Airport Transfer Routes in London and Drive Times

Journey planner

Any airport, any address

Choose an airport and a destination for the distance, the off-peak time and the weekday rush-hour time.

Airport

To or from

Heathrow Mayfair

Distance: 16miles
Off-peak: 35min
Weekday rush: 51min

Usual line: M4, A4. Chauffeurs choose on the day from live traffic.

Read the route guide

Popular routes

The journeys people ask for most

Popular routes with distance and drive times
Route	Distance	Off-peak	Rush hour	Main roads
Heathrow to Mayfair	16 mi	35 min	51 min	M4, A4
Heathrow to Kensington and Chelsea	14 mi	28 min	41 min	M4
Heathrow to Westminster	17 mi	36 min	52 min	M4, A4
Heathrow to Paddington	16 mi	34 min	49 min	M4, A40
Heathrow to City of London	19 mi	46 min	67 min	M4, A4
Heathrow to Canary Wharf	23 mi	61 min	79 min	M4, A4, A1203
Gatwick to Victoria	40 mi	69 min	100 min	M23, M25, A243
Gatwick to Westminster	30 mi	69 min	100 min	M23, A23
Gatwick to Canary Wharf	46 mi	65 min	85 min	M23, M25, A20
London City to Mayfair	10 mi	36 min	52 min	A1203
London City to Canary Wharf	4 mi	14 min	18 min
Stansted to Liverpool Street	38 mi	71 min	103 min	A120, M11, A12
Stansted to Stratford	35 mi	61 min	79 min	A120, M11, A12
Luton to St Pancras International	36 mi	63 min	91 min	B653, A1081, M1
Luton to Hampstead	33 mi	48 min	70 min	B653, A1081, M1
Gatwick to Heathrow	45 mi	56 min	73 min	M23, M25, M4
Heathrow to Southampton	67 mi	82 min	107 min	M4, M25, M3
Heathrow to Tilbury	71 mi	82 min	107 min	M4, M25, A13

Off-peak and rush-hour times from road routing. Chauffeurs check live traffic before every journey.

Airport to airport

Connecting between airports

Off-peak minutes between every pair of London airports, for connections and diversions.

Off-peak minutes between London airports
	LHR	LGW	STN	LTN	LCY	SEN	BQH	FAB	NHT
Heathrow	—	56	91	52	69	94	70	40	20
Gatwick	56	—	104	94	68	80	45	65	66
Stansted	91	104	—	76	63	73	87	117	92
Luton	52	94	76	—	70	87	93	78	53
London City	69	68	63	70	—	56	46	99	63
Southend	94	80	73	87	56	—	63	114	96
Biggin Hill	70	45	87	93	46	63	—	78	81
Farnborough	40	65	117	78	99	114	78	—	50
Northolt	20	66	92	53	63	96	81	50	—

Off-peak minutes by road. The quickest in each row is underlined.

Airport to ship

Every airport, every cruise port

Off-peak drive time from each airport to each cruise port
From	Southampton	Dover	Portsmouth	Harwich	Tilbury
Heathrow	82 min	125 min	80 min	129 min	82 min
Gatwick	106 min	102 min	88 min	125 min	60 min
Stansted	161 min	134 min	159 min	84 min	66 min
Luton	123 min	143 min	120 min	121 min	75 min
London City	142 min	101 min	129 min	100 min	36 min
Southend	159 min	113 min	141 min	78 min	34 min
Biggin Hill	123 min	94 min	106 min	107 min	43 min
Farnborough	66 min	136 min	63 min	155 min	94 min
Northolt	95 min	137 min	93 min	131 min	82 min

Quickest port from each airport, off-peak.

Plan any airport journey in London

Every airport in our area can be combined with every London borough, district, major station and cruise port, which gives more than six hundred possible journeys. Route guides are linked where we have written one, and every journey can be booked online. The table of popular routes shows distances and typical drive times from our road data.

Where do these drive times come from?

Each distance and time is calculated by road routing between the two places, using the roads a chauffeur would actually take. The off-peak figure is for clear roads. The rush-hour figure adds an allowance for weekday peaks, larger for journeys that start or end in central London, where the slowest traffic is.

They are planning figures. On the day, chauffeurs check live traffic before setting off and choose the route that suits the conditions, which sometimes means a longer road that moves.

Why do journeys to the same airport vary so much?

Because London traffic is uneven. A journey that runs on motorways and trunk roads, such as Heathrow to Kensington, is predictable. A journey that crosses the centre, such as Heathrow to Canary Wharf, depends on the slowest mile of it, and that mile is usually somewhere between Hammersmith and the Tower.

Time of day matters most. Early mornings, late evenings and weekend mornings are the quick windows. Weekday rush hours, Friday afternoons and the start of school holidays are the slow ones. For a departure, we plan around the slowest likely conditions for your hour, not the average.

What is the quickest way between two London airports?

For most pairs, the M25. Heathrow to Gatwick is about 45 miles and roughly an hour off-peak; Heathrow to Stansted or Luton uses the western and northern arms of the M25. London City connects to the others through east London and the A13 or A12.

Connections between airports need generous margins. A missed connection at the second airport costs far more than an hour spent waiting there, so we plan these transfers with the busiest stretches of the M25 in mind.

Empty country road curving towards the setting sun

Is the train ever quicker than a car?

Sometimes, and we say so. The Elizabeth line runs directly from Heathrow to central London and Canary Wharf, the Gatwick Express runs to Victoria, and the Stansted Express runs to Liverpool Street. For a single traveller with light luggage at a busy time of day, any of these can beat the roads.

A car makes more sense with luggage, children, a group, an early or late flight, or a destination that is a walk or a change away from the station. It also takes you door to door without stairs or ticket barriers, which matters more than minutes to some travellers.

How do I get a price for a route?

Book online with the start and end of your journey, your date, time and passengers, and you see a fixed price before you confirm. That price includes airport drop-off charges and, where it applies, the Congestion Charge. It does not change on the day unless you change the journey.

For a route that is not listed, use the "Other address" option and write the full address in the notes.

Which routes are slowest in the rush hour?

The routes that cross central London lose the most time. Heathrow to the City or Canary Wharf, Gatwick to anywhere north of the river, and Stansted to the West End all run through the busiest roads in the capital, and in the weekday peak they can take half as long again as they do at night.

Routes that stay on the outer ring are steadier. Heathrow to Richmond, Gatwick to Croydon and Stansted to Walthamstow are affected by traffic too, but less, because they never go near the centre. If your journey crosses London at a busy hour, plan more time than the off-peak figure suggests, or ask us about travelling earlier.

Which journeys do people book most?

The busiest routes link the largest airports with the places visitors stay and work. Heathrow to Mayfair, Kensington, Westminster, Paddington and the City are the most common, followed by Gatwick to central London and Canary Wharf, and London City to the West End.

Cruise routes have their own rhythm. Heathrow to Southampton peaks on summer weekends, when large ships turn around, and many of those passengers book the return journey from the port to the airport at the same time. Airport-to-airport connections, especially Heathrow to Gatwick, are steady all year.

Can a route start at a railway station?

Yes. St Pancras International, King’s Cross, Euston, Paddington, Victoria, Waterloo, Liverpool Street and London Bridge can all be booked as a start or end point. A common booking is a Eurostar arrival at St Pancras continuing to Heathrow or Gatwick for a long-haul flight.

Give us the train and its arrival time. Trains run late more often than flights are early, so the chauffeur follows the arrival and meets you at the station’s pickup point. Station rules on waiting are strict, so your confirmation tells you exactly where to find the car.

Good to know

Questions, answered

Do you have a guide for every route?

We are adding route guides steadily, starting with the journeys people ask about most. Every route can be booked online today.

Is the return journey the same time?

Usually similar, but not always. Rush-hour traffic flows into London in the morning and out in the evening, so the same route can be quicker in one direction than the other at a given time.

Can I book a route with an extra stop?

Yes. Add it in the notes and it will be included in the fixed price.

What if my address is not in the list?

Enter your full address, including the postcode, when you book online. We cover every address in London and the surrounding counties.

Do the times include check-in?

No. They are drive times only. Add your airline’s recommended check-in time when planning a departure; we will suggest a pickup time when you book.

Airport transfer routes, every journey timed