Holiday to Sicily in Apr 2026: Day 2 – London Heathrow in Palermo

By Nige on April 14, 2026 at 11:06 am
Type: Post
Story: Holiday to Sicily in Apr 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: Holidays | Italy | LHR | London Heathrow | Mercure | Palermo | PMO

Our night’s sleep at the Hilton Heathrow T5 was not the best. Our alarms woke us at 3:50am, which is an ungodly hour even for me!

The Vickster played a blinder and was ready to head down for the Hoppa Bus by 4:15am. But it was eerily quiet in the hotel.

We paid our £24 for two returns as we boarded the Hoppa Bus and took our seats. It was chilly and we were looking forward to some sun and warmth in Italy.

Arriving at Heathrow T5 in the dark, we headed towards The First Wing (TFW), which appeared to be open. But only for check-in. As suspected, TFW Security would not open until 5am.

So, we headed for Fast Track at South Security, and we were through in no time. Although, my case was flagged for a secondary check for no reason whatsoever.

Since the CCR wouldn’t open for another 5 mins, we decided to pick up a coffee from Starbucks and we made our way to the south lounge complex.

In to the CCR and we grabbed our favourite seats. Too early for breakfast on the terrace, we had decided to wait for the onboard service.

The flight was due to leave from Gate B43, which unfortunately was a bus gate. But we enjoyed the walk along the Transit Walkway.

Group 0 boarding was provided, although it being a bus gate meant almost nothing to us. We did however take advantage of the benefit.

The bus seemed to be more akin to a guided tour of Heathrow based on the convoluted route taken, but I had guessed correctly as to which side we would be offloading on, so we were on first and had no concerns over bagging the best overhead luggage space.

We settled into our preferred seats of 01D and 01F. I got the window seat and Vick got knocked by all of the remaining passengers passing down the aisle!

We pushed back on time and although the taxiing took longer than hoped, we were soon heading up into the sky.

We were warmly welcomed on board by the cabin crew and we enjoyed a hot BA breakfast. Vick went for the omelette and I went for the full English.

My scrambled egg was passable, but a little too well cooked for my liking, and Vick just complained about the fact that I got four blueberries and she only got one. That’s the upside of being GGL!

The rest of the flight passed uneventfully and we landed on time at Palermo airport.

I was looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead re picking up our Avis car and then driving into the city. That turned out to be a bigger deal than I first imagined.

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Holiday to Sicily in Apr 2026