Another old Paddington euphemism, one we have not heard for many a year, is the habit of alluding to Platform 1 as “the departure stage.” In the 19th century, that was where the premium trains departed. It’s a nice phrase, a happy reminder that there is still something theatrical about leaving a grand railway station. Departures deserve a little drama.

Arriving in Paddington after 15 minutes of theatre. Photo: Lars Plougmann

All stops on the Piccadilly Line

Visitors to London are spoiled for choice when it comes to getting out to Heathrow. But let’s face it. There’s not much drama if you ride the tube, en route swapping subterranean gloom for London’s leafy western suburbs. There are an awful lot of intermediate stops and it’s a challenge to work up any great enthusiasm for the architectural charms of South Ealing, Northfields or Boston Manor.

Or 15 minutes of theatre

But the Heathrow Express does have a touch of the dramatic about it. It is a great alternative to the slow grind on the Piccadilly line. Trains run every 15 minutes and the travel time from Paddington to Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 3 is just 15 minutes. (Trips to slightly further distant Terminals 4 and 5 take a little longer.) And the run out from Paddington to the airport offers 15 minutes of theatre.

You catch glimpses of some very engaging architecture along the way, from the assertively modern Paddington Basin development to sedate Victorian suburbs like Ealing. There is art deco style (watch out for the EMI plant at Hayes), a water tower disguised as a castle (near Southall) and wonderful reminders of London’s multicultural character.

Just before Southall station, on the left and easily identifiable from its golden dome, is the largest Sikh temple in Europe. And the station signs at Southall station are in both Punjabi and English. This is “Bend it like Beckham” country and a chance to catch a glimpse of quite another London from that which features in the regular tourist guides.

A blurry flurry passes… Photo: JDinBawlmer

A changing London

Times have changed since the great 19th-century engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel built this fine route out from Paddington to the west. The new branch off to Heathrow is a mere youthful upstart.

But until the moment, usually about 11 minutes out from Paddington, when you branch off from Brunel’s main line to burrow underground to Heathrow, you’ll get an eyeful of classic railway architecture. There is Wharncliffe Viaduct, a feast of brick and Georgian elegance that just oozes style.

Heathrow Connect for slow-motion replay

There are some journeys that we just wish would take a little longer. This is one of them. Heathrow Express is a premium service, but it is a visual feast. Part of the appeal is the kaleidoscope of images seen at speed.

If you want a slow motion re-run, then note that Heathrow Express has a slower sibling that makes the same journey at a more moderate pace. It is called Heathrow Connect and the fares are a little cheaper.

The post London’s Heathrow Express: 15 minutes of theatre appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Whether you’re traveling by boat, train, or rail, the eager anticipation at arriving to a new destination in Europe often makes us miss the best bit of the entire journey—the moment of arrival.

Arriving by boat

Some of Europe’s finest arrivals are by sea. There may be no great drama in arriving in Iceland on the Smyril Line ship Norröna from Denmark. Instead, there is the sheer beauty of the lonely eastern fjords and the knowledge that this is how the first settlers arrived on the island over a thousand years ago.

And Venice is really at her best arriving on a summer morning after a long ferry journey up the Adriatic. Last time we took the Minoan Lines ferry from Corfu, it crept into Venice at about eight in the morning, the giant ship dwarfing the buildings on the famous Venetian skyline. Never did San Marco look so good.

Approaching London by train

Arrivals by train offer their own peculiar theater. London has not just one but two of the very best in Europe. The last half hour of Eurostar’s run into London from the Channel Tunnel is rich in dramatic aesthetics.

The railway skirts Kentish hop fields, dives under the North Downs, crosses the Medway on a spectacular viaduct, before a tantalizing series of tunnels bring the railway back above ground for a graceful, seemingly endless, curve into London’s St Pancras station – now handsomely restored to reclaim its status as easily the most elegant of London’s railroad termini.

Speeding into Paddington

If there is a rival to the  Eurostar run into London, it is the fifteen-minute hop on the Heathrow Express from London’s principal airport into Paddington station.

The run out of Heathrow is unremarkable, and gives no hint of what is to come. But free of the airport tunnel, the 12 mile journey on Brunel’s Great Western route into Paddington is a fabulous feast for the senses. The train storms past Victorian water towers and canals. There are art deco factories, a magnificent Sikh temple, eerie wastelands, and the back gardens of endless terraces of small houses. All of English life is laid bare for the traveler arriving in London.

True, the Heathrow Express costs a little more than the tube, but it is worth the premium fare. Few other such short journeys by train are so richly entertaining. And speed brings its own benefits. Last time we used Heathrow Express, we were enjoying a beer in our hotel room at Lancaster Gate less than half an hour after boarding the train at Heathrow.

The post Splendid arrivals: Getting into London and beyond appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.