Expert: Alun Hill MCIJ - 1/8/2009

Question
QUESTION: My brother and I are visiting Hertford, England in six weeks and we would like to know how to get from Heathrow Airport to Hertford, England.  What is the quickest way to get there if our flight were to arrive at 9:20pm local time?

ANSWER: Hi - there's 2 stations in Hertford and they're not only quite a way apart, but are served from different stations in London, just to make things even more complicated!

Ideally you would want Hertford North, which is served by Kings Cross station (which is the start of the route).

It's a huge station, with services as far as Scotland - but the staff and signposts are very helpful.

Fortunately, you can take the Piccadilly line from London's Heathrow Airport direct to Kings Cross.

The journey is approx 1 hour.

You don't say where you are coming from, but it can take some nationalities well over an hour to clear baggage and Customs at Heathrow - and your flight might be late, of course.

The last direct train is at 10.56pm - and you may miss that. There are later trains, but they involve a change of trains and a long wait. For example, there is an 01.06, but you'd need to change and wouldn't arrive until 02.36.

The area around Kings Cross station is rapidly improving, but buy your tickets on arrival and stay in the station. Police may check you, but you'll be perfectly safe.

The other Hertford station is Hertford East - these trains run from London Liverpool Street, which is to the east of London (Heathrow being to the west), so it's a longer journey.

You would take the same Piccadilly line train, but change to the Central line, coloured red on the tube map, and take an eastbound train to Liverpool Street.

The last train on this route is at 11.40pm - the next is at 4.40 am - so, again, you may be a bit stuck - sorry!

Let me know if you get any more information about your stay and I'll be happy to help. Just a thought, but there are considerably fewer trains at the weekend.

Alun Hill, MCIJ
http://www.TVTravelChannel.tv




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your help!

I'm actually coming from the US, flying out of New York.  I am considering doing a red eye flight at 6:50 pm and arriving at 6:45 am local time.  Maybe this will make travel a bit easier.

Our destination is near the intersection of Railway Street and Ware Road in Hertford, so which of the two lines you mentioned would you recommend from Heathrow Airport? Sorry if I am name dropping streets that you are unfamiliar with!

Also, should I buy the train tickets ahead of time? And is it true that youths get a discounted ticket price?

Answer
Ahh, that's easier then!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=railway+st+hertford&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie

You can see from this map that Hertford East station is just seconds away.

If you want to avoid hanging around railways stations overnight (and if your flight is delayed, you may take 2 or more hours to clear Immigration from the USA) or miss the last tube, you would be better to take the overnight flight.

So, you'll need the Liverpool Street service, which will take 60 - 90 minutes from Heathrow (that is, once you get on the tube, not your flight's arrival in the UK). There are at least 2 or 3 trains an hour to Hertford East.

You can't buy these train tickets in advance, but when you get to Liverpool Street (aside: lots of Americans tend to drop "street" and you'll end up in Liverpool, 200 miles north, if you do!), but to try and get a return (your "round trip") if you know when you'll be returning - this is often only pennies more than a singl fare.

There's no automatic discount for over 16's - there is a discount card available, but you'd need to be doing a lot of travelling as it costs (from memory) £25 and gives only 1/3rd off off-peak fares.

(Further asides, if they're of interest: Kings Cross, which you may decide to return to, was where the "Harry Potter" films were made and Liverpool Sreet was where the "Elephant Man" was made.)

Does that help, please?


Alun Hill, MCIJ
http://TVTravelChannel.tv