Heathrow airport

[midlife]

Have an early flight from Heathrow airport. Looking for a nice pub, real ale essential, perhaps with accommodation, for the previous evening. Anything within 30-40 minutes drive would be good. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

[Kalleh1]

Where is Richard when you need him? I will send him over! By the way, I will be coming to London in a few weeks myself; I hope you enjoy!

[Theakston]

The train from Hathrow to Paddington station takes 10 minutes!! Then you have the whole West End of London at your disposal and don't have to mess about with driving or parking.

[Kalleh1]

Now, I am really surprised that none of you Brits has made any recommendations here! For people who purport to have the "world's best beer", you don't seem too enthusiastic!

Look at the difference in the number of posts in this UK area, versus those in the Midwest US area! Now, we may not have the best of beers in the midwest, but we are enthusiastic about our beers! :)

[Richard English]

Just to answer some points.

I didn't spot this item immediately; thank you Kalleh for drawing my attention to it.

Firstly, Heathrow. With my ex-travel agent's hat on let me first ask the question, where are you coming from?If it's London itself then I agree with Theakston's point. The Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes (maybe less) to get to Heathrow from Paddington station and runs every 15 minutes. Unless your flight's very early that's probably the best way to do it. A taxi will take around an hour and cost much more. There is a very good Fuller's pub about seven minutes' walk from the station and there are several other decent boozers in the area. In Paddington and Bayswater there are plenty of reasonably-priced hotels.

Now, if you're not going to be in central London, then the situation is different. In fact, the area around Heathrow is not a particularly nice one and I couldn't suggest any pubs that I'd go out of my way to visit. However, you could try this link http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/results.shtml/tu/132.


Now, why are there so few of us from the UK? I suspect it's simply that this is a US site. Although the wonders of the Internet mean that we are now all neighbours, it is still a fact that most of us tend to use sites from our own country - not least because our references and language are the same. You will recall recent postings about the unintelligability of some US expressions to us in the UK (and vice versa).

However, I quite enjoy using distant sites as it allows me to make friends from all over the world - linked by common interest rather than some accident of geography.

[midlife]

Thanks Richard.

I am coming from the west, and staying near Heathrow strictly for the proximity the following morning. Don't really want to go into central London as it's a Sunday night, pubs will close early, etc. Now know precisely where I'll be staying - Taplow House, Berry Hill, near Burnham, Berkshire. Quite close to Windsor, Eton, Maidenhead, etc., but not familiar with the area. Love Fuller's beers.

Regards,
midlife

[Richard English]

Actually, you're miles from Heathrow!

Try The Duke of Connaught in Windsor or, if you don't mind a slightly longer journey, go to Marlow or Henley-on-Thames. Both towns have a selection of fine pubs. In fact, most of the towns around that part of the Thames Valley have good pubs - some of the most unspoilt in the country.

Avoid Slough and most of the other places to the east; travel west avoiding Maidenhead itself and just try a few. Obviously you'll need to sort out transport or stick to those towns served by the railway - say Twyford (The Duke of Wellington, maybe). Of course, on a Sunday the trains don't run late - the last one back from Twyford to Burnham is at 2228 and gets to Burnham at 2241.

Actually, although I can't speak for either, there's a pub called The Dumb Bell in Berry Hill itself (on the Bath Road) and another called the Red Squirrel in Burnham.