London has six airports. Transport for London puts it plainly: the city has six main airports, all connected by public transport.
Four of them are not in London. That is the thing worth knowing before you book, because the word London in an airport’s name is a marketing decision rather than a geographic one, and it is how people end up an hour and a half from the hotel they booked next to the British Museum.
Where they actually are
| Airport | Actually in | How you get in |
|---|---|---|
| London City | LondonNewham, east London | DLR every 10 minutes. 22 minutes from Bank, 18 from Canary Wharf |
| Heathrow | LondonHillingdon, west London | Elizabeth line 28 to 45 minutes, or the Piccadilly line in about 50 |
| Gatwick | West Sussex | Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink trains, or coach |
| Stansted | Essex | Stansted Express to Liverpool Street, Tottenham Hale or Stratford, or coach |
| Luton | Bedfordshire | Shuttle bus to Luton Airport Parkway first, then Thameslink or East Midlands to St Pancras, or coach |
| Southend | Essex | Greater Anglia to Liverpool Street and Stratford |
Only London City and Heathrow are inside Greater London. London City is in the Borough of Newham and Heathrow is in Hillingdon. Gatwick is in West Sussex, Stansted and Southend are in Essex, and Luton is in Bedfordshire, which is a different county roughly thirty miles north of the city.
Which to fly into
London City, if the fare is close. It is the only one that is genuinely in London and close to the middle of it: the DLR runs every ten minutes and reaches Bank in twenty two minutes. Nothing else comes near that. It is a small airport with a short runway, which limits where it flies, and that is the trade.
Heathrow, for almost everything else. It is the busiest and the best connected, and since the Elizabeth line opened it is 28 to 45 minutes into the centre depending on where you are going. It is also in Greater London, so the fare is a normal fare rather than an intercity ticket.
Gatwick, when the flight is cheaper and you are not in a hurry. The trains are frequent and the journey is straightforward, and the useful detail is that contactless and Oyster work on the Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink services into London, which is not true of the other out of town airports. It is a different county, and the ticket price reflects it.
Stansted, Luton and Southend, when the flight price is the whole reason. These are the budget airports and the saving on the fare is real. So is the hour or more at each end, and the train or coach fare that follows. Luton adds a step the others do not: the airport is not on the railway, so you take a shuttle bus to Luton Airport Parkway before you board anything. Do the arithmetic on the total rather than the flight.
The arithmetic nobody does
Compare the door to door cost, not the fare. A flight into Luton that saves you forty pounds costs some of it back in a train to St Pancras, and costs the rest in time. For one person the saving usually survives. For four people it frequently does not, because the transfer is per head and the flight saving was not.
Check which London station you actually arrive at. Gatwick Express and Southern reach Victoria, while Thameslink from the same airport runs to London Bridge, City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras. Stansted arrives at Liverpool Street, with Greater Anglia also serving Stratford. Luton arrives at St Pancras, and Thameslink from there also stops at Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and London Bridge. Those are opposite corners of the city, and the right one can save you a second journey with luggage.
Late arrivals are the real risk. There is no Night Tube on most lines and none at all on Christmas Day. If you land after midnight at an outer airport, the way into town is a coach or a taxi, and the taxi from Stansted or Luton costs more than most people expect. The Night Tube guide covers which lines run through the night.
Pay as you go covers three of the six. TfL states that contactless, Oyster and the Visitor Oyster card work to and from Heathrow on the Tube and the Elizabeth line, to and from Gatwick on Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink, and to and from London City on the DLR, with daily capping applying. At Stansted, Luton and Southend you are buying a ticket.
Everything here was taken from Transport for London’s own published information and rechecked on 28 September 2026. Rail services and journey times change. Confirm before you travel.
Where to go next
What the tube actually costs covers the daily cap, which is the number that governs what you spend once you are here, and the guide for visitors from the United States covers the rest of the practical differences.
Heathrow Express covers the fastest and dearest way in from the airport this page recommends, and the £5.90 alternative from the same platforms. Stansted to London works out the journey from the budget airport, where four operators publish five different prices for it and the standard train fare is not one of them. The Night Tube covers the lines that run late, which is the question a cheap late flight leaves you with.
Gatwick to London takes the second airport on this page and works the journey out in full, including the one terminal rule that catches people and the fact that four operators publish a single price between them.
Airport drop-off charges puts the four side by side, from £7 at Heathrow to £27 at Luton, and explains why none of them lets you pay at the airport.
The Congestion Charge is worth reading before hiring a car at any of them, because £18 a day plus £12.50 of ULEZ is most of a Travelcard week.
The London Travelcard covers the ticket most arriving visitors are sold and the two cases where it is actually worth buying, neither of which is travelling alone.
Santander Cycles covers the cheapest way across the middle of London once any of these journeys has ended, at £1.65 for half an hour.
Things to do in central London covers how small the middle of the city actually is once you arrive.
Luton to London is the one that catches people out, because Luton Airport Parkway is a station 2.3km from the terminal and the DART between them is a separate £4.90 fare. The coach at £7 picks up at the terminal door and needs no shuttle at all.
Luggage storage in London has the Heathrow left luggage table, £10 for three hours and £15 for a day per item, and why the app networks cost a fraction of it.
Questions we get asked
How many airports does London have?
Six, in Transport for London's own words: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City and Southend, all connected to the city by public transport. Only two of the six are actually inside Greater London, which is Heathrow in Hillingdon and London City in Newham.
Which London airports are actually in London?
Heathrow and London City. Heathrow sits in the London Borough of Hillingdon and London City in the Borough of Newham. Gatwick is in West Sussex, Stansted and Southend are in Essex, and Luton is in Bedfordshire about thirty miles north. The other four use the name for marketing rather than geography.
Which is London's main airport?
Heathrow, by a wide margin. It is the busiest and the best connected: the Elizabeth line reaches central London in 28 to 45 minutes depending on your destination, and the Piccadilly line takes about 50. It is also inside Greater London, so getting in is an ordinary fare rather than an intercity ticket.
What is the closest airport to central London?
London City, and it is not close. It is in Newham in east London and the DLR runs every ten minutes, reaching Canary Wharf in 18 minutes and Bank in 22. No other London airport is within half an hour of the centre by public transport.
Is it better to fly into Heathrow or Gatwick?
Heathrow, unless the fare difference is significant. Heathrow is inside Greater London with the Elizabeth line and the Piccadilly line running into the centre, so the transfer is quick and cheap. Gatwick is in West Sussex and the train, while frequent and easy, is a longer journey at an intercity price. If the flights cost the same, take Heathrow.
How do you get from the airport into London?
By train in every case, though Luton needs a shuttle bus to Luton Airport Parkway first. Heathrow has the Elizabeth line, which runs to Terminals 2, 3 and 4 every fifteen minutes and to Terminal 5 every thirty, plus the Piccadilly line. London City has the DLR, Gatwick has the Gatwick Express plus Southern and Thameslink, Stansted has the Stansted Express to Liverpool Street, Luton has Thameslink and East Midlands to St Pancras, and Southend has Greater Anglia to Liverpool Street and Stratford. Contactless and Oyster work to Heathrow, Gatwick and London City but not to the other three. Coaches serve most of them more cheaply and more slowly.
Which London station will I arrive at?
It depends on the airport, and it matters more than people expect. Stansted arrives at Liverpool Street in the City. Luton arrives at St Pancras. Gatwick reaches Victoria, London Bridge or St Pancras depending on which operator you take. Those are opposite corners of London, so check before you book, or you will be making a second journey with your luggage.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 72 in the guide.
Last checked 28 September 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
