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Flying in to London Gatwick

We are flying into Gatwick and wondered what's the best way to get into the city? Also preferences on what area to stay & any idea what the weather is typically like in November (around Thanksgiving). Thanks for your help.

Gatwick Express to Victoria Station. Take a cab to your hotel.

Was in London last month, flew into Gatwick. There is another train besides the Gatwick Express that is about 8.60 pounds, as opposed to around 11.30 for Gatwick Express. I was told it also goes to Victoria Station, and only difference is it makes a stop or two along the way, uses the same tracks, leaves from the same place. If speed is not of the essence, and saving a few pounds sounds good, check out that train. You would buy your ticket same window where you buy Gatwich Express. Just ask at the ticket window.

Once an hour, usually at 37 minutes past the hour, not Sundays, trains leave Gatwick and take 40 minutes to Kensghton Olympia. At Olympia they stop beside the street and beside the District Line underground train, and without any stairs one of you can walk to the main road, with frequent taxis, or both can cross the platform to the District Line for trains to Earls Court and High Street Kensington. If you are leaving the airport about 20 minutes past the hour this train gives you faster access to hotels in Kensington and South Kensington than does the Gatwick Express: it costs a pound less. But it's not worth a long wait. Every fifteen minutes Thameslink trains leave Gatwick and run to Kings Cross Thameslink. By November the escalator there will be back in order, so for Bloomsbury you do best to take such a train. At Kings Cross Thameslink you step onto the platform, find the stairs marked for Piccadilly Underground, drop a short flight of stairs, walk under the tracks, and take the escalator straight up to street level. There one of you stands by the bags while the other crosses the road and flags down a taxi. In neither case do you join a queue (line) for taxis. For the West End you take the Thameslink train to London Bridge, cross the platform there, and take any train to Charing Cross, where you pick up a trolley, roll your bags to the front of the station, and do queue for a taxi. The Gatwick Express is useful for hotels near Victoria or Park Lane. If you would like to tell me your date and rough time of arrival, and your hotel, I can narrow this advice down to your case. Welcome to London. Ben Haines

Hi Ben been reading your posts .Will be going to London next week and i want to get to ipswich on the 7th and return to London on the 10th do you know what times they leave get in gatwick at 7;30 am and what would be the cheapest rate cant to seem to bring up anything up that I understand Thanks for your time

The reference library of a city near you may have the Thomas Cook European Timetable. Table 200 shows that buffet car trains leave London Liverpool Street at 0730 and every half hour and take an hour to Ipswich. If your luggage is light then your best route is from Gatwick by Thameslink to Farringdon, over the footbridge to the Circle Line, and a few stops to Liverpool Street. Pass the underground ticket barrier, and take a flight of five stairs or a lift to the station concourse: walk on the level to the train. If your luggage is heavy you can take Thameslink to London Bridge, walk down the slope to the front of the station, find the bus stand for Liverpool Street, and at Liverpool Street drop by escalator to platform level. You can buy at Gatwick a ticket through to Ipswich, or better a saver return, which lowers your cost. You may have to pay a pound extra for the underground or bus inside the City of London. Likely times are Gatwick 0830, London Bridge or Farringdon 0905, Liverpool Street 0930, Ipswich 1035. Southbound, trains leave Ipswich at 14 and 42 minutes past each hour. Please write again if I can further. If you will use normal full stops and capital letters I shall find your message easier to read. Welcome to England. Ben Haines

Thanks Ben for the information.

just topping this post for travelers to Gatwick. Thanks for the info. I was not aware there were multiple trains from Gatwick to get into different areas of London. I am staying in South Kensington and just assumed I would take the Gatwick Express to Victoria and cab it from there. Now I know there is an alternative and perhaps easier way to get there via the train to Kensington Olympia...

Trains are good, I do declare, but if there are lots of you and you have luggage galore, then why not book a car? This site is full of good write-ups for Swiss Cottage Cars and others. It might make better sense, especially if you are likely to be tired/hassled after a long flight.

Nigel is correct - for one or two, any of the trains (depending to which section of London you're going) is the cheapest. For 3 it is about a toss-up, and for 4+ travelers, a car service is cheaper and more convenient.