Our Overnight Layover in London Heathrow Airport

On our way back from Warsaw, we had a layover at the London Heathrow Airport. This airport is very easy to travel through. Their website even provides a nice tool that tells you exactly what to do for a connection.
Our problem was that our layover was overnight. Our flight landed at 8:30 pm and left the next morning at 10:15 am. Here’s how we dealt with an overnight layover in London Heathrow Airport.

Traveling from Warsaw to Philadelphia

We were traveling from Warsaw to Philadelphia on British Airways and American Airlines. Our first flight arrived at Terminal 5. Our next one departed from Terminal 3.

Now, the thing about Heathrow is that these terminals are not directly connected. Terminals 2 and 3 are connected to each other and easily walkable. Terminal 5 is not connected and the same with Terminal 4. However, there are some easy ways to get between each terminal.

Our Options

Stay in the terminal

Since we were staying overnight, we had a couple of options of what to do.
Our first option was to stay in the terminal overnight. With this plan, we figured we would stay in Terminal 3, where were departing from the next morning.

The thing is the airport closes at night. There aren’t any restaurants or other facilities open. Plus, security checks in on you every once in a while. (While I love good security, it would feel a little awkward.)

We have Priority Pass and were hoping we could lounge hop. But these close around 10 pm and don’t open until 4/5 am. This would leave us with a good 6-7 hours of sitting in airport chairs.

Stay in a hotel

Our other option was to stay in a hotel. We determined this was the better choice. London Heathrow has a few hotels that are connected to the airport or are extremely close.

We ended up settling for the Hilton in Terminal 4 (there is also a Hilton in Terminal 2). We were a little nervous because it wasn’t in either of the terminals we were using. However, it was the cheaper of the two Hiltons and had very nice reviews. We are also Hilton Honors members and figured it would be comfortable.

There are plenty of other options for hotels. You can choose one that meets your budget and needs.

What we did at the airport

Our flight landed around 8:30 pm. Afterward, we had to go through customs to enter the United Kingdom. Since we are US citizens, it was super easy. Passport holders of certain nations can go through a very fast, automated process. Although we were only staying the night, we technically could have left to go explore London.

We had checked bags. These continued onto our final destination. We did not have to deal with them at all. This did mean we needed to have all our overnight gear in our carry-on bags. If you are doing this, be sure to pack any toiletries and clothes for the next day in your carry-on.
Traveling through the airport

Once we got through customs, we needed to figure out how to go from Terminal 5 to Terminal 4. I had done some research before we left. However, we decided to ask the info desk in case there was an easier option. She suggested we take the Hopper bus. This seemed easy, but it cost a couple of pounds.

Instead, we decided to take the connector train. There are small kiosks where you can pick up the free tickets to use the train. We followed the signs which led us down a few escalators. From here we took a train from T5 to the T2/3 station. Then, we transferred to the train heading to T4.

The T4 train let us out near an elevator that took us to the terminal. Right beside the elevator is a walkway. This walkway led us directly to the Hilton hotel. It also led to a number of other hotels.

All in all, it took us about 30 minutes to get from Terminal 5 to our hotel.
Stayed at Hilton.

The Hilton in Terminal 4 was a very nice hotel. It was super easy to get to since it was connected directly to the terminal by the walkway. Everyone was very helpful and friendly.

Our room was comfortable and clean. It was glorious to be able to shower and relax instead of hanging out somewhere in Terminal 3.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel buffet before checking out. It was huge offering of meats, breads, and fruits. There were even pancake and omelet stations!

The next morning

The next morning, we had to go to Terminal 3 for our departure flight. We walked back down the walkway and took only one train to get to the Terminal 2/3 station. It only took us about 20 minutes.

We were already checked in to our flight. We were able to skip this step and go straight to security.

Security was efficient and easy to deal with. The airport even provided plastic bags for people who forgot theirs for their liquids.

We gave ourselves too much time in the morning. It did not take nearly as long to get from the hotel to our gate as we thought. We went to a lounge provided by Priority Pass. This was a very nice area to relax before our flight.

Overall, it was very easy to handle an overnight layover in London Heathrow airport. We definitely recommend staying in a hotel, even if it is not in your departure terminal.

How do you prefer to handle overnight layovers? Let us know in the comments!

Photo by VanveenJF on Unsplash