Transfers between Gatwick Airport and London

London Gatwick (LGW) is London's second largest airport and is about 46 kilometres north of the city. Although there is a train from Gatwick to London, the most convenient and direct way to get there is by private or shared transfer.

If you're looking to save time and invest in comfort on arrival in London, it's best to book a transfer (you can choose between private or shared) to ensure a smooth journey from door to door.

This shared car transfer service between Gatwick and central London is the most comfortable. The service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making it especially convenient for the first and last flights of the day. Drivers speak English, Spanish and Portuguese, making it easy to communicate with them.

The value for money is very reasonable, as despite being a premium service, the fact that you can share the vehicle with more passengers - up to a maximum of 15 passengers - makes it affordable. The price is around €55 per journey and person.

As it is a shared car, each passenger is only allowed to take one suitcase and one handbag. If you are travelling with more or bulky luggage, please advise when booking as this may incur additional fees. The vehicles are equipped with child seats for small children and are wheelchair friendly, provided that the seats are folding.

Shared transfer from central London to Gatwick

The car sharing service between London and Gatwick is the same there and back, so it works in the same way. At the time of booking you will need to select what time you would like to be picked up and you can get to Gatwick Airport from your hotel in around 30/40 minutes, (depending on traffic it can be up to 60 minutes) and making no more than 3 stops along the way.

If instead of waiting for the chauffeur at your hotel you would prefer to spend the last few hours sightseeing around the city, there are also various pick-up points around the city:

For an even easier and quicker arrival at your hotel, you can book a private transfer service from Gatwick to your hotel that you will not have to share with other travellers, but will be available exclusively for you and your group. As with the shared transfer, you will specify your flight number and arrival time and the driver will be waiting for you at the airport exit.

The duration of this journey will be, if anything, shorter than the shared transfer, as you will not have to make any intermediate stops to drop off other travellers at their hotels. From the moment you leave the airport, you will go directly to the door of your hotel.

Each traveller can take one suitcase and one handbag or backpack. Although it is true that as the vehicle will be at your total disposal, if you are travelling alone, you will be able to take more luggage. However, if you are travelling in a group and are planning to take more luggage than recommended, it would be advisable to contact us via email when booking to check the maximum capacity of the vehicle.

Private Transfer from Central London to Gatwick

You can also select the private transfer service for the return journey from your hotel to Gatwick and it works in exactly the same way. Once you have made your booking, you will be asked to specify the pick-up address and the time you would like to be picked up. My advice is to work out your pick-up time and allow enough time to get to the airport in case of traffic.

There are a number of different train services available between Gatwick and central London. Depending on where your destination stop is, you may want to consider one company or another. Here are the main options.

Gatwick Express. The fastest

The Gatwick Express is the fastest train that connects Gatwick Airport with London Victoria Station in half an hour. Trains run from 5:00 am to 11:45 pm and depart every 15 minutes. I recommend buying your ticket online, as it's a bit cheaper than at the ticket office: about €20 per person ( one way ) and about €35 per person (return). Once you get to Victoria Station, you can get around London by underground or city bus.

Southern Railway

The Southern Rail way is cheaper than the Gatwick Express because it's not as fast, covering more stops. It's of particular interest if you're heading to the south-east of the city, as it stops at stations in central London as well as various points in the area: London Victoria, London Bridge, Clapham Junction, Brighton, Southampton, Eastbourne and Portsmouth. The journey can take between 30 and 60 minutes.

The cheapest option to travel between Gatwick Airport and central London is to travel on one of the two private bus lines available, National Express and EasyBus, although this has the disadvantage that the transfer may take longer as there are stops in between.

Easybus

Easybus from Gatwick Airport to London and vice versa is the cheapest transfer option of all, costing between 3 and 14 euros, depending on the offers available and how far in advance you buy your ticket. Their buses go direct to Earl's Court/West Brompton area in just over an hour if there is not too much traffic, with connections to the Underground.

They run every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, all year round and luggage allowance is limited to one large suitcase per person and one handbag.

National Express

The main advantage of National Express is that although it is slightly more expensive than Easybus, at between £10 and £14, it has no luggage restrictions. With National Express you can get to and from the central London Victoria station every 30 minutes. However, their buses don't make direct journeys like Easybus, but make a number of stops, making the journey considerably longer.

For around £45 each way you can travel from Gatwick Airport to London and back in a VTC or Uber. Although sometimes the fare can cost up to £75, depending on the exact destination or origin. This option can be cost-effective if you are travelling with a small group of people and split the Uber fare between several people.

Keep in mind that the larger the vehicle and the greater the needs of the vehicle, the higher the price of the Uber will be. However, it will always be better than taking a taxi, which can cost between 100 and 150 euros, being the most expensive option of all.

Here is a comparison table where you can compare times and prices of each transport, where you can see how much it costs and how long it takes to get there:

If you haven't yet bought your flight and you're not sure which airport to fly into, don't worry because all London's airports are well connected to the city centre. Here are the practical guides I've written about the other main airports so you can see the best way to get around each one: