I'm in England Monday morning arriving from Paris on the 4th of July - flying out of Gatwick on the 6th. Wife, me & to teenagers. We have a car and would like to stay no more than 40 minutes from Gatwick. I was thinking about staying is smaller town outside downtown London & taking the train into town. (I'm getting a car because we are going to stonehenge on Monday)
Any suggestions?
Okay so how are you arriving in London? Eurostar? Where are you picking up a car?
(It's Stonehenge BTW).
we are arriving via Eurostar. I have not chosen a location to pick up the car - we will be dropping off at Gatwick - so I'll have to either pick up at/near King's Cross. Our plane leaves around noon on Wednesday.
Why not just get a train from St Pancras to Gatwick? Or indeed somewhere near Gatwick and pick up a car there. Driving from KX to Gatwick is no fun.
The only hotel actually at Gatwick Airport is the Hilton. Many other "Gatwick" branded hotels are in the town of Crawley which is a pretty standard commuter town with regular trains to London. They will be very crowded if you go into London in the morning, though, and the line in question is really notorious for delays at the moment.
You could drop the car at Gatwick the night before you fly if you fly out in the morning and stay at the Premier Inn which is about a 1 minute walk into the airport. We have stayed there before with our kids and they do family rooms for 4 if your kids are under 16. The breakfast buffet was great. We are staying again this year as our flight is at noon. Saves so much hassle. There are several Premier Inns nearby so make sure you get the Premier Inn Gatwick Airport North Terminal.
If you hire a car at KX you will be just north of the London Congestion Charge Zone. The very first thing that will happen, unless you know EXACTLY where you are going and exactly how to avoid it, is that you will incur a Congestion Charge of £10 which doubles if not paid by the close of the next day.
What route were you planning on driving on a Monday morning?
If you drive from KX towards Stonehenge using the M3 or A3 the first hour or two will be horrendous. If you drive towards your hotel near Gatwick through Brixton and Croydon on the A23 the first hour or two will be horrendous.
I'm not sure that that is what I would recommend.
