Paddington Station was first taste of London 8 years ago. As a traveler arriving on the Heathrow Express and being greeted by the open trusses washed from light above it was the aura I had always imagined London stations to have.

Many trips later and now living in London a recent visit took us for a different reason. Reading the story of Paddington Bear to our young children on many occasions it was now time to introduce them to the station that inspired such a wonderful story. Of course while there we had to buy something from the Paddington Bear kiosk.

We walked along platform one past the statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (http://www.travelnwork.info/2008/02/paddington-station-is…). About halfway down the platform you can ascend a set of stairs to a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the platforms. From this bridge it is possible to get a fantastic view of the interior of the station. You are near the roof structure with the skylights washing light on the trains lined up at the platforms below.

This is a fantastic place to arrive in from the airport or when ascending the escalators from the Underground below.

I can’t believe I’ve not reviewed Paddington Station yet!

My incredulity comes from the fact that it is my ‘home’ station, as it were. It’s the gateway to South Wales and as such I’ve been a patron of it for yeeeears.

It is lovely. When coming into London, our country’s capital and biggest city, from the provincial seaside town of Swansea, Paddington provides that sense of grandeur and greatness, of cosmopolitaness and innovation. It’s a cracker.

It also has a Yo! Sushi, which I adore. And many, many other shops.

I once watched a 6 nations match in the pub in the station, and it wasn’t as awful an atmosphere as you’d think.

Heathrow Express is pretty good too.

I love travelling via Paddington. It’s so much more pleasant and human than, say, Euston or Victoria. It’s lovely too. And there’s a Paul Patisserie. The taxi rank moves rather swiftly. I’m a big fan of the Heathrow Express too.

Paddington is virtually the only station in London that I can think of which still gives off the aura of a traditional station, as opposed to small, cramped spaces which happen to have trains pulling out amongst the many shops.

Sure, Paddington has many shops, but bar a few exceptions, they're mostly contained at the back of the station spread over 3 levels. This means that the concourse is just that - a concourse. If you imagine hard enough, you can picture that the Heathrow Express trains and the First Great Western trains are actually steamers.

The station as yet does not have automated ticket barriers in place and it doesn't have quite the sense of urgency as say, Kings Cross, nor the over crowding.

As someone who travels by train often, Paddington would be my favoured station - especially as I visit the south west so often!

Paddington is one of London’s grand old stations. A lovely building. Unfortunately my experience of it will forever be stained. The shopping area here is very much vertical. A mass of eateries, shops and pubs over three floors around a square, stairs and a lift shaft. Unfortunately this design seems to have concentrated the pigeons. On one visit with a relative we went to eat our lunch in the seating on the top floor. Every chair was daubed with white, even washed with white where previous daubs had been spread rather than washed off. The same went for the tables. We managed to find somewhere semi-clean, but I wasn’t happy.

The shops are good: the usual chains, plus some nice ones, such as a sushi bar. Just don’t count on finding somewhere you feel safe sitting down to eat.

Paddington is one of the great London termini, the gateway to South Wales and the West for over 150 years. Destinations include Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Oxford, Reading, Worcester, Hereford, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance. Before the 1950s, trains also ran to Birmingham, Shrewsbury and Birkenhead. Since 2000 it has also been the terminus of the Heathrow Express. It has 14 main-line platforms and is used by an average of over 75,000 people a day.

The present station at Paddington opened in 1854 to replace a temporary terminus further west and north opened in 1838. It was designed by the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was appointed to build the original line to Bristol in 1833, at the tender age of 27. In his new terminus, Brunel wanted 'an aisled cathedral in a cutting'. That is what he got, with three great glass roofs running the length of the platforms.

Although Brunel was the chief architect, his friend Matthew Digby Wyatt designed many of the details, including the charming bow-windows on platform 1, the detailing on the arches and the strap ironwork on the screens at the end of the roofs, executed in a charming arabesque style. This is clearly visible in Frith's famous painting of 1860, 'The Railway Station', based on Paddington. The station was substantially enlarged in 1916, with the addition of a fourth roof in a matching style.

A detailed guide to the architecture can be found at: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/3053_PaddingtonArc... />
The station is unusual in having no proper exterior: the hotel at the front was opened in 1854 but is architecturally rather conservative. The main entrance is still down a rather unprepossessing side entrance off Eastbourne Terrace, or the cab road from Praed Street. Most arrive on the Underground.

The station had a thorough face-lift in 1999, with the insertion of a three-storey complex of some 20 shops and restaurants in the area known as 'The Lawn' at the end of the platforms. These include W H Smiths, Yo! Sushi, Starbuck's, Costa coffee, Ritazza cafe, a Fuller's pub (with real ale), a Bureau de Change, Thresher's, a small Sainsbury's and Boots the Chemist - among others. These help to make the wait for trains more bearable: Paddington operates an irritating system whereby trains are announced only 15 minutes before departure, leading to a great rush of passengers to get on.

Other features include statues of the great man Brunel himself, and a smaller charming one of Paddington Bear. On my visit, there was burger at his feet rather than a marmalade sandwich...

This station has lots of memories for me. The main one being that it is the station back to my parents home where I grew up. I love living in London but it is definately a very warm and comforting feeling when I arrive at Paddington to get on a train back home to the country.