Heathrow (LHR) to Paddington: London Layover

Heathrow’s express train reaches London Paddington in 15 minutes from Terminals 2 and 3, and from Paddington station the narrowboats of Little Venice and the Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens are each about 10 minutes’ walk, with Kensington Palace 20 minutes on.

Paddington is 15 minutes from Heathrow by express train

The Heathrow Express leaves every 15 minutes from Heathrow Central, the station Terminals 2 and 3 share, and from Terminal 5: 15 minutes to Paddington from the first, 21 from the second. On the day a single is £26, or from £10 booked at least 30 days ahead. The Elizabeth line covers the same track more slowly, about 28 minutes, for £14.60, and it calls at every terminal, including Terminal 4, which the express only reaches by way of the free inter-terminal shuttle (five to ten minutes extra). Both times are the train alone: passport control and the walk to the platform come on top.

Kensington Palace and the King’s State Apartments

Kensington Palace stands on the west side of Kensington Gardens, about 20 minutes’ walk from Paddington station along the Broad Walk, and it has been a royal residence since 1689. Inside are the King’s State Apartments and a permanent exhibition on Queen Victoria’s childhood here, with the Sunken Garden outside; a Kensington Palace ticket covers the rooms and the exhibition.

Narrowboats at Little Venice

Little Venice, the canal basin where the Grand Union’s Paddington Arm meets the Regent’s Canal, sits about 10 minutes’ walk from Paddington station, with painted narrowboats moored along both banks. From here a narrowboat trip to Camden Lock runs along the Regent’s Canal past Regent’s Park and the edge of London Zoo, one way only, so it ends at the markets the Camden Town layover guide covers, with a train back from there.

The Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens

The Italian Gardens, a set of Victorian ornamental pools and fountains at the northern edge of Kensington Gardens, are about 10 minutes’ walk from Paddington station and free to wander. They sit where the Long Water begins, and Hyde Park runs on from there toward Buckingham Palace and Westminster, the route the main London guide takes on a longer stop.

Left luggage at Heathrow

Heathrow’s own left-luggage desks, run by Excess Baggage Company, are in all four terminals, at check-in and in arrivals, open roughly from 5 or 6am to 9 or 10pm depending on the desk; up to three hours costs £10 a bag and up to 24 hours £15. The narrowboat to Camden runs one way, so a suitcase that boards at Little Venice gets off at Camden Lock with you. A luggage storage point near Paddington is the other option, closer to everything above and on the way back to the train.

Collect the bag on the way back to the platform, and the ride out to the gate is the same 15 minutes in reverse, or 21 to Terminal 5. Changing terminals instead, the Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 guide covers the free trains and the connections bus, and an onward flight from Gatwick is covered in the Heathrow to Gatwick guide.