St. James Trafalgar Square to Gatwick

[Verokaren]

What is the best way to transport to Gatwick from here on a Saturday in August?  Thank you in advance!

[Globaliser]

It depends on what you mean by "best".

 

Some people think that a door-to-door car service is best. You'd get in at the hotel, and get out at the terminal at Gatwick. There are plenty of companies that will do that.

 

Another alternative is to get a taxi from the hotel to either to London Victoria station or London Blackfriars station, and take the train. This is likely to be faster than doing the whole journey by road, which is a miserable experience at the best of times. It will also be cheaper, the exact extent depending on your choice of train operator, as they charge different fares.

[gumshoe958]

All good advice.

 

The whole journey can also be done by rail, by catching any train from Charing Cross to London Bridge (all trains go there), then transferring to the frequent direct service down to Gatwick.

 

Charing Cross is less than a 5 minute walk from your hotel, and the total journey time is between 45 and 60 minutes.

[Verokaren]

Thank you for this! We will have a large suitcase and two carry-ons. Should we buy the train ticket ahead of time?

[Globaliser]

37 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

The whole journey can also be done by rail, by catching any train from Charing Cross to London Bridge (all trains go there), then transferring to the frequent direct service down to Gatwick.

 

Charing Cross is less than a 5 minute walk from your hotel, and the total journey time is between 45 and 60 minutes.

 

This is also a good idea, although the OP may want to check first whether there will be any Charing Cross to London Bridge trains on the Saturday that they're travelling (is the date 19 August 2023?). They should also be aware that at London Bridge, they will probably need to change platforms. It looks like they would arrive at platform 6 or 7, and they'd have to go downstairs (by lift or escalator) to the concourse and then go up to platform 4 for the onward train to Gatwick.

[Globaliser]

12 minutes ago, Verokaren said:

Should we buy the train ticket ahead of time?

 

If you're not planning to take the Gatwick Express, and you each have an Oyster card or a contactless bank (credit or debit) card, you can pay just by touching in at the London station and touching out at Gatwick, much like taking the Tube in London. I think that the Oyster/contactless fare if you do this should be £9.50 on a Saturday (you can check here on the Transport for London website). No need to buy in advance, which may be no cheaper in any event.

 

You can also take the Gatwick Express using Oyster or contactless, but the fare is much higher. I think that you can save a little bit off that by buying a Gatwick Express ticket in advance via that company's website.

[Verokaren]

This is great - thank you!  We are not concerned so much about the price of the transportation, but just thought it would be more fun to try the train.  Should we be concerned about rail strikes for that line?

[Globaliser]

14 minutes ago, Verokaren said:

Should we be concerned about rail strikes for that line?

 

Not particularly - my impression is that only the most disruptive strikes will stop all Gatwick trains from running. Today is a train strike day, but the limited service still includes plenty of trains from London Bridge (operated by Thameslink) and Victoria to Gatwick (operated by Southern). There will be at least two weeks' notice of any strike affecting your specific travel day; and even if there is a particularly disruptive strike, there will be alternative options.

[Island2Dweller]

Gatwick Express is no help.  It costs a lot more, saves a couple of minutes (at best), and is the first service to be dropped if there is any disruption. 

Your simplest / fastest / cheapest option is the normal train from Charing Cross to London Bridge, changing there to the Thameslink service.  Check about ten days ahead in case any strike issues or engineering closures.

Don't buy any ticket ahead - cheapest and fastest is just to tap with a card or phone on the ticket gates (so no physical ticket at all)

[Globaliser]

Having now had a moment to check this: Charing Cross station will be closed on Saturdays 12 August, 19 August and 26 August 2023.

[Verokaren]

Hmmm… so we would have to cab to London Bridge Station and then take the Thameslink train to Gatwick? Does that drop you off at a convenient location at Gatwick?

[gumshoe958]

10 minutes ago, Verokaren said:

Hmmm… so we would have to cab to London Bridge Station and then take the Thameslink train to Gatwick? Does that drop you off at a convenient location at Gatwick?

Yes, or the previous stop Blackfriars which is a bit closer to your hotel. The Thameslink trains run up to 8 times an hour (final destination is usually Brighton, Horsham or Three Bridges).
 

At Gatwick the rail station is directly linked to the South Terminal - no more than a 5 minute walk to check in. If your flight leaves from North Terminal there’s a free automated transit that departs from next to the station.

[Cotswold Eagle]

36 minutes ago, Verokaren said:

Does that drop you off at a convenient location at Gatwick?

I can think of no more convenient railway station at any airport I have been to. It is literally an extension of the terminal. 

[Globaliser]

38 minutes ago, Verokaren said:

Hmmm… so we would have to cab to London Bridge Station and then take the Thameslink train to Gatwick?

 

As gumshoe958 says, Blackfriars is closer to your hotel. It's also probably easier to drop you off at, especially on a Saturday; and it's also an easy station to navigate. Southbound trains go from platform 1. You're best off getting one of the fast trains (3 per hour); generally, these call only at London Bridge and East Croydon before Gatwick Airport. (The train describer boards and train announcements will tell you where the train will call at, so you can easily identify the fast trains.) If you get a slow train that stops at lots of other stations en route to Gatwick, it will be a significantly longer journey and the train would probably be overtaken by a later fast train.

 

You could go to Victoria and get a Southern train. These generally call only at Clapham Junction and East Croydon en route to Gatwick, and their final destinations are typically Eastbourne, Littlehampton, Ore, Portsmouth Harbour or Southampton Central. It looks like there are about six of these trains an hour (so twice as frequent as at Blackfriars), but Victoria is a much bigger and more complex station, as well as being a bit further away from your hotel than Blackfriars. You can't get on a Gatwick Express by accident, as these go from a dedicated area (which enables the correct GX fare to be charged); there's only one GX every 30 minutes.

[little britain]

On 7/20/2023 at 9:59 PM, Verokaren said:

Hmmm… so we would have to cab to London Bridge Station and then take the Thameslink train to Gatwick? Does that drop you off at a convenient location at Gatwick?

The train station is right at the airport  

Edited July 21, 2023 by little britain