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Step 1
London Heathrow Airport.
The fastest way to make the 20-mile journey between Heathrow and central London is by taking the Heathrow Express train, which runs from around 5 a.m. to a few minutes before midnight. The journey takes about 15 minutes to Paddington Station. If you book your tickets online (see Resources) you get a £1 discount. -
Step 2
Take the tube directly from Heathrow, but it’s not advisable if you have a lot of luggage as the tube can get quite crowded. The Piccadilly line services all of the five Heathrow terminals and it takes close to one hour to get to Leicester Square. You can buy a single journey ticket for £4 that will take you anywhere within Zone 1.
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Step 3
Ride in style with the National Express dot2dot, which is a shuttle service that will take you to most of the hotels in central London for £22 per person. They also service trips to Canary Wharf, south of the Thames. This will let you ride in comfort all the way to your final destination after a long flight.
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Step 4
The National Express coach service runs to the Victoria Coach Station. The trip takes between 40 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes, depending on what route you take. A regular ticket cost £4 one-way and service from Heathrow is available between 5.30 a.m. and 9.30 p.m. If you’re traveling from Victoria the coach service operates between 7.15 a.m. and 11.30 p.m.
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Step 5
Taxis are always available, but will cost you about £40 to central London. There is also a night bus (N9) between midnight and 5.30 a.m. that runs every 30 minutes to Trafalgar Square.
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Step 6
London Gatwick Airport.
Gatwick is situated 28 miles south of London and with its two terminals is much smaller than Heathrow. You can easily get to Gatwick from the Victoria station with the Gatwick Express in 30 minutes. Trains leave every 15 minutes from early morning to close to midnight and a single ticket will cost you about £18. -
Step 7
The Thameslink train runs between Gatwick, London Bridge, Blackfriars and King’s Cross Station. The ticket cost £10 and the trains leave every 30 minutes.
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Step 8
The Southern Railway service runs every 15 minutes during the day between Victoria and Gatwick and every hour between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. The trip takes 35 minutes and a standard ticket costs about £9.
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Step 9
The National Express has a coach service to the Victoria Coach Station that runs almost every hour. It’s quite a long journey, though, starting from 1 hour 45 minutes and up, depending on how many stops. A one-way ticket will cost £6.60.
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Step 10
EasyBus is a mini-coach service between central London and Gatwick that runs every 20 minutes during peak hours and every 30 minutes after that. The tickets start at £2 one-way, but you should book early to guarantee a spot and a good deal.
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Step 11
London Stansted Airport.
Stansted is the smallest of the three airports and it is used mostly by low-cost airlines, such as Ryan Air.
EasyBus has services to Stansted airport as well and the ticket prices are the same as for Gatwick and the busses run with the same frequency. -
Step 12
The best way to get to and from Stansted is with the Stansted Express. You can get a train every 15 minutes into central London from 6 a.m. to midnight. It takes 45 minutes to get to Liverpool Street station, but the trains also stop at Tottenham Hale station. Tickets start at £15.50 one-way.
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Step 13
If you’re not in a rush you can take the National Express coach service to the Victoria Coach Station. The travel time is about 1 hour 40 minutes because it makes a lot of stops along the way and the schedule varies so visit their website for departure times. Tickets start at £10 one-way.
