Our group of 9 is arriving at Gatwick on a Tuesday morning at 8:40 and departs Heathrow at 1:20 to Inverness (4hrs, 40 min transfer time). We will only have carryon. We were hoping to pop out for a quick look at Parliment and Buckingham Palace on the way. What is the best way to do this? Is it too much to add the quick sight seeing?
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
13548 posts
Is money any concern?
Three taxis ( possibly 2 vans?) taking the scenic route to do a "drive by" ( I suspect literally) of those sites, is quite ambitious for a between flights time
.
Never been to London but suspect parking near those locales is scarce to non-existent, and trying to find it for 3 cars so your group could do a bit walking and looking would be extraordinarily difficult.
Is it too much to add the quick sight seeing?
My answer leans heavily toward 'yes'.
Posted by
Somerset, UK
85 posts
Ignore driving, it will be much much slower than public transport.
You can get from Gatwick to Victoria station, which is close to both sites, but particularly Buckingham Palace, in as little as 30 minutes. There are 10 trains per hour during the day so assuming no inbound flight delays then your chances are reasonable. Every minute will matter though so you'll need to try and get 9 people to move with some determination straight through immigration towards the train station.
It's a 15 minute walk from Buckingham Palace to the HoP.
From there there are a myriad of ways to combine tube/rail to get to Heathrow T5 - needless to say you can't dawdle or linger about, it's a tight connection.
Personally I wouldn't bother at all, London is simply sensational and warrants a properly planned trip of its own. If your inbound flight is delayed, or it is raining, then I would also not attempt this. But, if none of the above applies, the you can probably just about do it.
Posted by
Western Canada
4185 posts
No.
The time sounds like a lot, but with two busy airports and nine people to corral I wouldn’t even think about it.
How are you traveling between the two airports?
Posted by
Chicago
1328 posts
I would be a bit concerned that the "group dynamics" of trying to herd 9 people around
after (assumption) an overnight flight could be an issue, but I suppose it depends on
how experienced everyone is at traveling, handling jet lag, and not wandering off
on a whim.
If you think you can give it a try, I would take Gatwick Express into Victoria, then catch
cabs and have them give you a drive-by tour (if you're there late morning, Buckingham
Palace is probably out due to the changing of the guards), and drop you off at Paddington
where you can jump on Heathrow Express or Elizabeth Line out to Heathrow. It's 20-25
minutes on the train, and if you want to be at the airport 3 hours before your flight, you
have perhaps an hour in London, but it depends on immigration queues and such. If you're
checking bags, your margin is further reduced and unless your flight gets in early, it's
probably not worth the hassle, or the risk of missing your connecting flight.