On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:56:45 -0000, Russ
wrote:


Questions a
1. How easy/costly is it to get from Heathrow airport area to the
touristy things like Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben,
Aquarium? What's the best mode of transportation for the least
expense?


This largely overlaps with other responses: tube is the cheapest but
there are a lot of stops, and it isn't well laid out for people with a
lot of luggage. Of the tourist destinations that you've listed,
Buckingham Palace (you could walk from Green Park) and Trafalgar
Square (walk from Piccadilly Circus) are reasonably close to the
Piccadilly Line. To get to the others by tube from Heathrow, you
would need at least one change of train.

Heathrow Express is the most expensive, and the quickest to get into
Central London, but may not be particularly quick door-to-door if your
destination isn't close to Paddington Station. Heathrow Connect is a
bit slower and a bit cheaper than Heathrow Express, but still runs to
Paddington.

Unless your stay is very brief (in which case it may be better to get
one-day or three-day travelcards) I would recommend that you get an
Oyster card (smart card used for ticketing) when you arrive.

Regarding your questions in other threads: tube platforms are
generally signed as northbound, southbound, eastbound and westbound.
The final destination is shown on the front of a train and on
dot-matrix displays on the platforms. This is important, for example,
when going to Heathrow as a westbound train on the Piccadilly train
might have Heathrow as its final destination, or might be going to
Rayners Lane or Uxbridge.

Going from Leeds to Gatwick I'd second the advice to take a Thameslink
train from Kings Cross to Gatwick, rather than to get the tube frrom
Kings Cross to Victoria. Two hours from arriving at Gatwick station
to the plane taking off should be sufficient, but it's not generous.
In particular, the rail station at Gatwick is directly connected to
the south terminal, so I'd be inclined to allow a few more minutes if
your flight out is from the north terminal. I did once arrive at
Gatwick Airport station just an hour before take-off from the north
terminal - and caught the plane - but I don't recommend the
experience:-(

Martin