Tool · Driving to Gatwick
Park at Gatwick or take the train?
A car park charges once for the car; the train charges each traveller, going and coming back. Choose how long you are away, how many of you there are and where you start to see which costs less, using the car park prices and fares we recorded.
Calculator
Uses car park prices checked and the walk-up single fares on our route pages, each shown with its type. Advance rail tickets can be cheaper and are not included. Fuel, tolls, the drive itself and traffic are not included either.
The calculator needs JavaScript. You can work it out by hand from “Figures this tool uses” below: take the car park price for its first day and add its further-day charge for each night after that (or use a price whose days cover your whole trip), then set it against the single fare × 2 × the number of travellers.
Our guide Park at Gatwick or take the train? The sums walks through the choice.
Longer stays are added up day by day, never estimated. Long Stay: first day £38, then £32 a day, as printed on the airport's roll-up table. Short Stay: first day £70, then £70 a day. Premium Short Stay: first day £87.50, then £87.50 a day. A stay of N nights costs the first day plus N − 1 further days.
We count one day of parking per night away, which holds when you come back no later in the day than you left; Gatwick counts 24-hour periods from when you drive in. A station daily rate can end at a set hour instead, so a stay there can be charged one more day than it has nights. Fuel, tolls, the drive and traffic are not included.
Figures this tool uses
5 routes, 19 figures, each with its source and the date we checked it.
Car park prices are for the car; train and coach fares are per person, one way. A car park appears only with the tariffs its operator prints. Where the operator prints a charge for each further day, longer stays add it up; where it does not, a stay longer than its longest tariff has no printed price here.
Gatwick car parks and drop-off
| Car park | Price | Booking | Checked, source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Stay SouthRoll-up rate for 2–24 hours (the first 2 hours are free). Each further 24 hours is £32 | £38for 1 daythen £32 a day | Turn up | Checked gatwickairport.com |
| Long Stay NorthRoll-up rate for 2–24 hours (the first 2 hours are free). Each further 24 hours is £32 | £38for 1 daythen £32 a day | Turn up | Checked gatwickairport.com |
| Short Stay South (Car Parks 1, 2 and 3)Roll-up rate for 12–24 hours. Each further 24 hours is another £70 | £70for 1 daythen £70 a day | Turn up | Checked gatwickairport.com |
| Short Stay North (Car Parks 5 and 6)Roll-up rate for 12–24 hours. Each further 24 hours is another £70 | £70for 1 daythen £70 a day | Turn up | Checked gatwickairport.com |
| Premium Short StayRoll-up rate for 12–24 hours. Each further 24 hours is another £87.50 | £87.50for 1 daythen £87.50 a day | Turn up | Checked gatwickairport.com |
| Terminal drop-off zone£1 for every extra minute, for up to 20 more minutes. The longest stay is 30 minutes and the most you pay in a day is £30. Pay by midnight the next day or a Parking Charge Notice follows | £10for up to 10 minutes | Pay after | Checked gatwickairport.com |
Station car parks
| Car park | Price | Booking | Checked, source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton station car park (Stroudley Road)Monday–Friday daily rate, valid until 04:00. Saturday–Sunday daily rate is £16.90. A 15p convenience fee is added | £20.80for 1 daythen £20.80 a day | Turn up | Checked apcoa.co.uk |
| Brighton station car park (Stroudley Road)Weekly season ticket. A 15p convenience fee is added | £110.90for 7 days | Pre-booked | Checked apcoa.co.uk |
Train and coach fares, by starting point
Brighton to Gatwick
| Option | Single fare | Fare type | Checked, source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TrainThameslink | £9.90–£11.50per person | Off-Peak to Anytime single | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)gatwickairport.com |
| TrainGatwick Express | £9.90–£11.50per person | Off-Peak to Anytime single | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)en.wikipedia.org |
| CoachNational Express | £8per person | Online from-price incl. £1.50 booking fee; limited seats, not a guaranteed fare | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)timetables.nationalexpress.com |
East Croydon to Gatwick
| Option | Single fare | Fare type | Checked, source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TrainThameslink | £4.10–£6.60per person | Contactless pay as you go (off-peak to peak) | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)nationalrail.co.uk |
| TrainSouthern | £4.10–£6.60per person | Contactless pay as you go (off-peak to peak) | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)nationalrail.co.uk |
London Bridge to Gatwick
| Option | Single fare | Fare type | Checked, source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TrainThameslink | £14.50–£15.10per person | Walk-up single (Super Off-Peak to Anytime) | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)thameslinkrailway.com |
St Pancras to Gatwick
| Option | Single fare | Fare type | Checked, source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TrainThameslink | £10.70–£19.20per person | Contactless pay as you go single (off-peak to weekday peak) | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)nationalrail.co.uk |
| TrainLondon Underground + Southern | £13.50–£22.10per person | Contactless pay as you go single including the tube (off-peak to weekday peak) | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)api.tfl.gov.uk |
Victoria to Gatwick
| Option | Single fare | Fare type | Checked, source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TrainSouthern | £10.70–£19.20per person | Contactless pay as you go (off-peak to weekday peak) | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)railwaydata.co.uk |
| TrainGatwick Express | £24per person | Contactless pay as you go (same fare at all times) | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)railwaydata.co.uk |
| CoachNational Express | £6per person | Online from-price incl. £1.50 booking fee; limited seats, not a guaranteed fare | Checked unconfirmed (not yet confirmed against a second source)nationalexpress.com |