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Best route from Heathrow to Hendon
On 4 Nov, 03:11, David of Broadway wrote: Yes, I've used the Journey Planner - now I'm looking for some common sense. What's the best route from Heathrow T3 to Danescroft on Brent Street? I'd prefer to avoid Heathrow Express. I will have a large, heavy, wheeled suitcase, so steps and long walks are best avoided, although I can deal with either. I've come up with the following options: Wow, lots of options, you've certainly been doing your homework and you've identified some interesting and unorthodox routes as well. Piccadilly to Leicester Square, Northern to Golders Green, 83/183/230 bus to my destination. £4.40 Piccadilly to Leicester Square, Northern to Hendon Central, 83/183/230 bus to my destination. £4.40 The conventional options. Boringly, these are probably what I'd recommend (unless that is you fancied being adventurous). The change at Leicester Square from the Piccadilly to the Northern isn't any more difficult or onerous than any other interchange at Victorian-era tube stations which weren't really designed with such use in mind - a bit of lugging of bags along passageways and up and down a few stairs but there's no need for any heroics or anything. From Hendon Central, only the 83 goes from a bus stop right next to the station entrance, stop A, whilst the 183 and 230 go from stops U and W further away - see (PDF): http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaro...ntral-2124.pdf Meanwhile at Golders Green there is a proper bus station outside the tube station, and the 83 and 183 go from stop GH whilst the 240 uses the immediately adjacent stop GI - see(PDF): http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaro...green-2098.pdf So whilst Golders Green is a little further away I'd say the ease of getting on one of several buses from there means it wins. My (possibly erroneous) memory also suggests that there are fewer steps to negotiate from the platforms down to street level at Golders Green compared to the number of steps from the platforms up to street level at Hendon Central... though I've just checked and HC has step-free access (i.e. a lift) from platform level up to street level whilst GG doesn't. However personally I don't think that makes it a deal breaker, as at GG the platforms are only at 'road bridge height' so the single flight of steps down aren't a major hassle in my books. All that said, either/or would be a decent option. Piccadilly to Leicester Square, Northern to Brent Cross or Hendon Central (which is closer/easier?), walk to my destination. £3.50 Doable in my books, though you did say you'd have a large heavy suitcase (albeit one on wheels). The walk from Hendon Central would involve going down a hill (though I don't think it's *that* steep), so if one were to do this I'd walk from Brent Cross along the side streets (Golders Manor Drive/ Sinclair Grove) to Golders Green Road. There is a pedestrian bridge to cross over the busy North Circular Road to get over to Brent Street. I imagine that this would be the normal route for people from Danescroft to get to a Northern line station to get into town, though I suppose it's possible the walk to Hendon Central (perhaps through the park) is nicer, I dunno. Heathrow Connect to Ealing Broadway, 83 bus to my destination. £6.40 Piccadilly to District to Ealing Broadway, 83 bus to my destination. £2.70 Piccadilly to Piccadilly to Alperton, 83 bus to my destination. £2.70 Intriguing - variations on a 'round the back' route via the 83 bus. My gut instinct is that any of these routes would take longer - the Journey Planner has Heathrow Central to Golders Green taking around an hour an a quarter by tube - but on thinking about it perhaps they're not actually that bad. Alperton to Green Lane / Brent Cross (v near Danescroft) is timetabled at 41 minutes off-peak, and Ealing Broadway to Green Lane / Brent Cross at 57 mins. There are several steps to negotiate when leaving Ealing Broadway station, also leaving Alperton station (though I'm not familiar with it), and also when changing direction at Acton Town between the two Piccadilly branches. If one was to choose the 83 route and go by Underground then heading to Alperton would on the face of it appear to make more sense, what with Alperton being closer to your destination (this avoids Ealing Broadway station which is somewhat hectic at the best of times). Journey Planner says Heathrow to Alperton would take 39 minutes by Tube. The 83 bus stop is right outside the station as well (PDF): http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaro...erton-2008.pdf I'm not sure what I think about the idea taking the Heathrow Connect to Ealing Broadway. It's only a half-hourly service, though it does only take 18 minutes to make the journey. It's more expensive and doesn't deliver you to Alperton which is closer to your destination. I think I'd factor that option out. I'd say the 83 is an interesting route in that it gives you a taste of what parts of north west London are about - not necessarily amazingly notable places, but these are places where ordinary Londoners live and, to an extent, work. You'd be travelling through a part of London that really came into existence in the first half of the 20th century, with lots of interwar houses and buildings - the era of Metroland and of the great suburban spread of London. The great feature you would see en-route from the bus is the new Wembley Stadium, with its grand new arch which dominates the sky line all around this side of London. The bus goes right past the stadium. By going to Alperton rather than Ealing Broadway you would miss out on a bit of the 'scenery' from the bus - and I do think Ealing is an interesting and pleasant part of town - but the route of the 83 very quickly take you out of Ealing and up the uninspiring Hanger Lane road so it's no great loss. The Piccadilly line would of course be interesting in itself, though unfortunately you would not get as far up the Rayners Lane branch as the splendid Sudbury stations. One other thought that stupidly has just struck me is that, what with you hauling a with a heavy bag around with you, you won't exactly be keen on going up to the top-deck of the bus! It's not like there aren't windows on the bottom deck though, and you can perhaps do some more close quartered people watching down there what with the comings and goings on and off the bus and people outside the window at street level. Any other suggestions? Thoughts on these options? Is the 83 an interesting ride? My flight arrives Thursday morning at 9:35. Thanks. Your flight arrival time is ideal for avoiding the rush hour, so you avoid both the crush of passengers and also the traffic jams. I dare say that this would actually quite a good time to try out the 83 route if you wanted to be adventurous - the morning rush would be over, the afternoon school time rush still a long time away, so both traffic and passenger numbers would be light, and of course there would be full daylight! The 83 runs regularly, "about every 6-10 minutes" between 8am and 8pm (so says the Journey Planner), so you wouldn't have long to wait. Broadly speaking bus services in London are far more reliable than they were a decade or so ago, so I don't think there'd really be any reason to worry about whether the bus will actually turn up or not. If you've any more questions then fire away - others more familiar with the area might be able to put me straight if they think anything I've said is dubious. And do tell come back and tell us what you eventually did and how it went. P.S. One general thing worth bearing in mind for your trip is that each weekend parts of the Underground network are closed for upgrade works which could affect your journey - that said there doesn't appear to be any upcoming work on the Northern line that would affect your using the Northern line to get into town during your stay. See this page for details of upcoming works on LU: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravel...ll-future.html (also see the "Today" and "This Weekend" tabs on the above page) |
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