My first visit to London was a long time ago – I flew on TWA from JFK during Thanksgiving break from college.  I fell in love with the city as a teenager and have since returned a few times a year for decades.  I love helping first time visitors to London navigate the city and find what they love so they can start their own love affair with the city.  Even after decades of visits, I still discover something new on my visits.

This is a quick guide for the Philly folks flying over the pond to attend the MLB London Series in London. The Philadelphia Phillies are playing the New York Mets in London (June 8 and 9) and for Phillies fans and others visiting London for the first time, here are a few tips to help you navigate the weekend and find a bit of Philly in London.

 

 

 

First visit to London – Arriving in Heathrow

Arriving at Heathrow from Philadelphia

American Airlines has two flights to London Heathrow direct each day while British Airways has one flight now.  Each belong to OneWorld alliance so you may find yourself booking on American and flying British Airways (BA) or vice versa.  I prefer to fly British Airways as that was my business preferred airline and I found using credit card points and miles were easier.  So below I will expand more on BA (terminal 5)  than AA (terminal 3) as I visit London a few times a year and use BA into LHR Terminal 5.

British Airways PHL to LHR Arrival T5

BA will arrive Terminal 5 at B or C gates so you’ll have to walk to the trains (use the elevators along the way because there are a lot of escalators and arriving at 6:30 a.m. half asleep is no fun to navigate Terminal 5.  Follow the signs in the terminal down to the trains which will take you to main terminal immigration. Again more escalators so follow the BA staff to the elevators for a quicker way to the top.  Its busy early morning – when you arrive at border control you’ll see signs and people to direct you.

If you hold a US passport you are eligible to use the electronic gates (E-gates).  You’ll walk into the machine one by one, put your photo page of passport down on scanner while looking at the camera.  The doors will open when you are approved to enter the UK.  From there walk to the escalators and use the one on the right as the baggage on BA flights from Philly are usually on that side of the arrivals hall. I usually suggest to use the bathrooms in the baggage area while waiting on luggage and before exiting. For the most part you have “nothing to declare” so use the green labeled exit.  If you do have items to declare there is a different exit to use.

As you exit the famous doors into the T5 arrival hall (famously featured in the movie Love Actually), go to the right if you will use the Elizabeth Line or Heathrow Express transit into London.  If you have access by elite status or having flown business or first, the British Airways arrivals lounge can be accessed by turning left in the arrival hall and either using the elevator or escalator up one floor. If you want to shower in T5 this is the place to do so.

There are shops in the arrivals hall if you need a coffee, food or supplies.  If meeting a car service, the person should have a sign for you/your party and you will walk to the garage with them.

Transit In London

Essential app – CityMapper (navigation and real time transit updates) is my go to when traveling to Europe.  I love that it tells you what car to board on the train to be nearest the right exit which can really save you time when traveling with luggage.   It also has real time data for transit, taxi and even scooter rental.  Use this to map your journey to the London Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

**Always check online to see if there are railworks, strikes or other disruptions to the trains when you are visiting so you can map out alternative transit options**

Trains From Heathrow Airport

Elizabeth Line – you can buy ticket at the machines or tap in/out with your credit card.  The newest line of the Underground (Tube) can transit you to the center of London and allow you to transfer to multiple tube and overground train lines.  The cars are air conditioned but do not have luggage storage racks so you will need to find a seat and hold your luggage in front of you or beside you.

Heathrow Express – buy tickets online or at the machine in the airport. The more expensive but quicker option to Paddington Station is the Heathrow Express.  It leaves on the track opposite the Elizabeth line.  While both trains stop at Paddington, the Heathrow Express will get you there on the express (no stops) in 15 minutes.  You can transfer to multiple tube (underground) lines, transfer to the Elizabeth line or find a taxi to take you to the next part of your journey to your hotel.

Transit for London (TFL app)  -The tube and city busses are tap on tap off so you can use your credit card that has tap feature, use your phone wallet feature or buy an Oyster card to load funds to tap on/off.  The oyster card has a card fee to issue but is otherwise reloadable.

Tube Stations – Stand on the right, walk on the left in the tube – you will quickly learn this one if you do it wrong.

London First Time Visitor Need to Know

We all have our short codes in a city these are mine.

Taxi apps – to order a black cab download FREE NOW. Uber is available in London as well.

Cash in London – for the most part, the tap on/off extends itself throughout the city and cash is rarely used.  There are many ATMs if you do want to get cash out.

Bring Your Own Bag – just like many areas in/out of Philly, London will charge you for a bag so best to bring your own.

Ordering at a Pub – when going to a pub, you generally seat yourself (unless noted otherwise) and then go to the bar to order drinks and food.  Double check if your table has a QR ordering system as a few pubs are using that in lieu of ordering at the bar. No need to stand and wait to be seated or get mad that are waiting for a server to take your order.

London Food for Americans

You won’t go hungry in London as there are food options aplenty.  You may be overwhelmed at first with corner pubs, chain restaurants and look for the familiar Starbucks or other American names.  No worries, you’ll find Starbucks.  But over the years, I’ve found a first time visitor dips their toe into the foods.  While I’d love to take you to Brick Lane for a curry, I’ve learned with family and friends to start small and work our way to the myriad of international cuisines available.

• American Breakfast in London go to The Breakfast Club (reservations suggested) – American breakfast, including pancakes.  Definitely say “no ice” for orange juice as they will fill the whole glass with ice.
• Philly Bar in London – If you need a cheesesteak then Passyunk Avenue is your go to Philly bar. The original location in Fitzrovia has a basement bar that will remind you of many Philly corner bars with sports on multiple screens. The larger location with batting cages is at the famous Leake Street graffiti tunnel, a short walk from the London Eye and Waterloo station.
• Pret (we have one in 30^th Street station but they originated in the UK) – go to for morning coffee, croissant, takeaway sandwiches
• Gail’s Bakery
• Joe & the Juice – smoothies and fresh paninis
• Markets with everything you’ll need – M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and COOP
• Looking for a Whole Foods?  You’ll need to travel to South Kensington for that
• PAUL – French café with croissants, baguette sandwiches, pastries
• LEON – Natural foods – nothing is fried here!  My gluten free family spent many meals here
• Honest Burgers – my current burger and fries and wine
• Brandisa – Spanish tapas with multiple locations
• Flat Iron Steakhouse – affordable flat iron steaks with popcorn at all tables

First Time in London Sights to See

Everyone has a different list of what they want to do and see in London – this is a list of suggestions to pick from.  I don’t recommend doing too much in one day.  You may want to see the Changing of the Guards then stay on that side of the city with Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Churchill War Rooms and The Mall.  These are a few of the places I take friends/family on their first visit.  You can read about bringing my 11 yo niece (kids visit to London) and my 75 yo mom (seniors in London) and how their itineraries differed.

• SkyGarden London Viewing Platform (free entry but reservations required)
• Shoreditch Street Art tour (unlike Philly’s Mural Arts, this street art is constantly changing)
• Underground Tour (behind the scenes tours from the Transit Museum)
• British Museum (fancy a scavenger hunt to have fun with your group and art – check out THATMUSE
• London Eye – book in advance rather than wait in the queue
• Tower of London – do the Crown Jewels first as waits grow quickly as they limit visitors in the rooms
• Walking Tours 
• Borough Market (think Reading Terminal crossed with Rittenhouse Square farmers market)
• Buckingham Palace Tours – advanced ticketing suggested
• Harry Potter Studios – allow a full day to visit the studios as the ride is about an hour and a bit each way and you get a few hours to visit.  The audio guide is worth it if you are a fan.

 

Time to Leave London to Philadelphia

I know you’ve only scratched the surface of the city with your visit and you’ll likely sad to leave.  You can always return but for now you need to make your way to the Heathrow Airport to fly home to Philadelphia.  Leave the hotel 4 hours before the flight departs – one hour for transit to the airport and the other three hours for the airport processes.

You need to check in at least three hours in advance and while that sounds like a lot of time, it really isn’t.  American Airlines leaves from Terminal 3 and British Airways from Terminal 5.  I’ve not flown from Terminal 3 in a while but its easy to navigate and has many food and shopping options. I spent time at the American Airlines Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3  I fly from Heathrow Terminal 5 at least two times a year so am more familiar with the processes there for flying home to Philadelphia and also to Newark and when needed to JFK, the latter two usually involve a bus from the terminal.

British Airways Terminal 5 Need to Know

Check In & Check Baggage – Check in online with BA to get your boarding pass.  At the airport you will scan this to get into the line to tag and load your checked luggage.  Once this is done you will go to the security lines, coach travelers security is in the middle of the terminal. Business class have a separate security at the far end left side of the terminal whereas First Class is at the farther end right side of the terminal.

Security T5 – At security you will be told which spot to use and you load all your stuff into the bins in your station and when ready push it forward before walking through the scanner.  Be mindful of what you can and can’t pack as inspections can take 20-30 minutes depending on how busy the check point is and how many folks are ahead of you.  They will take everything out of your bag and put it into a bin so be ready to repack your stuff.  I’ve had this happen a few times for false positives during scanning.

Terminal 5 Shopping – As you exit into Terminal 5 its crowded and the gates are one level down by escalator (or elevator).  There are shops and restaurants on this level as well as a small British Airways lounge.

British Airways/OneWorld lounges – There is a small BA lounge as you exit the security area before boarding the escalators down. The larger Galleries and Concorde lounges can be found down the escalator and walking to the other end of the terminal to the escalators (or elevator) up to the lounge complex over multiple floors. There is also a BA lounge at B Gates but staff do not direct you there until the gate is known as the trains go one way so if you had to come back to the main terminal its a 15-20 minute walk.

Gate Announcement at Terminal 5 – Now the fun part, gates are not announced until an hour (or so) before departure so you may mill about in Terminal 5 and go shopping, eating or sit at the bar.  The updates are on the screen, there are no voice announcements so you’ll need to keep checking the monitors in the area. If you use TripIt app, you may get the gate notification before it posts to the board.

• For Philadelphia, LHR gates can vary – A10 means that you are taking a bus to the plane and while this does occur here and there, in my experience the flights to Philadelphia leave from B gates which involves taking the train to Terminal 5 B gates.   There are fewer shops and food outlets at B gates as most folks stay in the main terminal until announced.  If you go to B gates and find out the gate has changed you’ll have a 15-20 minute walk back to the main terminal which isn’t fun – sure it adds to your step count for the day but can be stressful.

Boarding at LHR T5 – Now here is why you get to the airport three hours in advance – boarding tends to start an hour early in my experience especially if they need to bus everyone to the plane.  So you need to check in, tag and load your own bag, go through security, buy souvenirs, eat/drink in the airport and then get to the gate about an hour early when its opens and that might involve a train and those escalators or a bus.

Arriving in Philadelphia from London

You’ll arrive in the International Terminal that your flight left from and it’s a quick walk to the escalator up to border control.  If you are a Global Entry member walk to the end of the terminal to find the kiosks to use.  Once through, your bags from BA will be on the last baggage carousel on the right which aligns with the global entry exit.  Of course after the long flight the bathrooms are at the far left of the baggage hall so while you wait go there first because you never know what 95, 76 or 476 will look like once you leave.  Once you have your bags, you are good to go – exit into the arrivals hall and either find your friends/family pickup or go the elevators for the parking garage.

Welcome Home to Philadelphia it’s time to start planning your trip back to London!