What is Gatwick like?

[Judith02]

We have flown into Heathrow many times. This time Crystal has us flying into Gatwick to meet the Symphony in Dover. How big is this airport? Some airports are better than others -- please compare this one with Heathrow for me. How long does it take to get to Dover? Will it take long to go through immigration and get our luggage?

[Globaliser]

Gatwick is the busiest single runway airport in the world, and is about the 20th busiest airport in the world despite the fact that it only has one runway. So it's as busy and buzzy as Heathrow - in fact, often more so if it's the middle of the summer charter season and delays have built up for some reason.

 

In general, you should therefore expect it to feel much the same as Heathrow.

 

Which airline are you flying? When? And how are you being transferred to Dover?

 

One thing which will help, though - it's a little bit closer to Dover than Heathrow is, by road.

[Judith02]

We are flying into the airport on September 4th,(I think we are on Delta out of Atlanta) and then being transferred via motor coach to Dover by Crystal.

[Globaliser]

Most schools will have re-started, so the main holiday rush should be over by the time you arrive on 4 September. IIRC, DL uses the North Terminal, which is more like Heathrow in mix of traffic and ambience - and processing time. (In fact, you might be hard pressed to notice the difference.)

 

By coach, it should take something between 90 minutes and 2 hours to drive to Dover from the airport, depending on traffic.

[shoshona2]

Judith,

 

If you have time in Dover after boarding, go to see the Dover Castle. It is really worth touring the underground tunnels. Go to Fodors.com or Frommers.com to read about it. We did this last August and enjoyed this historical tour.

[soraya]

Hi, I prefer Gatwick to Heathrow, it has a more relaxed feel and you should be able to get to Dover with no hassle. You can have a look on the baa.co.uk site to get a feel of the airport and how to get to and away from it.

[Sunny Shores]

Gatwick is OK I prefer the South Terminal (More Shops to check out!) but I prefer Terminal 4 at Heathrow. Termianl 1 and 2 are awful.