London Tourist needs help?

Question

im going to italy for thanksgiving break and my plane is stoping at london for 5 hrs. so im asking how long does it take to get from the London Gatwick airport to get to House of Parlament and Downing St. and if i should that a taxi or the subway to get there faster? and if i take the subway in what stop should i get off?

Answer 1

You haven't got a hope in hell, if you want to do it then postpone your onward flight for a day.

Answer 2

Not a hope! There is no subway link!

The Gatwick Express is the fastest way into Central London. Trains leave Gatwick Airport's South Terminal from 4.35am to 1.35am. Trains depart every 15 minutes between 5am and 11.45pm. Standard fares are £14.90 single and £26.80 return. Journey time is 30 minutes and the service is non-stop to Victoria station. Victoria isn't that central for sightseeing, you will now need to think about tuses or buses.

This site will give you more info if you decide you really want to chance it.:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/2558.aspx

You are likely to need to be back at least 2 hours before your flight departs and it will take you a good 30 mins to get out the airport. That only really gives you 2 1/2 hours for the round trip and if the trains fail you would struggle to find another route to catch the connection. Not worth taking the chance. London deserves far more time than that.

Answer 3

You are trying to tread on a very slippery slope. It would usually take one hour to clear the immigration queues at Gatwick. It will take another ½ hour to go to the train platform. If you catch the next available train to Victoria (Trains run every 15 mins from gatwick airport), the journey takes 30 hour min., and from Victoria to Houses of Parliament another 20 mins minimum, depending on the time of the day. Downing St is about 5 mins walk from the houses of parliament. For you to get back to Gatwick allow another 1 ½ hours minimum.
The chances are that you will not be able to make it back in time for the flight.
Don't rush London. This is a great city that deserves an entire holiday.

Answer 4

depends on what time of day but Gatwick is not really in London so you would have to get the train to London then the tube - 5 hours is cutting your sight seeing time a bit tight. A cab will cost you a fortune. look on the Internet, that way you won't get mugged, cold, wet or ripped off! The airport sell postcards they will be much cheaper! Westminster would be the stop on the tube.

Snuggle down in the warm lounge with a good book and coffee!

Answer 5

Is there a chance for you to be able to do it? Yes.
Would I? No way.
You would be cutting it way too short.

Normally 1 hour to get through customs for the UK.
Another 1 hour to find and take train into London center city. Figure out Bus or subway .5 hours to Parliament .
15 minutes to take pictures.
1.25 hours to get back to Gatwick (second time quicker).
Leaves you 1 hour to get through security to your flight.

It is doable, but if any one part has a 30 minute delay (happens often in London), yikes... If 2 parts have a 30 minute delay or there is 1 1 hour delay, you will miss your flight.

I would need 8 hours to feel comfortable in doing what you you suggest.

Have fun in Italy!!!! Get a guide book before going to Italy. I suggest Lonely Planet Guide books.

Answer 6

Not from Gatwick. It's miles and miles outside of London and by the time you have got off one plane it'll be time to check in for the next one. By taxi? Throwing good money after bad. Easily £100 ($200 US). Or you could spend 5 hours stuck on a train going nowhere and miss the whole rest of your break. Forget it for this trip, come back to London when you have a week or two (and lots and lots of money, you'll need it)
When you do, subway (Underground in English), = Westminster.

Answer 7

Gatwick isn't really in London. It's a good 30 miles to the south, in Surrey, almost in Sussex.

Even if you haven't got to retrieve your bags, it's probably still going to take you half an hour to get through customs (add at least half an hour if you have), then you'd have to wait fo a train - gatwick to london victoria is about 40 minutes on a train if it's a fast one - more like an hour if it stops everywhere, so you've already lost nearly two hours. You'd also have to take into account getting back to gatwick, and back through check in, customs, boarding (add an extra half an hour before take off for boarding).

Plus you'd need to allow for flights being delayed, engineering works on the tube, leaves on the line etc etc.

So for spending 15 minutes at victoria train station, I'd say it wasn't worth it!

But should you ever stop off again for longer, a taxi to central London from Gatwick will set you back at least £100, and take about 2 hours, or 3 hours upwards if you factor in traffic. A return train ticket will cost more like £15 and take 40-60 mins. once you've got into central london, you're best using tubes or buses. Westminster on the District (green) and Circle (yellow) lines will get you to Parliament.

If you still want to get out the airport to kill an hour or two, try somewhere like Hever Castle (the family home of Anne Boleyn - Henry VIII's 2nd wife - until he cut off her head) - it'll take you about half an hour in a taxi to get there.

Answer 8

Train takes half an hour from Gatwick to London Victoria, you can take a bus (number 11 or 24) from there to the Houses of Parliament and that'll take five minutes.

Tube, take the Circle and District Line and get off at Westminster.

Answer 9

There is a train from Gatwick to London I think it takes 40 minutes, if memory serves. . I believe it goes to Waterloo Station. You can take the tube from Waterloo across the Thames and do a quick tour. I would suggest that you walk across, though. You might want to choose Westminster Bridge for its proximity to Parliament and then walk along the Embankment toward Tower Bridge, crossing over to Southwark from there.

You'll not have a lot of time, but it might be worth a quick look.

Answer 10

Europe in a day ha ha love it. u got 2 be American !

if they let you leave the secured area's of the airport then dont forget you need to go through passport control & security which takes a good 45 mins to an hour from landing.
your also going to need to be back at gatwick a good 2 hours before your due to depart to go through security checks again. is it really worth it ?

find yourself a good book & a quiet spot in the airport, & next time plan it better & either stay overnight in london or fly direct to italy.

Answer 11

If your at gatwick for 5 hours there is no chance youll be able to make into central london, by the time you make it out of the airport and it will take a couple of hours to get there, no matter wat mode of transport you take.