Will land at Gatwick airport with 5 hours until departure from Heathrow airport in London. Would like to take in a quick tour and a meal in travel from airport to airport, time permitting. Any suggestions for transportation, what to see and where to eat within 3 hours?

"<i>Would like to take in a quick tour and a meal in travel from airport to airport, time permitting.</i>"

Time <u>does not</u> permit . . .

Just collect your bags, get through immigration, get on the Express Coach at LGW, get off at LHR and hopefully you'll make your flight.

HAHAHAHAHA.

Unfortunately, Marsha, your post is a joke, even though you certainly did not mean it to be. Getting your stuff and through immigration and to London from Gatwick takes 1.5 hours, minimum. There is no such thing as a "quick tour" of London -- it is the largest city in western Europe and its size is akin to New York. Heathrow is 45 minutes, minimum, from Central London and you need to be there more than 2 hours before your flight to ensure you can get through security and board your plane.

In other words, do what janis said and cross your fingers.

For future reference, do NOT do a Gatwick --> Heathrow, or reverse, transfer.

5 hours is the minimum time I would like for a connection involving any two London airports.

I have driven many many times between Gatwick and Heathrow - and even though freeways links the two many times there were horrendous traffic snarls - head out as soon as possible - don't linger as every second could be precious. Planes can be late - there can be really long lines at Customs for non-EU passport holders, etc.

Just to add to your cheer, the motorway between Gatwick and Heathrow is known as the largest carpark in the country if not Europe. Four or five lanes of traffic going nowhere.

"the motorway between Gatwick and Heathrow is known as the largest carpark in the country if not Europe"

Only by writers of inane tabloid headlines.

You haven't got time to dawdle, and traffic on the M23/M25 link between the two airports is often very slow (though, more often, is about as fast as it's safe to drive). But even in the middle of the rush hour on a wet Friday evening, it's almost unheard of these days for the journey from LGW to LHR to take more than 90 mins.

There's a bit about 20 miles after you join the M25 where speeds routinely drop to 5-10 MPH at rush hour, and anyone trying to catch a plane starts having palpitations. But it only lasts about 20 mins, and your bus stays moving.

There's every reason for you not to hang around, and no you can't divert via central London (though with a wee bit longer, advance checkin, and a departure to somewhere other than the US or Israel, others could get a train into town, leave their bags at Victoria, walk round Parliament Square then get the tube out to LHR).

But there's no reason to panic. I drive this dozens of times a year (often at rush hour), and I can't remember when the LHR-LGW bit last took more than an hour.

Thanks for the variety of responses. Wasn't actually contemplating an official "tour" as I realize the plethora of sights in London. I was thinking more of a "drive by" on the way from one airport to another, and a step on London soil to grab lunch. Will figure it out. So far have a driver charging $400 to travel from Gatwick to Heathrow. Thought I might find a better deal, so I am still surfing.

"Thanks for the variety of responses."

What variety? For the first time in recorded history, replies are unanimous:

<b> You haven't got the time to diveryt via London</b> You go directly to London. Do not stop or dawdle


"So far have a driver charging $400 to travel from Gatwick to Heathrow. Thought I might find a better deal, so I am still surfing."

Just get the bus like everyone else.

Any other solution costs a fortune and and will save you at most 15 minutes. 30 maybe. With which you can do nothing.

Best deal is National Express, Gatwick to Heathrow, nonstop, max around $38. I'm no fan of buses but this is a no-brainer.

I think the problem is that neither London Gatwick nor London Heathrow are particularly close to what tourists would consider to be London.

As all the others have said, there is no possible way you can take in central London and make the connections. Land at Gatwick, take the coach to Heathrow, spend any time you have left browsing the duty free.

"<i>Wasn't actually contemplating an official "tour" as I realize the plethora of sights in London. I was thinking more of a "drive by" on the way from one airport to another, and a step on London soil to grab lunch. Will figure it out.</i>"

Sorry -- but if you 'figure out' a way to stop for lunch in London, I hope you have also figured out how to book an onward flight since you will miss the one you have now.

There is simply NOT enough time to go to London --even just to step foot on "London Soil" and get a quick meal.

Just the <u>drive</u> alone from LGW, to say Trafalgar Square, to LHR could easily take 3 hours. That is AFTER you have cleared immigration and collected your bags (say another hour+). Then there is security/check in at LHR.

No way, no how.

As we are ALL saying -- get on the coach at LGW, get off at LHR -- and pocket the £350+ you'll save.

Evidently Marsha has been confused by my statement that she hasn't the time for a quick tour and her own stated desire "to take in a quick tour" and cannot figure out the simple message from these responses. To distill:

(1) Marsha, you do NOT have time to travel to London from Gatwick and then from London to Heathrow. No, not even to "grab lunch". And a "drive by" is a SLOW process on Central London streets. Go get a map (there are plenty online -- www.londontown.com, for example) and check it out: London does not have grid streets in its center that allow for decently swift traffic flow.

(2) Marsha, you should get off the plane at Gatwick, clear customs, and immediately take the National Express bus to Heathrow. Don't pay some cabbie $400 (or worse, 400 GBP -- that's $650) to drive you.

(3) Marsha, you will NOT be able to "step on London soil to grab lunch" and transfer from one airport to another in time for your flight.

This is why switching airports from Gatwick to Heathrow (or reverse) is not recommended. Take this as a lesson for the future and don't mess around with the possibility of missing your flight from LHR.

If the bags are checked through and you arrive bang on time and whiz through passport control, it is possible to take the Gatwick Express to Victoria station, then a bus to Paddington, then HEX to Heathrow. http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/036N136.htm

You'd see something of London - Marble Arch, a sliver of Hyde Park, etc. Would use up your 3 hours. No time to eat other than to grab something takeaway (a sandwich, wrap, etc) at Paddington.

I wouldn't do this myself, I don't like to worry about connecting times and you'd be cutting it close. But...Qui audet adipiscitur and all that

And FWIW, I frequently took a car service from Maidenhead (close to Heathrow) to Gatwick for flights to Orlando. Charge was about 100 pounds.

FoFoBT: "<i>If the bags are checked through . . . </i>"

Bags <B><u>CANNOT</u></B> be checked through on a LGW/LHR connection. They must collect their luggage and take it to LHR on their own.

Well, if she's traveling light (carryon) only, it's still possible. Again, not what I'd recommend, but if someone is absolutely determined to see a bit of London...

(p.s. there was no need to SHOUT at me!)

"<i>(p.s. there was no need to SHOUT at me!)</i>"

I wasn't shouting -- I was emphasizing the <u>one</u> word to make sure it was very clear . . .

This would have been shouting: >>BAGS CANNOT CANNOT BE CHECKED THROUGH ON A LGW/LHR CONNECTION!!!.<<

Well, I'd call a word that's all caps, bold faced and underline the online equivalent of a RAISED VOICE. If you had only bold-faced and underlined it, do you think nobody would have seen it?

When we did a Heathrow to Gatwick connection MANY moons ago, we took a Speedlink van. They served tea and coffee and we loved it. Is that National Express now or does Speedlink still exist? It was less than $100 for the 2 of us.

OMG, just checked and it was 1999 and we were on our way to Rome for the first time. Sigh. Our bags went all the way through to Rome-has that also changed? We flew British Air.

Marsha_Cooke, I took a couple of shots of the London Eye from the plane-that may be the closest you're going to get. Harrod's has a nice shop in Heathrow FYI. Wish we could give you better news. Put that $400 in your bank for a real trip to London.

In this thread, various folks have 1) <B>bolded</B>, 2) ALL-CAPPED, 3) <u>underlined</u> in at least nine different posts.

So you think mine was over the top -- OKaaaaay -- but I bet I got their attention. That is what I intended . . .