Getting around by Road & Rail

• Driving to Gatwick Airport
• London Gatwick Airport is well served by both road and rail facilities. A major motorway (M23) passes within 1 mile with a direct spur into the airport complex. There is a main line railway station within Gatwick South Terminal.
• The easiest driving route into London Gatwick Airport is via Junction 9 on the M23 - However this can be very busy at times and it may be easier to approach it via the back roads from Junction 10 or 10a.
• It’s a bit fiddly so check out the map on the home page and zoom in for the detail.
• If you are leaving Gatwick Airport then, again, the M23 is the quickest and easiest depending on the current situation. If you are hiring a vehicle check with the people in the office.
• To and from Gatwick Airport using public transport
• The secret is to know where you are travelling from (Gatwick Airport) and where you want to be (nearest town or village if in the middle of nowhere)
• Then you head for www.traveline.org.uk where you can plan your journey.
• Notes on using Travel Line
• A bit of a confusing site but worth sticking with to sort out your routes using public transport.
• It is obviously feeding permutations of the route into a database so it might take a few moments to return with your options - patience is a virtue in this case and can make your trip a lot easier.
• My 'experiments' with pretend routes gave good results.
• The trick that worked for me is to go straight for the map on the front page and click the area you wish to reach - I selected SW because my pretend destination was Plymouth
• Once the next screen appears click the 'Journey Planner' button on the top row.
• Type in your 'From' and 'To' requirements and then click 'Find Journey'
• The system will return a number of alternatives - select the 1's that suit your needs most accurately. Then click 'Find Journey' button again.
• This will display the options available to you - click the 'Details' button for the details.
• This screen has options for the required timetables for your selected journey.
• This is a free service but I'm sure the creators would love to know that you found it useful, if you have time. <G>.
• This is a good site, but might be a little confusing in the first instance We hope the little guide above helps you.
• Bus/coach information
• National Express
• Oxford Bus Company
• Gatwick Flyer
• Courtesy Bus
• Train information
• Getting to and from Gatwick
• Plan your journey
• Times and Fares
• Rail routes to London
• Gatwick Express
• Thames Link
• Thames Trains
• Virgin Trains
• How to get to the London Main Line Stations

Click here for a Gatwick Airport Map

London Gatwick Airport enjoys a wide selection of bus/coach services supplied, in the main by 2 coach/bus companies.

• National Express
• http://www.nationalexpress.com/
• You will need to apply some caution when using this site - check on the route timings, also the route taken from pick up to drop off and the best price option available to you.  You will find the a single adult ticket for the 45 or so miles between Gatwick and Heathrow airports is around £15 BUT to travel from Gatwick to Exeter (around 250 miles) is only £28. Travel from Heathrow to Exeter is only £19. Go figger! You may well find that if your party is 3 or more it could be cheaper to take a taxi.
• Oxford Bus Company
• Oxford
• http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk
• or http://www.theairline.info/ for direct access to the airport service.
• Gatwick Flyer
• Dartford, North East Kent, South Essex & Southend
• Phone: 01708 730 555
• Courtesy Bus/Coach facilities
• Most of the international hotels run a courtesy coach service. Many of the smaller hotels also offer this service as do some of the guest-houses and bed and breakfast establishments. You should ask for details when making your booking.

Getting to & from Gatwick Airport By train

The is no need to pre-book rail travel except in the possible circumstance of an over-night sleeper requirement to Scotland, if it still exists! Tickets can always be purchased at the station and even if the ticket office is closed there will be a guy on the train checking tickets and selling them as required.

From Gatwick there are 3 different services going up to London - the Gatwick Express, fast but very expensive, the normal (sic) service both ‘stopping’ and ‘fast’ - these go into Victoria main line station. The Thames Link service runs from Brighton through Gatwick, into London at London Bridge main line station and then on to Bedford. With the exception of the Gatwick Express costs change depending on time / day travelled. During the week it is cheaper to travel between 9:30 am & 4 pm (or after 7 pm). These are outside the ‘rush hour’ and much more civilised. Travelling on the trains with suitcases, in the rush hour is not much fun - unless it is imperative, take a coffee break and wait, is my advice.

Gatwick Airport (South Terminal) has a mainline railway station as part of the complex. From here central London may be reached in a little over 30 minutes by non-stop Express, approx. 40 minutes by fast train or, at a more leisurely pace, on a stopping train. This easy access to London enables the traveller to reach all the rail stations on the UK mainland.

Plan your rail journey

• RAILTRACK
• www.railtrack.co.uk or http://www.networkrailstations.co.uk/

Train times & fares

• National rail enquiries
• Phone: 08457 48 49 50 (24 hrs)
• London Travel Information
• London Underground
• Phone: 020 7222 1234 (24 hrs)

They have a web site that I do find very annoying. If you want to check times of trains and routes to your destination then give it a try. You don’t need to book online as tickets can always be purchased at the station. http://www.thetrainline.com/

Train Services to and from Gatwick Airport

• Gatwick Express
• Non-stop to/from London Victoria
• http://www.gatwickexpress.co.uk
• ThamesLink
• Brighton to Bedford via London Bridge
• http://www.thameslink.co.uk
• Thames Trains
• Gatwick Airport to Reading - useful if travelling to or from south Wales, Bristol, Somerset, Devon or Cornwall - Change at Reading for Gatwick Airport
• http://www.thamestrains.co.uk
• Virgin Trains
• Direct train, daily, from Scotland, the North West and the Midlands to Gatwick Airport.
• Phone: 0345 222 333

How to get to the central London main line stations from Gatwick Airport

• Go to Victoria then take the following Underground line(s)
• Central London Main line Station
• Where do they go?
• How to get there
• Victoria
• South East
• Direct connection from Gatwick Airport
• London Bridge
• South East
• Direct connection from Gatwick Airport
• Marylebone
• Birmingham
• Take Victoria Line (northbound) to Oxford Circus then change to the Bakerloo Line
• Euston
• Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Carlisle, Glasgow
• Victoria Line (northbound)
• St. Pancras
• Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Sheffield
• Victoria Line (northbound)
• King’s Cross
• Cambridge & Kings Lynn, Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow
• Victoria Line (northbound)
• Liverpool Street
• Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich, Stanstead Airport, Cambridge
• Circle Line (eastbound)
• Charing Cross
• Kent
• Northern Line from London Bridge
• Waterloo
• Woking, Bournemouth, Winchester, Weymouth, Exeter
• District or Circle Line (eastbound) to Embankment then Northern or Bakerloo lines south
• Waterloo International
• Eurostar services to Lille, Paris & Brussels
• District or Circle Line (eastbound) to Embankment then Northern or Bakerloo lines south.
• Paddington
• Stratford upon Avon, Hereford, Swindon, Bath, Bristol, South Wales, West Country
• Circle or District lines (westbound)