"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."