United Kingdom » Getting to London

By Air

The UK is at the heart of the world's aviation industry, and London Heathrow Airport is the world's largest international airport. Situated 20 miles west of London, Heathrow offers a large choice of international destinations, with direct flights to most countries in the world. British Airways has its hub at Heathrow and offers a wide range of internatioal flights to Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Australia. There are less direct flights to South America, although many South American airlines connect to London via Spain. Other large airlines operating at Heathrow include bmi (formerly British Midland), Virgin Atlantic and the main national airlines of most countries.

London Gatwick Airport, 30 miles south of London in Sussex, is the second largest airport and also offers a wide range of international flights. London Stansted Airport in Essex and London Luton Airport are hubs for the budget airlines Ryan Air and Easyjet who offer direct flights to a wide range of European destinations. London City Airport is the most central airport in London, situated 7 miles east of Central London, but mainly serves business passengers to the main financial centres in Europe.

By Train

Eurostar services run between London's Waterloo Station and Ashford in Kent and Paris (Gare du Nord), Lille and Brussels through the Channel Tunnel. Journey times average two hours forty minutes from Paris.  

By Road

The Channel Tunnel has provided a rail/road connection since 1994. Shuttle trains carry cars from Calais, France to Folkestone, the journey taking around 40 minutes. Fares start at £49 one way and can be booked on the Eurotunnel website. On arrival at Folkestone, you can drive on to the M20 motorway which heads towards London. Car ferries also operate too many parts of the UK.

Coaches are the cheapest and most uncomfortable way to travel to the UK from France and the Benelux. Eurolines offer daily services from Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels to London Victoria coach station, with connections to most parts of the UK via the domestic National Express coach system, for most destinations it is cheaper to purchase this when purchasing your Eurolines tickets as discounts are available. Journeys take about 8-14 hours. Eurolines will also take you to/from other major European cities. Taking a budget flight is normally cheaper though and spares you from a 24h+ bus journey.

By Sea

There are a large number of ferry routes into the UK from continental Europe. Newcastle serves several routes from Scandinavia. Harwich has ferries from Esbjerg in Denmark, Cuxhaven in Germany (put out of operation in November 2005) and Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands. You can also sail from Rotterdam in the Netherlands or Zeebrugge in Belgium to Hull or from Rotterdam to Rosyth (near Edinburgh). Dover is one of Britain's most popular passenger ports with sailings from Zeebrugge, Dunkerque and Calais in France.