London Airport to Fly Into - Near London Eye

If you are flying non-stop from the U.S., you probably won’t have a choice but to fly to Heathrow (LHR) from most U.S. airports. When you search for flights, you can use the code ”LON” to include all airports in the London area.

London City Airport

are there flights from North Carolina to London City Airport? I thought London City was only for smaller aircraft.

are there flights from North Carolina to London City Airport? I
thought London City was only for smaller aircraft.

No transatlantic flights to London City anymore. And I'd be surprised if they return.

We would be flying from Crete, Greece (one-way). There are several nonstop, inexpensive flights into multiple London Airports.
Thank you all.

Well that small detail certainly makes a difference.

Heathrow is one of my least favorite airports. Given a choice, I'd avoid that one.

Will you have much in the way of luggage? Might make a difference in terms of how easily you can get around once you've landed. (Luggage options/fees might also make a difference in which airline you choose to fly from Crete, which in turn could then limit your airport choices...).

Yes, we are considering a trip to both Crete (6-7 nights) and London (3-4 nights). We would fly from RDU to Crete, and later back to NC nonstop from Heathrow to RDU.

We would book the one way flight from Chania, Crete to London.
Thanks

Well from Chania you have a choice of

London Gatwick- on Easyjet;
London Heathrow- on British Airways;
London Stansted- on Ryanair and Jet2

Stansted is probably the least suitable for your destination, but it's a marginal thing. Ryanair will probably offer you the lowest fare, then likely a toss up between Jet2 and Easyjet, then British Airways.

All except BA are low cost or budget airlines.

All except BA are low cost or budget airlines.

When deciding, be sure to factor the baggage rules and fees, to determine which is the 'best deal'

Whilst BA are an legacy airline, they have tailored a lot their European routes and product to compete with the likes of EasyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair. That will be the case with a popular holiday destination such as Crete, where a lot of passengers on that flights will be on BA Holiday or other packages. As mentioned it pays to carefully go through each of airlines offers and T&Cs to find where the real value is, as it is very likely there will be little difference in the hard product between any of those airlines mentioned on that route. In fact Jet2 is generally one of the better regarded holiday/LCC airlines at that end of the scale and their after sales CS is well thought of by many, who were one of the few airlines to promptly issue refunds, whilst others stalled and prevaricated.

What is clear is that you should base your decision on the relative merits of the airlines flying from Chania to London - price, add-ons, timings etc, rather than which will bring you nearest to the London Eye. All the airport choices you have will be fine, but they will all mean around an hour’s journey into the city by public transport, probably more by any form of road transport.

All except BA are low cost or budget airlines.

We flew London to Chania in June with BA. The price was the same as Easyjet when all things were taken into account. As I don't like Easyjet and because I have a high tier status with BA we flew with them. There isn't a lot of difference in the prices between BA and the budget airlines on popular routes.

The Gatwick Express goes to Victoria Station, which may be within walking distance of your hotel (depending on how much luggage you have - it's probably a 15-20 minute walk).

If I were staying near the London Eye I would choose Gatwick. It has fairly easy train access into multiple London train stations. Waterloo is practically next door to the eye. About a 45 minute ride with a change at Clapham Junction. You can pop in your details at the National rail website. Paying by oyster or contactless seems to be the cheapest.

If you do find yourself going to Victoria station then there is the cheaper Southern trains option. A little slower than the Gatwick Express as it makes a few stops.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

The Gatwick Express goes to Victoria Station, which may be within walking distance of your hotel (depending on how much luggage you have - it's probably a 15-20 minute walk).

Victoria Station is over a mile and a half from the London Eye, and even more if you're heading to the area around Waterloo Station. So you're looking at a 30 minute walk or more. As Rocket said above, if you fly into Gatwick, you can take the Gatwick Express. There is one transfer at Victoria Station, which takes you to Waterloo, which is near the area you are staying in.

If you wind up flying into Heathrow, you can take the Elizabeth train (Abbey Wood) at the airport to Tottenham Court Road Station. Then transfer to the Northern Line, which takes you to Waterloo Station.

OR for a cheaper ride from Heathrow (maybe not as comfortable), the Tube also works. Take the Piccadilly line (Arnos Grove) at the airport. You will transfer to the Jubilee line at Green Park, which will take you to Waterloo Station.

I'm also staying near the London Eye (Premier Inn County Hall) in March so I've been researching transportation. 😊

Or, from Gatwick, for Waterloo, take a Southern service bound for Victoria, to Clapham Junction, then transfer there for Waterloo.

Victoria to Waterloo would be a two tube lines trip - Circle and District to Westminster, change to Jubilee, or Circle and District to Embankment, change to Northern or Bakerloo. Bus is easier, but the above suggested change trains at Clapham Junction is even easier.

Or tube to Westminster and walk across the bridge to the Eye.

Take the Piccadilly line (Arnos Grove) at the airport.

The Piccadilly Line only shows a terminus at Arnos Grove if it is running short. Cockfosters is the end of the line.

Sorry, Mardee

Thanks, Nigel!! Good to know! I will add that to my notes.

From T5 at Heathrow Elizabeth Line trains are generally heading for Shenfield, those from T4 generally for Abbey Wood, and from T2/3 for either destination. Basically the first Elizabeth Line train will do for any likely tourist destination.I
There are exceptions from both T4 and T5, but that is the general rule.

To add to this, the frequency from T5 for the Elizabeth line is quite low, only 2 trains per hour, for reasons too dull to go into. However, you can take the Express trains to 2/3 and change there if you have just missed one, for no additional charge.

We flew into London Heathrow, took Heathrow Express to Paddington, then to Waterloo station, which is .3 of a mile from the London Marriott County Hall Hotel. It's beside the London Eye as well as the Westminster Bridge, bus stop is conveniently there too. What my teenage daughter loved the most about the location was the McDonald's tucked in under the hotel :o) We loved the convenience of it for all that we wanted to do; only time we hired a car service was the morning flying back.

Thank you all for the replies and valuable information.