Transfer from Gatwick Airport to London hotel

[5ofusnow]

We are flying into Gatwick and trying to decide on the best options for getting to our London hotel. The Gatwick Express is only a 30 minute ride but how is it for traveling with luggage and several people? Not to mention getting from the Victoria Station to a hotel.

I have also considered a private transfer straight to the hotel because with 7 people the price is not that much different. But then that leads into "should I add a tour onto it?" decision. After all, I can't get into my hotel room until around 3 pm. Does anyone have any advise?

[scottbee]

Care to share which hotel you're staying at? Options do change; especially because there are other trains from Gatwick which go to London Bridge & Charing Cross stations as well.

[William Dean]

We are flying into Gatwick and trying to decide on the best options for getting to our London hotel. The Gatwick Express is only a 30 minute ride but how is it for traveling with luggage and several people? Not to mention getting from the Victoria Station to a hotel.

I have also considered a private transfer straight to the hotel because with 7 people the price is not that much different. But then that leads into "should I add a tour onto it?" decision. After all, I can't get into my hotel room until around 3 pm. Does anyone have any advise?

 

The Gatwick Express is the train to get if you have luggage - the thing is designed to be an airport express. It is also non stop.

 

The disadvantage is that it is the most expensive train from Gatwick to London. But then you get what you pay for....

 

I'd suggest that a tour on route isn't really practical. Why not simply get to the hotel, dump your luggage and then go out for lunch or sighteening until the room is ready?

 

My personal preference would be a car and driver. Much the easiest and most relaxing way of doing it.

 

WD

[phabric]

 

We were not able to get into our room before 3pm. We registered, left our luggage, went exploring in the area, returned and just had to pick up our key.

 

Check out these car services; http://www.justairports.com, http://www.simplyairports.co.uk. We used Justairports from Heathrow to London and on the way back. To get a quote use the 2 letters and number from your hotel's postal code (ours was SW1). Price is based on car size and distance. It was nice to be met at the airport and be driven to your hotel after a long overnight flight.

[5ofusnow]

Care to share which hotel you're staying at? Options do change; especially because there are other trains from Gatwick which go to London Bridge & Charing Cross stations as well.

 

We will be staying at the Park Plaza Westminister Bridge hotel.

 

If we take the Gatwick express we will still need transportation from Victoria to the hotel. It looks like the train trip alone for 7 people is more expensive than a private transfer. I'm guessing that between waiting and transferring between modes of transportation it will probably be just as quick and probably just as cheap if not cheaper to hire a van.

[5ofusnow]

I've been looking at some of the transfer vans (Taxi) from Gatwick to the hotel and it is less expensive than the train. I think I will decide on one of those to hire.

 

We had considered doing a London tour since we probably will not be able to get into our hotel rooms. After flying through the night I know we are not going to be feeling up to par, but we will need to stay up to adjust to the 5 hour time change. So does anyone have suggestions for what to do that day? One of our travelers is a kid (9 yrs). We were thinking of the hoho bus. But thought it might be better to wait a day to do it.

[phabric]

I've been looking at some of the transfer vans (Taxi) from Gatwick to the hotel and it is less expensive than the train. I think I will decide on one of those to hire.

 

We had considered doing a London tour since we probably will not be able to get into our hotel rooms. After flying through the night I know we are not going to be feeling up to par, but we will need to stay up to adjust to the 5 hour time change. So does anyone have suggestions for what to do that day? One of our travelers is a kid (9 yrs). We were thinking of the hoho bus. But thought it might be better to wait a day to do it.

 

The HOHO bus ticket is good for a 24 hour period. They have 3 routes. What we did, we did one route, switched buses to the 2nd route, we did not get off the buses and the next day took the 3rd route to the Tower of London and then finished that route. The ticket includes a river boat ride. On the Original HOHO bus, you pay the conductor 3 GBP for a ticket for fish & chips at the Sherlock Holmes pub which is on their route.

 

You might want to walk around the area to get to know it and see what there is.

[5ofusnow]

thanks so much for helping me make a few decisions. I will line up a private transfer to the hotel and if we can't get in our rooms yet, check in the luggage. Then we will head out for lunch and a tour on the hoho bus. Thanks:)

Sherry

[iancal]

We are going the opposite way at the end of the month from our hotel in Kensington.

 

We just bought on line 2 tickets on the easyBus from Earls Court to Gatwick. We paid 2GBP each for a total of 4.50 on our credit card. Price is based on how full the bus is-anywhere from 2GBP to 10GBP per person.

 

The bus takes longer than the train but when we factored in the time and hassle to get from Kensington to the train station it was a no brainer. I guess it depends on where you are staying. You can reserve in the opposite direction as well of course, Gatwick-Earls Court.

[thesaintjim]

I've been looking at some of the transfer vans (Taxi) from Gatwick to the hotel and it is less expensive than the train. I think I will decide on one of those to hire.

 

We had considered doing a London tour since we probably will not be able to get into our hotel rooms. After flying through the night I know we are not going to be feeling up to par, but we will need to stay up to adjust to the 5 hour time change. So does anyone have suggestions for what to do that day? One of our travelers is a kid (9 yrs). We were thinking of the hoho bus. But thought it might be better to wait a day to do it.

 

We are staying at the Park plaza hotel in May. We reserved a private transfer of a Mercedes S class for 150 usd, which is comparable to NYC/LA for transfer. http://www.panamericanchauffeurs.com/ if you want to look at them.