# London ; Trains -Buses from airports



## gilh (22 Jan 2010)

Going on short break to London. Any suggestions re connections from Stansted and Luton - cheapest and quickest to city.Can one buy integrated ticket for city buses , underground etc ?


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## suzie (22 Jan 2010)

Try http://www.transportdirect.info (also shows costs etc..)

S.


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## dereko1969 (22 Jan 2010)

Don't discount Gatwick as an option if you're pricing Ryanair flights to London, you can get in relatively cheaply if you don't use the Gatwick Express, other train services get you to Victoria or London Bridge in only a little more time and a lot less dosh especially if you arrive off-peak.

For timings of services check here
www.tfl.gov.uk


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## MANTO (22 Jan 2010)

i just returned from London yesterday. Cheap flights with Ryanair to Gatwick. 

Get the regular train from the airport to connect with the underground in Victoria station (only takes 30 minutes). 

Go to the customer service section in the airport station and get a days traval card for £8.40. This will cover train to Victoria and travel on the Underground for the day.


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## elcato (22 Jan 2010)

Luton - London has a connecting bus to the train station which you can buy an integrated return ticket at the stop at the airport.  Cost about £10 e.w. to St Pancreas/Kings cross. When in London buy a visitors Oyster card at any tube station. It costs something like £12 and comes with £10 credit. You get around all buses and tubes on this at a fraction of the normal cost. You just top it up at any tube station. If you fly to Heathrow you can get this card at the tube station and use it to get into central london by tube. GatwickExpress is expensive (£16 e.w.) - Normal train is about £11 each way) Never did Stanstead. Cheapest way is Heathrow tube at about £4 e.w. using the Oyster card. Btw the card can be kept and used again whenevr you're there.


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## undo (22 Jan 2010)

MANTO said:


> Go to the customer service section in the airport station and get a days traval card for £8.40. This will cover train to Victoria and travel on the Underground for the day.



I will be flying to Gatwick in 10 days and so am also looking for the cheapest way of getting into town. What you propose is cheap - but according to TfL's website, not valid. Gatwick is outside London zones 1-9. No Travelcard will cover it. Could you give more details of what ticket it is exactly that costs just £8.40 and gives you Gatwick trains + travel in London?


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## so-crates (23 Jan 2010)

Think a Key Post for London transport is needed! It keeps coming up as a question. - Right from memory...

1) As dereko1969 said, the bible for London transport is www.tfl.gov.uk it covers all London transport options including walking, cycling, ferries, trains, tubes, trams etc. Transport for London is the umbrella body for transport and this is their public face.

2) Shop around when flying into London (check ALL airlines and airports). If you need to time your arrival somewhere (say you are expecting to get to a show in the West End) make sure you preference the airport with the best access to your destination.

3) In general London's airports are very well served by trains and bus transport. Check out each airports website for full details -I have only really used the trains so I know little about the coaches 

4) Heathrow tips: 
- Both Aer Lingus and BMI fly here - check both.
- All flights from Ireland land into Terminal 1
- If you are staying in a hotel around Heathrow there is a Hoppa bus to the hotels but you are better off using the Public buses as these are free for journeys in the vicinity of Heathrow. 
- Heathrow is in Zone 6 for the Tube and is on the Piccadilly line - it is about 50 minutes into the city on the Tube.
- Two trains run into London Paddington in Zone 1(on the Circle Line - yellow - which is in the top left-hand corner of Zone 1 on the tube map), the expensive and quickest option is the Heathrow Express which takes 15 minutes and runs every 15 minutes for most of the day. The next option is the Heathrow Connect, takes 25 minutes and runs every half an hour for most of the day.
- Heathrow station is on a spur line, trains only go to London.
- Consider Heathrow if you are heading to Knightsbridge, Earls Court or to the West-End and Oxford Street.
- For the flight back - it is quite a walk to the gates for flights to Ireland and you have to pass through additional security where your photo, taken before the baggage check area, is checked so leave enough time
- Transferring between Heathrow and Gatwick is a bit of a pain, the best option is to use the coach as train links all involve several transfers - not good with baggage.

5) Gatwick tips:
- Aer Lingus and Ryan Air fly in here (Also Easyjet and FlyBe from Belfast).
- Flights from Ireland land in South Terminal
- The train station is located next to South terminal.
- The rail link between the two terminals is currently out of service, bus transport is provided instead but allow extra time
- Gatwick is outside of the travel area but you can buy a ticket in the station to cover both your transport in and travel around London.
- Trains from Gatwick (which is on the line to Brighton) travel to London Victoria or London Bridge (can also travel further north). Generally they take between 30 and 50 minutes depending on the number of stops and where they are travelling to. Gatwick Express is fastest (by a pretty small margin) and terminates in London Victoria (on the Circle Line in the the bottom left hand area of Zone 1 on the Tube map).
- Consider Gatwick first for West-End destinations (several theatres are close to Victoria Station) and Central London.

6) Luton tips:
- Ryan Air, Aer Arann and Easyjet fly from Ireland to Luton.
- Train station is a bus ride away - depending on traffic it could take 5-10 minutes. Catch the bus at the front of the airport
- It is on a main line to the North and the Midlands
- It is between 20 and 35 minutes to London, trains arrive into Kings Cross-St Pancra's (on the Circle Line at the top centre of Zone 1 on the Tube map).
- Choose Luton for destinations in North London or Central London.

7) Stansted tips:
- Ryan Air predominate but Easyjet fly here from Belfast
- Stansted is further from London than any of the other airports (though Luton is only a little better) the train takes 45 minutes to get in.
- The Stansted Express is the best train option into London, though you can try getting a connection at Stratford too.
- As with Gatwick you can purchase your travel card in Stansted also
- Stansted has reasonable train links to Birmingham and Leicester but best for Cambridge.
- Trains from Stansted (and from Stratford) come into Liverpool Street (on the Circle Line at the top right of Zone 1 on the Tube map) 
- Choose Stansted for the City and East-End destinations.

8) London City tips:
- CityJet fly here from Dublin
- Compact, quick and by far the closest to London itself - this is a lovely airport to use - shame it is usually quite expensive (though always worth checking just in case!)
- The airport is on the Woolich Arsenal branch of the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) and is in Zone 3.
- Trains run every few minutes to Bank or Tower Gateway (transfers to Canary Wharf and Stratford at Poplar)
- No longer has a mainline train link
- Choose City for Canary Wharf, City and East End or if going to the Excel centre (on the Beckton branch of the DLR - change at Canning Town)
- One little indulgence is that City Airport provide a free shoe-shine service in the Departures lounge to all passengers 
- For those of us who can't keep away from AAM they also provide a free WiFi

9) London has a proper integrated ticketing system and travel cards will give you the full range of options. The Oyster card is definitely worth investing in especially if you plan to be in London more than once a year. You can buy either a Travel card or an Oyster card and have it delivered to you in Ireland if you like - details at this link [broken link removed]

10) Try not to travel in London before 9.30 in the morning, not only is it less jammed on the Underground it will also make for a significant difference in your transport costs around London.


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## undo (23 Jan 2010)

Great post so-crates. This really should be made a sticky.



so-crates said:


> - Gatwick is outside of the travel area but you can buy a ticket in the station to cover both your transport in and travel around London.



You confirm what MANTO said here but I am still at a loss... what is this ominous ticket that covers the train from Gatwick and a day's travel around London? TfL's website does not mention it. The airport's website does not mention it. None of the rail websites I could find mention it. Does anyone have the name of this ticket or maybe even a link to more information about it?


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## EvilDoctorK (23 Jan 2010)

Someone mentioned before that you can purchase a combined ticket which is a one-way from Gatwick to the edge of travelcard zone 6 and then a 1-6 travelcard ... so it's like two tickets in one.

I don't know what the price is but it's a bit of a saving against buying the two tickets separately.  You can't buy them from the machines at Gatwick - have to queue up to the ticket window


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## bullworth (23 Jan 2010)

elcato said:


> Luton - London has a connecting bus to the train station which you can buy an integrated return ticket at the stop at the airport.  Cost about £10 e.w. to St Pancreas/Kings cross.



I was there  a few days ago. Luton also has a free shuttle bus to the train station that runs 24 hours a day every ten minutes or so. I think the station it goes to is called Luton Airport Parkway Railway Station but dont hold me to that as I did not use this particular bus.  Inside Luton airport there is also a place where you can buy any tickets you need and get advice about connections. If they advise you to buy a bus ticket  to a train station, ask them about the free shuttle bus to the train station and whether that is cheaper/faster with your final destination in mind. 

http://www.thetrainline.com is a useful website for planning a route via train.


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## NorfBank (23 Jan 2010)

undo said:


> You confirm what MANTO said here but I am still at a loss... what is this ominous ticket that covers the train from Gatwick and a day's travel around London? TfL's website does not mention it. The airport's website does not mention it. None of the rail websites I could find mention it. Does anyone have the name of this ticket or maybe even a link to more information about it?



It's a zone 1-6 travelcard, you can buy from machine. Last time I bought it was GBP11. The card is valid for one trainline only be it First Capital Connect or Southern, Southern best for Victoria. 
FCC for London Bridge I think.


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## Rois (23 Jan 2010)

Another option, if there are a few travelling together, is to book a mini-cab (rather than a hackney). 

We managed to get a mini-cab from central London to Gatwick for £50 last year. Door to door in about 1 hour (was outside rush-hour). Split the cost between the 3 of us, it was a bargain.


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## so-crates (23 Jan 2010)

undo said:


> ...
> You confirm what MANTO said here but I am still at a loss... what is this ominous ticket that covers the train from Gatwick and a day's travel around London? TfL's website does not mention it. The airport's website does not mention it. None of the rail websites I could find mention it. Does anyone have the name of this ticket or maybe even a link to more information about it?


 
 "ominous" is an interesting way to describe a train ticket! Basically as far I can recall it isn't a special service for Gatwick, ticket desks in most stations in the South East can facilitate travel into and around London by basically providing you with a travel card - sorry I should have been clearer. Haven't availed of it myself in years as I have an Oyster so I don't need to but I do recall it from previous journeys. I did try to find something clearer on it but all I could track down was here [broken link removed] which basically says that they will sell you a travel card at the Gatwick Express office (or at the Stansted Express office). I am pretty certain though that EvilDoctorK is (as always!) bang on the money with the travel to the edge of Zone 6 option.


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## undo (23 Jan 2010)

so-crates said:


> Haven't availed of it myself in years as I have an Oyster so I don't need to but I do recall it from previous journeys.



I have an Oyster card myself. How would you go about traveling into London on an Oyster card then? Load a National Rail single onto the Oyster card that takes you into fare zone 6? And then? Do you need to get off the train and tag on at a reader? Or are you automatically tagged on as you enter London?


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## EvilDoctorK (23 Jan 2010)

Rois said:


> Another option, if there are a few travelling together, is to book a mini-cab (rather than a hackney).
> 
> We managed to get a mini-cab from central London to Gatwick for £50 last year. Door to door in about 1 hour (was outside rush-hour). Split the cost between the 3 of us, it was a bargain.



In anything approaching rush hour this will take forever .. the road in from Gatwick isn't good (Motorway ends once you cross the M25 and then it's very slow) ..  Minicab would be a good option at quiet times though (for an early morning or very late flight)  if there's a few of you (you could probably get it for a little less than £50 too if you shop around)


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## EvilDoctorK (23 Jan 2010)

undo said:


> I have an Oyster card myself. How would you go about traveling into London on an Oyster card then? Load a National Rail single onto the Oyster card that takes you into fare zone 6? And then? Do you need to get off the train and tag on at a reader? Or are you automatically tagged on as you enter London?



I don't think this works ... Pay as you Go Oyster is valid on National Rail now  .. but only within the Travelcard Zones 1-6   - you can't buy National Rail tickets outside the zones and have them attached to your Oyster card   . So I don't think there's any easy way to combine PAYG Oyster with a ticket in from Gatwick ... You could I guess buy a single to Easy Croydon (the first big station inside the travelcard zone) .. hop off the train there .. touch in with you Oyster and hop back on  ... hardly worth the hassle though !


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## so-crates (23 Jan 2010)

undo, I generally just pay the £11 - £17 pounds for the train fare into Central London, then just whip out the Oyster card to travel on - haven't tried getting that clever. I'd agree with EvilDoctorK, they have extended the usage of the Oyster to all trains stopping in London (previously Southwestern trains for example wouldn't accept them) but it is still only usable within the London zones.


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## undo (23 Jan 2010)

Thanks for clarifying that so-crates. It just sounded from your previous post as if there was a way to do the whole train ticket + Travelcard thing using Oyster. Since there is not (and I am a poor student  I guess I will queue up at the ticket window and get the paper Travelcard.


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## so-crates (23 Jan 2010)

Well undo in that case (and assuming you don't mind coach travel!) I would suggest you check out these guys [broken link removed] (£2 one way to London)

National Express also go from Gatwick, fare seems to vary during the day but it would be less than a tenner to London anyway.


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## undo (23 Jan 2010)

Thanks so-crates. I guess I am a discerning student. I want to get a good deal - but I do want to get into town fast as well. I will only be there for 47 hours and do not want to waste several of those sitting on a bus. A paper Travelcard sounds like the optimal solution in my case.


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## so-crates (23 Jan 2010)

Sounds reasonable  Difference between say an hour and a half max there and back on the train compared to three hours on the bus makes a big difference when your time is that limited! Have fun and post back if you had any different experience - like I said it was from memory and I haven't bothered the ticket desks for this in quite a while so any clarification or amendment would be most welcome.


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## Ann1 (24 Jan 2010)

When I fly into Gatwick I use Southern to the city. You can book online and get 40% discount at the moment. They will issue you with a receipt. You can retrieve your ticket at the ticket dispenser using the credit card you purchased it with online or just go to the ticket desk. Here's a link
http://www.southernrailway.com/offers/advance-tickets/


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## undo (24 Jan 2010)

I know online tickets are cheaper but they have two great disadvantages:

First, you never know what time your flight will actually arrive. When you pre-book a ticket for a particular train, you may end up missing that.

Second, with the UK's fragmented rail landscape, you have to decide on one rail company to get the best price. Even if the ticket was flexible across the company's services, it might happen that the next couple of trains are run by the competition, leaving you stuck at the airport for ages.


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## so-crates (24 Jan 2010)

In terms of the second point undo, the National Rail website will take the legwork out of finding the best fare. If you do a search for your journey and check fares it will return all available fares then connect you to the appropriate website for that fare. 

However you can buy it from any provider - so you could ask Virgin trains to handle your ticket purchase for a journey between Gatwick and London if you prefer (say you are a regular traveller with another train company and they have your card details or have some incentive to book via them). Insofar as I know, you should be treated as if you are purchasing from Southern and get the same deals.

There are two specific ticket purchase companies that I am aware of (trainline and easyrail) but they charge a booking fee - I prefer to use National Rail as my starting point.

...Won't make the planes land on time though


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## Sue Ellen (24 Jan 2010)

Not sure if this website might give some advice also http://www.toandfromtheairport.com/


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## undo (24 Jan 2010)

so-crates said:


> In terms of the second point undo, the National Rail website will take the legwork out of finding the best fare.



Sure, the NR website will find all options. I know that. But it will not prevent then problem I described: If you want the best deal, you have to choose one of these options and then you are stuck with whatever rail company you picked. It is a pity rail transport in the UK is so complicated and so extremely expensive. But at least it runs rather well.


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## redchariot (28 Jan 2010)

so-crates said:


> Well undo in that case (and assuming you don't mind coach travel!) I would suggest you check out these guys [broken link removed] (£2 one way to London)
> 
> National Express also go from Gatwick, fare seems to vary during the day but it would be less than a tenner to London anyway.



When I was in London recently, it was £8 from Luton to Baker Street Station


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## undo (28 Jan 2010)

I am off on my weekend trip to London in 8 days. Will report back what the tickets and prices were like.


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## eldiablo (29 Jan 2010)

Hello,

I was in London just before Christmas for three days and flew into Gatwick. When you arrive in Gatwick you can buy a standard return ticket from Gatwick into one of the city zones - depending on which station you need to get your connecting train from. This ticket you keep until you are travelling back to the airport. The girl at the desk will validate the ticket for the date you need.  At the same time you also buy a one, two or three day travel card for peak or off-peak travel within the zones you need. We only needed zones 1 to 3 at off peak times for three days which was approx £19 per person. This was perfect for us. You can use it on bus, rail, underground - basically all public transport and you get 30% discount on the riverboats - which are a great way to get from Westminster to the Tower of London. As far as I remember, all in for two people for all our travel over three days we paid about £54 which was well worth it. We used it a lot. Here is the link for more info - [broken link removed]

Hope this helps.


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