Gatwick Routes
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Heathrow Airportto Gatwick Airport

Our pickCoachNational Express50–70 min£14.90

To make a flight at Gatwick, take the National Express coach from Heathrow: it runs straight to both Gatwick terminals, with planned times of 50–70 minutes depending on where you board. The Elizabeth line and Thameslink via Farringdon is the rail fallback, taking 83–104 minutes and delivering you only to South Terminal, so allow extra if you fly from North Terminal.

Last checked Gatwick to Heathrow

Compare 7 ways

  1. Our pick:

    Coach

    National Express

    National Express direct coach

    50–70 min

    £14.90

    Online from-price incl. £1.50 booking fee; limited seats, not a guaranteed fare

    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)

    Direct · Last 22:40

    Details for National Express

    Runs

    00:40–22:40

    Contactless
    No
    Step-free
    Yes
    Luggage
    Allowance per passenger: one large suitcase or two medium cases, plus one soft hand-luggage item.
    From
    Heathrow Central Bus Station (Terminals 2 and 3), Terminal 4 or Terminal 5
    To
    North Terminal and South Terminal coach stops
    Notes
    National Express lists up to 56 departures a day on five route numbers, so there is no fixed interval. Its quickest timing is 50 minutes from Terminal 5 to Gatwick North; from the Central Bus Station the TfL planner showed 65–70 minutes. The listed first and last departures leave the Central Bus Station at 00:40 and 22:40, each arriving at Gatwick North 65 minutes later. Buy online or at a coach desk; there is no tap-on contactless fare. The optional Change & Go add-on (£5) lets you board any coach within 12 hours of the booked one.
    Other sources (3)
  2. Bus

    TfL Superloop SL7 + Southern or Thameslink

    SL7 bus to East Croydon, then train

    108–141 min

    £5.85–£8.35

    Contactless pay as you go, bus plus train combined

    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)

    1 change

    Details for TfL Superloop SL7 + Southern or Thameslink
    Contactless
    Yes
    Step-free
    No
    Luggage
    Ordinary London bus with no luggage hold; bags ride with you.
    From
    Heathrow Central Bus Station (Terminals 2 and 3)
    To
    Gatwick Airport station, inside South Terminal
    Notes
    Combined fare is the £1.75 bus fare plus the East Croydon to Gatwick contactless rail fare (£4.10 off-peak, £6.60 peak). At midday the SL7 was timetabled at 110 minutes from Heathrow Central to East Croydon before the train; a late-evening routing was planned at 108 minutes door to door. Adult Oyster pay as you go covers both the bus and the train into Gatwick.
    Other sources (5)
  3. Private transfer

    Private transfer

    4 vehicle sizes

    Vehicle sizes and single fares
    VehicleSeatsSingle fare
    Saloon40–90 min4£75–£120Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Estate40–90 min4£75–£140Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    MPV (6–7 seats)40–90 min6£85–£220Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Minibus (8 seats)45–90 min8£115–£220Checked 28 Sep 2026, unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Details for each vehicle size

    Saloon

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (4 firms)
    Luggage
    Blackberry Cars and Heathrow Gatwick Cars size the saloon for four passengers and two large cases; BA Transfer allows three passengers.
    Notes
    Saloon prices for Heathrow to Gatwick, lowest first: Rapid Airport Transfers £75 (the same from every Heathrow terminal to either Gatwick terminal; includes meet and greet, 45 minutes' free waiting from touchdown, motorway fuel and the Heathrow pick-up and Gatwick drop-off charges), BA Transfer from £95 (meet and greet, flight tracking, parking, tolls and the first 60 minutes' waiting included), Blackberry Cars £108 (parking, up to an hour's waiting and meet and greet in the arrivals hall included) and Heathrow Gatwick Cars £120. Stated journey times run from 40 minutes (Blackberry, from Terminal 5) to 90 minutes in traffic. Heathrow's own on-site car service is WeKnow, with desks in every terminal's arrivals hall; it publishes no Gatwick fare. Black cabs from the Heathrow ranks can instead agree a price before setting off, because TfL lets the fare for a trip ending outside Greater London be negotiated, and a rank pick-up adds £1.60.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (6)

    Estate

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (3 firms)
    Luggage
    Blackberry Cars and Heathrow Gatwick Cars both carry four passengers and three large cases in the estate.
    Notes
    Estate prices for Heathrow to Gatwick: Rapid Airport Transfers £75 (the same as its saloon; case limit not stated), Blackberry Cars £126 and Heathrow Gatwick Cars £140. Inclusions are as listed for the saloon. BA Transfer lists an estate on this route but prints no price for it.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (3)

    MPV (6–7 seats)

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (3 firms)
    Luggage
    Blackberry's six-seat MPV takes six large cases and Heathrow Gatwick Cars' seven-seat V-Class six; Rapid does not state a case limit.
    Notes
    Six- and seven-seat prices for Heathrow to Gatwick: Rapid Airport Transfers £85 (six-seater), Blackberry Cars £168 (MPV6) and Heathrow Gatwick Cars £220 (seven-seat Mercedes V-Class). Five-seat MPVs are also listed at £138 (Blackberry) and £165 (Heathrow Gatwick Cars). BA Transfer gives only a typical £130–£170 band for its seven-seater, not a fixed price, so it is left out of the range.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (3)

    Minibus (8 seats)

    Operator
    Pre-booked private hire (2 firms)
    Luggage
    Both firms take eight passengers and eight large cases.
    Notes
    Eight-seat prices for Heathrow to Gatwick: Rapid Airport Transfers £115 and Heathrow Gatwick Cars £220. BA Transfer says only 'from around £155' for its eight-seater, which is not counted here, and Blackberry Cars lists no eight-seater on this route.
    Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)
    Other sources (2)

Bars share one scale on this page. Hours are first and last departures as recorded; the ochre mark is the time now in London. Paying by contactless has its own rules at Gatwick: read the contactless guide. checked on the date in each option's details · not yet confirmed against a second source.

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Which should I pick?

  • Early flight

    CoachNational Express

    National Express direct coach

    For a dawn departure from Gatwick, rail is no help because the first Elizabeth line and Thameslink connection only arrives at 06:44; the TfL planner showed coaches leaving Heathrow Central at 03:40, 04:00 and 04:15, each reaching Gatwick North before 05:30.

  • Lots of luggage

    Private transferPre-booked private hire (3 firms)

    Estate, fixed price, Heathrow pickup

    A driver loads the bags at Heathrow and unloads them at your Gatwick departure terminal, so you skip the platform change at Farringdon and the shuttle to North Terminal; confirm the vehicle's case limit when booking.

  • Group or family

    Private transferPre-booked private hire (3 firms)

    MPV, fixed price, Heathrow pickup

    One car to the right Gatwick terminal keeps a family together with their bags, and a six-seat MPV quoted at £168 works out cheaper per head than six peak contactless rail fares.

  • After midnight

    CoachNational Express

    National Express direct coach

    The latest rail link leaves Terminals 2 and 3 at 23:38 and does not reach Gatwick until 01:22, while a direct coach leaves the Central Bus Station at 00:40 and gets to Gatwick North in 65 minutes.

Route notes

Work back from your Gatwick bag-drop deadline, because nothing between these airports is quick. National Express advertises 50 minutes from Terminal 5 to North Terminal, yet coaches from the Central Bus Station were planned at 65–70 minutes, and every rail combination checked took over 80. The coach and a car both depend on M25 traffic; the train does not.

Find out which Gatwick terminal your airline uses before you leave. The coach calls at both North and South, so you simply get off at the right one. Trains stop only at the station built into South Terminal; North Terminal passengers then need the free shuttle, and the TfL planner budgets nine minutes for that walk and ride.

At Heathrow, coaches leave from the Central Bus Station, which serves Terminals 2 and 3, and also call at Terminals 4 and 5. For rail, take an eastbound Elizabeth line train and change at Farringdon onto a southbound Thameslink service for Gatwick. Terminal 5 sees only two Elizabeth line trains an hour and Terminal 4 four, against six from Terminals 2 and 3; hopping between Heathrow terminals is free on contactless, so ride to Terminals 2 and 3 if its next departure is sooner.

Mind the edges of the day. The last direct coach on the National Express list leaves the Central Bus Station at 22:40, and the next runs at 00:40. The earliest rail connection does not leave Terminals 2 and 3 until 05:21.

The SL7 bus to East Croydon costs under £9 including the train, but at midday it spends 110 minutes on the road before you even reach the station, which is too tight for most check-in windows. A black cab from the rank can agree a price for Gatwick before setting off.

Guides for this route

Questions

Can I agree a fixed price with a Heathrow black cab to Gatwick?

Yes. TfL rules let the fare for a journey ending outside Greater London be negotiated with the driver before you leave, which covers Gatwick. Being picked up from a Heathrow rank adds £1.60.

I am at Terminal 5. Do I have to get to Terminals 2 and 3 for the train to Gatwick?

No, two Elizabeth line trains an hour serve Terminal 5 directly. If an earlier train leaves from Terminals 2 and 3, the transfer between Heathrow terminals is free when you pay by contactless.