Getting from Gatwick to London: Nobody Will Tell You the Price

Four companies will sell you a journey from Gatwick into London. Between them they publish one price and one journey time, and that journey time contradicts itself on the same page.

National Express says the fastest coach takes 1 hour 40 minutes in its headline and its own body text, then gives 1 hour 5 minutes in the table underneath. Gatwick Express and Thameslink, the two rail operators, publish neither a price nor a journey time on their Gatwick to London pages at all. The airport itself says only that London is “less than half an hour away” by train.

So here is what is actually published, what it costs where anyone will say, and the practical rules that decide the journey more than speed does.

The coach, which is the only published price

National Express still lists £6 one way to London Victoria Coach Station, and now leads with £10.90. Both numbers are on the same page: the headline says fares start at 10.90 while the fare table underneath still shows 6.00 for Victoria. Take the table. Either way it is the cheapest published number for this journey by a wide margin, and note the 1.50 booking fee, which they waive if you are logged into an account on their own site or app.

It runs through the night. First departure 1:00am, last 23:30. No train on this route does that, which makes the coach the answer for a flight landing at two in the morning rather than a choice about money.

The fastest service makes two stops and covers about 43km. On the journey time, take their table figure of 1 hour 5 minutes as the optimistic one and their headline of 1 hour 40 as the realistic one, because traffic is the variable a coach cannot control.

Victoria Coach Station is 300 metres from Victoria Underground, on the Victoria, District and Circle lines, with a bus stop directly outside. Luggage is one large suitcase or two medium, plus one soft hand item.

The trains, which will not quote you

Gatwick Express goes to London Victoria and nowhere else. Its own page lists the ticket types, Anytime, Off-Peak, Railcard and GroupSave for groups of three to nine adults, and gives no fare and no journey time. It does publish two things worth having: children aged five to fifteen travel for £2 under their Kids for £2 offer, and under fives go free. Read the conditions: up to four children at that price, at off peak times on most journeys, and each must be with an adult holding a valid ticket. Gatwick Express also publishes 31 minutes to Victoria and 10 per cent off for booking online or in the app.

Thameslink goes to London Bridge, and onward through Blackfriars, Farringdon and St Pancras. Its page also declines to give a fare or a journey time to London Bridge, although it does say East Croydon is 14 to 19 minutes away, which tells you the London Bridge run is not much more.

Both rail pages have fixed the error this page used to warn about. Gatwick Express and Thameslink each described the Anytime ticket as “discounted tickets for travel during quieter times”, which was the Off-Peak description pasted into the wrong box. Both now read correctly: Anytime is fully flexible and valid at any time of day, Off-Peak is the discounted one for quieter times. The fare descriptions on those pages can be trusted again.

The rule that catches people out

Every train leaves from the South Terminal. If you land at the North Terminal, which many airlines use, there is no railway station there at all.

The shuttle between the terminals is free and takes two minutes, and the airport publishes that. It is not a long walk or a paid transfer, but it is a step you have to know about, and it is the single most common way a tight connection goes wrong.

The coach is the other way round: National Express describes departures from the North Terminal, while giving its first and last times from the South, so check your own stop when you book.

Which London station do you actually want?

This decides more than speed does, and it is the question none of the four operators asks you.

Victoria, via Gatwick Express, Southern or the coach, is right for Buckingham Palace, the West End theatres and the Victoria, District and Circle lines.

London Bridge, via Thameslink, puts you next to Borough Market, the Thames path and The Shard, and on the Jubilee and Northern lines.

Farringdon or St Pancras, further up the same Thameslink line, is the answer if you are staying in Clerkenwell, King’s Cross or anywhere on the Elizabeth line, and it saves a cross London transfer that can cost you the time the express saved.

Arriving at the wrong terminus and crossing London costs more than the difference between the fast train and the slow one. Pick the station nearest where you are sleeping, then pick the service.

What to know

There is no Underground at Gatwick. None of the tube lines reach it, and the nearest they come is the London terminus you arrive at. Anyone telling you to take the tube from Gatwick is thinking of Heathrow.

The coach is the night option. 1:00am to 23:30 daily, from £6.

All trains leave from the South Terminal, with a free two minute shuttle from the North.

Children are the one published discount. £2 for five to fifteens on Gatwick Express, free under five.

Groups of three to nine should ask for GroupSave on the rail services, which the operators list but do not price.

Ignore the ticket descriptions on the rail sites. Both describe Anytime as a discounted off peak fare, which it is not.

Everything here was taken from the four operators’ and the airport’s own published information and rechecked on 28 September 2026. Where a company contradicts itself, both figures are given rather than one being quietly chosen. Fares change constantly and none of them is published on the pages above, so check at the time of booking.

Where to go next

Heathrow Express is the opposite case: the best published fares of any London airport railway, and a £26 single against £5.90 on the tube from the same terminals. Stansted to London is the same exercise at the other budget airport, where the walk up fare is published nowhere but can be worked out twice over from the operator’s own discount percentages.

London’s six airports covers which one to fly into and where they actually are, since Gatwick is in West Sussex rather than London.

What the tube costs covers the journey once you have arrived, and the Night Tube covers the lines that run late and the ones that do not.

Airport drop-off charges covers the minimum £10 Gatwick charges for the terminal drop-off zones, and the two hours you get free in the Long Stay car parks instead.

The Congestion Charge is what a hire car costs once you reach the middle of London, which is the case against driving this route at all.

The London Travelcard covers the travel that starts at your terminus and not the journey in, and for one person it loses to simply tapping a card.

Santander Cycles covers the last stretch from whichever terminus you pick, which is the part none of the four operators helps you with.

Where to stay in London matters more than the train does here, because the right terminus depends on it, and the travel tips cover the rest of an arrival.

Luton to London covers the fourth budget airport, where the comparison comes out the other way round: the coach is cheaper, more frequent and picks up at the door, while the train needs a separate £4.90 shuttle first.

Questions we get asked

What is the best way to get from Gatwick to London?

It depends which London station you want rather than which is fastest. Gatwick Express and the coach both go to Victoria, which suits the West End. Thameslink goes to London Bridge, Farringdon and St Pancras, which suits the City, Clerkenwell and King’s Cross and saves a cross London transfer. The coach from £6 is much the cheapest and the only service running through the night.

Is there a tube from Gatwick Airport to London?

No. Gatwick is not on the London Underground network at all, and no tube line reaches it. You travel in by train or coach and join the Underground at the London terminus, whether that is Victoria, London Bridge, Farringdon or St Pancras. Anyone describing a tube from the airport is thinking of Heathrow, which does have one.

How much is the coach from Gatwick to London?

From 6 pounds one way with National Express to London Victoria Coach Station, which is the only price any of the four Gatwick to London operators publishes on its own page. There are up to 21 services a day, the first at 1:00am and the last at 23:30, and Victoria Coach Station is 300 metres from Victoria Underground.

Which terminal are the Gatwick trains at?

All rail services run from the South Terminal. There is no station at the North Terminal. If you land at North, take the free terminal shuttle, which the airport says takes two minutes, and it is the step that most often catches people out on a tight connection. The National Express coach uses the North Terminal, so check your own stop.

How long does it take to get from Gatwick to London?

Nobody publishes a clear figure. The airport says central London is less than half an hour away by train. National Express gives its fastest coach as 1 hour 40 minutes in its headline and 1 hour 5 minutes in its own journey table, a 35 minute contradiction on one page. Neither rail operator publishes a journey time to London at all.

Do children travel free from Gatwick to London?

Under fives travel free on Gatwick Express, and children aged five to fifteen pay 2 pounds under its Kids for 2 offer, which is the clearest published discount on this route. Groups of three to nine adults should ask about GroupSave, which the rail operators list as available but do not price on their own pages.