I know how that goes. It didn't sound like you at all. ;)

But I agree it's an important point. If you use a site like theaa.com to get a route from Gatwick to Glucester station, you'll find it's 127 miles.

And I was so proud because I remembered to include all of my travel data - times, dates, etc! Seriously, thanks to everyone for your absolutely great & helpful info.

BTW, nona1, you need to "teach" caroline_edinburgh a lesson - she didn't spell GLOUCESTER correctly & she didn't add ROAD! Shamey, shamey! I'll admit that I'm an American (we never could learn the English language correctly!), but now we know caroline_edinburgh must be an American - that is a big shamey, shamey!! Actually, I don't think I have ever said I need to teach someone a lesson (not even to my children), and since I am in my 60's, it's been a loooong time since anyone said I need to be taught a lesson - hmmm, did anyone ever! My husband will love that! I'm sure he concurs. :-)

Seriously, nona1, I'm having fun at your expense. I understand we all sometimes have posts we would love to destroy & that darn button won't let us - no harm done in this case.:-)

I am so surprised & thrilled that I got so many responses. But now it appears that I must change tracks - I know, bad pun!

127 MILES - YUK!!!!

I was indeed referring to Holiday Inn (but not the Forum) South Kensington, 100 Cromwell Road - thanks yk. And, I was referring to the tube across the street - Gloucester ROAD. Have to admit that I am not a newbie to London; been before & love the Brits - of all the countries we have visited in Europe, they are the friendliest. We love London!

To save ourselves after a long flight we always use a private car service to/from airports. But then, we have never been to Gatwick.

So, selecting a flight to & from Gatwick when staying in South Kensington = bad idea! Too late now; cost too much to change flights.

So, private car = bad idea. BUT, (big but) we don't want to climb up tube and/or train stations' stairs with our luggage. Also, we have been on tube rides when we had to suck in our breath in order for the doors to close = not a good way to haul luggage! So, tube ride = bad idea.

So, let me know, please -
1. Don't want to stay so far away from the tourist city as Gatwick is, so are there other nice areas convenient to the tourist sites that are also convenient to Gatwick? (nice = pleasant not seedy (sorry no harm meant to London), easy tube access, not 1/2 tube ride, casual food places w/i walking). Of course, if anyone can offer a hotel suggestion = thanks. We are staqying in S.Kensington because we love that area so, & we are staying at HI S.Kensington because we get 2 double or queen beds for the 3 of us adults; don't want a sofa bed. We are paying 171 pounds per nite + tax. Bonus is it is 100% refundable up to nite of arrival for AAA (that's us).

2. If we stay at our reserved hotel, then from Gatwick, we need to take the GEX, which is a train, not a subway, to Victoria Station. From V.S., we can take a cab or reserve a private driver (which probably isn't good because we would not know what time we will arrive in V.S.). Do I have it?

3. How much does the GEX cost (assume we buy the tickets right there) & any ideas on how much the cab cost? Does it run all hours & frequently, or least for our hours?

4. Am I correct to assume the GEX will be operating at that time on a Sunday & cabs will be at Victoria Station at that time?

5. Now the return trip! Easiest is to stay near Gatwick for the nite before, but would really prefer not to do so. Next easiest would be to find a hotel as mentioned in #1 above. But, if stay in S.Kensington, as Sandra posted, we = cab or private driver to Victoria Station; at V.S. get GEX to Gatwick. Is the GEX operating at that time of the morning?

6. How is the "stairs" situation when using the GEX?

Sorry, didn't include (I edited, but must not have done it correctly) -

7. Is the GEX access readily available in the Gatwick airport or do we have to hike to there?

Thanks again, Julie

Hi Julie,

I'm really not trying to be clever, but have you tried google maps?

put in Victoria station and hotels and see what comes up within walkable distance- I'm sure there are loads and your favourite area of South Ken [there, we do abbreviate some things, just somewhat randomly] will only be a short tube ride away.

If you do decide to stick to your original hotel then make sure that your train ticket includes the tube [another abbreviation] - you now have to buy your tube tickets at some kiosks just outside the tube station at Victoria [as i found to my cost on a recent trip to London] and not downstairs as in days of yor and it's a real rugger scrum and pain in the YKW.

Have a great trip,

regards, ann

Julia -

Just a quick google search will give you Gatwick Express website, and you can find out the prices for the tickets; as well as the schedule (including Sundays).

There is no stairs invovled when transferring from Gatwick Airport to the GEX station. There are escalators and probably lifts. Of course, if both break down, you'll need to carry your luggage up/down flights of stairs. The same is true for GEX @ Victoria Station.

Your best bet would be GEX to Victoria station, then a taxicab to your HI at Kensington. We took a taxicab (reverse direction) and it was around £10.

The GEX is right at the terminal at LGW. No stairs at Victoria station end. Flat walk to the taxi rank. Could not be easier. No need to purchase your GEX tickets before boarding. About 1/2 way into London a conductor will come around and sell you tickets . . . .

No need to change your hotel - unless you want to.

Ann, thanks for your input. I usually search hotels on venere & tripadvisor, but will try your google map system. I just know from reading a lot of posts that Fodorites know 'areas' & can advise which are good/best.

Since we will be using the tube for 3 1/2 days, I figured we will buy the paper travel card. Will that include the GEX & can I get that at Gatwick before boarding, or do I buy another type of ticket that includes the GEX & tube?

yk, that taxi price is great, thanks for the info.

janisj, that is something I would not have expected - conductor comes thru & sells the tickets! Will he/she sell us the ticket that includes the tube?

Is it possible to buy the combined train/tube tickets pre-trip online? Are there any negatives to doing so? I figured maybe this would save us some hassle once there.

Thanks everyone, Julie. I feel much better about this. Looks like we can stay in our favorite location & our booked hotel will be fine. Wouldn't be true without everyone's help. Glad I asked the time question rather than schedule the private driver - yikes!

Julie - don't stress over the Gatiwick Express: it couldn't be easier. You have as much of a walk to get to the train as you do to get to the sidewalk where the cars are. At Victoria, you're let off sort of at the back of the station and it's all flat walking to the platform. In any case, coming and going, it's half an hour on the train plus the cab ride from Victoria to your hotel and vice versa. There are cabs at the station at the hours you need them, and the trains run pretty much accommodating the hours of international flights: I think they start at around 5:00 or 5:30. If there aren't taxis at your hotel, the hotel and call one to take you to Victoria.

I wouldn't even condsider dragging luggage to a tube station to get to Victoria. As I said before, if you're considering a private car service, cost isn't the first thing on your mind. Anyway, here's the link to the Gatwick Express page, with costs, train schedules, etc.: https://www.gatwickexpress.com/index.asp?SID={7F8ADAC3-B233-4456-9EA2-87143FFA0498}. I think you'll find with the times of departure from and to Gatwick this will be your easiest form of transport, not to mention quickest.

GEX is GEX, there's no GEX/tube combo ticket. You can buy your tube Travelcard once you arrive at Victoria station.

Julia - sorry, I hit that send button too bloody soon! You don't need to purchase your tickets for the tube before getting to London. Get yourself to your hotel, have a freshening breakfast, get your bearings, then go to the tube station to get your tickets if you're going straight away somehwere that requires a tube trip. Otherwise, do that when you've decided where you want to go. You may decide to walk about on the first day, so no need for tube tickets or to stress over those tickets, either.

Keep in mind, the tube is a user friendly system with frequent service and even if you don't plan your outings in the most strategic manner, you'll have no trouble getting from point to point.

On the other hand, I took a private car from www.justairports.com to Gatwick when I had an early morning flight. No traffic to speak of at that hour. Depending how many are in your party (sounds like it may be three), this might not be much more expensive than the taxi and train option.

I concur with the advice to ride the train to London, then take a taxi to your hotel. A car would be a waste of your time and money, with little discernible benefit, if any.

If two or more are traveling, Southern Railway offers the best deal between LGW and Victoria (or any other station in London). It's an all-day pass that can be used by up to four people, and costs £20. Here's the detail:

http://southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=189

Sorry for the typo (Glucester for Gloucester). But Julie, perhaps you need to learn to read advice properly. My *whole point* (and nona's) is that if you say Gloucester station instead of Gloucester Road station, it will be assumed that you want the station in the town of Gloucester, which is 127 miles from Gatwick - as opposed to Gloucester Road station which is 29 miles.

And I am certainly not American.

I too find the American habit of dropping the second half of a street name annoying --- and I'm an American (admittedly living in England).

You can do this in the U.S. because street names within a city are generally unique -- lots of cities have mainly numbered streets, anyway. It's a very rational system, no doubt, but it doesn't work in England, for the reasons given by Nona and Caroline. It is not rude to point this out.

BTW, just a glance at the index in my Central London A-Z shows Gloucester Avenue, Gloucester Crescent, Gloucester Gate, Gloucester Mews, Gloucester Place, Gloucester Square, Gloucester Terrace, as well as Gloucester Road. You see the point

Julie, our flights normally arrive at Gatwick, and we like to stay in the Gloucester Road area.

Last October, our open return (round trip) Gatwick Express tickets cost £26.80 each. The taxi from Victoria Station to Cromwell Road just up from Gloucester Road tube station was less than £10 for the two of us.

One bit of advice--that was a London black cab at around 11:00 am. We also had an early flight home and asked someone at the hotel to call a taxi for us. The cab that arrived was not a black cab and the cost was over £10, and that was very early in the morning with almost no traffic. I'm sure the driver took us on a roundabout drive. I won't forget again to specify a black cab!

Enjoy your trip, and please post a trip report.

I'm so appreciative. Thanks to you all. I have copied & pasted all of this info into my London word doc. As advised, we will take the GEX & a black taxi. Appreciate the links too.

Caroline_edinburgh, I really did get the point; was just trying to add some humor(?) to lighten things; I also assumed you are not American; I really do appreciate your concern for our welfare & to make our trip go smoothly; I will be absolutely sure not to use abbreviations. Thank you for your input.

Now, I am indebted to you all. How much nicer our arrival will be now than it would have been if I had just hired a driver! Definitely owe a trip report after we return!

Thanks again, Julie

Gatwick Express open return LGW-Victoria is £30.80 this year.

NB: you can also ride Southern for £21.80

Sorry Julie, I didn't realise you were joking and thought you believed it is 127 miles !

" I won't forget again to specify a black cab!"

This conclusion is probably misguided.

It's almost inevitable a black taxi will cost more when booked over the phone than if you pick it up at a rank. There's a £2 booking charge, the cab charges from where they were when they took the call, and there's waiting time when they get to the hotel unless you're in the lobby already, packed and checked out. Additionally, in your case, it's possible the taxi had to detour because of road closures: one standard Kensungton-Victoria route is closed on Sundays, or example. Possible: not certain.

Licensed private hire companies (ie non-black, but still legal) are generally cheaper than black cabs - especially when booked by phone.

However, no hotel has any incentive to find the cheapest car for a departing guest, and there's no law against their taking backhanders from relatively expensive cab companies. The answer - especially for someone like Carolyn who knows the going rate for the journey - is to book the cab yourself (using the minicab reference serve on the tfl site) and ask for a price before you confirm. Or use the cab rank outside if there is one.

It's been my universal experience, in every big city, that the early-morning cab the hotel books for you costs more than the cab you hailed to get to it. I know there's a specific - and largely laudable -reason for this, but from Manhattan to JFK that premium can, depending on traffic, be up to 50%.