Travel from the airport - introduction

So you’re here. You’ve spent goodness-knows how many hours crammed on an airplane breathing other people’s recycled germs and eating strange-tasting mush. But the hard work doesn’t stop now, because you’ve still got to get to your hotel. I’ll tell you the best ways to allow YOU to make the call between cost and convenience.

Now there’s nothing wrong with spending money here to get to your hotel quickly. After all, you’re in a strange foreign city, you’re probably going to be dog-tired and you might just not want the hassle of doing something different. This page will give you the options so you can choose the right balance for you between speed and price.

The first thing to know – important this – is which airport you’ve landed into. If you don’t know, most likely it’s Heathrow, the main place for most trans-Atlantic arrivals.

Where are London's airports?

On  the following pages is a detailed guide to your options for getting to Central London to the airport – including cost, distance, time and destination:

• Heathrow
• Gatwick

If you do have a choice of where to fly into, I’d probably go for Gatwick, as it’s generally less hassle than Heathrow. But ultimately it doesn’t really matter: go for whatever is the best flight deal you can find.

This guide is updated quarterly. Last updated Autumn/Fall 2009.