Travel to Salisbury from Heathrow Airport
What is the best way by Bus or Train to go from Heathrow Airport to Salisbury?
Marilyn
Eugene, Oregon USA 1/27/13
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National Express run a coach direct from Heathrow to Salisbury, but they only run a few each day (the more frequent service involves a change and takes much longer). This is the cheapest option and perhaps the easiest as there is no need to change, but depending on when your flight arrives it might mean hanging around the airport whilst waiting for the next service.
http://www.nationalexpress.com
Southwest Trains offer a service with a coach from Heathrow to Woking (which is actually run by National Express) and then a connecting train from Woking to Salisbury. This is much more frequent (every 30 minutes), but more expensive.
http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk
There is not much difference in journey times.
Thanks a lot, Keith. I am new at intl traveling and have recently taken my first plane trip and am not familiar with England's bus and train system, altho I definitely want to be. So really appreciate this information.
Marilyn, I recommend you get Rick's England book (if you haven't already) and read the "arrival" and "connections" section for Heathrow. It contains a lot of good background material for what you'll need to know.
It helps if you know what terminal you'll be arriving it at Heathrow because there are several terminals connected by trains. The main bus terminal is near Heathrow Terminals 1-3 and while there is bus service to Terminals 4 and 5 it is often more expensive and not as fast as the buses out of the main bus terminal.
Once you know what terminal you're arriving at you can check the bus connections and decide whether you want to go from that terminal or transfer to another one and travel from there. If you need to transfer simply use the trains to get from one Heathrow terminal to another. Heathrow has many people around to help you with the logistics of this if you're jet-lagged when you get off the plane so don't be afraid to ask for help. You can book your ticket before you go but be sure to leave enough time to make it through customs and transfer terminals if necessary. You can also wait to book and buy tickets when you get there - you need to balance the risk of pre-booking and waiting for a later train against buying them at gate for the next bus.
National Express site to check bus schedules: http://www.nationalexpress.com/
I just went through this going to Bath from Heathrow and I have to admit that the Heathrow bus terminal isn't exciting and isn't what I would recommend as anyone's first introduction to England but it will soon be behind you as you're off on your adventure. Choosing a country where you speak the language is probably a good choice for your first international trip and will make your connections and transportation navigation much easier.
Have a great trip!
=Tod
Thanks so much, Tod. Does someone from the US have to go thru customs when arriving in England? I was in England last Oct. with a short tour. I entered England on a flight from Frankfurt to Manchester, and didn't go thru customs then, but had to when coming back in to the US.
Yes, I'm sure you'll need to go through customs/immigration coming into the country. This is a perfunctory process with a US passport and your flight booked roundtrip. We just had a little conversation about our plans in the country with the checker as he reviewed our documents - it was very pleasant. I don't know what the exact rules are because I had to go through customs again going to Republic of Ireland but not when returning to England 9 days later from Ireland. England must have EU > EU country travel rules.
The only real wait might be the lines. I don't know what the lines are like now - I went just before the Olympics and everyone was telling horror stories about the lines but we breezed right through - maybe 10 minutes. You'll probably spend more time walking in Heathrow then you will waiting at Customs.
Heathrow is huge airport but don't let it intimidate you - there are a lot people there who don't know what they're doing and employees hired to help them find their way.
Have a great trip!
=Tod