Which airport? Gatwick or Heathrow

[retird]

We are doing a transatlantic to Dublin,Ireland arriving there on May 6.   We plan to fly same day to London for a few days  to see the sites such as London bridge, buckingham palace, Big Ben etc.     We hav flown through Heathrow before and found it very hectic.    What would be our best option flying from Dublin- heathrow or Gatwick and then do a hotel in London close to the attractions.     Also to fly back to Toronto would gatwick or heathrow be the best option.       Also.  What would be a mid range hotel recommendation within proximity to those attractions.    Thanks

 

[wheezedr]

I have flown both Gatwick and Heathrow.   There are upsides and downsides to both.  Rather than selecting an airport and then trying to find flights there, I would look for what are the best flights given my criteria of timing, cost and perhaps choice of carrier if that also matters to you.  Both Heathrow and Gatwick are large although H is certainly bigger with more carriers.  I have at times moved quickly through either and at times been delayed, although that may reflect the airline as much as the airport.

[John Bull]

Gatwick (LGW) is much less hectic than LHR - but it's still no hick-town airport.

Transportation into central London is equally easy and about the same cost from either, so I suggest that for both flights you  choose according to airline, flight time, airfares, etc.

If that means LHR, so be it. If it means LGW, so be it.

 

Just a few caveats

1. For short-haul flights "London" airports also include City Airport (convenient) and Luton, Stansted and Southend (all fairly inconvenient).

2. Advice on hotel location in central London will depend on which airport/s you use, so I suggest you figure your flights first, then ask for ideas.

Central London is pretty big, and no single hotel can be convenient for everything that you mention. Public transportation between sights is fast, frequent and relatively inexpensive - but no fun with luggage, hence the need to choose your airport/s first.

3. Bearing in mind number 2 above, it's ideal but not essential to use the same airport for both flights

4. Choice of transportation between airports/s and hotel will depend on which airport/s and the location of your hotel, so we can't advise on that until we at least know your airport/s

 

Hope this helps more than it confuses

 

JB 

- 

 

 

[Twickenham]

For your Dublin-London flight, I would suggest you look at flying to London City airport - much smaller, and puts you much closer to the heart of London than either LHR or LGW.

 

For your flight home, I agree that I would look at the best flight overall, and not necessarily choose based on airport.

[John Bull]

2 minutes ago, Twickenham said:

For your Dublin-London flight, I would suggest you look at flying to London City airport - much smaller, and puts you much closer to the heart of London than either LHR or LGW.

 

For your flight home, I agree that I would look at the best flight overall, and not necessarily choose based on airport.

 

That's all three of us singing from the same song-sheet  

For your flight home it matters not whether its LHR or LGW

 

But Twickenham's post has reminded me of one more thing we need to know.

Your dates - more particularly which days of the week.

City airport is at the "downtown" financial end of central London - hotel rates there tend to be discounted at weekends.

 

JB 

[Twickenham]

3 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

That's all three of us singing from the same song-sheet  

For your flight home it matters not whether its LHR or LGW

 

But Twickenham's post has reminded me of one more thing we need to know.

Your dates - more particularly which days of the week.

City airport is at the "downtown" financial end of central London - hotel rates there tend to be discounted at weekends.

 

JB 

 

May 6 is a Monday .

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, retird said:

We are doing a transatlantic to Dublin,Ireland arriving there on May 6.   We plan to fly same day to London for a few days  to see the sites such as London bridge, buckingham palace, Big Ben etc.     We hav flown through Heathrow before and found it very hectic.    What would be our best option flying from Dublin- heathrow or Gatwick and then do a hotel in London close to the attractions.     Also to fly back to Toronto would gatwick or heathrow be the best option.       Also.  What would be a mid range hotel recommendation within proximity to those attractions.    Thanks

 

I looked at flights for May 10 (a Friday) from London airports to Toronto. Cheapest nonstops are WestJet and Air Transat, both flying from Gatwick for less than $400. After that both British Airways (from either airport) and Air Canada (from Heathrow) are both well over $2,000.

[John Bull]

9 minutes ago, Twickenham said:

 

May 6 is a Monday .

 

You're confusing me with someone who can read 

 

BTW the gnome's post doesn't surprise me - LGW always tends to be cheaper 

(We're booked OAK to LGW with Norwegian for £180 pp one-way incl luggage  ) 

 

JB 

 

 

 

 

[retird]

Thanks everyone for your responses.    We are still deciding whether we will stay in Dublin for the extra few days and fly home from Dublin on May 10.   Or whether to fly to London on the 6th of May and stay in London and fly to Toronto on May 10.   Flight costs are not an issue whether we fly from Dublin or heathrow or gatwick, because we have free flights through our Cathay Pacific program and can choose to fly on British Airways, American Airlines, Air Canada or Air Lingus.   

 

Now or just to get my better half to decide .     Thanks so much for your input

 

les

[Bob++]

The cheapest flights from Dublin go to Southend Airport. The problem is that it takes as long to get to London from there as the flight from Dublin. There is a direct train to Liverpool Street though.

[PhilbeachTraveller]

On 1/6/2019 at 2:29 AM, gnome12 said:

I looked at flights for May 10 (a Friday) from London airports to Toronto. Cheapest nonstops are WestJet and Air Transat, both flying from Gatwick for less than $400. After that both British Airways (from either airport) and Air Canada (from Heathrow) are both well over $2,000.

If you decide to go from Gatwick, then use Air Transat. Used them last summer to go to Vancouver and was very pleased (book the Eco Plus package - well worth it). WestJet have had flights cancelled and you have to download their app to have any films on your journey. 

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, PhilbeachTraveller said:

If you decide to go from Gatwick, then use Air Transat. Used them last summer to go to Vancouver and was very pleased (book the Eco Plus package - well worth it). WestJet have had flights cancelled and you have to download their app to have any films on your journey. 

I had Air Transat cancel a flight from Amsterdam on me, so it isn't unique to WestJet.

 

In terms of lots of choice, Air Canada has 4 flights a day from London to Toronto (all from Heathrow) which will almost certainly get you home.

[wowzz]

On 1/6/2019 at 2:16 AM, Twickenham said:

 

May 6 is a Monday .

Which is also a Bank Holiday in the UK, which may have a bearing on public transport.