If I were to fly from SFO to London Gatwick airport, would that be considerably farther than flying into LHR?

It depend where u are staying, but London is not that big so it wouldn't be too far, I went last may, Loved it!! Go for best price and check map where u are staying.

Also depends on how you're getting into town.

From LHR, the Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes to Paddington. But Paddington can be quite a few subway stops from many hotels in London.

Or you can take the Tube, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour, again depending on where you're going.

From LGW, the Gatwick Express takes about 30 minutes to Victoria Station, which is more central. Or take slower (and cheaper) local trains.

So, it all depends.

OK - what are you asking? Farther from central London - or farther from SFO? I really don't get your question.

The flying time from SFO will be just about identical so that isn't an issue.

LHR is a bit closer to central London but both have easy connections into the city.

LHR 15 mins on the train or 45 mins on the tube; LGW 30 mins on the train.

Assuming they are both non-stops:

SFO-LHR = 5367 miles

SFO-LGW = 5392 miles

That's 25 miles difference which results in about 3 more minutes of flying if you chose LGW.

In my opinion, Gatwick is more "user" friendly and easier to deal with.

I've just gone through LHR and I hate it. If I had a choice I'd choose Gatwick if it's easier to deal with.

I've been through Heathrow twice and was fine both times. I like the Tube ride into London because it's a quiet ride into the city, giving me a chance to see the 'burbs (it's not underground all the time), and it's inexpensive too.

It does depend on where you're staying too. We stay near Westminster/Victoria Station, and BA flies direct from Denver to Heathrow, so that's our airport of choice.

Jules

The question's academic.

All nonstop flights from San Francisco to London go to Heathrow. There are no flights to Gatwick.

So to get to Gatwick, you're having to change somewhere else. Even if you have this silly hangup about Heathrow some posters on this board have, you're having to waste time changing and going the long way round- as well as putting up with the unpleasantnesses of yet another airport.

And changing planes at Newark, Dallas or Atlanta is every bit as horrible as arriving at Heathrow.

Beside factors mentioned in previous postings, you should also check if there is significant difference in airport taxes of the two airports. Heathrow is known to be one of the world's most expensive airports to travel to in this regard. I just don't know enough about gatwick.

I prefer Gatwick by a slim margin, but price and schedule should be the determining factor.

Flanneruk-I don't think that we all have a "silly hangup" about Heathrow airport rather the question was posed about which airport to fly into from SFO for distance. Of course, one would chose the nonstop flight from the originating city and go with that airport.Most of us did not know what airline Milliondollarbbw was flying.