The last leg of my UK trip will be in London. I am renting a car in Edinburgh to be dropped off at either Heathrow or Gatwick prior to arriving at a London hotel very close to Victoria Station. I have two questions....Would it be quicker and easier to drop the car off at Heathrow or Gatwick? To get to the Victoria Station, I know about the Gatwick Express, but is it as easy to get directly from Heathrow to Victoria? Thanks.

No, it's not as esay to get to Victoria from Heathrow: you either get the direct bus, change tubes or get a car to collect you from Heathrow.

But Heathrow's practically on one Edinburgh-London route (via the M40) and a non too ghastly detour on the most commonly used route (via the M1). Gatwick's a horrendous detour of at least 70 miles. and the incremental misery of trekking round the M25 for Gatwick is far greater than the incremental misery of the slightly messier public transport from LHR to Victoria.

However, on the M1 route, Luton airport's the handiest place to drop a car. As, if you're coming down the A1, is Stansted. Check these airports' websites for their extensive networks of public transport options into town.

If LHR and LGW are your only choices - then DEFINITELY choose Heathrow. No question - traveling around London to get to Gatwick is too dreadful to consider.

But flanner's suggestions of Luton or Stansted are even better IF you are driving down the center/east side (M1 or A1) of the country.

If you are driving down the west (M6/M40 or M6/M5/M4) then Heathrow is your best option.

If you do end up at LHR - don't worry too much about getting to Victoria. It is a bit harder than in from LGW - but via tube, changing at Hammersmith means a VERY easy transfer.

Getting from either airport to London can be accomplished in an hour of (some amount of) traveling. It's just getting on and off trains, after all - something that millions of people do ever year.

All else being equal, I'd opt for Heathrow for the reasons given above, ride the Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith, switch to the District Line to Victoria. But if I could make a few bucks by driving around London an extra half-hour or so, I might think about it.

The traffic surrounding London is what it is - and after all, you <u>did</u> come to see the country, didn't you?

Janis....Originally our trip took us to Windsor and you recommended dropping off the car at Heathrow in between Windsor and arriving in London. However, we've chosen to go directly to London from the Oxford area, so would your recommendation then be to return the car at Luton or Stansted? Is there transportation access to Victoria Station from rither of those airports? Helene

From Oxford - neither Luton nor Stansted make sense. Luton isn't terrible - but then you are far north of London and would have to travel all the way to Victoria. Stansted makes no sense <u>at all</u>. Depending on the time/day of the week, Heathrow is a short, easy drive from Oxford. (and don't even consider LGW)

So of all the airports, Heathrow makes the most sense driving in from Oxford. Then the tube to Hammersmith, change to District line and on to Voctoria. Piece of cake

<u>Victoria</u> - sheesh . . . .

Have you thought of dropping off in Oxford? -not sure if there is a depot for your hire co. near the station, but it's worth a try.

Thanks for all of the information. It appears that Heathrow isthe best airport for a drop off. Helene

Yo, janisj -

if you notice a typo like that immediately after posting, hit the &quot;back&quot; button on your browser to bring up the &quot;post a reply&quot; box with your message in it again. Make your edit and click &quot;post my reply.&quot;