Now that I've found a way to save over $200 per ticket flying from Philadelphia to Rome, I need to find whether I'll have over $200 worth of hassle getting between Gatwick and Stansted. Is there a train between the two airports or a shuttle bus and if so, how much does it cost and how long does it take?

There MIGHT be a train or bus straight...but I KNOW you can take the Gatwick Express train to Victoria Station very easy (30 or 40 min) and then walk a couple of blocks to the Victoria Station BUS depot and take a bus to Statsted. We spent a couple of days in London in between...but it's not far to do it the same day. The bus from the Victoria 'Coach" station takes about 45 min, I think.I think the fares are fairly reasonable...(whatever THAT means) &gt
But as I said....there are probably better straight connections now. Stansted is a nice airport..

There is a direct bus between the two airports: http://www.nationalexpress.com
This is likely the fastest option.

I believe going from Victoria Coach Station to Stansted takes much more than 45 minutes - it certainly did when I took that bus.

The National Express bus service is 28 GBP RT/person.
You could also go into London by train (the Gatwick Express goes into Victoria Station or the Thameslink train goes into Kings Cross) and then take a train from Liverpool station to Stansted. Oh boy.

You can hire a mini-cab/car service. Depending on how many of you there are ($200 x ???) it may still pay. That fare looks to be about 90 GBP one way. Justairports.com is the current favorite car service to/from the airports. Not sure if they'd also have the best price between airports.

The "direct" bus between Gatwick and Stanstead goes through Heathrow. So, you start from South of London to West, and then NE. Whole trip is 2:45 to 3:00.

From the Victoria Coach Station to Stansted, the bus takes 1:32-1:37. Adding about 35 minutes on the Gatwick Express and the transfer from Victoria Rail to Victoria Coach, you're talking also about 2:30.

The fastest way is to take the Gatwick Express to Victoria, switch to the tube (Victoria Line) to Tottenham Hale, and then pick up the Stansted Express. About 2 hours. But you'll have to haul luggage up and down many platforms.

Anyway you take, plus the time you need to reserve for getting to Stansted, as Easyjet and particularly Ryanair has very strict rule about time to the airport - you're talking about 5-6 hours between flights, and you will not get to Rome until very late afternoon, if not in the evening.

So, not only is there the hassle, but also time lost. Instead of an afternoon/evening enjoying Rome, you wasted that all to save $150 or less after you add the bus/train cost.

If you fly nonstop from PHL-FCO, you'll get in around 9am. Whereas if you fly via London, chances are you won't get into Rome until mid-afternoon exhausted. You pretty much lose your 1st day.

How long does it take to drive this route direct? If the OP hires a car service for say 100GBP and there are 2 of them so they've saved $400 in airfare, what kind of time frame are we talking about?

mclaurie - 90-100GBP you said is one-way. What about the return trip?

Also, think about the return trip. By using a low-fare from Stansted, they must fly back to London the night before if they're taking USAir LGW-PHL, which leaves LGW at 12:30pm. So, another half-day wasted in Rome to get back to London early.

I have used the London strategy before, and can offer the following points:

It makes the most sense if you are favorable towards actually incorporating London (or other nearby England destinations) into the trip.

While staying in London is likely to be more expensive for lodging than other places on the continent, there are places to stay in the area around Stansted/Cambridge, or Windsor, etc... that have their own charm and may be able to drive down your averaged lodging cost. You have to sleep SOMEwhere at night; don't think of this as time "lost" from your trip. Make it another dimension (unless you really just don't want to).

And there can be advantages to starting in England with less experienced travelers - - to get used to one thing at a time: new time zone and post-sleepless night after a trans-atlantic flight on day 1; foreign language(s) on day 2, 3, 4 or later.

The ground transportation costs are much more affordable, the larger the group size - - and makes a private car service competitive with public transportation.

If none of these apply to you, then the London option might be a bad choice for you.

Best wishes,

Rex

You can travel non-stop from Philadelphia to Rome in 8.5 hours. To go via Gatwick and Stansted (8:30 arrival at Gatwick, 3:10 departure from Stansted, 8:40 p.m. arrival in Rome) increases you travel time to 16 hours. It's your own decision whether this is worth the hassle.

You might explore other alternatives on the American end, such as flying out of Newark.

Flying out of Newark is a possibility, as that will only add about 2.5hrs of travel time (2hrs from PHL-EWR, and 30mins from AirTrain or Parking to terminal). However, don't forget, the Amtrak PHL-EWR is $108 per person r/t; while economy parking is $10/day.

Thanks very much for all the comments and ideas. It sounds like I may be better off paying the $200 more per ticket, not have to deal with bags between airports and I'll get to my destination quicker. By the time we get done paying for the shuttle service the savings is probably down to about $125 per ticket and with time and hassle, it's probably the right move to spend the extra money and avoid the brain damage.

You can save money by doing the airport transfer yoga in London. You can not - ever - save time. The M25 just is, and if you have more than carry-on luggage the train/bus/tube alternatives are big hassles. Remember, your internal clock is goofy too. We had an extra day on a recent trip to overnight in London before flying out of Stansted (tsf. from LHR in our case), and the savings to use EasyJet to Rome justified the transfer (£85 by private car) and the overnight hotel (£95) near Stansted. But to do it all in the same day, we concluded, would have been insanity.

Quick question: Have you looked into changing planes in Dublin instead? Aer Lingus and US Airways both serve PHL/DUB and Aer Lingus has cheap onward connections to Rome. One airport, maybe easier and faster.

This is funny. I'm actually going to do this Christmas exactly what I recommended <b>against</b> two years ago. I found this thread and my own posts by searching for Gatwick-Stansted transfers.

Of course I have my own reasons to do it this time, but I think the best way to do the transit is still train from Gatwick to Victoria (Gatwick Express or Southern), then switch to the National Express coach.