r/Bath • u/NorthStarZero • 4d ago
Best way from Heathrow to Bath, follow-up.
A couple of weeks ago I asked about the best way to get from Heathrow to Bath: the breakdown was about 50/50 bus vs train.
We’ve just gotten home after our trip, and here’s how it played out:
We took the red-eye flight from Toronto to Heathrow, arriving about 0800 that morning, in one of those strange cases where a 6 hour flight puts 12 hours on the clock.
It took about an hour to navigate through the airport, queue for and pass through customs, and find the bus station. Once there, we went to the service desk to get tickets.
Then we got two surprises: the first was that the bus (National Express) was quite a bit more expensive than expected; the second was that although there were a couple of different departure times, the first couple of busses were “locals” that made multiple stops, with a later “express” bus that went straight to Bath, with the upshot being that all busses arrived at about the same time - which was an hour later than our narrowboat pickup time.
We asked about the train, and that turned out to be double the cost of the bus, and while it offered arrival times earlier than the bus, there was also the issue of needing to change trains at Paddington.
At this point we were jet lagged as hell, hadn’t slept on the plane, dehydrated to a certain extent, and generally in a poor mood, so we went with the express bus as the “bird in hand”. We emailed the boat people that we’d be late, and waited the two hours for the bus.
The bus itself was fine and arrived on time.
The next surprise was discovering how much vertical relief exists in Bath. The short walk to the narrowboat wharf was entirely uphill, including a particularly nasty stretch with about a 12% grade leading to a staircase. Who puts a canal on top of a hill, seriously?
But we made it to the wharf and the narrowboat people were absolutely lovely and professional and the tour up and down the canal was everything we had hoped for.
Four days later we took a taxi into Bath proper (lesson learned) checked in to the hotel, took a bus tour to get the lay of the land, walked around some, toured the Abbey, and after lunch, did Paul’s Bridgerton walking tour (which delighted the wife). Beautiful city and well worth the visit.
Our next stop was London, and we discovered that if you booked tickets online the train was substantially cheaper than had been quoted to us. We also discovered the GWR app which made understanding how the train system worked much, much easier. So we took the train to Paddington, which was a very slick experience.
We also discovered that there is an alternative bus company “FlixBus” that appears to be even cheaper and more frequent than National Express if booked in advance.
So then, lessons learned:
I should have been more proactive about researching bus/train schedules rather than waiting to get to the bus station and playing it by ear. I was uncertain about the time delay between landing and making it to the bus station (which is why I handwaved away the research) but I should have been better prepared.
Both bus and train work just fine for getting to Bath from Heathrow, with the bus having a slight convenience advantage due to being a single connection rather than changing trains at Paddington - assuming the schedule works for you, as trains are more frequent.
It would be worth investigating FlixBus as it is advertised as being 1/3 the cost of National Express.
Thank you everyone who provided advice and input. We had a great trip.
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u/PM_ME_UR_EGGINS 4d ago
As a local...I'm struggling to figure out where a 12% hill to a canal boat wharf is from the bus station in Bath. Only one I can think of that ends with a staircase is the bridge near Tesco Express on Bathwick hill....anyone else know?
Unless they walked up Bathwick hill from the roundabout and then down the steps to reach the canal...? Rather than walking along the canal past Widcombe...?
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u/NorthStarZero 4d ago
The extension of N Parade Road. The staircase ends at the canal.
We walked along the towpath from there, up another flight of stairs to the Tesco Express (humping our luggage the whole way) and then down from there to the wharf across the street.
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u/PM_ME_UR_EGGINS 4d ago
Oooooo you went up those stairs under the railway bridge. I see. Bit of a circuitous route! If it's any help for next time you can walk the flat canal from behind the bus/railway station the whole way to the wharf. If you come back again, always welcome!
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u/maxlan 4d ago
Always the train. The change at Paddington is very straightforward. Heathrow express runs every 20 mins or so and trains to Bath every 30. So you never have to wait long.
And you can't book in advance for cheapest tickets because an hour to get through Heathrow is quick. Sometimes you can sit that long just for luggage to start arriving... Advance (cheapest) tickets have to be on a booked train. The app and in station prices should be the same. But often staff don't offer you the cheapest. If you buy from a ticket machine, it should.
Bath, like Rome, is famously built on 7 hills. There is a canal all the way from the station and the towpath is reasonably pleasant walk. However: not for wheeled luggage!
Never book anything on your arrival/departure days. Any delays with flights/activity and you'll miss activity/flights.
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u/cambookpro 4d ago
It’s probably a bit more expensive, but I still usually like RA1 bus to Reading and GWR train to Bath. Has always seemed quicker/more reliable.
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u/goldfishpaws 4d ago
Who puts a canal on top of a hill, seriously?
If it was at the bottom it would be a river! ;-)
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u/I_always_rated_them 4d ago
Yeah is annoying, i've done it quite a lot in the past couple of years. Via paddington, via Reading for trains, on a coach and in a private transfer. The only one that was ok after super long trips was the car tbh, red eye flight into a 7am sunday cruise along the m4 to be calmly back home was absolutely worth it.
I really with they improved the links to Reading, the bus seems to take forever. An Elizabeth line link between Heathrow and Reading that doesn't go into London would be the dream.
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u/MartinUK_Mendip 4d ago
Thanks for the follow-up.
I hope the information is useful for other visitors to Bath.
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u/Wilmot1688 3d ago
You are perhaps the first person ever to praise the GWR app, which is a buggy bane of my existence.
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u/Ok_Calligrapher_2777 4d ago
Sorry I had to laugh at you then having to treck up those stairs 😂 I saw your original post so appreciate the follow up. Glad you had a good time after all that jet lag and waiting around. Must have good spirits because that would have sent me straight to the pub
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u/HarketSavoy 4d ago
It’s always ideal to book tickets in advance. Train tickets can be almost open. Off-peak is pretty cheap at the moment. The cheapest is split tickets but you have to be very careful. As I found out yesterday. There’s a station quoted that you must take. It’s either Swindon or Didcot. Also, portion of the journey may be reserved. So you’re committed to that route. National express are also much cheaper in advance and for a £5 fee, you can be a bit more flexible.
Umm, yeah who told you to walk to the canal. That’s brutal. But you can say you’ve done it and brag!
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u/ohhhhhNeil 4d ago
Flixbus gets my vote every time, same levels of comfort as national express but always seems to be cheaper. I recently did the Bath - Heathrow and back route and probably cost me no more than £30 all in
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u/Duchy2000 3d ago
A little research would have shown you that both coach and train are cheaper booked in advance. Tickets bought on the day are usually more.
I’m actually due in Bath the day I return from holiday so need to travel there direct from Heathrow and the train worked out both quicker and cheaper even with the change at Paddington. I was surprised as there’s a direct coach service from Bath but that’s why we research to discover these useful bits and pieces.
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u/knittiegrittie 3d ago
How did you manage to get it quicker and cheaper by train if you don't mind my asking? I need to go to Heathrow as well and the coaches are at inconvenient times but the trains I found seem very expensive...
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u/One_Hair_3338 3d ago
Canals are flat, dude. The K&A isn't "on top of a hill." Maybe you were tripping from jetlag or something.
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u/NorthStarZero 3d ago
If you look at the map, you’ll see two or three locks that take the canal level from the rough elevation of the bus terminal to the elevation of the narrowboat wharf.
It is indeed “up a hill”.
Or just walk down North Parade Road from town until you reach the canal and see for yourself.
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u/One_Hair_3338 3d ago
You said on top of a hill. Locks are necessary to traverse gradients, it's common sense. Don't blame our canal for your poor navigation skills. Pun intended.
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u/NorthStarZero 3d ago
I invite you to walk down North Parade Road from the west, moving east. See what you find.
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u/One_Hair_3338 3d ago
You can invite me all you want, I've lived in Bath for almost 40 years and wouldn't take the route you suggest because I'm not stupid.
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u/NorthStarZero 3d ago
I see you are committed to your current level of understanding.
I wish you good day.
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u/One_Hair_3338 3d ago
I'm committed to my current level of common sense and will continue to do so. After almost 40 years of living in Bath I've never climbed a 12% gradient to reach the K&A. And never will.
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u/Notimefruit 4d ago
Flix bus or national express bus if you're looking for affordable, it's pretty smooth and they're always on time, takes a while tho
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u/_franciis 4d ago
Good research. I would always just hop on the train but I only really travel for work so don’t mind paying for tickets at the barriers on the way home (always more prepared on the way out).
I would also take the train for in journey comfort - toilet, more room to move, snack cart - even though it does feel mentally painful to get a train heading east when you want to go west.