Best London airport to fly into?

[beffers]

I am flying into London next Friday morning. My hotel is near St Paul's Cathedral. What is the best airport to fly into if I want to avoid the crowds and traffic congestion of the royal wedding, and would get me to my hotel the quickest, Heathrow or London City Airport?

The concierge at the hotel told me that if I fly into Heathrow, I could take the London Express train to Paddington, and then another tube to St Paul's or just take a cab to the hotel. But is the area between Paddington and St Paul's likely to be affected by wedding crowds and traffic? I don't fancy sitting in traffic for an hour if I take a cab.

He said I if I fly into London City, I could take the Docklands light rail and then a tube to hotel, but that would take a long time. He said a cab would take about 30 mins. But again, if the area between the airport and St Pauls is jammers with people and traffic, I am back to square one.

Thanks for any advice on the airport, and the quickest way to get to the hotel. I don't know London very well.

(PS The wedding is in Westminster Abbey, not St Paul's & as it is a public holiday, I imagine rush hour traffic will not be as bad as usual)

 

[redchariot]

One weekend last year, I needed to travel across the city to Heathrow by DLR and tube and there was some major event on (can't remember what) and there was major delays on the tube but no real problems on the DLR. To cut a long story short, I had to end up going to Paddington and getting the Heahtrow express and made my flight just by the skin of my teeth.

Going by this, I think you will be better getting the flight to City Airport and getting the DLR to Bank and changing to the Central Line and it is only one stop to St Pauls from there. You should make it within 20-25 minutes all being well. Bear in mind that the only flights from Dublin to City Airport are with CityJet and can be very expensive as this is more of a business orientated airline

 

[beffers]

Thanks for that. So far, the CityJet prices are fairly competitive compared to Aer Lingus. London City Airport does seem to be a lot nearer to St Paul's too as the crow flies.

 

[shesells]

I agree with redchariot...London City all the way. It's a small airport so you'll have your bag and be on your way within just a few minutes of landing.

Cityjet are great, as well as the competitive pricing look forward to an allocated seat you don't have to pay for, free food and drink on board and 20kg free luggage allowance.

 

[TheShark]

If you have a choice then definately go for London City Airport.

Take DLR to Bank station and change to Central Line , St Pauls will be the 1st stop or you could walk from Bank Station.


Journey: London City Airport → Pontoon Dock → West Silvertown → Canning Town → East India → Blackwell → Poplar → Westferry → Limehouse → Shadwell → Bank change lines Bank → St. Pauls

Estimated time: 36 mins

 

[EvilDoctorK]

Apart from all the reasons above supporting LCY specifically next Friday you're less likely to be affected by road closures etc. related to the Royal Wedding coming from City compared with Heathrow (all the closures are in the West End around Westminster Abbey, Green Park, Buckingham Palace)

 

[orka]

I would go to London City, get the DLR to Bank and then walk from there - there's so much walking from the DLR to the tube, you'd be as quick walking to St Paul's and with no chance of holdups.