.

And charge the customer a fee for the parking and waiting! What's more,
if they are local to Blackheath there is a strong probability that they
do not know their way through the centre very well and could well be
relying on GPS which will definitely lead you into some of the most
congested night time areas.

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).

Again it would be reasonable to assume that the OP is coming from
somewhere which does not have a service to and from City Airport so this
would not be an option.

Now if they were coming into Gatwick at that time of a Friday I'd leave
home later and could offer them a very competitive fixed price rate as I
often pass Gatwick on the way to and from (night) work. :-))

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!


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