Gatwick to London
 

How long is the driving time from the airport to Kensington? <BR> <BR>Mapquest says it is 1 1/2 hours. That seems too long!!

Not at all too long, and it may be longer. The "fastest" route would probably be by the M-25, over 1/4 of the way around the city. That's about 40 miles (distances here are educated guesses). Even if traffic is running smoothly that's over 1/2 hour, and, depending on the time of day, can take up to 1 1/2 hours by itself. Then you have 10-15 miles thru mostly city streets. And London-area traffic is anything but rapid. Sorry, but better count on at least 1 1/2 hours.

If I may mention it, the hourly train from Gatwick to Kensington Olympia takes forty minutes and costs ten pounds. Taxis are plenty on the road above the station. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London

Thanks, Ben. I wanted to give her this information, but wasn't at all sure of it and didn't want to steer her wrong. Were my distances far off? I don't have a map of the area any more and was working from memory.

I just posted an answer to a different question about www.chauffeur.co.uk - - and while they provided great service - - I think that the transfer was MORE than 1.5 hours - - no fault of the dirvers - - it had been a down pour during the night (and continuing into that morning) - - and they drivers ran into more than one underpass flooded or hopelessly blocked because of traffic deviations. <BR> <BR>On a more positive note, we also used the same company to get from our hotel (Shaftesbury) to Stanstead a few days later, and we got there in much less time than anticipated (to catch a 7 a.m. flight to Italy). <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Suddenly, everybody's named Linda <BR> <BR>For rinninwind: I ought to have said that the rail service is hourly. Trains leave Gatwick at 37 past the hour and reach Kensington at 12 minutes past the hour. <BR> <BR>For keelx2: the rail distance to Victoria is 43 kilometers, so your mieages may have been high -- but your driving times were bang on. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR>