if you're flying in or out of Heathrow
these are some things to know so that
you have a nice smooth visit there are
four terminals at Heathrow Airport and
they are number two through five there
is no terminal one anymore and you need
to know if you are departing from
Heathrow which terminal you're going to
be departing from because you're going
to do everything from checking in to
going through security to boarding at
your gate to get on your flight in this
one terminal your airline should usually
tell you which terminal you're flying
out of but if you can't figure it out or
if you're flying into Heathrow and want
to know what terminal you're going to be
in you can go on Heathrow's website and
they have a which terminal tool that you
can use figure it out as a rule of thumb
plan to get to Heathrow at least three
hours early for an intercontinental
flight and at least two hours early for
a European flight now I have to caveat
and say that I don't always follow this
because the security at Heathrow is
really really efficient I don't think
I've ever waited more than like ten
minutes to go through security however
you need to make sure you leave yourself
enough time to account for any traffic
or train delays that you might encounter
on the way to the airport or if the bag
drop line where you have to check-in and
leave your bag that will go under the
plane that line might be really long and
will take you a while to get through so
just to be safe give yourself loads of
extra time I will not be responsible for
you missing your flight there are lots
of transportation options when it comes
to getting between central London and
Heathrow Airport if you're on a budget
there are cheap buses or if you want to
get to central London pretty quickly
there's also the Heathrow Express which
is more expensive for the sake of the
length of this video I'm not going to go
through everything but it is laid out
very well in my London 101 guide which
is completely free for you to get all
you have to do is click on the card
popping up here or the link down the
description box and you will be able to
get that guide for free and to know
which of the options for getting to
central London is best for you have a
with you when you're landing into
Heathrow if you are not from the EU or
have an EU passport then you're gonna
have to fill out what's called a lending
card this is pretty much to give your
basic information about you
stuff about your passport where you're
coming from what you're bringing into
the country and that is what you're
going to give to the immigration officer
when you are at border control now the
line for border control can get really
really long so to make sure that you
don't delay and getting on that line
have a pen with you when you're on the
plane so you can fill out your card on
the plane and not have to wait at one of
the desks by the line for one of the
Pens to free up and then you see 20
people get ahead of you which could
delay you for another 20-30 minutes on
that subject border control can take a
while you might get to border control
and see that there's nobody in the line
it'll take you ten minutes or you might
see that there's a good 400 people ahead
of you and you've got a good couple
hours of waiting time before you get
through to get your luggage as a rule of
thumb you can expect it to take probably
around an hour but again it could take
shorter or it could take longer so keep
that in mind when you're booking a
transfer a train letting anybody know
that you're arriving into central London
it could take a while
at Heathrow Airport you get 45 minutes
of free Wi-Fi or 90 minutes if you sign
up to the Heathrow rewards which is
actually free to do so I recommend it so
you can use that free Wi-Fi when you
land to connect with your friends and
family and let them know you've made it
safely or if you're going to be
departing from Heathrow it's great for
getting emails done maybe a little bit
of work done or just browsing the
internet before you get on your flight
in every terminal and Heathrow there are
tons of great food options and just
about all of them are when you get past
security so just get yourself through
security and then worry about where
you're gonna eat after that if you're on
a budget you could go to pretty mangia
or Costa or a couple other places that
sell like sandwiches and soups but
there's also mid-range and also a couple
of more high-end restaurants so you can
have a nice meal before you get on your
flight a personal favorite of
mine is giraffe it's reasonably priced
and has pretty decent food as well as
really yummy smoothies which are great
to have before you hop on a flight of
course because you're in an airport you
should expect prices to be a little bit
higher than normal but still the budget
places are pretty reasonable there is so
much shopping that could be done at
Heathrow Airport
most of it is mid-range to luxury
shopping however there are a few places
where you can do a little bit more
budget shopping plus there's of course
duty-free where you can get alcohol and
food and treats and places where you can
get souvenirs also my favorite place to
get souvenirs at the airport is in
terminal 2 at the John Lewis you can get
really nice chocolates there they have
just like not the usual souvenir London
II stuff but a little bit more high-end
and really nice to give as gifts it
takes a long time to get from the
general food and drink area of the
terminal to your actual gate so you need
to take that into account when you're
planning to head to your gate because it
could take a good 15 minutes or 20
minutes to get there and you'll most
likely need to take a shuttle so when
you see your gate pop up on the board or
when it's getting a little bit closer to
your departure time I would just make
your way to the gate just to be safe so
you don't get stuck missing your flight
just because you didn't give yourself
enough time to get to your gate Heathrow
is family-friendly every terminal has at
least one or two kids play areas to keep
your little ones entertained so don't
worry about that too much also most of
the restaurants and food places and all
of the terminals will have a children's
menu so you're good to go if you're
visiting London for the first time again
don't forget to grab my free London 101
guide it will tell you all of your
options from getting tea from Heathrow
into central London you can get that by
clicking the card popping up here or the
link down in the description box to sign
up and get it for free and if you want
more tips for your visit to London make
sure you subscribe
- the love in London channel and watch
one of these London tip videos next for
more information