taxi from Heathrow
 

Can anyone tell me about how much a taxi will cost from Heathrow to central London? <BR> <BR>Thanks in advance.

About $60 (35 GBP) depending on the destination by black cab. 30-45 minutes depending on traffic. Best way is to take the Heathrow Express train to Paddington.

We always use a driver pick up service, it's a set price (less expensive then a taxi). It's door to door service and if there are two or more of you it's the way to go. We've used several companies but this past Spring used Ray Skinner (www.london-transfers.com)and really thought highly of him. It was 35 pounds for pickup at Heathrow, we were met as we exited immigration. If you take the Heathrow Express you still have to take a taxi from Paddington to your hotel and it will come out more expensive then a pick up service.

or, if you're not schlepping a ton of luggage, you can pick up the tube at Heathrow and take it to the location where you are staying.

I too have found that a car service is much cheaper than a regular taxi. In the past I have used Swiss Cottage Car Service 171-431-2700 and have found them to be very reasonable and reliable. They were in the 25-35 GBP range depending on where you were being picked up. <BR>

Thanks for the advice. <BR> <BR>Julie, Is the number you gave for ordering a car service such as Swiss Cottage car from outside of Britain?? <BR>Is that the way you did it?? <BR>And is the service available at Gatwick as well?? We are arriving at Heathrow and my daughter is arriving a day earlier at Gatwick.

Gatwick is far from Central London, much more than Heathrow. The rate will be almost double. The way to make it from Gatwick is taking the train to Victoria station, mostly because I imagine that your daughter will be alone.

All London numbers are no 020 then 8 or 7 depending on what part of london you are calling. All 0171 numbers became 020 7 and all 0181 numbers became 020 8 therefore the Swiss Cottage number would be +44 20 7431-2700. cheers. ps. your daughter can get the Gatwick express which takes about 30mins from gatwick and goes into Waterloo

Dear xxx, I wish it were so simple. <BR>Actually, my daughter doesn't have to get to central London. <BR>She's got to get to a friend's house who lives on the other side of London from Gatwick. <BR> <BR>

I know it will be expensive for you (or your daughter) but I'd opt for a driver service to take her from Gatwick to where ever the friend lives. As I said before we used Ray Skinner (he is very prompt with answering e-mail too by the way). I'd contact him and ask him for a quote. Hassling luggage on and off trains and then trying to figure out local transportation to her final destination may be a bit much with jet lag, etc. if shse is not familiar with London. Sometimes the cost of things, while high, may be worth it in convenience - that is how I think anyway. If she were just going into central London the Gatwick Express is a good option, but she would need a cab from Victoria to her final destination at that point.

Where is your daughter going? "The other side of London" could be anywhere from Bayswater/Marlybone to somewhere out in Hertfordshire. Where is she actually going - then we can make informed suggestions about the best way to get there.

Steve, The phone number I gave is good outside and within Britain. However, as someone pointed out the prefix for phone numbers had changed a bit and I hadn't adjusted my travel notes accordingly - sorry for the confusion. The above number looks accurate 011-44-20-7431-2700 (calling from US). And as everyone here has been good enough to point out, Gatwick is much further from London (i.e. more expensive) than Heathrow and I'm not sure what the rates are for that airport. If that's not feasible, let us know exactly which area your daughter will be heading. I'm sure we'll be able to come up with some options for you.

Thanks to Janis, Julie and Lorie and everybody else. <BR> <BR>My daughter has to get from gatwick to Stanmore.