Heathrow Airport map: the airport-wide layout and per-terminal map pages

Heathrow's four operating terminals sit in three physical clusters, not one. The most useful thing to know before any journey through the airport is which cluster your terminal belongs to, because it sets every other decision: how you arrive by car or train, where you can transfer if you land at the wrong building, and how long that transfer takes.

The two runways run east to west, parallel, with about 1.4 kilometres between them. The Central Terminal Area sits between the runways at roughly the midpoint of their length, holding Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Terminal 5 sits between the same two runways at the western end, separated from the central area by about two kilometres of taxiway and apron. Terminal 4 sits outside the runway pair to the south, the only operating terminal that does. Older guides that show five terminals in one cluster are out of date; Heathrow's terminals overview covers the four-terminal layout in full and the historical fifth.

Road access into each cluster follows that geography. The M4 spur from junction 4 leads directly into the Central Terminal Area through the Heathrow Boundary Tunnel for T2 and T3. The T5 spur road branches off the M25 just north of junction 14 and runs west into Terminal 5. The A3113 Airport Way, also from M25 junction 14, runs south of the runways to Terminal 4. There are no toll roads anywhere on the airport approach.

Terminals 2 and 3 share the Central Terminal Area and are the only walkable pair on site. A covered underground walkway connects the two arrivals halls in about 10 minutes at a normal pace, step-free, with travellators on most of the route. The walkway is landside, before security; airside passengers transferring between flights at T2 and T3 use the free Flight Connections coach the same as any other pair, because there is no airside walking link.

The two terminals share a single rail station, branded Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3, underneath the central area. All three direct Heathrow rail services call there: Heathrow Express (15 minutes from Paddington), the Elizabeth Line (around 30 minutes from Paddington with onward service through central London), and the Piccadilly Line (50 to 55 minutes from King's Cross). Travel between Heathrow stations is free on all three services when you tap in and tap out, useful when a connection lands at the wrong terminal.

The full gate-level layout, including the T2A main building and the T2B satellite reached by an 800-metre underground walkway with travellators, sits on the Terminal 2 layout page. The equivalent for T3, including the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Wing and the check-in zone map, sits on the Terminal 3 map page.

Terminal 4 sits on its own south of the southern runway, the only operating Heathrow terminal outside the runway pair. The road approach is from M25 junction 14 via the A3113 Airport Way and the Southern Perimeter Road. The terminal has its own rail station, Heathrow Terminal 4, directly underneath the building. The most common gotcha on a T4 trip is that Heathrow Express does not stop at Terminal 4: Heathrow Express passengers change at the central station for the free Elizabeth Line shuttle, around 5 minutes. Direct rail to T4 is the Elizabeth Line (four trains an hour, around 35 minutes from Paddington, continuing east through central London to Abbey Wood) and the Piccadilly Line (every 10 to 15 minutes from central London).

T4 is the smallest of the four operating terminals by passenger volume and gate count. It hosts the SkyTeam alliance carriers (Air France, KLM, Korean Air, Saudia, China Eastern, Vietnam Airlines), plus Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, and a handful of other long-haul names. The full per-floor layout sits on the Terminal 4 map page.

Terminal 5 sits on its own at the western edge of the airport, between the same two runways as the central area but two kilometres further west. T5 has its own road approach from M25 junction 14 on the dedicated T5 spur road, its own rail station (Heathrow Terminal 5, served by all three direct Heathrow rail services), and its own multi-storey car parks. It is the largest of the four operating terminals by passenger volume at around 35 million a year and is the British Airways and Iberia base; no third airline operates from T5.

The T5 footprint includes two airside-only satellite buildings, T5B and T5C, running east from the main T5 building. Check-in, security, baggage reclaim, and immigration all happen in the main T5 building regardless of which satellite the aircraft uses. The satellites are reached only by the free T5 transit train from the airside concourse of the main building, running every three to four minutes with a three-minute journey time. Short-haul BA flights to Europe often depart from one of the satellites; the gate number on the boarding pass tells you which.

The full T5 gate-level layout, including the satellites, the transit train station, the Concorde Room and the First Wing, sits on the Terminal 5 map page.

The four per-terminal pages carry the building-level detail (check-in zones, security positions, the airside layout, lounge locations, gate numbers, walking distances). One line each:

• Terminal 2 map: the Queen's Terminal at the eastern edge of the central area, with the T2A main building and the T2B satellite reached by an underground walkway.
• Terminal 3 map: the oldest building in current use at Heathrow, in the western half of the central area, with the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Wing and the main check-in hall.
• Terminal 4 map: the SkyTeam terminal south of the runways, on its own footprint with a single concourse and a Pier 5 extension.
• Terminal 5 map: the British Airways base at the western edge, with the main T5A building and the T5B and T5C satellites linked by transit train.

Heathrow's own interactive map at maps.heathrow.com is the canonical wayfinding tool for live inside-the-building navigation: zoom into a terminal, filter by shops, restaurants, lounges, gates, or facilities, and tap a marker for opening hours. The map pages here cover the durable building layout that does not change between trips.

Heathrow has three rail stations, one for each terminal cluster. The schematic above marks each one with a red dot at roughly its real position relative to the terminals it serves.

• Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3: under the Central Terminal Area, serving both T2 and T3. Called by Heathrow Express, the Elizabeth Line (around six trains an hour at the central station), and the Piccadilly Line.
• Heathrow Terminal 4: under T4, on its own. Called by the Elizabeth Line (four trains an hour direct since 22 May 2023, continuing east through central London) and the Piccadilly Line. Heathrow Express does not call here; transfers from HEX use the free Elizabeth Line shuttle from the central station.
• Heathrow Terminal 5: under T5, on its own. Called by Heathrow Express (the line's terminating station), the Elizabeth Line (around two trains an hour since the T5 service opened in May 2022), and the Piccadilly Line.

Travel between Heathrow stations is free on all three services when you tap in and tap out, including the Heathrow Express airport-only segment between T5 and the central station. The full mode comparison sits on trains to Heathrow.

Each terminal cluster has its own Park & Ride site for long stays, plus Terminal Parking next to the building at T2, T3, and T5 for short stays (the T4 multi-storey closed in June 2026 for redevelopment, so the Park & Ride carries everything at T4). The Park & Ride sites are off the perimeter roads; the schematic marks each one with an open circle.

• T2 and T3 Park & Ride on the Eastern Perimeter Road (postcode TW6 2SB), shared between the two central terminals, with separate pick-up bus stops in each forecourt and a free shuttle every 15 minutes.
• T4 Park & Ride on Scylla Road off the Southern Perimeter Road (postcode TW6 3XL), dedicated to T4 and carrying all T4 parking since June 2026.
• T5 Park & Ride on the Northern Perimeter Road (postcode TW6 2RL), dedicated to T5.

Terminal Parking, formerly Short Stay, sits in multi-storey car parks immediately next to the terminal at T2, T3, and T5 (2 to 5-minute covered walk from the arrivals hall). The Heathrow parking hub covers prices, walking times, the free 29-minute drop-off window at Park & Ride, and which sites work for Meet & Greet, Valet, and Priority Park & Ride. The schematic on this page shows location only; the parking pages own the comparison content.

Once you have the airport geography clear, the verb. The four terminals do not share airside space, so a connection between two of them on a single ticket with through-checked bags uses the free airside Flight Connections coach, signposted with purple Flight Connections signs from each arriving terminal. The coach runs every 6 to 10 minutes and links all four terminals.

Landside, options vary by route. T2 to T3 is the only walking pair, on the covered underground footbridge between the two arrivals halls. T2 or T3 to T5 is fastest on the free Heathrow Express segment between the central station and T5 (around six minutes), or on the Elizabeth Line. T2 or T3 to T4 is the Elizabeth Line or the Piccadilly Line. T4 to T5 is the Piccadilly Line direct via Hatton Cross, or a change at the central station for the Elizabeth Line (the two east branches run on different routes, so there is no direct T4-to-T5 Elizabeth Line service). The full door-to-door bands by route sit on the inter-terminal transfer page; where to meet someone arriving at Heathrow covers the arrivals-side meeting points in each terminal.