Heathrow
Airport
By
far the nearest airport from Kensington is Heathrow. The Piccadilly
Line of the London Underground goes through the heart of Kensington
on its way out to Heathrow, stopping at Earls Court, Gloucester Road,
South Kensington and Knightsbridge. Underground trains take around
40/45 minutes to do the journey and run around every 5 minutes. The
London Underground is by far the cheapest option too and of course
doesn't suffer from road congestion delays that vehicle based options
may encounter.
For most people its not worth considering the Heathrow Express or
Heathrow Connect trains from Heathrow if they are staying in Kensington
as the location of Paddington, their London terminus is not convenient.
The main alternative to the Underground would be taxi, especially
if you are staying in the Earls Court / Gloucester Road area near
the start of the motorway out to Heathrow.
There is also the Dot 2 Dot hotel shuttle that services all hotels
in Kensington. |
 | Dot
2 Dot Hotel Shared Hotel Shuttle Bus To/From Heathrow
An established shared minibus service transporting travellers between Heathrow
Airport and their Central London Hotel.
You pay a fare per person and you will share the minibus with other travellers.
The driver will drop you off at your Central London hotel in the order which
makes most sense given the location of the destination hotels.
Coming back out to the airport, you agree a time slot within which
the minibus will pick you up from your hotel lobby.
This is a shared service, not a private taxi transfer. All terminals at
Heathrow are serviced. You may have to wait at the airport 15-20 minutes
for the shuttle. Buses are luxurious with onboard WiFi etc.
Dot 2 Dot have desks in the terminals and plenty of their own staff available
at the airports to make sure the transfer goes smoothly.
Heathrow
Dot 2 Dot Transfers |
Gatwick
Airport
Nearly
all public transport options leave from London Victoria. There are
direct Underground trains from the Kensington Underground Stations
to Victoria in around 10/15 minutes. A taxi would take about the same
time
The Gatwick
Express is the dedicated airport train running non stop from Gatwick
to London Victoria. There are as frequent local
stopping trains to/from Gatwick that do the same journey much
cheaper.
If economy is the overriding factor in your transfer then consider
easyBus
who run a bus shuttle service from Fulham Broadway Underground Station,
very close to Kensington hotels using the District Line.
If you are staying in the Earls Court area there are also direct trains
to Gatwick from West Brompton Station. Trains are not as frequent
as from Victoria and at weekends you may have to change trains at
Clapham Junction.
Taxis are not an attractive option to Gatwick at all, being much more
expensive and normally slower than public transport options.
If you have a small group travelling chartering
a small bus can make financial sense. |
Stansted
Airport
There
are a wide range of relatively cheap bus services operating between
Stansted and Victoria. Terravision,
National
Express and easyBus
all operate this route in competition with each other. The National
Express service is a true 24x7 operation but the other two only have
a brief stop in their schedules in the small hours.
There are direct Underground trains from the Kensington Underground
Stations to Victoria in around 10/15 minutes, A taxi would take about
the same time.
One factor that might swing it towards the taxi for you is the fact
that the Stansted buses terminate at the bus station at Victoria,
about a 5/10 minute walk from the Underground Station.
The main alternative to the bus options is the Stansted Express train.
This is much faster and more expensive than the bus alternatives and
is not prone to traffic congestion delays of the vehicle options.
Unfortunately, the terminus of the Stansted Express is at Liverpool
Street Station, on the other side of Central London to Kensington.
The Circle Line of the London Underground connects Kensington with
Liverpool Street in about 25 minutes.
For most leisure travellers, Stansted is too far out to consider the
cost of a taxi and there are no hotel shuttle services available.
If you have a small group travelling chartering
a small bus can make financial sense. |
Luton
Airport
From
Luton there is a stark choice between the cheap bus and the fast train.
The bus option is jointly operated by Green Line / easyBus and Terravision.
It runs a 24 x7 service too.
The easybus
Luton Airport service has its London terminus at Victoria. There
are direct Underground trains from the Kensington Underground Stations
to Victoria in around 10/15 minutes. A taxi would take about the same
time. One factor that might swing it towards the taxi for you is the
fact that the Stansted buses terminate at the bus station at Victoria,
about a 5/10 minute walk from the Underground Station.
The faster, more expensive Luton
Airport rail service runs into St Pancras from where the Piccadilly
Line connects you direct to Kensington. At Luton the train doesn't
go to the airport, a shuttle trolley runs between the airport terminal
and Luton Parkway Station, a journey of only 5 minutes.
For most leisure travellers, Luton is too far out to consider the
cost of a taxi and there are no hotel shuttle services available.
If you have a small group travelling chartering
a small bus can make financial sense.
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